Archive for July, 2009
July
30
Speed Yourself Up
By Ben Kelly
I rarely discover software that I really genuinely like. For every good bit of software, there are 9 that wind me up or do things in such a clunky way I wish I had never bothered. Ever now and then though, you find a gem. Something that's so exciting your mouth drops with excitement and you go beyond generally enthusiasm into the world of oh-my-god-this-will-change-my-life-and-all-those-around-me-quick-call-the-wife-my-mother-the-kids-the-dog-the-old-man-down-the-road-this-is-epic.
Today was one of those days.
If you are on a mac, stop reading. Seriously. Because this will destroy your love of all things reflective and shiny. This will make you want to go back to the dark days of being a PC user.
I can code, but I am not a brilliant coder. I'm remarkably average, and really quite slow. This is fine, because I don't do much coding. Why do I bring this up? Because you have to do a tiny, and I mean tiny amount of coding to do this. Don't worry though, and don't be put off. It's quick to learn, and they hold your hand the whole way through it.
And trust me, it's worth it.
Do you ever find yourself frustrated and doing slow repetitive tasks? Or having to click half a dozen times through Windows Explorer to get to the folder your client's files are stored in. What about writing out the same thing over and over again?
This software takes care of that. For example, rather than typing out "ben@alphawavemedia.co.uk" I now type "b@a" - and it instantly does the rest. What about a signature? I type "bbb" and it writes my e-mail signature out for me.
As well as that, I now type WIN+W to launch Dreamweaver, WIN+G to launch G-mail and WIN+A to open my Highrise HQ account (more on that later, it's another epic tool).
WIN+X in Outlook - archives whichever e-mail I have selected. It was worth it for that one alone. Shortcut keys are the way forward. You will speed up your life dramatically if you give this a try.
Ben
Posted in: Business 0 comments
July
28
DIY Design
By Ben Kelly
Ever thought you could create your own website? Ever decided "sod it, people tell me I'm creative, I'm going to build a website myself".
Please for the love of god don't. There's so much more to it than being able to design.
The trouble is, if you've decided you're going to, you probably won't listen to me. So if you won't heed my advice, read this: http://psd.tutsplus.com/articles/web/50-totally-free-lessons-in-graphic-design-theory/
Ben
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July
23
Foreign Language Translations - get them checked
By Ben Kelly
It's far too easy to end up with a mediocre foreign translation. There's absolutely no point in going to all the hassle if you end up with a mediocre translation. Worse still, is when you have your site translated into 14 languages - but don't get the menu's, text-within-images and other key content translated as well.
When going through your site, beyond text content, make sure you translate:
- Sound & videos.
- Images.
- Image captions.
- Alt text for accessibility.
When all this is done, ask a native speaker to have a brief look at your site. They should be able to tell you very quickly if the tone and style reflects your original language - and if there are any glaring errors or omissions.
Finally, make it clear when your customer service line is English speaking only, or if you only ship your goods to certain countries. Forgetting these crucial steps will drive your customers away, and render all the money you spent translating the text a complete waste of time and effort.
Ben
Posted in: Foreign Languages 0 comments
July
21
Chrome
By Ben Kelly
Google Chrome is awesome. If you spend a lot of time online, Chrome is the browser of choice. In fact, I guarantee you it will speed up your life.
Why?
Not only is it so much faster than FireFox, it has a fantastic little function built in - it checks your spelling as you type. As someone brought up, for a while at least, under fine educational program, my ability to spell hovers around mediocre at best. Normally this requires hoping for the best when speed matters, or copying into Word, spell checking and copying out again when accuracy counts.
Speed up your life and use Chrome. I know I have and I've not made a speling mestake sinse....
Ben
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July
16
So what?
By Ben Kelly
Here's a quick exerice to help you focus your website. After every sentence, item, image or gadget, ask yourself the question "so what?"
It's so easy to keep adding to your site, or writing more content because you think it's what's needed. What really matters is making sure that what's on your site is having an impact. If it isn't, then so what?
Ben
Posted in: Business 0 comments
July
14
Hits
By Ben Kelly
If you have a "hit counter", remove it. They are a relic from the nineties, and never, ever serve to impress your users. Conversely, listing the number of subscribers to your newsletter can. See Leo's blog to see what I mean.
