Tag Archives: competition

Why meetups matter

Posted in Web strategy on by Paul Boag

There is a lot of focus on the negative aspects of web design at the moment such as the debate about the role of accessibility. However, I believe web designers have a lot to be proud of and that other professionals (like website owners) have a lot to learn from them.

I went to my second Geek Dinner on Friday and thoroughly enjoyed myself. It was superb to meet up with other people from my industry and talk about everything from personal blogging to emerging screen reader technologies.

It’s amazing when you think about it. The majority of people in that room are in direct competition with Headscape, and yet we freely discussed techniques and good practice that would normally be kept confidential in order to maintain a competitive edge.

I would argue that there are few professions outside of academia who so freely shares knowledge. What is more, I believe that the phenomenal evolution of the web can be partly attributed to this free exchange of ideas.

Personally I know I have learnt so much from the online and offline discussions I have had with other designers and I hope that in turn people have learnt from me.

If you are a web designer then I would really encourage you to take the time to attend some of these meetups. Unlike conferences, meetups tend to be free or at least very cheap and so there is little excuse not to go. The only problem I can see at the moment is that not much is happening outside London, which is frustrating. However, there is no reason why this is the case. If there isn’t a meetup in your area, organise one. Even if it is only four or five people, it is still a chance to swap war stories and have a drink while you’re at it.

However, what really saddens me is that this current enthusiasm for knowledge exchange seems to be limited to web designers and developers. What we really need to see is website owners sharing ideas in the same way. Although there is always the exception to every rule, it appears that most website owners are more reluctant to give away their competitive advantage. They are happy to attend conferences where they receive information but reluctant to attend meetups where they may be required to give out.

This attitude needs to change. There are important issues web site owners need to discuss. Things like marketing, fulfilment and customer retention (to name but three). From my perspective business strategy lags behind the technology and this is at least partly due to the communities’ hesitancy to share.

If you are interested in attending or organising a meetup then I suggest the best place to start is Upcoming.org. This site allows you to quickly and easily find events in your area as well as post your own.

Finally, if you are interested in a boagworld meetup then post a comment below. Also if you could add your location to our frappr map that would be useful too.

Podcast 51: Better Google Listings

Posted in Classic shows on by Paul Boag

We all want better listings for our sites on Google, but search engine optimisation often appears to be a dark art and a morally murky area. In this show, we explore the issue and provide some practical advice.

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Google accounts for over 49% of all searches and has one of the most complex and closely guarded search algorithms. It is not surprising therefore that your website ranking on Google can be a subject of much pain and frustration.

Ranking criteria

The exact nature of how Google ranks websites is largely unknown. However, it is generally accepted that the following items are a major contributing factor:

  • The age of your domain name
  • The amount of content available to the search engines
  • The amount of websites linking to your website and their popularity
  • The information architecture of your website
  • The quality of a page build
  • The relevancy to the end user

Page Ranking

A broad-brush indication of your rating is Google’s Page Rank. This numerical value provides some idea of your success in search rankings. There are numerous ways of viewing your page ranking but probably the simplest is to install the Google Toolbar.

Page Indexing

Another important factor in ranking your site is the accessibility of your content to Google. Google can only list your pages if it can access them. You can easily find out how much of your site is indexed by typing the following into Google:

Site:yourDomain.com

This won’t return every page as it will consider some pages duplicates. To see all pages click on the link at the bottom of the results.

Inbound Links

Of course probably the most significant factor in your page ranking, is still inbound links. The quantity and quality of links are crucial in how well your site is rated. You can view how many sites link to you by entering the following into Google:

Link:yourDomain.com

What does Google look at?

So when Google visits your site, what exactly is it looking for? Well, Google pays particular attention to the following elements on your pages:

  • The page title
  • The body content
  • Your meta tags
  • Headings
  • The naming and destination of links

Of course Google cannot index everything. It struggles with some content and cannot access others at all. Below is a list of the more troublesome elements. Although these elements can be used on a site you should not rely on a search engine being able to fully index them:

  • Images
  • PDF documents
  • Flash
  • Multimedia content

SEO Good Practice

Understanding how Google works is one thing, improving your listing is quite another. Below are is a list of good practices I have picked up while researching the show. These should go a long way to helping you improve your sites placement. However, ultimately search engine is a specialist area and you may wish to consider outsourcing this work if you are able.

  • Identify a list of keywords to focus on. Keep it short and specific. Trying to ranking highly on lots of broad phrases will prove impossible.
  • Endeavour to include keywords in your page URLs. Look at the address for this page. Notice that it repeats the title of the article. Does your site do this or does it have incomprehensible URLs?
  • Use Heading Tags and keeping the H1 tag for the page title rather than the title of the site.
  • Make sure that every page has real content rather than lists of links. I recommend at least 50 words per page.
  • Wherever possible using keywords in your links (both in the body of the page and within navigation).
  • Use breadcrumbs through the site.
  • Try to keep keyword density at around the 5% mark.
  • Separate your content from your design by using CSS based layout.
  • Make sure any Javascript you use is unobtrusive and degrades nicely.
  • Ensure that meta data (keywords and descriptions) is unique to each page and not generic across the whole site.
  • Remember that content only accessible after submitting a form is invisible to Google.
  • Wherever possible, link to other content within your own site using consistent link descriptions.
  • Ensure all images have an alt attribute (alt tag).
  • Make sure your site has a sitemap.
  • Look at your competition and analysis what SEO steps they are taking.

Conclusion

Improving your ranking on Google can be a slow and frustrating experience. It is not unusual for a website to take 4 months to be fully listed and even longer if it is a new domain. Even more frustrating is the fact that Google keeps much of its algorithm a closely guarded secret, which means that much of what we know about improving rankings is educated guesswork. Despite that, we cannot ignore Google. They are a dominant force in the marketplace and search engine listings are a vital component of any online marketing strategy.

Also in this show…

Also in this week’s show we review CSS – The Missing Manual, take a look at a standalone version of IE 7 and check out a new automated testing suit. In the news we also see @media go global and have a look at the latest Web standards advice from A List Apart.

No more speculative designs

Posted in Design on by Paul Boag

Arriving at a design for a website is a process rather than a flash of creative inspiration. A whole range of factors influence how a design develops and none of these steps are present in speculative work.

One of the worst parts of my job is doing design work for pitches. You simply don’t have enough information to produce a quality design. Recently I discovered I was not the only one to feel like this and that in fact there was a growing movement campaigning for an end to speculative work.
 

 

It’s not that I have a particular problem with doing speculative unpaid work in order to win a new client. I have no problem, for example, in the hours spent producing a proposal or going to presentations. My problem is that speculative designs provide no real value to the client in making their choice of a web design agency. They might perceive them as useful but in reality they are less than worthless.

Design is a process

Arriving at a design for a website is a process rather than a flash of creative inspiration. A whole range of factors influence how a design develops and none of these steps are present in speculative work.

