Archive for July, 2007
Beta Version of Yahoos NEW Search
July 17th, 2007
MatthewY!Q Search: Successful website owners all have one thing in common — they provide content relevant to their users’ needs. If you’re struggling to find additional sources of relevant content, consider Yahoo’s Y!Q contextual search. Y!Q lets users search from what Yahoo calls “the point of inspiration” — your site. Simply cut and paste a simple string of Javascript code into your own site’s HTML and you’re off and running.
Going to a mobile web conference
July 17th, 2007
MatthewThe Time For The Mobile Web Is Now……..
Experts agree that the United States is about to see the same explosive growth in mobile web users as the UK and Asia. In Japan shopping and surfing the web from the mobile phone is done by over 40% of adults. Americans are more than ready for the mobile web but most sites are not. Think about the convenience of shopping or getting information anytime and anywhere right from your wireless phone or PDA. Early adapters to this technology have a tremendous advantage to establish themselves. Leaders on the traditional web will not necessarily be the leaders on the mobile web.
The Mobile Web Americas conference and expo will bring together industry professionals from around the world to discuss how to improve and capitalize on the mobile web.
What is a wiki?
July 17th, 2007
MatthewA wiki is a website that allows any user to add, remove and modify content while ideally supporting the overall mission of the online enterprise. Think of it as having a 24-hour watchdog for your industry that readily and voluntarily updates your site with the latest industry news, trends innovations in important to your community. An evolution of the discussion forum, a wiki has the ability to turn your website into an information hub.
What makes wikis different from a standard content management system (CMS) is that selected content on various pages making up the wiki are automatically linked. The result for users is a system that is easily created, modified and searched, and less time-consuming to maintain for the administrator. Today, common uses for wikis include project communication, intranets, and support documentation. Initially created for technical users, many companies are replacing their static sites and embracing the collaborative nature of wikis as both internal databases and customer-facing websites.
Lies and Perceived Truth
The problem many see with customer-facing wikis (at least the customer-facing variety) is the open nature that defines them. User-generated content inherently carries the risk of unreliable information. Wikipedia, the best-known wiki of them all, has encountered objections from the community about the validity of some of the information on the site. But this is not unique to Wikipedia alone. Information found in wikis is often trusted on a level equal to wellreviewed and established sources of reliable information. The result is that consumers may make decisions based misconceptions. For the website owner, hosting bogus information could result in irreparable damage to your business. When your company and brand reputation is on the line, that risk must be factored.
Newer systems such as Citizendium.com are beefing up the source and provenance side of wikis by adding “gentle expert oversight” while requiring contributors to use their real names. In the end, greater transparency about the source of information will lead to a more credible and trusted resource.
Is a Wiki Right For You?
When deciding whether a wiki is right for your online enterprise there are several important considerations. One of the biggest is a loss of control. By empowering your users, they suddenly become editors of your website. Ultimately, users may end up shaping the very nature of your site or even the products that you offer. So, being transparent about your organization’s mission is imperative to the success of your wiki. You could always edit and bar certain entries, but that is time consuming, somewhat self-defeating and, some could argue fraudulent. If you don’t want your users sharing information or simply are not willing to collaborate with others over the services you provide, then a wiki is only going to cause problems.
But, if you believe in the wisdom of the crowd and have the faith in your community to correct misconceptions and provide real value to others, then a wiki could do wonders for your site and your brand.
Stock Photos Resource
July 16th, 2007
MatthewMost of us need to use photo stock from time to time and I think this is one of the areas of design that has steadily improved with the passing years.
Firstly, if you have very specific imagery needs and/or a lack of time, commercial stock houses like Corbis, iStockPhoto, and (sometime Design View sponsor) Fotolia.com have the range, and have become cheaper, more flexible (license-wise) and dramatically more usable over the past 3-4 years. Hurrah for competition!
But perhaps the least expected development has been the continued rise of free image resource sites. It seems the breathtaking success of Flickr has helped to entrench the idea of sharing your imagery with the world, and free stock sites like SXC.hu, MorgueFile and Image:After have reaped the benefits in the form of an increasing influx of quality imagery from their communities.
Now, with the release of Picfindr.com, locating free stock imagery just got easier.
You could describe Picfindr.com as a free stock site metasearch application, allowing you to query a handful of sites simultaneously, then review the results in a single window.
Rick Englert, developer of the service, describes it as “minimalist at the moment”—somewhere between alpha and beta—but already it provides a great set of features, including intelligent searching and allowing users to exclude images on the basis of their licensing requirements (i.e. author crediting, altering the image, or permission prerequisites).
Plans are also afoot for more advanced search options, including ‘AND/OR’ options and the ability to search by color, size or orientation.