Ben
Posted in: Bells & Whistles 0 comments
July
9
Showing the date and time on your website
By Ben Kelly
Clocks are useful. When you're in a station or walking in the high street - the large clock is genuinely very helpful. Especially if you aren't wearing a watch. So why not put one on your website?
Here's why:
Don't waste space on your website duplicating information that's already on your user's screen.
Ben
Posted in: Bells & Whistles 1 comments
July
7
Laser focus vs shotgun approach
By Ben Kelly
No. This is not a post on firearms (real or fictional), or about the best way to take down a Storm Trooper. This is a post on making sure your website reflects your company's approach.
There are two kinds of company: the ones that try to do a wide range of things, and the ones that focus on a single area of expertise, or a single product, and focus all their energy upon this like a laser. Here's two examples of what I mean:
1. Shotgun
Tesco's. If you want something, the chances are you can get it from Tesco's. In fact, the chances are that you can get 90% of all the stuff you need from Tesco's, and the rest probably isn't "essential" anyway. The more I think about it, the more I struggle to think of situations where you can't get everything from your local super-store (haircuts, and dental work spring to mind - but they aren't consumables in the strictest sense - and if you view your dentist as a consumable, then you have issues far beyond what this blog can solve. I digress). Tesco's have a bit shotgun loaded with popular products, and they fire it at people.
Unsurprisingly, their website does the same thing.
2. Laser
On the other end of the spectrum, are companies like Black Circles (who sell only car tyres), Monster Tackle (who only sell fishing accessories), and The Dolls House Emporium. I'm not a massive fan of any of these (OK, I do have a penchant for car tyres), but if I need a specialist product, I'm left in no doubt after visiting these sites that I've come to the right place.
So what about you?
This blog is targeted at SME's in the UK. It's therefore likely that you are a laser focused company, and specialise in a particular niche. At the very least, you'll likely be providing a particular type of service, or selling B2B in a particular industry. And if you aren't, that's fine too. It doesn't matter whether or not your business is successful by having laser focus, or by wielding a shotgun, what matters is:
Make sure your website mirrors your approach.
If you are a shotgun, have a website packed full of information and products. Your customers will expect it, and it will work well - it mirrors what you do. However, if you are a laser, make sure that your website is ONLY focused on what your company offers, and how it brings benefit to your potential customers. Everything else must go.
Though I try and follow my own advice, I will admit I'm guilty of the same thing. I make websites, and I develop excellent strategy for website owners. The real value of what I do lies in the latter, but in any case, they work hand in hand. On my website, www.alphawavemedia.co.uk, on the services page I list "hosting". Hosting is something that I do as a reseller, and the service I provide is your standard excellent top of the range package. Hosting is cross-selling to existing clients, and for as long as I continue to do it in an excellent fashion, it will always be profitable. And yet, I've never had a customer come to me for hosting, and then ask for a website. It's always website first.
Why on earth do I have hosting as a separately listed service on my website? Well I don't. Not any more. Why? Because I am laser focused on providing excellent web strategy. I do this by building websites, improving existing websites, and running effective online marketing campaigns.
Go through your website, and see if you can cut any fat out. The websites I listed above work because they are completely focused on what they do. If you are an SME and your customers are coming to you online, it's because they want to find the real specialists in the field, not the jack-of-all-trades. If they wanted an online shop that did everything, they've got a dozen places to go already. Add value by focusing on your core services and products.
Why does this matter? Because once you've made that work, and have a good following and happy customers, THEN you can expand and bring in new products. Amazon used to sell books, Play.com used to sell only DVD's. Get the niche right, then expand.
Ben
Posted in: Business 0 comments
July
2
Tracking it
By Ben Kelly
Do you track where your leads come from?
Tracking the effectiveness of your marketing campaigns is vital to making them work. Until you know which approach works best, you won't know how to adapt and evolve your marketing properly. Find out from your leads by asking them, or better still, by sending them to your organisation via a filter of some kind:
- A different phone number
- A PO Box mailing address
- A 5% discount if they mention a promotional code
And of course online it's even easier. Create different versions of the same page and use tools like Google Analytics to work out which page has the better reaction. Better still, with good tracking software you can find out where your visitors came from, how long they stayed on the page, and what they did next. Comparing two campaigns online is quick to do, and gives you instant results. Best of all - it's free. No new line rental, no new PO Box service subscription, no reduction in profit in exchange for finding out how people found you. All it takes is a little thought and setup and you'll have a brilliantly effective measurement tool at your disposal.
Ben
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