Archive for August, 2009
August
27
And whilst you are at it...
By Ben Kelly
Below your e-mail signature, put in a link to your newest promotion, a hot selling item, your blog, a brief endorsement or testimonial. Keep it short. Keep it unobtrusive. But do it.
Ben
Posted in: Links 0 comments
August
25
Is your website address in your e-mail signature?
By Ben Kelly
This is something you can sort out right now, it's simple, and it's free. Put your website URL in your e-mail signature. It's so easy to overlook! Hmm. A very short post. But then it's really that simple.
Go do it!
Ben
Posted in: Links 0 comments
August
20
What's worse than too much blogging?
By Ben Kelly
Not blogging at all. Or blogging infrequently. I rarely advise website owners I don't know well to start a blog. A good blog is a rare thing, but a blog doesn't always have to be good (as in well written) to be effective. At the very least it lets people know you and your business is active.
Until you stop.
And then blog becomes damaging, because even if no-one notices your blog after 4 hard months of writing, believe me they will notice if you've stopped for any length of time. They'll ask questions if your latest post is months out of date. Questions they'll guess the answer to, and you can bet they won't be favourable.
Blogging is good when it is done. If you give up part way through, better not to have started.
Ben
Posted in: 0 comments
August
18
Beware frequent blogging
By Ben Kelly
Some good advice I had today was never to blog more than two or three times a week. Why? When your blog becomes popular, it can take a few days for the posts to filter down through the various content-sharing sites (such as technorati, digg or slashdot). If you keep posting new content every day, the people coming to your site front page looking for content from 3 days ago will have a much harder time getting to where they want to be.
However, until you reach that stage, write as frequently as possible and build up a resource. Writing every day will pay off in the long run (when your site reaches true popularity, then feel free to consider writing less).
Ben
Posted in: 0 comments
August
13
Google Trends
By Ben Kelly
Ever wondered about how many people are searching for your offering online? Is it an increasing or decreasing market? Should you be focused on the same keywords now as you were six months ago?
Try this: Google Trends http://www.google.com/trends
Ben
Posted in: Keywords 0 comments
August
11
Speed Networking
By Ben Kelly
Another post unrelated to pure web strategy, however - Speed Networking is pretty good. I tried it today for the first time, and I have to admit, I quite liked it. Here are the rules:
- You have a given amount of time (60 seconds or so) to pitch.
- You then listen to the pitch from the person opposite.
It's that simple.
My advice:
- Break the rules.
- Whatever you do, condense it down to 30 seconds. Keep it simple. "Hi. I'm Ben. I help businesses develop strategies that make their websites work. If you have an existing website, I look at it to determine what's working, what isn't, and make sure it fits your business goals and strategy. If you don't have a website, I make sure you develop it based around what your business needs." 30 seconds. Then ask them to do the same. Then find out how you can help each other.
- Take plenty of business cards.
- Speak loudly and clearly.
- Listen.
- Follow up every lead.
That's it.
Really, it's quite good fun (though headache inducing!), and the time will pass very quickly. If you are lucky, you'll end up with some good leads. Worst case, you get a chance to practice your pitch over a dozen times - and it's worth it for that alone.
Good luck!
Ben
Posted in: Business 0 comments
August
6
Google for local business owners
By Ben Kelly
If you haven't done it yet, get yourself added to Google Local Businesses. It takes five minutes, it's free, and it will help your search engine optimisation massively - (after all these results are placed very high on the google results page).
Find out more here: http://www.google.com/local/add/businessCenter?gl=GB&hl=en-US
Just one note of caution.
Don't try and do it in Google Chrome. Google's software doesn't seem to do a very good job of running Google's website. Hmm...
Ben
Posted in: 0 comments
August
4
Don't make me think
By Ben Kelly
I'm going to try something a bit different, do a short book review.
The one in question, is one of my favourites, "Don't Make Me Think: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability" by Steve Krug.
Steve is a usability expert (makes sure web interfaces with humans work properly), and wrote this book based on his beliefs of how websites should be created in order to work most effectively with users who have never visited your site before. As per the title, it's a common sense approach to web interface creation, and instantly understandable - it is, after all, common sense. It's purposefully short, and devoid of overwhelming jargon.
After a witty introduction, and a brief and non-technical overview of what usability is, the book is broadly broken up into three parts. First, a look at what good usability strives to achieve, and why it's so important. Then a look at the practicalities of how it works, and how to get good feedback from your users. Finally, a holistic overview of how usability fits into the bigger picture of making a website work.
I read this in one sitting. First, it was short (and that helped), and second I found myself agreeing with about 90% of the content. If you've been involved with websites for any amount of time, you'll find the book hugely satisfying, as I finally found written definition (and backup) for instinctual decisions I've been making for years. The implementation part of the booker was a touch weaker, but it was worth the money and the read for the first half alone.
Since reading the book, I've found it easier to give concise constructive feedback to website owners on parts beyond good design and technical execution. So few websites are designed to be used the way they actually are, and there are so many mistakes made by very well intentioned people.
If you are a usability expert, you may find this overly basic, but for anyone else involved in creating websites or business owners, it's a gem.
Ben
Posted in: 0 comments
