Paid Pins?

Tonight I received an email from Pinterest founder Ben Silbermann announcing the start of promote pins.  First thought, "No, here we go with the invasion of social time." And maybe that's what it will feel like but I was impressed that (1) I was sent a "heads up" to know what was coming and (2) Ben promised a few things:

Tasteful—No flashy banners or pop-up ads.

Transparent—We’ll always let you know if someone paid for what you see, or where you see it.

Relevant—These pins should be about stuff you're actually interested in, like a delicious recipe, or a jacket that's your style.

Improved based on your feedback—Keep letting us know what you think, and we'll keep working to make things better.

I hope that is the case but I can't help but think of how ads feel in Facebook when they enter the "timeline" it's like you're watching your favorite television program and a really obnoxious commercial comes on - makes you want to leave the room.  Or in this case leave Facebook.  So I really hope that Ben keeps that in mind.

I have to say though, that it's probably about time.  How else does Pinterest make money if it doesn't allow ads?  And if you want to keep good thing going you'll have to start generating serious revenue at some time or another.

From the standpoint of a potential advertiser, I am excited.  I don't want to alienate anyone with my ads but at the same time with all the pins it's hard to keep anything at eye level in any category on Pinterest.  I'm looking forward to the prospect of pushing my pins to the top - although you and I both know that only the pins that generate the most "repins" will be the best content on Pinterest.  As it should be.

So to Ben and the rest of the Pinterest crew - best of luck!  All of us internet marketers  (and avid pinners!) will be watching.

Cheap Doesn't Always Mean Frugal

As some of you know, I'm what you would call a "hobby mechanic". I like to work on small car engines & suspension parts in my spare time. Last summer I had finished the rebuild on the motor in my 1991 Eagle Talon TSi AWD and had spent a sizeable amount of money purchasing performance parts, having things sent in to machine shops and shipping large, heavy metal objects across the country.

It was towards the end of the summer months that I finally had the motor together and put back into the car, I was so happy. I had finally gotten the vehicle running again and got to drive it.

A matter of weeks later, it all came to a halt.

In my fervor to get the vehicle running, and my enthusiasm for "go fast parts", I cheaped out and bought a crank pulley (aka "harmonic balancer") from a knock-off company. I had read a couple reviews saying it "got the job done" and against my better judgement went ahead and bought it, since the part could be at my door in two days, and it was MUCH cheaper than the OEM alternative.
As stated, just a matter of weeks after having the motor together, the part I cheaped out on split in two, causing a catastrophic failure of the motor, and sent my pistons colliding with the valves inside the motor. Needless to say, I had to tear the ENTIRE THING apart again, and start from scratch.

Lots of time, money & enthusiasm WASTED.

I can't tell you how many times I've seen the exact same thing happen when I have to crack open a client's preexisting website. 

We get a lot of clients who come from relatively cheap developers, unsatisfied and disillusioned. They ask us to take control of their website and "bring it up to standards" and often end up kicking themselves in the butt and realizing it would have been a whole heck of a lot easier, cheaper, and effective if they had just bit the bullet and bought quality "parts" to begin with.

So in an effort to save you from the pain and suffering I went through when my beloved Eagle Talon's motor exploded that I meticulously put together, please save yourself the heartache, don't waste your time or money investing in fly-by-night web development companies who make promises they can't deliver with prices that don't make you think long and hard about making the purchase.

Building your company's website is a value-adding investment, and needs to be treated at as such. Don't buy cheap parts when you're rebuilding your engine, and don't waste your time and money paying someone to build you a sub-par web presence.

Cheap doesn't always mean frugal.

Did I miss a meeting or something?

Today we've had several character building opportunities, as my friend Tim would say.  It started this morning when I read on my Hootsuite (awesome program by the way) that the Twitter feed to my home page generated by HS was going to fail due to a change in the Twitter API (application programming interface).  Okay so Twitter has changed the way it delivers it's app to other web programs.  Great.  "Hey Chris, we need to check the Twitter feeds for our social clients and make sure they are working on each website correctly...." I said to my faithful programmer as he came in the door.

Next, I go over to Pinterest, looking for appropriate pins for clients, pinning client info and spreading the social love when my Pinterest tells me they have a new layout with larger images.  Of course I want to put that in place and when I get the new look I also notice an expanded category listing.... now I need to check the categories against the way I have my client boards categorized because if there is a better option - I need to make a change.

While working on the latest change in social realm I come across a pin from Pam the Marketing Nut (she's awesome too by the way) and guess what? Google+ decided to give us all WAY bigger profile banner images.  This means I need to update all the banner images for our clients to the much larger size - get out the photoshop!

