Category Archives: How Tos

Work Smarter, Not Harder

Posted on by Posted in How Tos

We are all spending more and more time in front of our computers. The computer is now the centre of our work, finance, communication and entertainment worlds. But how can we reduce those hours? How can we work smarter and not harder in front of our computers? Here is a list of four programs that will save you many hours each week.

1. NaturallySpeaking ($150 and up)

This program has been around for many years and to be frank it has only recently began to live up to its promise. Naturally Speaking is the ears of your computer. It listens and outputs type on your screen. They could be in your e-mail program, word processor or in fact any program that accepts text. So if you are a slow type like this author, you can save many hours by simply talking to your computer. A quiet and solitary location is preferred for this program as talking aloud may disturb other workers. This program is ideal for people with RSI as no keyboard use is required.

2.Text Aloud (free)

This program was originally designed for sight impaired people. Text Aloud is the voice of your computer. It allows you to select text from any source and have the computer read it out to you. This makes reading large e-mails, blogs or tutorial sites much faster. Note that the default voice that comes with the program is rather robotic and can be replaced by any number of others that are easier to listen to.

3. CardScan ($325 with hardware)

Do you have a pile of business cards you have collected from various sources? If so, do you ever look at them or get any value out of them? If not you need CardScan. CardScan is a little software program that comes with a special business card sized scanner. The scanner that allows you to scan business cards in bulk. The software then performs OCR on each card and captures the address, phone number, e-mail and web addresses. You can then create customised categories and assign a contact to a category. Later you can select records based on these categories. Your database of contacts can be used for e-mail and direct marketing as receiving a business card from someone is implied consent to e-mail them.

4.Roboform ($35)

This little program is a genius. It runs in your Windows system tray (bottom right, beside the time) and stores web addresses with their associated logins. It can be run from a USB stick or installed on the desktop. There are no limits to the number of logins you can store in the program. Passwords are saved in encrypted form behind a master password (make it long). The Roboform program will save you endless hours and frustration by storing and managing your logins. The above programs will take away some of the drudge of using a computer and allow you to be more focused and productive… or spend less time in front of a computer.

Writing for the Web

Posted on by Posted in How Tos

Tip No. 1 – Allocate plenty of time

Good website writing is concise and easy to read. When something is easy to read, it is natural to think it was easy to write. The opposite is true. The fewer words you use, the longer it takes. If you underestimate the time it takes to organise and write your content, you could delay the completion of your website. Plan well ahead and allow at least twice the time you think you need.

Tip No. 2 – Avoid a content dump

It is tempting to fill your website with all sorts of information that you think is important. The risk is that you will create clutter that gets in the way. Here are just two reasons why that matters:

  1. Website visitors are impatient. If you make them work to find what they want, they will leave.
  2. Many people have difficulty understanding written communication. Websites are harder to read than printed material. Unnecessary content just makes the problem worse.

Identify what is relevant for the people who will visit your site. Omit the rest.

Tip No. 3 – Maintain your content

A sure way to lose credibility is to have outdated or inaccurate information on your website.
A good practice is to schedule regular content reviews. Of course, if you know something needs replacing, don’t wait for the next review. Fix it now before a potential customer sees it. As your business grows and changes, so should your website content. The best sites are always works in progress.

Tip No. 4- Give every page a purpose

People often write website content that has no clear objectives. Your site will be more effective when every page exists for a purpose. Use the answers to these three questions to help you draft and review your content.

  1. What are our business goals for this page?
  2. Who will read this page?
  3. How will this page help people who read it?

Aim to strike a balance between the communication needs of your organisation and the needs of people who visit your website.

Tip No 5- Use simple words and plain English

Your potential customers may be unfamiliar with words that you frequently use in your organisation.
Avoid the following, unless you know that everybody in your target audience will understand them.

  • industry jargon
  • technical terms
  • long words that sound impressive

People will stay on your website longer if you use simple everyday words that they understand.