Producing a truly good design involves:

  • A collaborative process with the client in which you understand their organisation and vision for the site.
  • Usability testing with end users to see how they respond to different design approaches.
  • An understanding of the competition and how they present themselves online.
  • Detailed analysis of brand guidelines and other marketing collateral.
  • An iterative process where a design is refined and evolved through a number of stages.
  • A solid grasp of other external factors which may impact the look and feel, including accessibility, technology constraints and internal business factors.

At the proposal stage of a project you have little or no communication with the client, have undertaken no usability testing and have little in the way of background information on the company and their objectives.

Everybody loses

Of course many clients see things differently. They want to see what the design agency is capable of “creatively”. Of course the web design agencies are all too aware of this and so the designs produced are often not realistic. Instead the designs become part of the sales process and are more about selling than providing a viable solution. The emphasis is on “looking cool” and “creating impact” rather than tackling the harder to understand issues of accessibility, usability and business objectives. Showmanship replaces substance and everybody loses.

The client loses because they are being shown the superficial rather than a real world solution.

The design agency loses because even if they win the project they will almost certainly have to throw out the initial design work done as being unfeasible.

If you are in the process of issuing an invitation to tender, seriously consider whether you need to ask for speculative designs. Instead, take the time to review the web design agencies portfolio and speak to their clients. Far more can be learnt from accessing their “final designs” on actual sites than can ever be gleaned from a design produced with the single objective of selling you their services!

Check out the NO!SPEC campaign

Investing in your staff

Posted in Web strategy on by Paul Boag

Commercial web design is barely a decade old. The entire industry is evolving at a tremendous pace with both technology and methodology changing daily.

Unsurprisingly my last post generated a huge amount of feedback. By far the majority focused on the learning curve involved in adopting web standards. Many complained they simply didn’t have the time to “get up to speed”. The following is directed at those who employ web developers/designers…

The cost of training

As an employer myself, I know that the word “training” can make your wallet scream in pain. If you are a small business, the thought of staff taking time out to get trained up can be scary. There is the cost of the training itself, the travelling expenses, the cost associated with adopting what has been learnt and the time away from paid projects. All in all, it is easier and safer to go with “on the job training” which equates to no training at all!

You may also find the constant demands from web designers for training (or simply time to learn) rather unreasonable. After all, nobody else seems to require so much time to sit around doing nothing! In short, training can often be hard to justify.

A unique position

Although I can feel your pain, it is important to release what a unique position most web designers and developers are in. While many other professions have existed for hundreds of years, commercial web design is barely a decade old. The entire industry is evolving at a tremendous pace with both technology and methodology changing daily. I once heard it estimated that the average web designer has to relearn his skill-set every 18 months. Although I believe this is somewhat of an exaggeration it isn’t far off. With things moving so fast, having time to keep up with the latest developments is essential to your web site’s success.

For in-house designers too

You might think this is all well and good for a professional web design agency. After all, they need to be on the cutting edge of their industry. However, your company might just employee a couple of in-house designers to keep your own website in order. Surely, there is not as big a need for training in that situation? Unfortunately, this is simply not the case. There are no guarantees that your competition are not using an external web design house and so your internally produced website still has to compete with “cutting edge” design agencies. In addition, as I have said before, it is important that your site evolve with the rest marketplace otherwise, it will quickly appear out of date. Unfortunately, the web is very like the fashion industry. A nineties style website looks much like eighties style fashion… horribly dated! Users are constantly demanding more and more from websites and if your staff aren’t up to date with the latest developments they are going to struggle to deliver.

The good news

However, it’s not all doom, gloom, and expenses! Although there are a growing number of training courses available on various aspects of emerging web technology, they are not the only way to get your developers up to speed. The most cost effective thing you can do is allocate them time each week for “self learning”. The web is crammed with valuable resources to help people learn about things like Unobtrusive JavaScript and web standards. All you need to do is set aside some time for them away from their normal workload. Admittedly, this has some productivity implications but these will be quickly outweighed by the productivity gains provided by these emerging methodologies.

All your developers need is a few hours each week to work on their own projects. Google has adopted this approach with incredible results. No travel expenses, no training courses, just a few hours a week. You can’t say fairer than that!

Podcast 22: How your website sells

Posted in Classic shows on by Paul Boag

Whatever your website is about, it has to sell something. From selling an idea to a product or service, every site has its place in the sales process. This podcast looks at what that process is and how your website plays its part.

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News and stuff

This week we look at the new beta of Internet Explorer 7 as well as correcting a heap load of errors we have made in previous podcasts! However, most importantly we tell you about the geek dinner being held in honour of boagworld.com.

For more about the geek dinner check out my post

Win a ticket to SXSW by visiting the geek dinner website

Technobuster: Validation

This week’s technobuster section looks at Validation. What is it, why bother and how it work?

Read our validation post for more details

Main Feature: How your website sells

As I said at the start of this post, every website is selling something. Even the most dreary public sector site is trying to convince somebody of something (selling an idea). In many ways most of life is about sales, we are always trying to get people to see our point of view, to do something we want them to do. Unattractive though it is, sales are the cornerstone of web design and yet so often it is overlooked.

In this episode of boagworld, we explore some of the underlying sales principles that have been around for years and try applying them to the web.

Seven steps in sales

It is widely accepted that we pass through seven states in the purchasing process:

Satisfied ignorance

We do not believe we have a need and so are making no effort to fulfil that need. For example if you have just eaten, you feel no need to eat more.

Awareness of need

You are aware you have a need but have yet to take action. Gaining an awareness of your need can be triggered by external or internal sources. For example you may start to feel hungry (an internal trigger) or you might smell some food cooking, which makes you hungry (external).

Information search

You now actively look for a way to fulfil that need. Either we rely on internal sources such as a memory of a nice place to eat, or turn to external sources, such as a recommendation of a restaurant from a friend or family member.

Evaluation of alternatives

This search process will lead to a number of alternatives. Do I eat in a restaurant or cook something myself? We weigh the pros and cons of different options in order to settle on a decision.

Purchase decision

In this stage, we begin to look at the specifics of our decision. If we have decided to cook ourselves, we decide on what we will actually cook.

Purchase

This is the actual decision to act. In some cases, this will be a literal purchase while in others it might be a call to action like volunteering ones time or changing ones point of view. Understanding what your site’s objective is (your purchase point) will help you position it in the sales process outlined here.

Post purchase

This is the point where we decide if the "purchase" was the right decision and whether we intend to stick with that decision.

Applying the sales process to your site

Understanding these steps are one thing, applying them to your site is quite another. It is especially difficult if your site is not an ecommerce site. The goal is to understand which of these steps you perceive your site addressing and which are to be dealt with by other methods (such as on or offline marketing). Before you can do that, you need to understand what your ultimate goal (sale) is.

Let me give you an example of what I mean. Headscape is a web design company that offers a variety of services that are tailored to individual companies needs. They do not sell a tangible off the shelf product and so the web is not an appropriate environment to complete the transaction. Instead, the actual purchase point needs to be reached from negotiation between the client and the Headscape team. Therefore, the Headscape website is primarily geared around helping prospects with the "evaluation of alternative" stage. Anything before this point in the sales process and the prospect wouldn’t have found the Headscape site, anything after this point and we would prefer to be talking to them face to face.