This all takes place before noon today.  I'm just wondering, did I miss a meeting? Did all the social master minds get together and decide that they would all roll out changes today? And if I missed the meeting, maybe Facebook & LinkedIn did too because I haven't seen a dramatic change there. . . yet.  What happened to "if it ain't broke don't fix it!  I'm knocking on wood.

Hope you all have a great day!!

Good content puhleeese!

What does it take to get good content?

Okay by now you've heard it all. Content is king, content marketing is the way to high search rankings . . . content, content, content.  But what really makes good content?

With the rise of social media I spend a lot of time looking at and developing content.  It's a balance between providing content for clients on their websites (because you want to bring visits to the website itself) and finding content to post about (because you want to be a resource for other good sources of content).  What I find on a regular basis is bad because:

1. It's a copy of what everyone else is saying - argh! If I only had something new and different!
2. It has no photos - which are essential when using Facebook, Google+ and Pinterest social channels.
3. The site itself is ancient, circa 1995.  This includes hideous backgrounds with text that is hard to read.
4. The content is rife with grammatical errors, spelling errors and just general bad internet form.

What I would like to find is, obviously, quite the opposite.  This is what I strive for when providing customized content for my clients:

1. Good, solid writing style. Must read well grammatically, no misspellings, and be easily scan-able with bullets,bold fonts and block quotes.
2. Images that compliment the content.  This is important because, as stated above, certain social channels post a photo with the article blurb.  Since 90% of our perception begins with vision, having an appropriate image is important to good content.
3. Page design that is conducive to reading.  No gray on gray or red on blue.  I want the page to give the reader's eyes a break.  
4. Original thoughts, ideas and titles.  Sure the topic may not be new but find a new way to present it with a title that surprises and invites the reader. 

Is this all too much to ask? I don't think so but after spending hours a day providing quality content for my social clients I find it's more rare than it should be to find such gems.  

Need help with your content? Contact us! We're happy to help.

Chris' Favorite Web-Based Tools

I missed last week's blog post, sorry guys!I figured to make up for it I'd do a blog post that may actually have some residual impact on your lives by offering you some of my favorite websites & solutions to daily problems you may not already know about.

To be clear, I am in no way affiliated with or benefit from any of these recommendations. Just things I use in my day-to-day that you may find useful. If you've got something you think does the job better, post it in the comments!

Buy Me a Pie (www.buymeapie.com) is a "cloud-based" shopping list. You can use your android or iOS based mobile device, or alternatively use your computer's web browser to update a shopping list. One of the great things about this is you can have a group (i.e. household) of individuals able to edit a single list. My roommate and I have used it for several months now, and it's been incredibly helpful in keeping track of things we run out of and every time I stop by the store I can just whip out my phone, look at the list and have an up to date list of things we've run out of. I use the web-based editor (found at the buymeapie.com website after logging in) to create my lists, then I can access the list from my cellphone at the grocery store, but you can figure out a system that works for you. 

Mint (www.mint.com) is an absolutely fantastic piece of budgeting software that connects to most bank accounts with online banking. It displays your purchases, categorizes them, and allows you to review your spending habits. This has sincerely changed the way I handle my money, and given me a new sense of control I hadn't had before. If you've already got a system for keeping your spending in check, I applaud you, if not, check out Mint to see if it can help.

Tubalr (www.tubalr.com) so when I said I wasn't affiliated with anyone on this list, I guess I lied, because I have been very good friends with the owner/developer of this website for the better part of a decade. What Cody has done is created a program that will instantly create a playlist of YouTube videos based off of your search queries. He's also developed the ability to "stream" the videos you're watching through a "DJ" mode. I use this quite a bit for new music searches. Since there are so many playlists based off of music communities where individuals are sharing "rare gems" (mostly reddit) there's always a lot of underground music you'd NEVER hear otherwise. Worth checking out if you're tired of Pandora playing the same 30 songs over and over.

MyFitnessPal (www.myfitnesspal.com) if you're one of the seemingly millions of people who make the weight-loss commitment every new years, but just can't seem to keep it together long enough to achieve results, this website may be able to help. It allows you to log all of your caloric activity, both intake and expenditure. There are apps for your phone as well, but since I spend so much time in front of a computer, I just use the browser based application. If you're serious about your resolution but feel a little overwhelmed, this application can make it so much easier to stay organized & diligent.