Tip No 6- Check your spelling

Spelling is important. When people visit your website, they judge your entire organisation. One small mistake might undermine your credibility and cost you a valuable sale. Although spell-checker tools (such as in Microsoft Word) are very useful, never rely solely on them. The best practice is to have someone else proof read your work. If that is not possible, try to put it aside for a while so you can read it with fresh eyes.
A useful technique when checking your own work is to read it backwards, because that makes you look more closely at each word.

Tip No 7 – Write as if only one person reads your site

Using the web is a personal experience. Your website might reach thousands of people, but each of them interacts with it as an individual. This means you are really writing for an audience of one.
Think of the words on your website as a substitute for talking to someone face to face or over the telephone. It’s like having a one-sided conversation with a person you cannot see. This tip can also help you overcome “writer’s block”. If you are trying to write and your mind goes blank, imagine that you are talking to someone. Write down what you would say. It’s a great way to get started, although of course you will need to tidy it up later.

Tip No 8 – use “you”, “us” and “we”

Following on from the tip above, you will connect better with your reader if you use “you”, “us” and “we” instead of a formal, corporate style.If you were explaining your services to a potential customer, you would say what “we” could do for “you”. Because your website replaces that conversation, it should use those words too. As another example, compare these two statements:

  1.  This company welcomes enquiries from interested job seekers.
  2. If you would like to work for us, please send us your details.

Notice how the second version is much friendlier.

Tip No 9 – Write in the active voice

As you might remember from primary school, when you use a “subject – verb – object” sentence structure you are writing in the active voice. The subject performs the action (the verb) on the object.  The active voice creates sentences that are shorter, snappier and livelier. The alternative, the passive voice, generally results in sentences that are more cumbersome. Although there are uses for the passive voice, the active voice is usually preferable. Consider these examples

Your order will be shipped by us within 24 hours. (passive voice)
We will ship your order within 24 hours. (active voice)

Our products are only installed by qualified technicians. (passive voice)
Only qualified technicians install our products. (active voice)

Master the art of the active voice and see your web content become stronger and more direct.

Tip No. 10- Break up long sections of text

When people use your website, they want to find things quickly. Don’t expect them to read every line word for word. If you use long blocks of text, there is a good chance that what you are saying will not register with many people. These techniques help them find information quickly

  • Bullet point lists, like this one
  • Short sentences, with an average length of about 20 words.
  • Short paragraphs, about 40 words or less. One-sentence paragraphs are OK.
  • Bolding of important words or phrases, in moderation
  • Subheadings

The easier it is for your audience to spot the key points, the more effective your website.

Tip No. 11- One main topic per page

Following on from the tip above, another way to make web content easier to understand is to focus on one main topic or idea per page. There are additional benefits in doing this

  • It becomes easier to create a logical, customer-friendly site structure.
  • Search engines can more easily identify what the page is about.

Think of your website as a series of topics through which people move. People move from one idea to the next and different people will take different paths. Better to have short pages and link them, than to try covering a range of subjects on one long page.

Tip No. 12- Make the important stuff obvious

Do you want your readers to see important information first? Of course. Then forget what you were taught at school about writing essays with an introduction first and a conclusion at the end.
Writing for the web is different to writing an essay. Tell people what you want them to know quickly, before they get bored and go elsewhere. For example

  • Write a headline that actually says what the page is about.
  • Include the main point in the first sentence.
  • Make special offers or calls to action stand out.
  • The golden rule is that the more important it is, the more prominent it should be.

Should I pay for Google Ads?

Posted on by Posted in How Tos, What NOT to do

This is a question I get asked a lot. The answer is “no” and “yes”….