Knowing where your website fits in helps determine factors like supporting marketing, content requirements and general design/functionality.

Useful questions

The following questions might help you to better understand the positioning of your site:

  • Does your site need to convince the user of their need before you present them with a solution? For example, the majority of visitors to the Headscape website already know they need a site and so this part of the process is unnecessary.
  • Does your site need to explain the solution to the users need before selling your particular proposition?
  • Does your site seek to maintain the prospects attention while they investigate alternative solutions?
  • Does your site manage the purchase process online?
  • Does your site provide post purchase support?
  • Are there methods in place to raise awareness of their need and help in finding your site?

I realise that this is a bit of a tricky concept to explain so have a listen to the podcast and if it still isn’t clear post a comment on this site.

Web resources: Choosing a colour palette

This week Paul and Marcus looked at three sites that help you choose the right colour palette for your site.

Dark-i.com
This site lets you view example sites based on palette to see how other designers have worked with certain colour combinations

Colour blender
This site allows you to quickly and easy try out different colour combinations together as well as making suggestions of colours that will work well.

Colour Schemer studio
The colour schemer studio is the best colour theory software around. This excellent little tool helps you create the perfect colour palette. A great buy!

Podcasting and prizes

Posted in Classic shows on by Paul Boag

Just a quick post covering a couple of housekeeping notices about changes to my podcast RSS feed and a free ticket to SXSW. I promise I will get back to posting on web design real soon!

Podcast feed

Several people have complained that my podcast RSS feed has not been very accessible recently. As a result, I have been through it with a find toothcomb and cleaned the whole thing up. I have also rewritten a lot of the entries to make them easier to read. I hope that will solve the problems people have been having.

Get the boagworld.com podcast feed

Free ticket to SXSW

The guys over at geekdinners.co.uk have managed to get their hands on a free ticket to South By South West, probably the biggest web/tech event of the year. They will be giving the ticket away to one lucky person at the boagworld.com geek dinner on Thursday 23rd February.

Visit geekdinner.co.uk for more information on how to enter

Advice & Predications for 2006

Posted in News on by Paul Boag

Here is what I think web site owners should keep an eye on in 2006.

This time of year sees a wealth of predictions for the coming year. Andy Budd and Cameron Moll have both given some interesting predications for you developers and designers. Not wanting to be left out here is what I think web site owners should keep an eye on in 2006.

Adoption of web standards

In 2006, you will almost certainly see more and more of your competitors adopting web standards. This will provide them with a raft of benefits including faster download times and improved search engine placement. However, probably most disturbingly, it allows them to make quick global changes to their site, so ensuring they are considerably more responsive to consumer trends. If you have implemented standards already, you will find the competitive advantage it gives you waning as more of your competition adopts it. If you are yet to redevelop with standards, you will find yourself getting left behind very quickly indeed.

Accessibility demands

I believe that 2006 may also bring some prominent prosecutions of sites that are inaccessible (in the UK at least). These test cases will raise the profile of web accessibility and put it firmly on everybody’s agenda. I believe that the disabled community will become much more aware of their rights in this area and I would expect web site owners to see an increasing number of complaints on this subject.

One word of warning. Rumours abound that pressure groups such as the RNIB are considering prosecuting smaller sites too as these cases are easier to win and will undermine the lethargy that smaller business owners have to the subject of accessibility.

Runaway technology

2006 will see a lot of emerging technologies hitting the mainstream (such as web 2.0 and AJAX) and web site owners will be barraged by lots of new technobabble from web designers. There is a danger that the enthusiasm of the development community will sweep you along but I encourage you to think long and hard about the benefits these new technologies bring before you add them to your site. Ultimately, it is down to you, to keep your eye on the bottom line. Return on investment has to be the watchword of the day.

Web feeds

Predications for the coming year are often a hit and miss affair. However, I can say without a shadow of a doubt that 2006 is the year web feeds (RSS) become seriously mainstream. Sure, 27% of web users already use web feeds but only 4% of users knowingly do so. 2006 will see that 4% dramatically grow and users become a lot more sophisticated in the use of feeds. Why am I so confident? Because 2006 will see the launch of IE 7, Office 12 and Microsoft Vista. Microsoft have made it clear that all three of these products will include a large amount of web feed integration and Bill Gates has been pushing the concept of web feeds very strongly.

This means that you need to be adding RSS to your site if you have not already done so. Of course that in turn also means you need to have regularly updated content such as news, a blog or events. I know that this sounds like a lot of work but I think you will find that the benefits are considerable.

Beyond your website

Finally, I believe that 2006 will be the year that you start to think beyond your website to other internet based marketing tools. What do I mean by that? Well, at the moment most marketers see their website as their primary online marketing tool. Sure, they might also use banner advertising, PPC, email marketing etc. However, ultimately, all of these are about driving more users to your website.

2006 will see the continued growth of broadband with ever more homes connected and greater speeds becoming available. I believe this will lead to a break through in internet TV and podcasting. To be honest we were already beginning to see this towards the end of 2005 with traditional news networks such as the BBC doing an increasing number of stories on podcasting.

These emerging delivery mechanisms are not reliant on your website but operate as marketing channel in their own right. Let’s say that you are selling widgets to a very specific market segment. Imagine being able to produce your own TV series or downloadable radio show aimed specifically at that market segment! The opportunities in this field are immense however; it takes time for the applications of these delivery mechanisms to become obvious. No doubt you are reading this thinking, I am not sure that this can apply to me. If that is the case I would encourage you not to dismiss it prematurely. Podcasting and Internet TV offer some interesting opportunities to expand your reach and should not be ignored lightly.

So, these are my predication for web site owners in 2006. What do you think? What will be the big issues of the coming year?

Enlightenment for the web?

Posted in Reviews on by Paul Boag

Well, I have just got home from the d.construct conference and want to post my last few impressions of the day.

First of all I want to thank everybody at Clear:Left for putting this together. I know they all have a lot on their plates and it would have been easy to turn down the opportunity to do this conference. I am glad they didn’t.

Alchemy or science?

For me a lot of the day was actually summed up by Cory Doctorow from the Electronic Frontiers Foundation. At the start of his talk, Cory spoke about the Dark ages here in the UK when Alchemists competed against one another to turn lead into gold. They worked in secret fearing that others might steal their ideas. It was only as these people started collaborating, sharing ideas and working together that the superstition of Alchemy turned into the discipline of science and the Enlightenment dawned. I feel like in many ways that was what today was about.

Sleeping with the enemy

I was fortunate enough to spend a few minutes talking to Andy Budd from Clear:Left and it struck me how strange a situation I found myself in. Here I was sharing ideas, and chatting about new innovations with a man who has set up in direct competition with me! It’s wonderful that instead of all working in secret we can talk and innovate together. I have received so much from so many online, people who have had the vision to look beyond corporate competition and share with the wider community. I hope that to some extent this blog and podcast returns the favour.

