Posts Tagged ‘website’

Keep your website looking fresh

Thursday, June 24th, 2010

Have you ever come across a website that is obviously out dated? What do you think of it when you do?

I recently came across two extreme examples of this…

  • under the heading of ‘latest investment news’ was a link to some reports with the most recent dated April 2008!
  • an online shop had banners and text stating ‘new version to be released mid 2009′

Those sites didn’t impress me at all!

While adding content regularly is good practice for a website, there are also some ways to avoid your content being obviously old:

  • avoid ‘page last updated’ foot notes – even if it is perfectly reasonable to not update contact details for example, it looks wrong to say that page is 5 years old! Add a date to the content itself if it needs the date for context
  • avoid adding a date to copyright symbols. Although your copyright applies from when you created the page, a date ages the page and it is easy to miss updating it each January
  • if you are unsure of when something will happen, be vague rather than specific. So ‘new version underway’ or ‘give us your details and we’ll contact you when the new version is available’ are better than ‘new version launched 1 July’
  • do a search of your site for ’2008′, ’2007′ and so on then make sure you update as appropriate
  • be careful of what tense you write in. For example, ‘from 1 July we will sell whatsits’ will be dated in August whereas ‘whatsits on sale from 1 July’ can be used in June and August. Adding a year to either sentence will date it if you leave the text for more than a few months, of course!

Tags: , , ,
Posted in web content | No Comments »

Work like ours…

Tuesday, May 25th, 2010

How would you react to a website like this?

“we treat the floor and work like ours. We are trying to keep it in cheapest price. If you online quotation we give you 5% discount.”

As key phrases about their benefits on the homepage of a website, the above statements really need some work.

What’s worse is the page title for their homepage includes ‘ploors’ instead of floors.

We came across this site as potential customers, and to be honest we’re reluctant to even get a quote after seeing such errors (trust me, there are many , many more with the site!) They are local and we’d prefer to usea  local small business so it just proved to me again how big an impact bad writing can have on your business.

In this case, I suspect English is not their first language and I understand it isn’t an easy second language. At the end of the day, though, do they want people to accept their limitations in English or do they want more customers via an attractive website?

If you struggle with written English (because it is not your first language or any other reason), it really is worthwhile getting someone else to check your writing and edit it for you.  An English speaking friend may not get it perfect, but will probably do better than the website I mentioned above. Then get some professional help as soon as you can afford it – even if you have to do it in stages.

Oh, the above sentences would be much more effective as “We treat your floors like our own. We keep our prices as cheap as possible. Get an online quotation for a 5% discount!”

So would you try this business based on their website, or would you go elsewhere?

Tags: , , , ,
Posted in bad writing examples, web content, writing | No Comments »

Making content web friendly

Thursday, February 11th, 2010

Websites are about information so it makes sense that you need to provide good content if you want your website to be successful.

Obviously, a site with fantastic content that is hard to find can only have limited success so there needs to be a balance between the content and the site itself being user friendly.

Without going into web design aspects of a site, here are some of my top tips for making your web content usable and attractive:

  1. keep each page focussed and a reasonable length (300 to 500 words is usually ideal). If there is additional information that could potentially help some site visitors, put it on a new page and link to it rather than putting everything into one page.
  2. use headings and sub-headings. There are a number of reasons for this – it makes the text visually more apepaling, is easier to skim read, helps focus and define sections of text and can help with search engines (especially if you use heading styles rather than manually adding font styles).
  3. use white space. For example, I am adding an empty line between each of these bullet points so it is easier to see the difference between them and the page doesn’t look so text heavy.
  4. don’t feel your website has to explain everything. I have had many clients who put too much information into their text ‘just in case’ a client wants to know those details. People get bored and/or overwhelmed by too much details, especially on websites, so keep it simple by giving the important details. You can always link to the fine details or encourage them to contact you for them.
  5. web content is not like a novel, or even a school essay, so get to the point fast. A beautiful introduction may be very nice but will frustrate someone who is trying to decide if you can provide the service/product they are after. If a long introduction and sales pitch means the real informatoin is so low on the page you have to scroll to read it, you can bet not many people will actually read it.
    So prioritise your information and put the important bits first.
  6. Keep your content fresh, up-to-date and error-free. Spend some of your website maintenance time adding new content and reviewing the current site (for instance, when did you last check for faulty links on your site?)
  7. Write for human beings, not search engines. That means don’t add too many keywords and concentrate on providing useful information rather than trying to impress a search engine.

Tags: , , , , ,
Posted in blog content, web content, writing | 2 Comments »

Do you have a website?

Wednesday, April 1st, 2009

I posted earlier about the MYOB surveyof small business owners’ response to the global financial situation, but am startled by another part of their survey.

Apparently, 60% of surveyed small business ownersdon’t have a website for their business. That is incredible. They surveyed 1,503 business owners with no more than 19 employees, so it is a reasonable number but perhaps not statistically significant compared to how many small businesses there are in Australia.

Not all businesses are internet based, obviously, but offline businesses can have a website and use it to good effect.

Why am I so surprised they don’t have a website?