NO, you shouldn’t buy Google ads if…

  1. your site is being found in the “natural find” areas of the search engine (left hand side, un-“sponsored” area). This is obvious, but I thought I better say it. Oddly people pay for ads when the already have position.
  2. you have the time to locate your own back links, that is, you can identify sites that would be good places to have incoming links from and you have the time to negotiate for them. This is boring and arduous work, and that is why SEO companies charge between $1000 and $2000 per annum to do it.
  3. you are able to support your URL (web address) be advertising you are already doing, say on your car, on a classified ad, radio, TV, street signage, direct marketing or email marketing.

YES, you should buy Google as if….

  1. you are busy doing your job and don’t have time to be updating your web site,  getting it listed on directory sites far and wide and negotiating back links.
  2. you feel confident negotiating the adsense web site. It is daunting for the first time user and only getting more complicated
  3. you can afford $3 to $15 per click depending on how competitive your selected keywords are
  4. you don’t care that any one (like a competitor) can click your ads and exhaust your marketing budget without Google being able to do too much about that or prove to you it didn’t happen.

So it comes down to the same old dilemma: time versus money. I suggest you start small and have a go yourself. Start working on getting some inbound links. If you understand it (with the help of this blog), and get some results, you may wish to continue. Otherwise, pay the money and get on with what you do best.

Top Ten Tips for Web Marketing Success in 2014

Posted on by Posted in Email Marketing, How Tos, Search Engines

1. Hidden Dollars in Email

Given that it is far cheaper to sell to an existing customer than find a new one, and marketers suggest 12 “touches” per annum for each customer, doesn’t email present itself and a cheap and fast means of keeping in touch?

Go low tech, just start with Outlook. Set up groups and email different offers or information to them.

If your list(s) get large, move to a third party newsletter manager like www.gen3media.com.au

Think about segmenting your lists from the outset. Not all customers are interested in the same things or have the same budget.

Tip: Before you consider emailing any one new, review the Spam Act (see FAQs). Did you know one email can be considered spam and you must be able to prove an existing relationship or that the receiver consented?

Tip Two: Some ISPs like Bigpond, use their outbound mail server to restrict how many recipients you can send to or the amount of data you can send. You may have to keep your lists to a few hundred names each.

2. What is all the fuss about links?

Why do we hear so much about links? A link into your web site is considered by search engines to be a vote of confidence in your web site.The more votes you have, the higher the likelihood your site has of moving up the SERPs (search engine results pages).

Tip: Aim for 50 or 60 website links, not 5 or 6.

But you can’t get links from just anywhere: they have to be “theme” or related to your site by topic. For example, a BnB will link to a local restaurant and local attractions, but not to some extraneous site. And your site should link out to as many resources as you can find that you consider will add value to your users experience of your web site.

Can I be penalised for linking to the wrong site? Oddly, yes. If a resource you link to has a Google page ranking of 0 or 1, this link may drag you backwards in the SERPs.

Your linking strategy must put you at the centre of your chosen topic. Search engines have to see a “web” of links entering your site and that your site is “authoritative” on your subject.

How can I tell who is linking to me? Go to www.yahoo.com and enter link:www.yourdomain.com.au and click the search button. I similar search can be done at Google, but the results are not as comprehensive.

3. Don’t Forget the Real World

Add your web address or “URL” to all your off line marketing activities. Here is a list (be no means exhaustive): business cards and letterheads, shirts and caps, company car, shop windows, swing tags, signs, press releases, classified adverts…. and your email signature file.

4. Who’s Looking Anyway?

Know thy visitor! Who is looking at your web site? Where are they in the world? When is your web site busiest? What is the most looked at page? What is the page that most people leave your site from? Did that classified advertising you did last month culminate in more visitors to your site?

It is likely that the company that hosts your site is keeping statistics on your site’s performance. These “web stats” are general hidden behind a log in to stop your competitors looking at them (but hell you are doing better than them anyway so let ’em look!).

Web stats are vital to track trends. For example, are your visitor numbers tracking up over time and are they staying longer. If not, you have to reverse that. Web stats will also show you what keywords people are using and on what search engine.