I could go on and start talking about how perhaps if we keep this collaborative vision we too might see our own enlightenment, but then that would be just too cheesy for words ;)

d.Construct and Web 2.0

Posted in Reviews on by Paul Boag

Some random thoughts on the subject of the next generation of websites and my questions about how it will influence the mainstream.

So here I sit, at the d.Construct conference on Web 2.0, waiting for it to start. This seems like the perfect opportunity to jot down some random thoughts on the subject of the next generation of websites and my questions about how it will influence the mainstream.

What is Web 2.0? Hell if I know!

To be honest I do not want to be drawn into the debate about what makes something Web 2.0 and what does not. That kind of abstract discussion does not interest me. However, what is clear is that something is happening on the web and a new generation of slicker, user focused, and application like, websites are emerging.

How does Web 2.0 become mainstream?

What is of interest to me is how the innovations on these sites are going to filter down to your average rank-and-file website. Let’s face it, most of us aren’t involved in developing cutting edge websites that push the envelope of what is possible. We develop websites for businesses or organisations who have much more mundane objectives like making money, rather than spearheading technological development.

I am really looking forward to tomorrow as I am hoping this will help me to clarify how Web 2.0 can move to the mainstream. I have some initial ideas but I am not sure how commercially viable they will prove for my clients. For example, one of the driving forces behind Web 2.0 is AJAX and DOM scripting. These technologies provide the more “application like” experience we have come to expect from sites like Google Maps and Gmail. On these sites, you do not constantly have to wait for the page to reload. Instead, the whole user experience seems a lot “slicker”. However, when I sat down and thought about it I could not think of an easy way to “sell” this to my clients. What does it give them in real terms? In a few cases, I could see the value where you were dealing with ecommerce sites in a highly competitive marketplace. Small changes that improve the user experience can distinguish you from the competition. However, beyond that I could not imagine my clients paying more for this enhanced user experience.

Selling Web 2.0

I guess the latest time I went through this process was with the move to web standards. However, there I had a clear list of benefits I could take to my clients. With Web 2.0, AJAX, DOM scripting and the numerous other buzzwords currently flying about I cannot see as clearly defined benefits. I guess that at the end of the day it just might be a question of the herd mentality. You might be forced into making your site more application like because that is what everybody else is doing and it will look dated by comparison. However, this seems like a bit of a lame reason to upgrade.

Come on, help me out here. What cold hard business reasons are there for adding that slick, application like feel to your run-of-the-mill website?

Web Design Podcast (11) – Benefits of blogging

Posted in Classic shows on by Paul Boag

This week we look at blogging. Is it just a cheap form of therapy for those who feel a need to unburden their emotional problems, or is it a powerful marketing tool for increasing your businesses exposure.

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Podcast: Download (16.8MB)

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Below is a brief outline of what was covered in this show as well as links to more information where appropriate

News

This week on boagworld.com…

A new web feed is added

If you can’t get enough of Paul’s pearls of wisdom why not subscribe to his "best of the web" feed which includes links to useful web design content…read more

Boagworld.com goes flickr crazy

We have created a flickr group that allows you to discuss web design, post examples of good and bad design as well as get your own designs reviewed…join the group

Web design podcast Directory

One of our podcast listeners (Jonas) has been kind enough to compile the ultimate list of web design podcasts…see the list

Blogging – the benefits to business

Why blog?

  • Blogging adds content rich in keywords to your site so increasing your ranking on search engines
  • Blogging encourages the creation of non-marketing content which people will actively want to link to. The more links, the better your search engine ranking.
  • Blogging ensures your site always has fresh content that in turn encourages repeat traffic.
  • Blogging builds a personal relationship with your readers and fosters trust.
  • Blogging provides you with the opportunity to demonstrate your experience in the sector you are trying to reach.
  • Regular blogging increases the amount your site is spidered by search engines so ensuring your content appears on them faster.
  • Blogs are indexed and listed on exclusive blog directories so exposing your site to a wider audience.
  • Blog software also produces web feeds, which come with their own unique set of benefits.

Objections to blogging?

  • You cannot customise your blog to integrate with the rest of your site.
    This is simply not true if you select the right blogging software. Do not settle for second-rate blogging applications just because they are free.
  • It’s too much work to maintain a blog.
    Yes, it is true that a blog takes time and effort, but then so does every other form of marketing. If you spend the time to blog regularly, you will see a return on investment.
  • We expose our trade secrets to the competition.
    This is true but you also expose your knowledge to potential customers. The benefits of one, outweighs the other.

Many of these points are expanded the boagworld.com post on the benefits of articles.

Report on RSS penetration

Posted in Marketing on by Paul Boag

Yahoo has published the first comprehensive research into RSS take-up. The results have made me reconsider how I present RSS feeds to the end user.

Key findings

The key findings of the report were as follows:

  • Awareness of RSS is quite low among Internet users. 12% of users are aware of RSS, and 4% have knowingly used RSS.
  • 27% of Internet users consume RSS syndicated content on personalized start pages (e.g., My Yahoo!, My MSN) without knowing that RSS is the enabling technology.
  • 28% of Internet users are aware of podcasting, but only 2% currently subscribe to podcasts.
  • Even tech-savvy "Aware RSS Users" prefer to access RSS feeds via user-friendly, browser-based experiences (e.g., My Yahoo!, Firefox, My MSN).
  • My Yahoo! has the highest awareness and use of any RSS-enabled product.

A good take-up level

Generally, I was very encouraged by the report. Although only 4% knowingly used RSS this did not concern me as 27% of internet users were consuming RSS without knowing it. The majority of people are probably only vaguely aware that the web pages they view everyday are built using HTML but that doesn’t stop people viewing sites.

Hard to add website feeds

What was more concerning to me is that 50% of people who did use RSS (whether they realised they were or not) only selected feeds from the default list made available by their newsreader. That means only 13.5% of internet users are actively adding feeds they find on third party websites.

It would appear from the report that this problem is largely due to the mechanism involved in adding a feed, and the terminology used. As an end user, you have to look for a feed button that could be labelled anything from "XML" to "web feed". Once I have found such a link I have to copy and paste that URL into the appropriate place in the newsreader. It is a messy process, which requires a high level of technical competence.

Yahoo provides a user-friendly approach

It would appear that Yahoo is firmly leading the pack when it comes to introducing RSS to the main stream. My Yahoo! Had the highest awareness level of any RSS enabled product with over 52% of internet users being aware of it. It also had the highest level of usage compared with its competition being 10% higher than its nearest rival.

In my opinion, this is due to the mechanism Yahoo has created for adding RSS feeds to its site. They have avoided hard to understand terminology and difficult subscription methods using their "My Yahoo" button. To add a RSS feed to their site all a user has to do is click on the "My Yahoo" button and they are done.

The future

This report provided an encouraging snapshot of the current penetration of RSS. I am sure that we will see continued growth of RSS and a broadening of the demographics that uses it. Currently RSS users are largely, young, educated, affluent men, but I am confident this will change in the same way that it has for the web as a whole.