My Fridge Food (www.myfridgefood.com) this allows you to select items currently in your cupboard/fridge/pantry and then gives you a list of recipes that you can prepare with the things you have, or with minimal purchasing of new food stuffs. If you're as unimaginative in the kitchen as I am this website may make it onto your favorites list, as it has mine.


So there you go. Five web-based products that really can change the way you live your day-to-day life. If you start using them and have any questions about how to use them, don't hesitate to ask. I'm always happy to help.

If you've got a great idea of your own and want help bringing it to life, I can help with that too. Feel free to call Teajai or I and we'd be happy to discuss your ideas and see if we can't turn your idea into one of my favorite web-based tools. Hope everyone's having a good year so far, let's see how much we can get accomplished together.

Goals for 2013

2013 is here! 

Hi! Chris here.... Just so you know.

Hard to believe it's already the third morning of 2013. I'm getting a late start on setting goals.. I'm sure there's some sort of irony in that.

Most of these goals are going to be professionally motivated, but I'll try to slip in a couple personal ones so the read isn't too dry.

1) First I think I'd like to make it a goal of mine for 2013 to review this list of goals & check on my progress on the 3rd day of every month. Hey look at that, 12 free blog posts this year that I don't even have to ponder about. Success!

2) Learn a new programming language. I'll probably go with something like Ruby on Rails. This will expand our programming horizons here in the office in the sense that we'll be more capable of creating small lightweight "web-apps" very quickly & with a robust security and feature suite. So yeah.. New programming language. I'd like to have a test application up by my March that I'll provide a link for, that way you guys can help me keep track of that and call me out if I don't deliver. If on March the 3rd I'm not posting up a link for you guys to play around with, call me out on it.

3) To expand on my very limited design capabilities. As most of you reading this know, Teajai is our creative mind. She's also the marketing director, the company's finance manager & client liaison to several of our most involved clients. She's a busy lady! I think it would be in the interest of the company if I developed the ability to start creating web templates. I'll start uploading some samples of work for you guys here soon.. No deadline on this one. I'll definitely create the layout for the Ruby on Rails web app discussed above in #2 so we can all laugh at how rudimentary my design abilities are.

4) Read a book a month. Fiction book. I don't typically do fiction books, I like reading then applying my new knowledge. Couldn't tell you why I've never been a big fiction reader. I think this will be a good exercise for me though. If you have any recommendations then feel free to share them with me in the comments.

5) Create an updated suite of web content systems for our clients. First and most importantly to me is I'd like to redevelop our shopping cart solution. I think we need more sales report functionality so I'd like to expand on that. Second is a full featured content management system, but secretly I've already made quite a bit of progress on this. (queue evil laugh)

6) Actually do all of these things.

Most of these you guys are more than capable of helping keep me honest on. So don't hesitate to check in on me and shoot an email asking how progress on any number of these are coming. I'm tempted to create some sort of application that will send an email (or maybe a text?) randomly throughout the year reminding you of your convictions.. Sort of funny that we need reminders of our convictions, but that's another blog post.

I hope all is well for you & yours, and AS ALWAYS, if there's anything you need help with as we're all ramping up for the new year, let Teajai or I know. We're happy to help & excited to grab this year by the horns.

Hi! I'm Chris! I program the websites...

Hi, it's Chris. I hardly ever post, but I've made a New Years resolution to more actively engage myself with our blog. I can't even pretend to know what I'm going to write about over the course of the next year, but I can promise it won't always be work related. If I'm going to write blog posts they're going to have to be about things I want to talk about, and while I love web development, enjoy working with Teajai, and the clients who employ us... I don't want to spend my time talking about it too.

So anyways.. I guess an introductory post is in order!

My name is Chris Keefer. I guess here's where I try to sum myself up in a brief synopsis. So let's see here...

I'm a programmer. In the context of the web that means I'm the one who creates and implements the solutions to your internet problems. Shopping carts, content management systems, user login systems. I build those. Favorite Language: PHP

I secretly want to be a chef. Only problem is I can't cook. I've been working on it, very recently really the time and spending some focus points on really applying myself in the kitchen... Favorite Food: Chicken Fried Steak (with pan gravy of course...) 

