Aflier.com

When Designing a Website think KNICKERS!

2012-03-03T07:34:00.000-08:00

So what happens when the well meaning man buys his partner new knickers. The guy is all excited and hands the love of his life a beautifully wrapped parcel which is opened with great anticipation... but then... "Erm, thanks hun...".

Its not quite as bad as a steam iron or broom but instead a pair of knickers fashioned from cheese wire designed to cut right up her...

They are more for his benefit than hers. [We hope] it is not as if he deliberately ignoring the wants of his partner but confronted with the available selection it just seemed the correct choice at the time.

What this has to do with websites is that often the website owner is the gentleman buying the knickers. Quite often the website they want is more about them than the visitors they are trying to sell their products or services to. Take for example:

"I know what I want at the top of my website: home, about, contact, shop..."

The first three in the list are all about the owner of the website and its only when you get to the forth section of the website we are starting to talk about the customer needs. Also weird fonts, too many colours, distracting animations and sound are also often more about the owner.

Need evidence look at Amazon or eBay or Apple. These people have millions to spend on research in making their websites work for them in the best way possible. And look its all about the visitor and turning them into new or repeat customers.

I [the visitor] might at one point want to know about you and read that oh so important introduction (no probably not) but I really need to be able to determine within seconds that you provide the service or product I need.

So as a website owner you need the kind of honest friend (website developer) who will advise you that the g-string may not be the best choice, red or black rather than leopard skin. Make the first impression, you really know me.

Buy Bad Links... instead, build good content!

2011-12-19T05:29:00.000-08:00

Found this article very interesting. Its on The 5 B's of Bad Link Building: Borrowing, Begging, Bartering, Bribing and Buying" and I would recommend reading it.

SEO companies can charge tens, hundreds or thousands of pounds monthly. I would even take a stab in the dark and say the bad ones use an automated approach for getting you bad links, so you are paying for a computer program to:

search for easy ways to spam your website across the internet
get you a lot of links, maybe spiking your popularity to later...
have google (et al) realise you are just trying to con them and blasting your website to the middle of nowhere

Companies like Google want to offer the best content to searchers so instead of trying to fool them why not help them by:

Making sure your website has really good content. If needed, get help from a copywriter.
Get help from a web designer to check the website is easy to use. Does not help if you have great content but it is difficult to find and for someone to link to it!
Get into Social Media. Second to none for getting the word out there and bonus... improving your SEO!
Write quality articles for other people blogs, forums and interest websites.

I'm sure you can think of ones relevant to your business and sure I could help if you can't but more than anything I'd say if someone offers to get you to the top of a search engine really look at:

What kind of links are they going to get you
Will you be at the top for the correct keywords
Are they offering a long term strategy

Five Random Thoughts on Twitter Usage

2011-12-16T07:03:00.000-08:00

Number 1: People don't want your auto generated messages! They want to make a connection with you, they don't want your 'free sample' or thanks for following. Twitter is so much more about building a relationship so that people get to know you, what you do and maybe, just maybe they might want to use your services and products when the time is right. Those that do want to uses your services and products... they will be worth their weight in gold!

Number 2: I've heard that having a "quote of the day" is a good thing. Can't say I enjoy reading them at all. Well you get one of two good ones but generally are rather lame. And if its an automated message, how does it relate to you, how does it help people get to know and trust you. And so many of them are so "fluffy" that it might not be the best public (business) profile for you.

How great would a tool be that would filter out all the pointless sayings/quotes of the day! Anyone know of one?

Number 3: Do yourself a favour and follow people you are interested in rather than everybody and anybody (yes I made that mistake myself) because its hard to start again when you realise you are following 2000 people and about 100 really mean anything to you or your business.

If you are following someone you can always respond to their tweets and if they like what you say and then follows you... well that has got to be 100 times better than someone who just follows back.

Number 4: So you follow someone but they don't follow you. Its OK, no need to unfollow them. Just go with Number 3 above. I don't follow people automatically but I do go through the notifications, when I get a moment, and well if they are not following me anymore... well it was just to get a follow back anyway, they are not interested in a conversation at all.

Number 5: Have a nice profile picture of yourself rather than your company logo. Yeah its obvious and everyone says it but so many ignore this information. My brain has a specific bit just for recognising and remembering faces. As far as I know, after 4million years of evolution, it doesn't have such a bit for company logos, so if you want me to remember what you wrote, get to trust you, buy from you in the future... better have a face in your profile picture.

So those are mine... what bugs you?

Easy to Hoax on the internet!

2011-12-13T13:41:00.000-08:00

What has happen to this child, is a thing of nightmares, which I am unable to express in words...

This picture is doing the rounds in facebook... again (its at least two years old from what I can see). People are sharing and liking it and that really concerns me.

It disturbs me is that people think that it is OK to create such things and distribute them. How will they track the shares and likes... well they won't.

But what if it's not a hoax, am I stopping a child getting help! Think, what ####er would say... well I will give you the money to help your child... only if enough people 'like' it though. The modern day asking for someone to lick your boots!

It will upset people but also mean that they think they have helped in some way, when they are not. Is that such a problem... I don't know!

I love the internet, it entertains me, educated me and it also provides me with my income. It is a great equaliser making information available to the rich and poor (well poorer than every before) that was not possible a few decades ago. Dictators and multinationals exposed!

But I think we need to be mindful when we are using the internet. Because its so easy to make things up, tell lies, create a hoax... we have to think differently than someone we meet in the street. We cannot look into their eyes... (metaphorically) bop them on the nose if they do us wrong.

What do you think?