My recommendations

So how should a website owner respond to this report? Well, if you do not already have an RSS feed on your site this report makes it clear you should certainly consider it. However, more significantly I think it highlights the need to change the way existing RSS feeds are presented. We need to change the terminology we use, support "quick add" functions like My Yahoo! and provide clear instructions on how to subscribe to a RSS feed.

In order to prove that I practice what I preach, I have reorganised the RSS feeds on this site. I now refer to them as website feeds, provide instructions on signing up for a feed and allow users to either access the feed directly or subscribe via My Yahoo!

Fact: Users take their time purchasing

Posted in Marketing on by Paul Boag

There is nothing like cold hard facts. For years, most of us that work with ecommerce sites have known that users do not always purchase on their first visit. Now we have the facts to back it up… enter clever boffin Dr. Alan Rimm-Kaufman.

Dr. Alan Rimm-Kaufman from the Rimm-Kaufman Group recently tracked one million clicks (boy that must have been fun!) on search ads on Google and Yahoo. His results showed some interesting stuff:

  • 50% of the conversions occurred within 28 minutes
  • 75% of the conversions had occurred within 24 hours
  • 95% of the conversions had occurred within 12 days
  • The remaining 5% took as long as four weeks after the initial click

Unsurprisingly the larger the value of goods being purchased, the greater the delay to conversion. For items costing less than $100, 90% of orders were received within eleven days. For items costing more than $300, it took eighteen days to reach that level.

This is because people needed time to view the competition and consider their choice before purchasing.

Design implications

Jakob Neilsen, who commented on this report, identified a number of design implications worth taking into account:

  • If you use cookies to track users make sure you set an expiry date of at least 90 days otherwise you will loose track of some conversions.
  • Users will often need to visit your site multiple times before making a purchase so make sure you have provided incentives to keep them coming back.
  • Don’t make premature demands on users who aren’t ready to buy. For example, don’t require registration to see a demo.
  • Make sure that a users shopping cart is available across multiple visits.
  • Retain the special landing pages for search ads and other campaigns for at least three months after the campaign ends.

Jakob concludes with this:

In general, the slow tail tells you that not all users are ready to commit on the spot. Don’t rush them. Let users browse your site and gradually learn about your products, while making it easy for them to buy during future visits.

Good advice that I would encourage all to stick with.

Web design podcast episode 3

Posted in Classic shows on by Paul Boag

On this weeks boagworld.com I am joined by Marcus Lillington. Not because he has anything particularly insightful to share but simply to avoid you having to listen to me droning on for half an hour unaccompanied! Our main subject for this week is the top ten mistakes made by clients.

Play

Podcast: Download (28.7MB)

To download the latest podcast click here.

Below is a brief outline of the things covered in this week’s podcast as well as links to some of the articles mentioned:

Top 10 client mistakes

In no particular order here is our top ten mistakes made by clients:

Marketing departments gone mad

Why is it marketing departments are obsessed with collecting personal details even at the cost of alienating potential customers… read my article on marketing department and forms.

Unrealistic deadlines

Clients should not consider their website as an afterthought that is left to the last minute. Developing a decent website takes longer than you think!

Budget

Clients need to be willing to discuss budget with web design companies. Firstly, this will enable them to see if their budget is realistic and secondly it will allow the web design company to work around budgetary constraints.

Design by committee

Design is subjective so the more people involved in choosing the greater the chance of ending up compromising on the lowest common denominator.

Copying the competition

Although it is good to keep consistency of terminology and navigation with the competition in order to help users who are "shopping around", it is also important to stand out from the crowd.

Creeping specifications

It is inevitable that a client will think of more features they wish to add to their website during development. However, we encourage them to implement these ideas in a second phase. This will stop the deadline for the project slipping and give them a second chance to promote the site when the new features are added.

Failing to consider the breath of platforms

Many clients only care what their website looks like on their own PC presuming that the site will look the same for everybody. It is important to remember that resolution, monitor type, device, operating system and video drivers all effect the appearance of your site.

Not considering site promotion

It is amazing how many people still do not consider promoting their site but rather expect people to magically find it. Still more believe that search engine placement is all that matters. A website should be integrated into your overall marketing strategy… read more about promoting your site.

Under estimating the clients role

It is easy to forget just how much a client has to contribute to a sites development. From copy to review and testing, the client’s role is vital and they need to set aside sufficient time to focus on the websites development.

Failing to keep content fresh

Many clients allow their sites to stagnate once it goes live. By doing so they undermine the companies credibility and fail to provide motivation for users to return to the site again to see what has changed… read more about generating repeat traffic.

News

A new web design podcast almost!

I thought I had found a new podcast dedicated to web design on itunes but it appears it is not yet live. Keep an eye on Livemotionstudio. Since recording episode three I have spotted another new podcast called ericd.netwhich is dedicated to the more technical side of web design.

Accessibility business case

If you are looking for a water tight business case for making your site accessible then check out the new W3C article on web accessibility.

A new live chat system is launched

There is a new flash-based live chat system. Not only can you chat with visitors to your site using instant messaging but you can also see them and here them too! If you haven’t encountered live chat before read my article on the subject.

Macromedia Podcast

Macromedia has launched a podcast that provides help and support to users of their Studio suite of products.

Review

Did not have time for a review this week because Marcus talks too much :)

Using forms with care

Posted in User experience on by Paul Boag

Marketers, know your limits! Why is it that so many marketing departments seem determined to make it difficult for people to contact them?

The majority of clients I work for come from a marketing background and it is surprising how often I find myself having the same discussion with them time and again.

Unhealthy obsession

Marketing departments often become obsessed with gathering contact and demographic information on potential visitors at the cost of all else. The problem is, we the public know this and that the more personal information we provide the more junk correspondence we will receive. As a result, we hate giving out any information at all and only recognise the need to do so if we can directly relate the information being provided with getting what we want.

This conflict between what marketers want and what the public is willing to give manifests itself in two key ways:

Access all areas

Don’t you just hate it when you have to complete a form before you are given access to certain content on a site? You are often required to do it before you are allowed access to an online demo of a product. Why? The marketer might try to convince you they are doing it to make sure you are not the competition trying to steal their ideas. However, we know the truth; we know they are going to plague us with endless calls and emails if we hand over our contact details. The majority of users understand that their contact information is of value and do not see why they should hand it over in return for you being allowed to sell to them through your online demo. It is the equivalent to paying a used car sales man to sell you a car! It is a one sided deal where the user gets nothing.

From a marketers perspective it is beyond me why any marketer would want to put barriers between potential customers and the opportunity of them seeing what you have to sell!

Putting barriers like this up also sucks from a "quality of lead" perspective. Forcing a user to provide contact information at such an early stage of the sales process (while the user just wants to browse your site) means they are not ready for the final sale. When a user chooses to contact you, it means they are ready to make more of a commitment.

Tell us the name of your dog

The second mistake is the contact us form. When a user arrives at a contact us form they see it as a way to say, "I’m ready to talk now, get in touch with me". With that in mind, they anticipate providing the minimum amount of information to make that possible; name, telephone number, email address and possibly a comments field. Marketers on the other hand see this as an opportunity to find out everything there is to know about the customer from their shoe size to the name of their dog. The user will resent giving information that does not directly relate to their enquiry.