The main stats packages available are: Analog, Webalyizer, Awstats and Google Analytics.

Tip: remember close to 60% of visitors to your web site may be the “bots” of search engines. Accommodate them with lots of keyword rich text.

5. Convert Lookers to Buyers

There are web based tools that allow you to engage you site’s visitors:

  • WeCallYouNow.com – allow people to initiate a call from you. Only good for people by a phone all day.
  • Whoson.com – invite visitors to chat with you. Select chat candidates on the basis of the pages they are looking at and how long they have been looking. Only good for PC based workers.
  • “Tell a friend” email links – a simple friend get friend device.

6. Don’t Forget a Call to Action

What do you want people to do? Call this number, click this email link, complete this form, etc. It may be obvious to you or your feel it is implicit, but make it explicit.

What are they going to get if they respond e.g. “talk to the business owner right now”, “and download a free report on xyz”.

7. Pay Per Click Advertising

Tip: Only do this as a last resort. Exhaust all avenues to come up in the “natural results” first.

Pay per click advertising is essentially bidding in an auction for position on the SERPs screen. You set a monthly budget, say $50, set the maximum you are prepared to pay for a click say $1 and the search engine will serve your ads (top and right) beside the natural results UNTIL your budget is exhausted. At that time your ad falls out of rotation.

At the time of writing, according to Melbourne IT, about $1 per click is required to get top position on most chosen keywords.

Tip: PPC experts suggest you aim for second position. You will pay less and stay on the screen longer and the click through rate is similar.

Tip Two: even though you only have a tiny amount of text for your ad, what you say in that ad can have a massive impact on the click through rate. Amazingly, people are employed just to write adwords ads. Test several versions.

Warning 1: even if you get number 1 position it may not equate to sales. Traffic is no indicator or willingness to purchase.

Warning 2: your competitors can click you adverts and exhaust your budget. Amazing but true.

8. Keywords

Tip: ignore the <meta> tag keyword. It is abused and no longer works. Simple as that.

In terms of keywords focus on adding your critical keywords to:

  • the <title> tag
  • the link label of the first link on the page
  • the first para… keep all these close to the A1 coordinate on the page

Tip Two: using the above 3 areas, optimise each page for different keywords.

Remember, humans tire fast from reading on screen (so headings and bulleted lists are good for humans) but machines do not tire. So in terms of search engines, more text is good.

Testing Tools:

8. Start a Blog

“Blog” is short for “web log”. Blogs usually offer commentary on a topic, like this one on web marketing. Blogs are the equivalent of an opinion piece in the analogue world of newspapers. If you have specialist knowledge or a unique perspective on a topic, you may be a perfect blogger. Use your blog to build a community around your site. e.g computer shop blog on gaming news and patches.

Your blog will allow you to build authority around your web site. It will present more text to search engines while adding value for your users.

9. Search Engine Submission

Search engine submission is the process of saying to search engines “hey, there is a new (or changed) site over here. Come and look at it“. There is much discussion about the value of search engine submission versus a concept called “natural find”. But it is detailed and outside the scope of this post, suffice to say, in my experience, there is good reason to let search engines know you are live. Submission URLs follow:

10. Read this blog…

…and this tutorial on search engines written specifically for web site owners.

This article was written by Peter Mitchell of Dynamic Web Solutions Pty Ltd
Copyright 2014

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Do I Need CMS?

Posted on by Posted in How Tos

Very often when people approach my business for a quote, they ask for “content management”. Content management systems, or CMS, allow the owner of a web site to change the content on each page. Often people have heard that this is a preferred option, but let’s explore the pros and cons

  • The benefit is obvious: you can change the pages of your site, or the products that are listed in your store at any time. This is a big advantage and means you do not pay people to do this.
  • Also, there are some situations where nothing else will cut it, that is when product prices and availability change very frequently. 