The hobby that really soaks up the majority of my time, when weather permits, is automotive mechanics. I work on friend's cars. My car. Friend's friend's cars.. It's just something I love to do when I have the time (and money!). I've had a run of bad luck with my most recently car, so I'm really considering dropping it for a new project. We'll see how it pans out. Just waiting for warmer months so I can get back out there and start tinkering. Favorite Car: Datsun 510

I'm a dog person. I don't hate cats or anything, in fact Teajai's cat Prince may be my favorite animal of all time. But if I ever have a furry friend of my own, it'll be a dog. Favorite Breed: Australian Cattle Dog

Lightning round: I'm right-handed. My two best friend's names are Angel and Jesus (LOL!). I'm sort of a movie snob. I wish I was more artistic. I used to play video games competitively, attending tournaments across the country. I've never been able to successfully use chop-sticks. My favorite color is Orange. I chew on ice & straws... always.. I've never left the country. I have friends I keep in regular contact with living in over 20 states (and Canada land!). I never met a pizza I didn't like. I hate getting haircuts (I always look dumb!). I love the smell of race fuel (but don't sniff it.. that'd be bad). I once BOARDED a plane going to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina... My destination was Jacksonville, Florida... I like pineapple on my pizza.. and I ask Santa for a giant tortoise every year so I can put aviator goggles on him.. Santa never delivers.

I hope this was enlightening.... Probably not.. But at least we know each other a little better.. Or.. you know me better..

Whatever. I'll find a real topic of discussion for my next post.. I promise.

I hope everyone's Christmas/Kwanza/Hanukkah or otherwise awesome December-based holiday is going/went/will go great. It's a cool time of year, but I know a lot of people get wrapped up in the hustle & bustle of it all. So don't forget to spend some time reflecting on what's truly important in life.

As always, if there's ever anything we can do.. I know TJ and I are happy to oblige.. Merry Christmas to everyone. I hope you and yours are safe, happy & healthy, and if I don't talk to you before, enjoy your new years. 

As hated as a visit to the dentist . . .

Blogging doesn't have to be like pulling teeth!

Some people think of blogging the same way they think of going to the dentist - not pleasant and to be avoided at all costs.  But this year I've had more clients start blogging (and I'm ghostwriting more blogs) this year than any year in the past. Why? Because more people are seeing the benefits of blogging like how blogs get the attention of search engines because of the fresh content and the way a blog gives you a platform to showcase expertise.

If you are still struggling with blogging here's a few things I've learned that will keep things on track.

1. Give yourself a blogging due date and stick to it.  Like an appointment on the calendar make sure you have your "homework" done by that day each week.  When I've set a due dates for the client's I'm coaching we get it done 9 times out of 10.
2. Keep a notepad handy so when something you read or talk about sparks an idea for a blog post you can jot it down and come back to it later.  If you're really hurting for ideas try using the Content Idea Generator.
3. Watch your blog traffic - really! Because when you see how many people read a particular blog post it encourages you to write again!
4. Get a blogging buddy - that's right a buddy who will keep you on track, proof read, give you a second opinion and maybe even brainstorm ideas with you.

Remember - a blog post is first person, can include your thoughts and opinions and should always quote the source or link back to the source when you're referencing the writings of others. 

Blogging shouldn't be a painful exercise, it can be a fun, easy way to showcase your company. If you haven't started - today looks like a good day to do so right? How about now?

Get Lost!

Yesterday I had to make a call to a government agency about a strange letter I received.  The phone system was HELL.  First select English, then listen to 6 options (didn't hear one that really applied so had to listen twice) take a guess at a selection that *might* be correct, listen to 4 more options - none of these seemed correct.  Tried selectin 0 which in most cases will get an operator, no such luck.  Made a random guess - it ended up telling me about a new policy and wished me a good day (in other words said good-bye and hung up).

Round 2: Select English, listen to 6 options - try a different choice. Listen to 5 more options - choose something that is irrelevant but sounds like it has an outside chance of reaching a person...

Have you been there, done that?  Layers and layers of choices and yet they don't get what you wanted. Layers. They are everywhere!

Unfortunately many websites are the same way - nothing but layers.  Why would you put a potential customer (yes even non-profit and government agencies have "customers" they serve) through the hell of trying to sort through all those layers! Worse yet, about half of these websites don't even use breadcrumbs to help you know where you in the website.

Here's one example - to get to the explanation of changes based on the new Obamacare you'll go through at least 5 screens of  "it's coming" content.  That's the number of clicks before it starts to give you the info from the link on the front page. Then they want 8 more minutes of your time.

Government and insurance websites are among the worse offenders although you can also find this problem in shopping websites, large corporations and more.

The point is - people just want to go to the website, get the info (or order the product) and get out. They don't want to get lost and will often leave before finding what they came for when they are lost.

The use of personas and "people like me" identifiers are key to a good user experience.  By giving "quick links" and "short cuts" to the information people are most likely to want you'll be doing us all a favor.