Recently I had a client who wanted seventeen fields on their contact us form! Seventeen! Setting aside the users’ annoyance at having to complete all those fields, I very much doubt they could be bothered to fill them all in. The marketers answer to this problem, make all the fields compulsory! The result is that you cannot contact this company unless you have a mobile, an email address, and a landline. If you do not own a mobile, you are not worthy of their attention.

And the morale of this story

So if you are a marketer, learn these four simple lessons:

  • Users hate forms and providing personal information
  • Do not ask for more than is absolutely necessary to answer the users query
  • Use required fields for good, not evil.
  • Never ask user to complete a form to access your sales information

If you follow these simple steps, you may see a decline in sales leads but you will see a dramatic jump in the quality of those leads and therefore an increase in sales.

Sticking up for the humble site map

Posted in User experience on by Paul Boag

I was working on a site map yesterday and realised how little thought I give them. They tend to be an after thought in the design process. Vowing to repent of this half-assed attitude, I set out to learn all I could about this under appreciated site tool.

Why site maps are cool

Perhaps it is a sad reflection on the state of my life but I have come to consider the humble site map quite cool. I used to add them to a site mainly because they were required if the site was to be Priority 2 compliant. However, I was to discover they have many hidden benefits:

  • Site maps are a lifeline if users are lost or frustrated with a site. Users often turn to them as a last resort. This means they are a great opportunity to save a visitor who would otherwise be lost to your competition.
  • Site maps can often be more successful than a homepage at directing a user to the content they require.
  • Search engines love them because they give quick access to the most important sections of the site.
  • Users who require a speech browser find them incredibly useful too as they can skip directly to the content they require without navigating through the sites hierarchy.

How to build a great site map

So, what did I learn about how to make a decent site map? Well there are a few simple tips you can follow to guarantee success:

Don’t be shy

Do not hide your site map away. According to testing carried out by Jakob Nielsen 85% of users were unaware that sites they visited regularly had a site map. Avoid this by not hiding your site map down in your footer and by clearly naming it "site map"

Keep it clean

Make sure your site map is clean and simple. Do not over design it or make it a navigational challenge in its own right

Don’t try and be clever

Do not use JavaScript to make your map expand and contract like windows explorer. This undermines the whole idea of a site map which is that you can see an overview of the whole site in one go.

Show where they have been

Use link colours to show users which pages in the site map they have already visited.

Show where they are

If you can use server side coding to show the user where they were in the sites information architecture before they entered the site map. This is the same principle as using a "you are here" marker on a map.

Don’t go overboard

If you have, a large site do not show every page on the whole site. A site map should not be more than a couple of screens in depth. More than this overwhelms the user.

What have I missed?

So there you have it, my guide to the perfect site map. If you have any additional ideas of how the humble site map can be improved please let me know.

Getting to know your users

Posted in Marketing on by Paul Boag

No matter how dedicated you are to producing a user centric website it is all too easy to loose sight of your users needs. One way of keeping them front and centre is to give them a face and a name.

It is something the advertising industry realised years ago; it is easier to develop a campaign for a person with a name and a face than it is to develop for a theoretical demographic group. With that realisation persona sketching was born.

What is a persona?

Persona sketching is a fancy name for a simple idea (trust the advertising world to come up with a fancy name for it). Through a combination of imagination and good old fashion research, you endeavour to build up a picture of a typical user. A persona often covers things like:

  • Occupation
  • Gender
  • Age
  • Marital status
  • Hobbies
  • Web usage
  • Location

How to build a persona

Unsurprisingly, to build an accurate persona can be a time consuming and expensive process. However in web design where the budgets do not compare with the world of advertising there are ways of ensuring that your personas are as accurate as possible without breaking the bank. Some methods might include:

  • Speak to those within the organisation who have contact with end users
  • Talk to friends and family, see if you can find anybody who is a potential user
  • Look at the competition and try to find out what sort of face they put on their users
  • Talk to other stakeholders and get their perception of the end user

By combining these "rough and ready" techniques with a good dollop of imagination, you should be able to come up with something like this. Try to ensure that the personas you develop have a sense of real personality about them. Detail helps a persona feel more real and easier to associate with.

Depending on the size of your site and the breadth of your audience, you may end up developing a number of personas each one representing a different target audience.

Using your personas

Once you have all of your personas in place you can use them throughout the development process from design to final implementation. Think of them as a plumb line against which you measure all of the decisions you make. Continually ask yourself how Sara would feel about filling in this form or whether Paul will have the patience to wait for this to download.

How effective persona sketching is can be debated but I have found it a helpful tool in the past to focus the mind especially when a site has to appeal to a very wide demographic.

Further reading

Personas: Matching a Design to the Users’ Goals – Christine Perfetti
Practical Persona Creation – D. Keith Robinson
Perfecting Your Personas – Kim Goodwin
Bringing Your Personas to Life in Real Life – Elan Freydenson

Google Adwords change

Posted in Marketing on by Paul Boag

As from the 2nd of August, Google will be changing the way Adwords work so if you run a Google Adwords campaign then now is the time to read up on the changes.

I am no emarketing expert but from what I have read Google are making two significant changes. These changes are to the keyword status and its ranking algorithm.

In this entry, I want to focus on changes to the keyword status as the ranking algorithm is largely beyond your control to change because Google will not reveal the details of how it works.

Simplified status system

Currently any keyword phrase in your ad campaigns can have one of four statuses: On hold, in trail, normal, and disabled. This system is going to be simplified to a keyword phrase being either active or inactive. Gone are trial periods and disabling keywords for failing to meet the minimum click through rate.

A minimum bid value

Everything is now based on a minimum bid value per keyword. If your keyword meets the minimum value, it is active, while if it falls below this value it becomes inactive. How this value is calculated is far from clear but appears to be based on a range of factors including but not limited to the previous performance of that keyword across all advertisers and throughout the Adwords network.

How this affects advertisers

Unsurprisingly these changes are partly designed to encourage advertisers to spend more. For example if you have lots of keywords on-hold or in-trail they will now suddenly become active (as long as you meet the minimum bid value) and so you will find yourself spending more for these extra keywords. You will also need to watch out because if your competitors are in the same position you may find that competition for some keywords becomes fiercer as their on-hold/on-trial are activated.

What action to take

From what I have read, the one thing advertisers definitely need to do is look again at their disabled keywords. Consider whether these keywords belong in your campaign. If they do, then reactive them, once you have associated them with the right ad group.

Further reading on this subject

Sample site review

Posted in Web strategy on by Paul Boag

A part of my job at Headscape is to provide site reviews for clients. These range from short overview reports to detailed studies on particular aspects of a site. I recently completed a review for a small ecommerce site called TrapAWasp and felt that it neatly tidied together a number of different issues I had been discussing in this blog. The client has been kind enough to allow me to publish it here so hopefully it will be of some use to others. Please bear in mind that this is only a condensed site overview and doesn’t tackle issues in much depth.

