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Essential Web Test Connecting The Dots Business, every business, is ultimately not about how good your product is or isn't, it's about how well your organization communicates a meaningful, memorable message to an appropriate audience. The better you communicate, the more successful your business will be, therefore it is important to learn how various techniques and technologies effect how your message is receíved, interpreted, and understood. The Web, like every technologically based communication innovation that preceded it, requires a special skill set and perspective in order to maximize impact especially for companies restricted by limited budgets. In today's highly charged media environment fueled by kneejerk social media reaction, companies feel compelled to adopt tactics that do not serve a defined underlying strategy. In order to know what tactics work best for you, you first need to define your fundamental point-of-view that everyth...

This is another area where most businesses miss the boat when it comes to online success. To get a bead on how to successfully employ social networking, the first thing that you have to understand is what it is not designed to do. Just as with blogging, if you simply attempt to create and disseminate ad copy via social networking, you will quickly find yourself isolated in an ever shrinking pond of influence as your audience either ignores or you. While social networks can be used to generate an audience and augment the bottom line, there is a right way and a wrong way to go about doing so. The best approach is to create an environment in which compelling stories, humorous insights and helpful hints about your business are produced and promoted online. The key is that unlike ad copy with is 90% pitch and 10% information, when it comes to social networking, this equation is turned on its head. In fact, the best way to turn a reader into a customer when using social networking is to show...

In past blogs we have talked about how SEO has changed from an injection to a process that factors in everything from your website, to such things as blogging, social networking and even YouTube. In reality, there more than 30 points of relevance that the spiders look for when searching and sorting out the most relevant sites. It is no longer sufficient to pay someone to tweak your keyword density and Meta Tags and expect to wind up on page one. To get the job done, you need to create compelling content on a regular (i.e., weekly) basis. Ignore this fact of online life and you will relegate your website to the backwaters of the major search engines. Embrace this concept and it is not only possible to generate a page 1 result on such search engines as Google, Bing, and Yahoo, but you can potentially generate multiple page 1 results. Gone are the days when seasoned online marketers created an ubersite that was composed of numerous pages that web surfers could be expected to navigate thro...

Speaking of hurrying, a blog post properly optimized can be one of the quickest ways to jump the queue online. For example, a couple of months ago, I wrote a blog post entitled "Get Your Best Customers to Toot Your Horn." The post extolled the virtues of employing video testimonials in order to boost credibility, as well as turning your best customers into your best salespeople. After posting this article on blogger, as well as reprinting it on linktoexpert.com , I googled the title the next day and found that both the original blog, and the repost appeared at the top of page 1. Not bad for a half hour's work. Creating and disseminating compelling blogs is one of the easiest ways to wind up on page one. Why? Because Google is gaga for mixed media, particularly when they own the conduit. By posting your blogs on Blogger, which Google owns and posting your videos on YouTube, which Google owns, not only will you improve your content worthiness, but you will also feed the 800...

How to Write a Press Release Press releases have short and long term results and can bring in great exposure from print magazines and bloggers. If your press release is well written and properly distributed you will see results online within 24-48 hours of the distribution. The release will likely be picked up by news search engines (ie. Google news, yahoo news) and possibly industry bloggers, who monitor press release websites for topic specific press releases. It will take significantly longer to see results from print media (sometimes as long as to 2-6 months). Most press distribution websites also archive press releases, so in general press releases have a long "shelf life". The best way to get "ink" is to write a good press release, but remember the item in the release must be newsworthy. News that is not newsworthy will get little play time. Use the standard inverted pyramid format in the press release. In this format the most important information is listed f...

How to Select a Company or Product Name When building a business there is little more important than selecting an appropriate company or product name. Names can be distinctive, unique or descriptive. The problem with descriptive names is that they are very difficult to legally protect. For example you could call your software "word processing software" or "text editor" but neither are distinguishing or unique. A competitor could enter the market and use the same name funneling your traffic and benefiting from your product reputation. Distinctive names can be trademarked and protected. As a result many developers combine distinctive and descriptive by adding a company or brand name: "Brand Text Editor" or "Brand Word Processing Software". Tips for finding a name that is just right. Brainstorm - Spend time making a list of words. The words might be generic or descriptive. If the words are descriptive use words that elicit a positive image or respon...

How to Select a Company or Product Name When building a business there is little more important than selecting an appropriate company or product name. Names can be distinctive, unique or descriptive. The problem with descriptive names is that they are very difficult to legally protect. For example you could call your software "word processing software" or "text editor" but neither are distinguishing or unique. A competitor could enter the market and use the same name funneling your traffic and benefiting from your product reputation. Distinctive names can be trademarked and protected. As a result many developers combine distinctive and descriptive by adding a company or brand name: "Brand Text Editor" or "Brand Word Processing Software". Tips for finding a name that is just right. Brainstorm - Spend time making a list of words. The words might be generic or descriptive. If the words are descriptive use words that elicit a positive image or respon...