Control freak

The internet is full of control issues and people who have control issues. Google wants to "put you in control" by controlling what you see (they say the algorithms benefit you but really?). Social media
websites are just as bad - think of the big change Facebook made awhile back when they started telling you what your "top stories" were.  And then there is the whole privacy thing: what you think is private really isn't.

Then there are all the websites that compete for the same impressions (eyeballs) and dollars you're trying to capture. There are all the new technology gadgets that seem to dictate how your information will be displayed on mobile devices for example.

In all  my years of working on the internet, one thing remains constant, people want to have control of what happens once their website is launched: top rankings in search, exposure through links, social media traffic etc. And the irony is, those are all things that cannot be controlled.  Oh you can try to influence them, but you can't control them.  The only thing you can control is the website itself.

If Bing, Google & Yahoo didn't exist, if there were no social media channels - would your website give visitors the informational value and the ease of use to cultivate sales? What is there on your website that makes it worth visiting... more than once?

Websites that do well in search, for the most part, have quality content that's worth reading and re-reading as people research choices.  Websites that go viral have web content that is worth sharing Website that convert visitors to customers are all easy to use, give a direct path to the conversions.

Funny thing - the website is often neglected when it comes to cultivating and nurturing a professional looking, clean functioning, quality content driven website.  A quick search in the deep results pages  and you'll see dozens of websites languishing with little attention from their owners.  Like plants, a little attention goes a long way.

So if you want to "control" over the top ranking, viral social sharing, and getting more leads or sales you have to work on the one thing you can control: the website itself.  Keep the content current, include new information that will help people choose your company. Treat your website like the most important component of any internet marketing campaign - because it is!

Fed Up with "Content Marketing"

Is content marketing really new?

Everyday there are at least a handful of articles talking about how you have to be involved with content marketing. And everyday I look at those headlines and think, why do people think this is news? Seriously, if you've been involved in internet marketing at all in the last decade you would know that this is nothing new at all. In fact, if you are an internet marketing professional, you should have been practicing "content marketing" all along. It's the backbone to all other online marketing efforts.  Whatever you are trying to accomplish online it should begin with the content.

Example: You want to set up a lead generation campaign.  You need to have something that people want in an easy to access format that will be worth a prospect giving you an email address.  What do you do? You develop content in the form of a white paper.

Example: You want to send out a newsletter that includes the blurb of an expert article on your website. That expert article is content you've got to develop to give value to the newsletter.

Example: You're running a social media campaign that needs to bring traffic to the website.  You can't just keep sending the same old content over the social channels so you develop new content on the website to give a new life to the website and an new reason for return visits.

These examples don't even touch the content you've probably developed over the years to address key questions about your products / services - you know those articles about how to choose, how to use, what to choose, and etc.

Developing unique, quality content isn't a new marketing scheme.  You should have been developing content all along to help promote the website through all of the many online marketing channels. Good content isn't a strategy itself, it's the backbone to every online marketing strategy.

So the next time you see a groundbreaking article about content marketing you can skip the hype and use the time to learn about the last Panda update.

Questions? Comments? I invite your feedback :)

Stand Upon the Desktop

Do you remember the movie "Dead Poet's Society?" There was a scene where the lead character played by Robin Williams told the students to take turns standing upon the desk and viewing the classroom from that angle. When was the last time you "stood upon the desk" to see things from another point of view?

Last week I had the pleasure of meeting with the owner of a company that has been in business since the 1970's and has even produced a few pieces for Air Force One.  One thing about being in business that long is that you stick with what you know and what has worked in the past.  But when the times change, you have to adapt. This business owner's industry has been going through tough times in recent years (who's industry hasn't?) and he was looking for some insights to what can be done with the website to help business.

The company traditionally sells to manufacturers which packages their products within a larger framework to sell to end users. But since the consumer is the one who ultimately buys the fully manufactured item they, the end users,  have the ability to influence what is included within the manufacturing process.  By taking a look from the top of the desk a slight shift in the view can make a big difference.

The new strategy: share photos of the high end company products in the fully manufactured end product as they appear in magazines, news, media etc. in social media (Facebook, LinkedIn).  The images will then create a desire for options the end user may not know about. By letting the end user see the options in the finished product they will then  request the customization from the manufacturer directly.  Instead of the business pushing the manufacturers to use their products, the end-user will create a "pull" for the products.

Sometimes all it takes is a slight shift in perception to change the way promote your products and services.  With today's ever changing technology that shift can include a multi-focus approach to marketing which has traditionally been restricted to a single channel.  Social media is one way to change the approach because people who own and operate businesses of all sizes are on the front line of seeing what consumers are requesting.