Summary

As with all ecommerce sites there are two key factors that dictate its success or failure. These are the number of visitors that are driven to the site and the number of those visitors who are then converted into customers. It is these two factors that Headscape uses to assess the effectiveness of an ecommerce site.

Without looking at the web logs of a site it is hard to tell just how successful the site is at converting users. However, the initial indications for TrapAWasp are good. The site is generally well designed, has few significant usability problems, and addresses most of the major questions raised by users considering purchasing online.

A more important problem exists with regard to driving traffic to the site in the first place. Although good use is being made of Google Adwords the organic listing on search engines (in particular Google) is very poor. We believe there is significant opportunity here as a cursory analysis of the competition makes us believe it would not take much to push TrapAWasp to the top of Google’s ranking.

Visitor conversion

In many ways TrapAWasp is an example of good design. It is clean, simple and focused on enabling users to complete a purchase in the minimum number of steps. However, as with all sites there is always room for improvement and so below we outline several issues which should be addressed.

Design

The site has a strong visual identity. It is well branded: the site name, use of imagery and introduction leaves the user in no doubt as to what the site is about. However, two issues are of concern and should be addressed.

Screen resolution

28% of users are still viewing their computers at 800×600. Unfortunately TrapAWasp has not been optimised for this resolution and therefore requires limited horizontal scrolling in order to be able to read the product descriptions. This also creates problems with the number of products the user initially sees on page load. At 800×600 it appears TrapAWasp only offers 2 products while at 1024×768 the site offers only 4 products. Although users will scroll they tend to make judgements on whether a site has what they want without scrolling down a page. Jakob Neilsen a leading usability expert suggests that key content and products should be visible without the need for the user to scroll. One possibility would be to move the "view details" link to below the description so compressing the amount of space required for each product. Although this wouldn’t make all of the products visible it would help the situation as well as correcting the visual imbalance of white space next to the last two products.

Click here for more on scrolling and screen resolution

Browser compatibility

Although well over 80% of users’ access the World Wide Web using Internet explorer it is a mistake to ignore other browsers. Due to numerous security scares more and more users are turning to alternative browsers such as Firefox. Firefox has now captured well over 8% of the marketplace and is continuing to grow rapidly. Although not serious, http://www.trapawasp.co.uk/ does have some problems displaying in non-IE browsers. Some examples of the problems encountered include text being rendered with the wrong font and images being incorrectly positioned. Although it could be argued these problems do not affect the usability of the site it can knock consumer confidence leading to the belief that the site is in some way unprofessional.

Usability

Usability is an extremely important area of ecommerce design. If a user finds a site hard to use they will often choose to turn to the competition rather than struggle to overcome the obstacles they are facing. Generally the usability on this site is excellent. However, three issues should be addressed.

Delivery address

One minor but very frustrating issue with the checkout form is the need to enter address information twice. Even if you do not check the box marked "Check if you require goods dispatched to an alternative address" you are still required to enter the delivery address. Small problems like this can prove incredibly frustrating and should be avoided if possible.

Deteracat

Another potential cause of confusion is the sudden appearance of a link back to Deteracat on both the checkout and credit card pages. We have no problem in principle to the advert for Deteracat on the right hand side of these pages as cross selling is a good idea and one that should be encouraged. Our concern rather, revolves around the "continue shopping at Deteracat" button in the main body of the page. This immediately generates doubt in the minds of users at a critical stage in the buying process. The user is left wondering if they have selected the right products or whether they have been transferred to another site. We understand the motivation for this approach and the ability it gives the user to purchase products from both sites at the same time however we believe that the confusion this causes outweighs the benefits.

Addressing user concerns

One final issue with regard to usability is the "how to buy" section. It is good practice to have a section that addresses many of the frequently asked questions users have regarding online purchases, but we feel that there is still room for improvement. More information needs to be provided within this section with regard to security. Users are hesitant to give credit card and personal details unless they know it is secure. Although you do provide this information on the credit card page this is late on in the process and after the user has already given you significant amounts of information. On a similar vein it would also be wise to provide some form of privacy statement here. Again we are aware that this information is available from the footer but we do not believe this gives the information the prominence it deserves. Finally we believe that the how to buy section should include information on delivery times as this is another common question and a significant number of users will be unable to view the flash animation on the homepage. In short there needs to be greater emphasis placed on answering users queries and that this section may need a name change to accommodate this kind of information.

Accessibility

It is easy to dismiss accessibility as being an issue solely about the disabled however the truth is that it is a much broader issue than that. Accessibility refers to ensuring a web site is accessible to the widest possible audience including disabled users, those with poor vision or motor skills such as the elderly, and those working within various technological constraints.

Disabled users

Disabled users in the UK have a spending power of £50 billion annually according to the Disability Rights Commission. What is more this figure does not include the elderly who have poor vision or motor skills. Catering to this audience provides a unique way to separate you from your competition. That is not to say that you ignore your abled-bodied users. Rather, we recommend that you make some modifications to your site to make it more disabled-user friendly. There is not time in this report to catalogue every problem disabled users might encounter with this site, but we can say that the site fails to meet even the most basic level of international standards on
accessibility (WAI Level A or Priority 1).

Click here for more on accessibility and business

Technological barriers

As well as creating barriers to the disabled a site can also create technological barriers which force users to turn to the competition. One example of this is in the use of JavaScript. JavaScript has been used in order to carry out the validation of the checkout form. These scripts check that each field has been correctly completed and informs the user of any potential errors. The problem is that 5% of users do not have JavaScript available so these users simply cannot purchase from the site. This is the equivalent of turning away one in twenty customers who try to enter a shop.

Another technological barrier is download time. Although broadband has exploded over the last year still over 50% of users still access using dial up. http://www.trapawasp.co.uk/ takes approximately 17 seconds to download on a 56k modem compared with say http://www.waspbane.com/ which takes only 7 seconds to download over the same connection. With a 10-second difference per page and a 6-page purchase process that is a minute of unnecessary waiting. It may not sound like a lot but website users are incredibly fickle.

Driving traffic

You can have the best website in the world but if nobody is aware of its existence then it means nothing. Unfortunately TrapAWasp does not have the online profile it should have and this will be having a direct impact on the number of sales being made. The problem is the most pronounced on Google where TrapAWasp does not feature within the top 100 results on valuable keywords such as "wasp traps" (results on google.co.uk were slightly more positive but not by much).

Not that things are entirely doom and gloom. TrapAWasp does appear to be supported by a very effective Google Adwords campaign that goes a long way to redressing the balance of poor organic listings. It also has better ratings on sites such as MSN search (listed 7 th) and Yahoo (listed 8 th). However with Google owning 69% of the British search market it is vital that TrapAWasp receives a good listing there. Pay per click campaigns can prove very effective but they also dramatically reduce profit margins and so should only be seen as a stopgap or compliment to organic listings.

After comparing TrapAWasp against other sites listed under rated keywords it became obvious that the problem laid in the sites link popularity.

Google uses a complex algorithm to calculate your position in the ranking. However, two factors dominate that placement. One is keyword density and the other is link popularity.