However, there is always a flip side. Here are some things to consider:

  • When you bring this function in-house it becomes a cost to your business, and an opportunity cost. While you are finessing your web site, you many be missing orders or sales in your store.
  • You will have to learn your way around the “back-end” or the management interface. This can be a steep learning curve for some people.
  • You will need to learn to re-size images for the web. This is the single thing that seems to give people the most grief.
  • CMS requires a database, and they tend not to be as well indexed by search engines. I have seen this demonstrated time and again.

Whether you choose CMS or not, it pays to change the text on your site and add new pages from time to time. When you do this search engines can tell the information has changed or improved and they will reward you for keeping your site up to date with high page rankings.

Top Ten Tips for Web Marketing Success in 2009

Posted on by Posted in Email Marketing, How Tos, Search Engines

1. Hidden Dollars in Email

Given that it is far cheaper to sell to an existing customer than find a new one, and marketers suggest 12 “touches” per annum for each customer, doesn’t email present itself and a cheap and fast means of keeping in touch?

Go low tech, just start with Outlook. Set up groups and email different offers or information to them.

If your list(s) get large, move to a third party newsletter manager like www.gen3media.com.au

Think about segmenting your lists from the outset. Not all customers are interested in the same things or have the same budget.

Tip: Before you consider emailing any one new, review the Spam Act on the ACMA website. Did you know one email can be considered spam and you must be able to prove an existing relationship or that the receiver consented?

Tip Two: Some ISPs like Bigpond, use their outbound mail server to restrict how many recipients you can send to or the amount of data you can send. You may have to keep your lists to a few hundred names each.

2. What is all the fuss about links?

Why do we hear so much about links? A link into your web site is considered by search engines to be a vote of confidence in your web site.The more votes you have, the higher the likelihood your site has of moving up the SERPs (search engine results pages).

Tip: Aim for 50 or 60 website links, not 5 or 6.

But you can’t get links from just anywhere: they have to be “theme” or related to your site by topic. For example, a BnB will link to a local restaurant and local attractions, but not to some extraneous site. And your site should link out to as many resources as you can find that you consider will add value to your users experience of your web site.

Can I be penalised for linking to the wrong site? Oddly, yes. If a resource you link to has a Google page ranking of 0 or 1, this link may drag you backwards in the SERPs.

Your linking strategy must put you at the centre of your chosen topic. Search engines have to see a “web” of links entering your site and that your site is “authoritative” on your subject.

How can I tell who is linking to me? Go to www.yahoo.com and enter link:www.yourdomain.com.au and click the search button. I similar search can be done at Google, but the results are not as comprehensive.

3. Don’t Forget the Real World

Add your web address or “URL” to all your off line marketing activities. Here is a list (be no means exhaustive): business cards and letterheads, shirts and caps, company car, shop windows, swing tags, signs, press releases, classified adverts…. and your email signature file. More ideas…

4. Who’s Looking Anyway?

Know thy visitor! Who is looking at your web site? Where are they in the world? When is your web site busiest? What is the most looked at page? What is the page that most people leave your site from? Did that classified advertising you did last month culminate in more visitors to your site?

It is likely that the company that hosts your site is keeping statistics on your site’s performance. These “web stats” are general hidden behind a log in to stop your competitors looking at them (but hell you are doing better than them anyway so let ’em look!).

Web stats are vital to track trends. For example, are your visitor numbers tracking up over time and are they staying longer. If not, you have to reverse that. Web stats will also show you what keywords people are using and on what search engine.

The main stats packages available are : Analog, Webalyizer and Awstats.

Tip: remember close to 60% of visitors to your web site may be the “bots” of search engines. Accommodated them with lots of keyword rich text.

5. Convert Lookers to Buyers

There are web based tools that allow you to engage you site’s visitors:

  • WeCallYouNow.com – allow people to initiate a call from you. Only good for people by a phone all day.
  • Whoson.com – invite visitors to chat with you. Select chat candidates on the basis of the pages they are looking at and how long they have been looking. Only good for PC based workers.
  • “Tell a friend” email links – a simple friend get friend device.

