The key to measuring your web design, copywriting & web marketing
Have you ever written a blogpost, publish it, then feel all you are hearing are crickets? If your content is not interesting enough, then it follows that it is not shareable. Remember that search is social and if your content does not get shared then you may be losing a lot on your blog’s traffic [...]
Doing SEO right for ecommerce is never an easy task especially now that Google Panda has been launched. Though I agree with Google that it should clean up its Search Enigne Results Pages (SERPS) the downside is that many legitimate sites are being affected and being caught up with the update. With the recent update, [...]
Have you been running an Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) campaign and not noticing much progress? Perhaps, your website is not SEO friendly. Before you embark on any SEO campaign, the first thing you need to do is make sure that your website is built for the search engines. Whether or not your website is new, you [...]
If you’re sick and tired of waiting and paying a fortune for a web designer to update your website, then should you be looking for a content management system (CMS)? I’m sure you’ve heard somebody complaining (maybe even yourself) complained that they are sick of waiting for unreliable web developers each time they want to change [...]
Kogan Technologies launched a cheeky PR campaign this week aiming to win their share of the Australian Government’s $40 billion economic stimulus package. The Kevin37 campaign is named after the Australian Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd and Kogan’s 37” LCD TV. Let’s just say that the PR campaign was clever and effective! It has given this [...]
Since we reported on eBay’s recent move to force PayPal on all of its online auctions in Australia, you may have heard that eBay has compromised on the second part of its plan to eliminate all competition in the payment systems market. Faced with the case that was building against the move at the Australian [...]
You may have heard that eBay recently announced its intention to force buyers and sellers to use PayPal on its monopoly online auction site. eBay currently allows users to use other payment methods such as direct bank deposit. According to iTWire eBay has asked the ACCC to excuse it from the trade practices act over [...]
We all know that a picture can be worth a thousand words, but it’s not always the case. Words are the most fundamental blocks of our communication. To prove this Jeff Sexton at Future Now asked, “What happens when you take the words away?” Jeff used the website www.netdisaster.com to suck out all of the [...]
With all of the information that is available from measuring websites with tools like Google Analytics, it’s easy to get distracted. A typical eCommerce website has it’s own unique set of KPI’s (Key Performance Indicators) and conversion rates. These conversion rates will tell you where you can gain quick and profitable improvements from your eCommerce website. So start [...]
You’re working on a new web design and you’re fussing over the home page. You’ve got very limited space. Just 1024 x 768 pixels to play (minus toolbars and scroll-bars). Every pixel matters. Doesn’t it? In our experience, the majority of time in web design projects is spent sweating over every pixel of the home page. Often [...]
The pinnacle of web design is where form and function work together. A good web design is a platform for performance. On the other hand, a bad web design is a serious liability. Note that it’s actually not a battle of form vs function. It’s the two working together. In order to reach the pinnacle with a web design, you must [...]
Through the haze of excitement about Web 2.0 Jakob Nielsen has articulated what serious web marketing people have been saying for a long time. Get Web 1.0 right before thinking about Web 2.0. Web 2.0 is a popular term that refers to things that encourage sharing and community between users. Think Youtube, FaceBook, MySpace, Linked In et al. Think user [...]
“Our customers are price sensitive.” “Our product is a grudge purchase.” I’ve been hearing this quite a bit in one of the industries that we’ve been working with recently. Now, I’m not going to dispute the fact that price always comes into the sales process. However, it consistently seems that the businesses that say this [...]
Ever wondered what it takes to get the most out of your eCommerce website conversion rates? Well, let’s start with the basics. You must give your website visitors all of the information that they require to make a purchase. Seem simple? A good eCommerce system and good information are the first steps to maximising your eCommerce website [...]
Since I wrote about email marketing and the Outlook preview pane two weeks ago, I’ve been on the lookout for good examples of email marketing. It turns out that Missy Higgins has an email marketing savvy record label. Take a look at the example to the left of the Missy Higgins concert tour email that [...]
If you’re sick and tired of waiting and paying a fortune for a web designer to update your website, then should you be looking for a content management system? Here’s a scenario that was recently described by Platform Interactive (Makers of a proprietary Content Management System) boss David Barnes of : “The customer gets sick [...]
Have you ever seen a website poll like this one? I can’t remember where I found it, but it’s a little embarrassing don’t you think? Online polls are often sold as one of the “whiz bang” reasons that you need a content management system. The sales person will say something like, ”An online poll helps build a sense of community.” Intangible concepts [...]
The massive take up of eye-tracking in website usability studies has revealed some interesting information. It’s a phenomenon known as Banner blindness… Well, it’s not a revelation that website visitors have learned to ignore banners and ads. But, a recent article on Jakob Nielsen’s Alertbox shows that banner blindness can spill over into your web content! An [...]
Number one on my list of eCommerce conversion killers is the shopping cart registration page. It really bothers me that so many online shops ask you to “sign up” or “register” before you enter the purchase process. The topic was discussed in a recent blog entry by Bryan Eisenberg of Future Now in the US, “Why must [...]
A simple way to boost your eCommerce website’s conversion rate is to make sure your visitors can actually find what they’re looking for. It’s highly likely that a visitor to your site will use your website’s search tool to do that. Seems simple right? Well, in researching this topic we found that the simple things sometimes slip through the cracks. A review of [...]
US company Tealeaf recently released some interesting research related to errors on eCommerce websites. “42% of online consumers abandon or switch after experiencing online transaction issues.” http://www.tealeaf.com/news/press_releases/2007/0917.asp It can be difficult to emulate the problems that your customers experience, so there’s a number of simple actions that you can take to give you a chance [...]
If your business sells online, receiving your first international order can be thrilling. One of the great things about selling online is the ability to reach markets far away for a low cost. But beware, the ease of conducting transactions over the internet belies the potential minefield of international trade. Before you leap into the global marketplace, [...]
So what does it take to create an effective web marketing website? Our experience shows that it takes a range of expertise from fields such as: Branding Web Design Web Development Web Copywriting Sales Strategy Search Engine Optimisation Lead Generation I always wonder why “web designer” became the term that many people associate with creating [...]
Do you need a website that has visual impact? Hits you right between the eyes? Would you be surprised if I told you that a visual impact website could be driving your customers away? I’ve often found that business people come to the conclusion that they need a “visual impact” website by going through a [...]
Often the first place that SME businesses go to for a website is a web designer. The question to ask is whether it’s more important that your website is designed: For visual impact, or To demonstrate how you can solve your customers problems? The answer you choose for that question could have a significant impact on your [...]
Amongst Australian SME’s, there are 2 sides to the ”generating leads from your website” camp: Those that do Those that don’t. For those that do of course, this is a dumb question… For those that don’t, we find that the reason is often: Lack of understanding about the purpose of a website Fear and confusion about the web Bad [...]
Do you want to be able to edit your own website? Is a content management system the answer? You certainly need to be in control of your own website. After all, your website may be the most important tool you have for contact with your customers. When dealing with lead generating websites, many web development companies that [...]
We’ve been working on one of our shopping cart sites that’s just not selling. Whilst we are a web marketing company with years of experience in optimising conversion rates on shopping cart sites, we don’t always get it right the first time! Now the first thing a really good web marketer does to solve a [...]