Keyword density refers to the number of times a particular keyword/key phrase appears in the content of the site. For example the phrase wasp traps appears 17 times in your homepage giving it a keyword density of about 11%. After comparing this to other web sites we discovered that TrapAWasp is on a par with the competition. It is therefore fair to say that this is not the factor that is limiting your rating. That leaves the factor of link popularity.

Link popularity refers to the number of sites who link to TrapAWasp and the perceived popularity of those sites. The more sites that link to you and that you in turn link back to, the higher your ranking. However, it is not just about numbers. It is also about the perceived quality of the site that links to you as well. For example a link from the BBC website would be worth a lot more than a link from an unknown name. Another important factor is the words used in the link to you. The words "wasp trap specialist" will rank you better on the words "wasp trap" than a link using the words "The Jones family business". Currently not a single site listed on Google link to you and this explains your poor ranking.

There is, however, good news. Even the sites ranked in the top positions on Google have very little in the way of sites linking to them. It would not take many good quality links to move TrapAWasp to the top of Google’s organic listing.

Click here for more on link popularity

Below I outline a few techniques that would significantly help your placement on Google:

Look for link partners

Firstly look for as many sites that will link to you as possible and get them to add your site. One way of doing this is to search on Google for the words "add url" and a related keyword phrase such as "wasp traps". Doing so led me to this site: http://www.backyardgardener.com/ph/gardenproblem/gardenproblem.htm which actually has listed a wasp trap that is no long available! There is an add url link at the bottom of the left hand navigation that will allow you to add your site.

Copy the competition

Go to Google and search on a key phrase that is related to your site. Copy the url of the site listed number one in the list and then search again using the following search phrase "links: <url of competition>". This will show you all of the sites that link to that url. Contact each of those sites in turn and ask them if they will also link to you. Once you have done this return to Google and repeat the process all over again but this time with the next site down on the list.

Message Board seeding

Another very effective approach is to take part in message boards on related subjects such as gardening. When posting on these boards you can add a link back to your site and so improve your link popularity. However, a word of warning on this approach. If you just post adverts on peoples forums they will remove them and probably ban you for good. A more successful approach is to contribute to the forum providing useful advice and insights. Almost all forums allow you to add a signature to your post and it is in this signature that you include a link to your site.

Increasing keywords

Although this approach is not related to link popularity it is a vital component of increasing the traffic levels to your site.

One of the problems with securing high ranking is that short keyword phrases such as "wasp traps" are highly competitive. However, users often use much long search terms and it is sometimes easier to target these. The best way of targeting them is to include a lot of copy on your site that is related to the subject matter. This is normally achieved by adding an articles section on your site. This can prove very effective
. Take for example the Headscape site. Web design is a highly competitive sector and competition for the keyword "web design" is immense. However because we have an extensive archive of articles we gain a lot of traffic through longer phrases. Search on "how do I become number one on search engines" and you will see what we mean.

We would recommend that an article section relating to wasps is added to the site. This could build on the existing content which talks about how to find a wasps nest and general information about wasps.

Conclusions

This review has outlined a number of areas in which TrapAWasp could be improved. However, our recommendation is that increasing the levels of traffic should be the number one priority. Poor ranking on Google is significantly damaging the levels of traffic and with a minimum amount of work we are confident that the site’s ranking could be dramatically improved.

UK Search engine landscape

Posted in Marketing on by Paul Boag

A report released by Hitwise this week reveals some interesting trends in British online searches.

About Hitwise

Hitwise monitors the largest sample of global Internet users ever assembled. Each day, Hitwise monitors how more than 25 million Internet users from around the world interact with over 500,000 websites, across 160+ industry categories.

Report findings

The free downloadable report (Adobe Reader Required) released by Hitwise entitled "Search engine landscape and consumer search behaviour" provides valuable insight into four areas:

  • Share of search market held by each of the leading engines
  • Audience profile of the various search engines
  • Consumer search behaviour
  • Degree to which search terms continue to be underutilised

Google continues to dominate

Together Google UK and Google.com are responsible for a staggering 69% of all searches by UK internet users. That is 11% higher than there position in the US. In addition, Google’s new local search is gaining popularity especially in rural areas where goods and services are harder to find.

Different Search Engines Attract Different Audience Profiles

Two of the major areas I work in are the over 50-age group and the heritage sector. I was therefore interested to read that Google UK had a particular strength in attracting users from rural areas and well off retirees.

The report also noted that Ask.co.uk tended to attract young couples with children, which is a desirable segment for many marketers.

Consumer search behaviour

Another interesting fact to emerge from the report was the high number of users who still search using single keyword searches. The report seemed to indicate that this was due to users searching on brand names.

For me this underlined the importance of establishing a strong brand identity that sticks in people’s minds. It also demonstrated the importance of targeting the brand names of competition in pay per click campaigns.

It is possible to take this approach one-step further. It may prove prudent in some circumstances to associate pay per click ads with other major brands that attract your target audience. For example if you sell frozen food to the 50 plus age group you may wish to show your ads next to brand names such as the National Trust or SAGA. Users searching on those names are not after frozen food but it does get your brand in front of the right target audience. Obviously, this is not as straightforward as it seems due to the need to maintain a minimum level of click-throughs. However, the approach is valid.

Underutilised search terms

The final thing that caught my eye in the report was the fact that despite the impression that competition for keywords is fierce, the reality is that many keywords are still underutilised. 95% of keywords that attracted users to a particular site were not being used by that sites competition. Personally I find this hard to believe but it would appear that many companies do not research which keywords their competition are targeting and make sure they cover those words too.

The report itself

If you are interested in better promoting your website this report provides valuable background reading. Although probably not directly relevant to individual business circumstances it does provide a backdrop that enables you to better position your online marketing.

Does customer loyalty exist online?

Posted in Site content on by Paul Boag

I stumbled across an old article by Jakob Nielsen today and wanted to share with you a small example he used when trying to explain the competition we all face on the web and how superficial customer loyalty can be.

If Soft Drink Sales Worked Like the Internet

When somebody tried a new soft drink and liked it, they would not simply tell five other people at their lunch table; instead, they would shout the news to a crowd of millions of people with an interest in soft drinks. Any of them who felt intrigued by the new drink could say "sure, let me try one" and would receive a sample can by FedEx twenty seconds later. If they liked the sample, they would be assured of finding ample supplies of the new drink on the shelves of every supermarket and convenience store in the world the next day.

If soft drink sales worked like the Internet, there is no doubt that new brands would be launched much more frequently and that consumers would change brand loyalties more than they currently do.

An interesting point

Neilsen raises an interesting point here that is just as relevant today as it was in 1997 when he wrote it. Infact in many ways the trends he identified then have become even more pronounced.

It is still so important to hang on to your users especially on ecommerce sites. Existing users are much more likely to buy again and to spend more than first time visitors. The problem is that with so much competition coming online all the time and existing sites constantly being upgraded it can often become hard to keep up. That is why it is so important to have an ongoing web strategy instead of simply building a site and walking away.