Testimonial for Eloise Owen of Utility Warehouse

2011-12-13T12:48:00.000-08:00

I wrote this testimonial for some one who provided me with a good service:

"I am not the bestperson for looking for the best deals when it comes to utilities. Itell myself that my current provider will give me a good deal becauseI am a loyal customer.

November thisyear (2011) I did something different in that I handed my latestbills to Eloise Owen of:

Utility WarehouseDiscount Club,
http://www.eloiseowen.co.uk/
0800542 2667
info@eloiseowen.co.uk

She has managed to substantially reducemy bills to save me in the region of £260 a year (for electricity,gas, phone and broadband).

Before signing up I was given theworkings to check and it was explained to me in simple terms how tomaximise my savings with a Cash Back card. Eloise made the wholeprocess of transferring to the new providers easy.

Though the broadband speed seemssimilar to BT, the time between requesting a new page and it startingto load is significantly faster with Utility Warehouse. Also the BTservice would 'drop-out' regularly but this has stopped sinceswitching.

I am very please with the help andassistance Eloise gave me in this process and even though its earlydays for the service provided by the Utility Warehouse... the savingsare obvious to see.

Next I am planning to transfer mymobile service."

KFC (or any business)... don't skimp on sauce!

2011-11-20T11:38:00.001-08:00

So I order a boneless banquet. Such tasty lovely chicken and plenty of it. This time as more often than not I have to ask for my dip (a part of the deal)... a single measly dip for all that chicken! Can I have another... "no sorry", "for all that chicken", "sorry" she shrugs recognising the daftness of it.

Hardly a high cost item I would think compared to the chicken. But this seems to be a trend. I remember when you had to dive over the counter and place yourself between the salt an vinegar and your chips if you didn't want any! But not now... they get it wrapped up before you notice you haven't your rightful condiments.

But the thing is that other businesses don't behave the same. Most kebab shops "salt and vinegar on your chips, sir", "yes please", "Sauce and salad, sir", "sauce but no salad please", "ok, sir" a plastic fork whether you want it or not. I appreciate fish and chips are still popular but lets face it... they no longer rule the late night high street like they once did.

Its such trivial things but it makes such a difference. Get home and realise you have no sauce, "grrrrrrrrr"! Much less likely to go back.

If they run after you because you left your drink on the counter, you'll go back. The lady in the Chinese that gives you extra pot of gravy when you tell her last time you dropped the lot, you'll be back. The curry house that gives you an extra starter when you tell them your Samosa was soggy the last time, you'll be back.

How can I relate this to websites and social media... can't think anything at the moment but I'm sure the long term profitability of your company depends on whether you don't forget the sauce or not. Oh and if you make the most of Social Media your customers will tell others about your great service and if you are don;t... you might not hear about where you have problems.

Update your own software.

2011-11-16T06:50:00.001-08:00

I enjoyed listening to a presentation by Sheila Thorne this morning. To summarise and probably miss-represent her it focussed on how, like our smart phones, we need to update our software from time to time.

The overall point she made is that sometimes when we get that icon, saying we should update our own personal software, we often ignore it.

We don't expand our skills or look at what is most important to as, stay in a job that really is not good for us any more. This really hit home with me as I have often stayed way too long in jobs... ignoring what is wrong. Now I'm working for myself, I won't lie... its really hard compared to working for someone else but it is so much better for me.

In my last job when I voiced that maybe it was best if I left, the reply really came that I was just giving up because I didn't get my own way! But my own way "good quality, teams rather than individuals, individual empowerment etc" were just beliefs too important, I denied them for too long.

Sheila spoke about how people like to blame others, and how coaching could turn the Victim into a Hero and I believe she can do it. Whether you are an individual wanting a better life or a company owner wanting more out of your business... you should check her out.

I could change a washer... but I won't!

2011-11-15T15:58:00.001-08:00

I could fix a leaky washer in the bathroom but it would take quite a while (probably hours) to do and may even end with me breaking something. So I call a plumber. OK the costs are much higher but I can be concentration on my business while its being fixed.

When considering the provider of your website, ask yourself whether you will want to 'change the washers' once it is complete. With many 'self managed' websites you will be expected to make updates yourself, changing text may not be such an issue but adding a twitter button may be just like the washer above. Making these smaller changes may not be of interest to them.

Sure you could find the plug-in, add it, set it up as easy as changing a washer but if you are taken away from running your business then that can be harmful or even just something you don't want to do.

I am finding that a lot of my customers (and many person I have discussed this with while networking) that self managed can be more of a hindrance than a help. I constantly wonder if offering a "Pay as you go" service for smaller changes was not a good idea, because no one else does it but it does seem to be popular and I'll be continuing and pushing it as a service I can provide.

Ban the FAQ

2011-11-13T14:17:00.001-08:00

Since I was a software developer I've been wary of those places where information is dumped. In development of software it used to be something like a "util" file. I place where you put things when you didn't want to think about the correct place.

Well the same seems to be the case for the FAQ on most websites. Last thing your visitor wants to do is go searching for some bit of information in an over long FAQ. So think about where that information should be and put it there!

Even if you put it in the FAQ because it could go in a number of places... well put it in those places or get a developer to put something together so that the same information can be places in multiple places but only edited in a single place.

So I say ban the FAQ! Well keep it to a minimum.

Keep those websites fresh to rank well in Google!

2011-11-07T13:10:00.000-08:00

The blog below really highlights the need to keep your website updated and fresh. I think this will be a good move. Particularly when looking for technical/detailed explanations its so helpful to get the up to date (easy) solution rather then the harder to implement older solutions. Well done Google!

Official Google Blog: Giving you fresher, more recent search results: Search results, like warm cookies right out of the oven or cool refreshing fruit on a hot summer’s day, are best when they’re fresh. Even if...