6. Don’t Forget a Call to Action

What do you want people to do? Call this number, click this email link, complete this form, etc. It may be obvious to you or your feel it is implicit, but make it explicit.

What are they going to get if they respond e.g. “talk to the business owner right now”, “and download a free report on xyz”.

7. Pay Per Click Advertising

Tip: Only do this as a last resort. Exhaust all avenues to come up in the “natural results” first.

Pay per click advertising is essentially bidding in an auction for position on the SERPs screen. You set a monthly budget, say $50, set the maximum you are prepared to pay for a click say $1 and the search engine will serve your ads (top and right) beside the natural results UNTIL your budget is exhausted. At that time your ad falls out of rotation.

At the time of writing, according to Melbourne IT, about $1 per click is required to get top position on most chosen keywords.

Tip: PPC experts suggest you aim for second position. You will pay less and stay on the screen longer and the click through rate is similar.

Tip Two: even though you only have a tiny amount of text for your ad, what you say in that ad can have a massive impact on the click through rate. Amazingly, people are employed just to write adwords ads. Test several versions.

Warning 1: even if you get number 1 position it may not equate to sales. Traffic is no indicator or willingness to purchase.

Warning 2: your competitors can click you adverts and exhaust your budget. Amazing but true.

8. Keywords

Tip: ignore the <meta> tag keyword. It is abused and no longer works. Simple as that.

In terms of keywords focus on adding your critical keywords to:

  • the <title> tag
  • the link label of the first link on the page
  • the first para… keep all these close to the A1 coordinate on the page

Tip Two: using the above 3 areas, optimise each page for different keywords.

Remember, humans tire fast from reading on screen (so headings and bulleted lists are good for humans) but machines do not tire. So in terms of search engines, more text is good.

Testing Tools:

8. Start a Blog

“Blog” is short for “web log”. Blogs usually offer commentary on a topic, like this one on web marketing. Blogs are the equivalent of an opinion piece in the analogue world of newspapers. If you have specialist knowledge or a unique perspective on a topic, you may be a perfect blogger. Use your blog to build a community around your site. e.g computer shop blog on gaming news and patches.

Your blog will allow you to build authority around your web site. It will present more text to search engines while adding value for your users.

9. Search Engine Submission

Search engine submission is the process of saying to search engines “hey, there is a new (or changed) site over here. Come and look at it“. There is much discussion about the value of search engine submission versus a concept called “natural find”. But it is detailed and outside the scope of this post, suffice to say, in my experience, there is good reason to let search engines know you are live. Submission URLs follow:

10. Read this blog…

…and this tutorial on search engines written specifically for web site owners.

This article was written by Peter Mitchell of Dynamic Web Solutions Pty Ltd
Copyright 2008

Do I Need CMS?

Posted on by Posted in How Tos

Very often when people approach my business for a quote, they ask for “content management”. Content management systems, or CMS, allow the owner of a web site to change the text and pictures on each page. Often people have heard that this is a preferred option, but let’s explore the pros and cons

  • The benefit is obvious: you can change the pages of your site, or the products that are listed in your store at any time. This is a big advantage and means you do not pay people to do this or wait.
  • Also, there are some situations where nothing else will cut it, that is when product prices and availability change very frequently.

However, there is always a flip side. Here are some things to consider:

  • When you bring this function in-house it becomes a cost to your business, and an opportunity cost. While you are finessing your web site, you many be missing orders or sales in your real world store.
  • You will have to learn your way around the “back-end” or the management interface. This can be a steep learning curve for some people.
  • You will need to learn to re-size images for the web. This is the single thing that seems to give people the most grief.

Whether you choose CMS or not, it pays to change the text on your site and add new pages from time to time. When you do this search engines can tell the information has changed or improved and they will reward you for keeping your site up to date with high page rankings.