Web Sites
Advice: How to turn web visitors into web customers
In 1943, Abraham Maslow proposed his “hierarchy of needs” – food, safety, love, respect & acceptance – a series of 5 levels that were the building blocks for every human’s existence. In 2009, I’m proposing a new set of 5 ‘needs’ to be able to turn a web visitor into a customer.
Advice: The ‘one percenters’ – a list of small things every business should/shouldn’t do
If the world of business was able to borrow just one phrase from the world of AFL Football, then I’d hope it was the concept of the ‘one percenters’ – the idea that it’s all the little tiny things that players do that win the game for their team. Get enough ‘one percenters’ going your [...]
Advice: Twitter 101: A primer…
So… what is Twitter? Ah, the multi-million dollar question… Perhaps it’s easier to answer what Twitter is *not*, first:
• Twitter is not exactly like a chat program (MSN, iChat, Skype, etc), but it does let you communicate back and forth with friends
• Twitter is not exactly like sending an SMS from your phone, but it does let you broadcast news and other messages to many people
• Twitter is not exactly like a blog, although it does let you get to know people over time
• Twitter is not exactly like Facebook, although it does let you find people and see what they’re up to
• Twitter is not just a fad – it fills the otherwise empty niche of ‘real-time written communication’ – although it seems to be the mainstream media’s darling this year!
What Twitter *is*, is a free system of writing messages of no more than 140 characters, so that anyone in the world who is also on Twitter can *follow* you, and thereby follow the stream of messages you’re writing.
Folio: Tinybeans.com logo
Working remotely with a client based in Sydney, the brief was to fully develop his business from his initial mockup, to a fully formed web application.
Advice: Search Engine Optimisation 101
Search engine *what*? Yes, yes, sorry if I use too many ‘big words’ this month, but for a lot of businesses, ‘optimising’ your site so that it appears higher in the big search engines is well worth the effort.
So, up front: what is search engine optimisation?
SEO (*much* easier to write than ‘search engine optimisation’) is the process of preparing your web site so that it ranks higher on the search results page of a search engine. The aim is to be seen before your competition – and even though it may or may not result in more clicks through to your web site, at least you were *found* – from that position, you can work on ways to increase your conversion/click-through rate. If you consider the reverse position, where your web site does not feature at all for a given search, then trivial things like your conversion rate won’t matter at all if no-one can find you.
So how the heck to we make sure our site is featured prominently for any given search? And how do I make sure my site is listed before my competitor’s site?
Well, I’m glad you asked. Read on…
News: Introducing MyPerfect.com.au
Introducing MyPerfect.com.au – a locally built internet empire with global aspirations.
Advice: A coffee and a blog for breakfast
How do you start your day? Coffee, tea or fresh OJ? Perhaps a slice of toast and the morning paper? For a lot of the population, it’s not only the morning wake-up routine, but it’s also their chance to get their daily dose of news and events.
Newspapers are still a fresh and consistent source of local and regional news and events, with their wide range of columns and inserts, but (you *knew* there was a ‘but’ coming, didn’t you?) newspapers are edited for the general population, with general interest and general topics that generally please everyone…
Let me show you a way to pick and choose your own topics of interest from around the world, and roll-your-own newspaper, so that you can start the day with your perfect selection of news, columns, and advice – and begin your day with coffee and a blog for breakfast.
Folio: How Bazaar Antiques
How Bazaar Antiques is a large warehouse full of wonderful and truly bizarre antiques and collectables. Packed to the rafters with all manner of furniture, garagenalia and valuable antiques, How Bazaar is literally overflowing with many tens of thousands of precious items.
Advice: The Wonders of Web Site Statistics
Marketing is vital for any business – it’s simply the act of getting your name out there in a controlled and positive way. Nine times out of ten, though, marketing is almost impossible to measure: apart from focus groups, surveys and TV ratings, any effort you spend on marketing tends to pay off as a rather long term positive ‘aura’ surrounding your business. It’s all a bit ‘woofy’, but it does add up eventually.
Enter web site statistics: whether you have a tiny one-page ‘contact me’ web site, or a small brochure online, or a larger ecommerce or content-based web site, every person that visits your web site leaves their own individual, indelible mark.
Advice: Online & Offline Marketing: Perfect Partners.
Marketing your business is both a dark art, and an inspired work – that is, even with the best of intentions, marketing is a lot of trial and error, and plenty of hit and miss. Sometimes you make gains with bold new initiatives, but other times you’re just one of the many messages that radiates daily from the business world.