Summary: Picfindr is still a little raw, but already it’s a handy, free service that only seems likely to get better.
Robs Thought
July 16th, 2007
Matthew“The more you click, the better it gets.”
This was in reference to a website we where looking at together. I do not remember the specifics but I did like the thought.
The importance of navigation
July 16th, 2007
MatthewWeb Sites are known for many things…look and feel, content delivery, and not to forget, their navigation system. In today’s internet age, navigation system of a web site is like the limbs of the web site. Can you imagine a person without any limbs? Similarly, a web site without a navigation system or a poor navigation system is handicapped to a large extent.
We might have been able to establish that navigation systems are important, but exactly how important, is outlined below:
As the name suggests, navigation systems act as a navigator for users to move around the web site. A good navigation system can help promote the right pages to the users. It is extremely difficult to guess where relevant content might be located without the help of a navigation system.
Navigation systems need to be intuitive. A good designer will understand that you need to outguess the action of the users and that will help users get the full benefit of visiting the website. Many web sites are for education purposes… it becomes imperative that the navigation system makes sure that the users get what they are looking for without getting lost.
Navigation can also form a very important part of the web site design. In fact, most web sites designs revolve around the navigation system itself. New technologies such as Flash and AJAX now add navigation systems which are very interactive and provide some very interesting design concepts. Some of the world’s best web sites are the ones which are very simple in design and use the navigation system to create a concept. Making a navigation system which is not consistent can result in poor usage of the web site as well as contribute to poor web site designing.
A good navigation system also helps in placing web sites prominently on search engines. This is important since online marketing is one of the key ways to attract users (and subsequently business) to your web site. Good programming techniques can ensure that search engines look within the navigation structure as well to index pages.
If you are still not convinced that a navigation system plays a key role in the health of a web site, then a quick look at usability guides published by various web site design companies and web design authorities highlight navigation within the first three points of consideration which evaluating a web site for usability. Some of the recommendations for navigation systems are:
Text based links are preferred for navigation structure rather than graphical links. Not only do they display well, they are easy for the search engines to look up.
A Multi-tier navigation structure is recommended for complex web site. This provides excellent level of ease of use. It also allows the users to jump from one link to another without going through various unrelated pages.
Online studies have shown that one of the most effective navigation structures are the ones which are left hand oriented or top down.
Navigation structure should remain uniform through out the website. It should not change with the change of sections. Changes in navigation system can result in dis-orienting a user within a web site.
There should not be too many navigations systems within a web site. A major navigation system and a minor navigation system is the maximum which should exist in a web site.
Images used on a web site
July 16th, 2007
MatthewA picture can speak a thousand words and this maxim holds true for the internet as well. Images form an important part web site designing and there are many types of images which can be used to create web sites. The objective of this article is to outline some of the types of images that may be used on a web site.
The images may be defined either technically or by category but the most important aspect which will be mentioned is the contribution of these images towards the development of effective web sites:
To the point images: It helps not to beat around the bush. As it is online users have a short span of attention. Thus it makes sense to use images which relate to the content directly and can convey the message to the user faster. Sometimes it might be difficult to get images which can highlight a point.
At this stage, experienced web designers recommend NOT to use an image rather than use an incorrect image. Usability experts strongly recommend usage of images which have an objective and not using images which do not serve any purpose on the web site.
Tip: If find an image which is creatively interesting but does not relate to your content directly, you can add some words to it to draw the parallel.
Low resolution: Web sites need to have low resolution images. Unlike print media, low resolution images work very well for web sites. However, it should be kept in mind that low resolution images are not stretched too much as otherwise, they will become distorted and destroy the overall look and feel of the website.
Icons: Icons are replacing graphics on many web sites and one of the key reasons for this is that they are easy to understand. Icons do not distract users and are very light to download. Icons require a bit more creativity and intuitiveness. Icons can also follow a color and design theme and add value to the overall web site.
Clip arts and illustrations: Clip arts have been there for a long time and have gone out of fashion due to overuse. However, they seem to be making a slow comeback as sites are using customized illustrations so that the web sites can stand out in a crowd.
Using custom illustrations can be an expensive option but they provide excellent mileage for the money spent.
Using various images on a web site is dependant on the creativity of the web designer. He may even use a collage of images to create the look and feel which is attractive as well as manages to deliver an effective message to the viewers.
Introducing Donaville
July 13th, 2007
MatthewWe are happy to add Donaville to our company. Donaville just graduated from Cal Poly with a degree in Graphic Communication. She has good experience with css designs and print design.