  • personally, I often refer to the website for further information or to get a feel for a business before I contact them – no website and there’s a good chance I’ll move on. This is especially true now I have a baby as it is easier to research and compare from home than to drive around
  • a website is like a brochure that works 24 hours a day, every day of the year, so why limit yourself to paper?
  • a website can be a lot cheaper to run than many traditional advertising options (I pay $5 a month for hosting – you won’t get much advertising for $60 a year!)
  • people generally find it easier to remember words than numbers so if you or a happy customer are inviting someone to learn more about your business, a web address could be more successful
  • people expect websites now – not meeting that expectation may decrease your credibility in their eyes

A website can be simple and as short as one or two pages; it can be static and need little maintenance (although search engines prefer more active sites.) Some online directories offer full page listings which can act as a website, which is better than nothing, but the URL may be long.

SO back to the original question? Do you have a website? Do other business owners you know have websites? If not, why not?

Tags: , ,
Posted in bit off track, business info, business tools | 2 Comments »

Data Compression

Thursday, September 25th, 2008

Data compression is the act and process of encoding information using fewer bytes. This can be important if you run a website or send a lot of documents via email (or other electronic means.)

Compression relies on the notion that the data is superfluous or redundant. A compressor reduces the size of a file by deciding which data is more frequently used and assigns it less bytes than to lesser used data. An example of a data compressor is a Zip file format which on top of compressing acts as an archive and stores many course files in a single destination.

Compression is used to help reduce the consumption of resources such as transmission bandwidth – and that can affect the size of hosting you need for your website.

Tags: , , , , , ,
Posted in web content | No Comments »

Promotional Articles

Saturday, August 9th, 2008

Think about why you use the internet for business. Sure you look at the graphics and pictures, but the main activity is collecting information, right?

So, does it make sense that one of the best ways to pull people into your site is to give them information? Selling your product or service is your main business aim, of course, but if you give people information they will trust you – and they’ll stay on your site long enough to learn your name.

How can you use information to get people to visit your web site?

By far the easiest way is to submit informative articles to various web sites and ezines. That doesn’t mean you submit an article about you or your business as that will bore and annoy your readers. What you have to give them is good information about something relevant to your business, something they can use and appreciate you for.

If you are a mechanic, you could submit articles explaining what fuel injected means or how to jump start an engine; a wedding planner can write about how to decide on a guest list; an accountant can explain negative gearing or claiming GST inputs; and a butcher could write about the different cuts of meat.

You also need to make sure the article is interesting and basic enough for your potential clients to understand and finish. It must be accurate and presented professionally as well,  if it is to promote your business positively.

At the end of the article, you include a short bio about yourself and your business. You can see the bios I use at the end of business and health articles.

If you have a web site or email address, make sure the bio includes this information so it can be hyperlinked back to you. Thus anyone reading your article and wanting to know more or use your service can contact you instantly.

I mentioned the value of promotional articles a few weeks ago, and I will cover ways to make use of them in coming posts.

Tags: , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in business tools, newsletter content, writing | 3 Comments »

Timing a media release

Thursday, May 8th, 2008

A media release is generally an announcement of something you consider newsworthy enough the media may tell your story. So when do you tell the media?

There is no simple answer, but there are some guidelines depending on what type of release you are sending out.

If your release is announcing something that has happened (e.g. “we won an award”)

  • send it out ASAP

If your release is about an upcoming event (e.g. “our school fete is on the 9th May”)

  • don’t send it until you know all the important facts (especially dates, times and place, or the name, address and URL of a new business)
  • send it early enough for the media to use it. For example, if the local paper is printed on Tuesday don’t send the release on the Tuesday afternoon immediately before the event. Note that some media outlets have a much longer lead time than others – some magazines need things months in advance. Likewise, consider their time requirements before sending it too early – a local paper or website doesn’t need to know about a small event 3 months in advance, they’ll just forget it if you tell them too soon!
  • include a release date. That is, at the top of the media release, write “Not to be released until 1 June 2008″ or similar so the media know it is advance warning

In addition, if your release is about the launch of a new website

  • don’t send the release until there is something on the website! Sending the media to  ‘coming soon’ page won’t impress them and it is less likely that they will publish your story. The site doesn’t have to be complete, but have a welcome page that introduces the business/site, some contact details and has a look that complements the final look – this is much more professional and enticing. If the site is near completion, you may even send the media a link that shows them what the site will look like even if it isn’t yet available at the final URL

If your release isn’t time critical, then you can send it at any time of course! But I would question its newsworthiness if it really has no time frame attached..

The timing doesn’t have to be hard – just use a little common sense really.

Happy writing!

 

Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in business info | No Comments »

Website marketing

Thursday, October 18th, 2007

I went to a Business Mums Network morning tea this morning – in fact I hosted it!

The speaker, Lucie Battaini of MultiMediART, spoke to us about using simple and mostly free techniques to get more people to your website. Although I knew a lot of what Lucie spoke about, it was great to hear it all put together and I learnt some new things, too.

For instance, Lucie spoke about keywords – apparently, keyword metadata isn’t used by most search engines now but the use of keywords in your content is crucial. That means you should include a couple of important words as many times as possible in your web content for search engines to find and correctly categorise you.

However, it is really important to not overuse your keywords – imagine if I used ‘business writing’ at least once in every sentence – boring and confusing to read. I find it better to write the information normally so it flows properly, and then go back and see if there’s a way to add a few more keywords without loosing the flow.

And of course, Lucie pointed out that content is King, so I’d better get writing!

Word Constructions
Word Constructions ~ for all your business writing needs

Tags: , , ,
Posted in web content | 2 Comments »