Need someone to give you a different perspective? Contact me!

Does SEO = SCAM?

Interesting discussion this morning in the Manta Community that got me to thinking (and responding).  Apparently there is a section of the population that thinks search engine optimization (SEO) is a scam.  Is it? Well I guess it depends on who's doing it and what the expectations are.  I mean yes, there are people who say they optimize for search engines and they really don't have a clue but there are just as many who do a very nice job of search optimization.

Then you have to consider that the expectations of the website owner may be far beyond what they should be as far as search engine optimization.  They want to be number one for a search term or rank on the first page for just about every term they can think of. These aren't totally realistic.

Consider the purpose of search engines - first and foremost it's to serve the people who are using them to find something.  They aren't there for the sake of business competition, but they serve that goal to - in fact that's why search engines got into the business of selling ads, and it's nice bonus that the ads cover the expenses of running the search engine.

The web is in constant evolution.  Today search engines are not the end all / be all of marketing online, they are just part of an overall big picture.  So it's unrealistic to put "all the eggs" in one basket.  That's like having one big customer with nothing else to sustain you if the one customer goes out of business. You'll be left with nothing.

So in response to the comments I wrote this article based on my own experience, research over time and another article I read recently:   The Way Search Engine Optimization Should Work

While I don't think this will put an end to the debate over whether or not SEO is dead, or social replaces search or all SEO is a scam it may just give a new way to look at the overall process and get the ideas going on how you can use search engines to your advantage.

Will, Won't & Can't

I've been doing this web thing for nearly 14 years and there is one thing that I've found true.  There are 3 types of websites: Those that will, those that won't and those that can't.

Those that will:
These websites are well thought out, well put together and have clear path and direction to the goals. These are the websites that perform well in search but more importantly are gaining in sales revenue either through quality lead generation or direct sales.  Here are is an example:

This site will because it's got several ways for people to find products - images & product list. It is quick to get from the home page to check out and it doesn't overwhelm visitors with a lot of information on the front page that isn't necessary to get people to what they want - products.

Those that won't:
Websites that won't are those that have the ability to convert but in their current state they are not working. It doesn't mean they can't be improved, they just won't be producing sales currently.  Websites that are heavy with flash, completely ignoring the growing mobile web market are perfect examples.  Another example is this one that I was asked to evaluate this morning:

Set aside the fact that the owners of this site managed to take a very exciting sport and make it blah, but the design doesn't do anything to make me want to purchase tickets from them. No trust, unprofessional, etc. But some changes and this website could do a much better job of converting.

Those that can't:
Maybe it's better said as "never will." There are many websites that are put out by multi-level marketing companies, affiliate generated websites or franchisors who won't let their franchisees make improvements.  If you've got a website that was provide for you by a parent company that was designed to promote the parent company (not you as a rep of that company) then let me just state it plainly - it won't happen. Those companies (top level affiliates, marketers etc) have no interest in your online success other than you giving them money monthly.  They aren't providing you with the opportunity to optimize for conversions, search friendliness or anything else.  And I'm sure, if you're in this boat, you've already figured that out.

Okay so this post ends on a sour note, maybe it should have been written upside down.  That being said I hope that you, dear reader, will get some gems you can use.  If you have questions please post them below or email me personally - I'm happy to help!

Take advantage of the traffic you have . . .

The following question was posted on Manta community (you can find me there answering questions if you're too shy to ask them here) and I thought it might be helpful to post the answer here as well:

How can I get more people to notice my website?

I've put samples of my products on websites like slideshare and docstoc to try to bring traffic to my website, but it's not working.

This is the website as it appears currently:

My background is in Human Factors psychology so I look at things from the stand point of how people would interact with your website - taking advantage of the traffic you do have will be more cost effective and help with search rankings. I also used to have a child care about 25 years ago so I am familiar with NAEYC and your subject matter. Taking things from a "so what?" point of view here are my recommendations.

• The layout is a bit confusing, it's hard to tell where you want me, as a novice visitor to your website, to look. We've all been trained to read left to right, top to bottom and we look at websites in a type of "F" pattern. If you reorganize to fit this pattern and eliminate the confusion you'll get a better flow through.
• The call to action conversion (free give away) is lost in the mix. It needs to be more clear what I am getting and why it's important.
• Curriculum is an important part of quality child care but what sets your company apart from others? You need a unique value proposition and clear benefits. Changing the focus from the company to the visitor will have a positive impact on your bottom line.
• Why is your contact information hidden below the fold? Make it super easy for people to contact you by putting your phone number in the 'golden triangle.