Grow Your Home Business
July 13th, 2007
MatthewOnce you’ve got your home business up and running, many of you may reach a point where you’ve hit a plateau. At the beginning of your venture, your income stream might be inconsistent – maybe you’re working all hours just to get your business off the ground. Once you’ve gotten past that initial period, you may find that your business has stopped growing. After all, there is only a finite amount of time that you can put into it, especially if you’re working full-time or have other obligations.
Create a Business Plan
To grow your business further, start by creating a business plan that makes it clear where you want your company to be, by when, and how it’s going to get there
It’s always helps to have a roadmap for your future. Also, take a good look at your finances and see what money could be reinvested so that your business can generate even greater profits.
Get Help with Time-Intensive Tasks
If you feel like you’re “maxed out” on the amount of time you have, you might want to look into hiring an employee to help you. Hiring somebody on a part-time basis to take care of the time-intensive work that needs to be done but doesn’t result in increased revenue can dramatically improve your bottom line. This is especially true if your marketing involves a significant amount of time-consuming phone prospecting. With your advanced business skills and experience, your time may now be your most important resource! By freeing yourself up to do the more critical tasks that really bring in the profits, you can grow both your business and your profit margin. You’ll probably have more fun with your work and be more relaxed as well.
Get Help to Generate More Profits
Let’s say your business advances to the next level, but even with someone doing all your cold calling or “light work,” you find that your profits have again stopped increasing. Well, as problems go, this is a good one to have!
The answer might be to hire someone to do some profit-generating work. This may be a more difficult cost to swallow, because a skilled assistant will usually command a higher wage than administrative help.
One way to make sure that you’ll have the right person to advance your business is to find people with the same entrepreneurial spirit that you have and allow them to make commission. This will guarantee that your new employees will work hard to generate profits for you and provide the motivation to keep your business on the right track – towards bigger and better things.
Create a marketing plan
Home Business Marketing
July 13th, 2007
MatthewEssentially, home business marketing is just like marketing for big businesses. In order for your business to be successful, you need to make money. For your business to make money, you need sales. To make or increase sales, you need to market your product or service effectively.
It’s important to understand some basic marketing terms so you’ll know how to go about finding customers and prospects and how to secure their business. Whether you personally perform all of your home business marketing tasks or have someone else perform them for you, at least you’ll understand what’s going on and why it may or may not be important.
Marketing Terms for Home Business
Home business marketing activities may include public relations, market research, collateral publication and distribution, along with strategy and analysis.
Positioning, branding, distribution and advertising are also a big part of marketing activities for most businesses, and home business are no exception. Here are some basic definitions to get you started:
- Public relations – may consist of a variety of activities engaged in by organizations or celebrities that are intended to promote a positive relationship or image with their customers and prospective customers (members of the public). Public relations activities may include maintaining relationships with the media and establishing a visible presence at trade shows and other public or private events. It may also include the preparation and distribution of press releases, which are newsworthy articles intended to be published in the media for the purpose of showcasing the company’s activities to the public.
- Press releases - newsworthy articles intended to be published in the media for the purpose of showcasing the company’s activities to the public. Often considered an effective form of “free” advertising, although it may cost some money to hire someone to write the article and/or pay to distribute it over the news wires.
- Market Research – the activities undertaken by an organization to determine the nature of its customers and competitors, as well as the demand for its products or services along with the features that customers prefer in similar products or services. These activities may include customer surveys, business intelligence and test marketing the reaction to a product or service being offered.
- Marketing collateral - a collection of marketing communications materials used as part of an organization’s marketing strategy. Marketing collateral might include brochures, data sheets that provide an overview of the features of a product or service (often a technical overview), and white papers, which are articles or reports written to showcase an organization’s products or services, the effectiveness of the technology behind them, and/or a comparison of the organization’s products, services or method of operating compared to its competitors.
- Positioning – techniques used in marketing intended to identify the place or position of an organization’s product or service within its target market compared to its competition. These techniques are used to influence and/or reinforce certain perceptions that customers and prospects have of the product or service. Once an organization is able to identify how it wants its customers to perceive its product or service, marketing activities can be focused on achieving the desired results. Understand your competitive advantage.
-Branding - is the organization’s representation of what it stands for, often based on cumulative impressions and positive reinforcement. Like a cattle brand, a business brand can be identified readily and is used for increased awareness of the business. Branding is used throughout the company, such as in its logo, stationery, business cards, on its web site and in its tagline. A great example of effective branding is the Nike “swoosh” logo because it’s instantly recognizable around the world.
- Distribution - is the mixture of methods used to get your product or service to its customers. For example, you may need to decide if you will sell your products through a catalog, on the Internet, in a brick and mortar store, or a combination of these. Understanding the best methods or channels for how your product or service is distributed is important for maximizing your sales. Your decisions in this area will greatly impact your other marketing activities.