How to Establish a Brand Brand is all about perception, and how others perceive your product or service. You have a brand whether you want it or not. Customers form impressions about products and companies. Strong brand builds customer loyalty and enhances the lifetime value of the customer. With the emergence of numerous communication channels, the power of the consumer has swelled. Online communication either hailing a good experience, or a blog post detailing a bad one, mean that consumers have more power than ever. User generated content and the expansion of communication has affected brand development and loyalty. A user in Australia can post a forum message about a specific product or brand and that message can be read by people in Canada. Consumers realize their voice (i.e. opinion) has power and they use it to share their experiences. Customers want value, customer service and a quality product. Demanding a premium for superior customer service has become more difficult. The ...

SEO Images When optimizing your website to perform better in search engine results, do not overlook or neglect the images on your website. Graphics play an important role in web design, and they can also influence organic search rankings. Take care to make your website graphics search-friendly. Here are some tips for better image optimization... Image Compression Compress the website images using graphics software. A graphics-heavy website will be slow to load, so stick to smaller high-quality images. You only have a few moments to make an impression on a website visitor, and a slow-loading website may cause visitors to click away. Proper Size Make sure the image is sized appropriately for its position on the webpage. If the visitor's web browser needs to re-size the image each time the image or page is viewed, it will take additional load time. Name Graphics Use keywords in the naming of the graphic files. The filename should contain keywords related to the image and website. If y...

The old adage, "keep your friends close, and your enemies closer", is applicable not only to personal relationships but business relationships as well. While I'm not suggesting that you befriend your competitors, it is important that you are cognizant of your competitors' business ventures and methods. It is important to realize that while monitoring your competitors is essential, it could easily become an obsession. Therefore, it is crucial that you strike a balance when incorporating it into your business plan. There are several ways to conduct successful stealth competitive intelligence operations. While it is fanciful to imagine yourself as a secret agent or spy, none of these techniques are difficult, hidden or secretive. In fact, most of them are tools or services available to all businesses. 1. Ego Searches What are ego searches? Ego searches are keywords or keyword phrase searches for a specific brand, product, or company name. Ego searches are a great way to...

Logos represent a company's identity, and logos are typically part of a larger concept. Logos are an integral part of establishing brand recognition which is a very time consuming process. For these reasons, particular care should be taken when designing or selecting a logo. Think of a logo as an iconic symbol or graphical representation of your corporate image. Simplicity - Logos should not be overly complex, while unique is important, simple logos tend to stand the test of time far better than complicated logos. Colors - Select only a few colors to use in the logo. It is rare that successful logos have more than 3 colors as an integral part of their design. Scalable - Logos should be easily scaled. Scaleability will allow the logo to be reproduced in multiple mediums. Memorable - Logos should be easily remembered. Ultimately the image selected for a logo should evoke positive emotions from customers or potential customers. Regards Gerald Crawford Webcraft.ws Stellenbosch PO BOX 1...

Website Navigation Eye tracking studies show that website visitors use "F" eye tracking patterns to scan the content of a website. Few website visitors take the time to read a website more often than not website visitors scan its content. So, rather than creating a book, use bullets and headings to make your website more easy for visitors to scan. Many webmasters approach navigation as a map, but it should really be laid out to lead visitors to the actions that the webmaster wants. 1. Scanning The most important information therefore should be located in the "F" of your website. 2. Choices Do not offer too many choices in the navigation menu. 3. Clear Terms Use clear terms to lead visitors down the path that you want them to take through the website. 4. Above the Fold Provide the most important content above the fold. The website visitors should not need to scroll to view important content. 5. Action Buttons Use action words on navigation buttons to encourage w...

Actionable tips for software developers writing web copy. Scan Web site visitors read websites very differently than they might read a book or a newspaper. Web visitors scan the text, rather than reading each and every word. As a result, the web copy should be designed to be easily scannable. That is not to say the copy should not be well written, but it should be broken into small "chunks" so that the visitor can easily scan it and take away the main idea. White Space Avoid dense copy. Copy should be broken into readable, digestible "chunks" and surrounded by a good amount of white space. Font Type Font size matters. Avoid using micro fonts. Studies have shown that the easiest type faces to read on the Internet are san serif fonts. Popular sans fonts include Helvetica, Avant Garde, and Arial. Popular serif fonts include Times Roman, Courier, and Palatino. Sans-serif fonts have become the de facto standard for "body" text on-screen, because monitors pr...