These are just a few of my immediate thoughts.

I've taken the liberty of "reworking" your front page - feel free to use the changes to your advantage if you feel they are appropriate.

Remember, it's easier to double your conversions than to double your web traffic. Hope this helps!

My pet peeve . . .

Ever since I got into designing websites (1996) I have had this pet peeve.  And I keep thinking that as time progresses people would realize how easy it is to fix and how odd it looks when it's not fixed. Are you wondering what it is? Promise not to laugh and think I'm too picky?

Here's one screen shot - see if you can guess:

Don't know yet? Try looking at this one:

Still don't know? Both websites are ALIGNED TO THE LEFT! This is a default in web design and I get that but when you have a site that is smaller than the existing average screen size (1280 px wide) it leaves a whole heap of white space on the right. And the thing that really bothers me about it - It's so very easy to fix!!

I simply don't understand why a web designer would want to leave a site aligned to the left when you can center it and have a much more professional (IMHO) look. 

That's it, my pet peeve.  And if your website is suffering in this way please call me, I'll be happy to fix it.  Better yet, how about ditching the circa 1999 design altogether and let's start fresh with a new, more professional looking website that better fits today's screen resolutions. Thank you!

What if Google, Bing didn't exist?

Have you ever stopped to think what would happen if Google or Bing didn't exist? How would you go about getting traffic to your website? How would you promote your products and services?

This question was included in a recent article in Website Magazine by Peter Prespitino, he made an interesting point and it really shows how the internet has evolved from one of "build it and they will come" to "show them the way" to "OMG how do I get people to buy from me!!!"

If there were no Google or Bing here's what I would be advising my clients to do:

• Get email addresses from all your current customers and market to them monthly. Pareto's principle is still valid and I see it each time I send out an email.  If you aren't using email to market to your customers it's not too late to start.
• Give people a reason to visit your website beyond just your sales hype.  If you haven't started adding informational or educational content to your website - do it! Do it today! Set up a schedule to add more information to your website on a regular basis.  Be the reporter in reverse and tell people how, what, why, where and who (that would be you!).  When you have something good on your website your website becomes a resource and reference to others.
• Social media. It doesn't matter if you don't like it, don't understand it, don't care at all - nothing matters except that you have to do it. Eat the frog, take the plunge. And if any of those statements apply to you find and hire someone who "gets it." Because without search engines the only way to reach out is through social media.  So get good at it or find someone who already is.
• Did I mention email? Yeah well here it is again - take that great content you've been creating and use it to market to prospects who've contacted you within the last 18 months.  Get their email addresses from your sales people, from your front line, from your email inbox and start using them! Email at least once every month.
• Instead of optimizing for search engines and their unknown, ever changing, standards, optimize for conversions and focus on getting more of your current visitors to engage with your website. When you can get more customers with your current traffic it costs less!

Why is this important - because search engine optimization as we know it is fading. There are so many websites on the internet competing for the same words that it's virtually impossible to get the top ranking for anything that will matter to you in the long run. And anyone who tells you different should be highly suspect.  I'm not saying you should give up all optimization efforts but I am saying not to put all your eggs in that one basket. It's simply not smart.

Top of Mind Awareness

Did you know that simply walking through a doorway can make you forget what you were doing? It's true! A study conducted by Gabriel Radvansky and Notre Dame found that if you walk through a doorway you'll forget the mission you were on.  Which explains all those times you've walked from one room to another and thought "What did I come in here for?"  Doorways act as an event eraser.  Strange but true.

Our brain has the ability to do wonderful things, especially when it comes to memory.  We get to recall our most pleasant events years later when triggered by a sound, fragrance or sight.  We can force ourselves to remember the multiplication tables for quick reference when we need them. And we can remember that really cool company that we saw last week advertising those widgets that we knew we would need at some time but . . . can we really?

The "old school" advertising rule was that people could remember 7 things plus or minus 2 items.  That's where we come up with the "navigation should have 10 links or less" and "7 is a lucky number."  But it turns out that's not really true either.

Try this experiment - name 7 brands in 5 seconds.  No cheating!  How far did you get? If you are like most of us you maybe could come up with 4 then started to struggle.

Obviously if you want to make sure someone remembers your company name, you'll need to do a good job of making sure you get it out there repeatedly because people go through doorways all the time!  Seriously though, it's getting to be more of a challenge daily to get people to remember to call you instead of your competitor or the first sign they see on the highway.

How do you do it? Repetition for starters.  When they see your brand in social media, in an email, on a search engine result page and on a website the sheer repetition starts to set in.  The bad thing is, when you stop the repetition the brand falls off the top of their mind and is replaced with some other brand.

If you want them to remember something on your website - make it really stand out! No kidding! Turns out all the bold, italics, Times New Roman in the world doesn't replace the eye appeal to the memory like a graphic artists worst nightmare of a font catastrophe! (From a study by Princeton and Indiana University)

Oh, and about that doorway - I don't know this for a fact but I bet when you move from one page to the next on a website a similar effect happens which is why you need the contact information on every page (what was I looking for again?).

So now that you know a bit more - will you remember it? If you use your hands while talking about this concept you will - guaranteed! But that's a whole 'nuther blog post.

Turn a Facebook Friend into a Facebook Page Fan

This post was suggested by one of our readers - you can suggest too by using the box in the lower right of this page!

If you're like most business owners on Facebook you've got "friends" who are actually customers or clients of your business.  That's fine, it's great to know that they think enough of you to want to be your friend. But if they are just a friend, they miss out on all the great business related items on your actual business page like: news, promotions, staff highlights, fun photos and more.  So if you're like me, you need to convert those friends into fans.

Here are a few things to try:

• First, use the conventional method of inviting your friends to "like" your business fan page.  Here's how that's done:   

• First, go to your business page on Facebook. From that page you'll see the admin panel which is divided into sections.  The lower right section has some of your friends listed and the words "invite friends."  To make it easy on yourself click "see all" to the far right.  This will bring up a box of all your friends. 

• Check to make sure that "Search All Friends" is selected from the drop down menu on the top left in the box. This will show you all your friends on Facebook.  The friends that are already fans or have already been invited are grayed out leaving the friends you have yet to invite in full color. 

• Check mark the box next to each friend and when you are finished selecting, click the "submit" button on the bottom right of the box.  This will automatically invite your friends to become fans.

Now, let's say you've tried that and got a few new friends but not everyone.  Okay the next step would be to  put an announcement on your Facebook wall (timeline) and let them know you've got a cool new page and you need their help to get more fans.  Link directly to your business page in the post.  That should bring in a few more friends.

When you see your customer "friends" online, send them a message using the Facebook chat and ask them directly to like the business page.  Be sure to have the link ready to send them in the post to make it super easy.

Okay you've tried those options and you've still got a lot of friends who are customers and you need them to become fans.  Now is when you have to get really creative. And I would say at this point bribery is not out of the question.  How about a discount for a limited time only to those who are fans of the business page?

How about posting a question on your business page and giving something away to a few of the correct or best answers? Once you post on your business page you can personally "like" it and "share" it with your own friends and timeline which will elicit interaction.

Hancock fabrics (one of my favorites) has a great thing going where they are asking fans to post photos every Monday and awarding gift cards to their favorites. Funky Threads has been successful simply sharing their creations on both the business page and her personal Facebook page. Use your imagination and if you find something that works well please share it here!

Caring Ties

This morning I received an email from Peter who owns the company behind a new mobile app called "Caring Ties."  He asked me to take a look at his website and give him a call.  I thought it might be interesting to write about the suggestions I gave him to increase the number of conversions, or in this case downloads.

To start, I read the website over and I can honestly say I like the product.  As families become more involved with the care of aging loved ones and even with youngsters it's hard to keep track of all the important information like medications, medical needs, vaccinations and the like. Communication can be missed or misconstrued.  The Caring Ties app is great for keeping everyone in the family on the same page.

Now, on to the website:

The first thing that strikes me is the almost universal sign for remembering with the string around the finger.  The design is clean, makes great use of white space and the image is striking.  The thing that isn't apparent is why I need this app, what problem does it solve.  It's a simple question of motivation - why should I look any further at this website? Doesn't Facebook, email, cell phones and the like tie families together?

The second panel of the rotating banner doesn't really give any further reason to get the app.  Just more features.  

My advice: 

• Focus on the problem and how the app solves the problem.
• Use real people, faces, families to convey the problem and the secure feeling the solution can provide.
• Forget about features, tell me the benefits.  Why is it important to have the reminders? 
• Use the blog and testimonials to give real life examples of how this app will help.

In addition, the text on the website is very sparse and doesn't really have any words people would use to look for anything similar.  I suggested that while rewriting the text to focus on the problem, solution and benefits the natural language will be better for people searching for tools to help them in caring for family members.

I am anxious to see the changes in place and find out how well the changes work towards increasing the app downloads.  It's a great concept!