Tips for a good website

Avoid copyright infringement or it will cost you…

January 6, 2012 By Carolyn Griswold Leave a Comment

Just because you can search Google Images or other photography sites and find images online that might look good on your website, doesn’t mean you have the rights to use them on your website.

I’ve run into clients and prospects who are under the misguided assumption that images on the web are free for the taking. Not so. In fact, if the stock photography companies find that your site is using pirated images you could be fined hundreds or thousands of dollars. And they will find you. I’ve had clients who have loaded images onto their website (that were unknowingly pirated from an online source) and eventually they get a call from Comstock or some other Stock photo house demanding payment for the use of their image.

Always make sure that you have the right to use images that you place on your website (or any marketing materials). There are many royalty free stock photos you can purchase for use on your website for fairly low cost. IStockphoto.com is one that we use frequently to purchase stock photography.

Music is another component that people like to pirate. It is not legal to use a song you’ve purchased and downloaded onto your IPod as background music for a video you post to YouTube. Sorry. SoundDogs.com is a good source for music and sound effects.

I don’t have to tell anyone that it’s plagiarism to copy text from another site. Do I?

Filed Under: Carolyn's Posts, Tips for a good website, Tools & Tips

SEO is Not a Silver Bullet to Sales

November 2, 2011 By Carolyn Griswold 1 Comment

This morning I came across a post offering the top things not to do when optimizing your site for Google search. See “Search engine optimization Elite Review On Google Prime ten NoNo’s“ The points are all valid and a well optimized site should follow all the rules if they want to have their site rank as high as possible. The problem I see with many customers is their laser-sharp focus on getting a good search engine rank while neglecting other marketing and possibly even the website itself.

This hyper-focus may have been enhanced by the glut of SEO experts telling people how vital SEO is to their success. But, web site owners would be wise to remember that the only thing good SEO will do is have your site show up in a site search. It’s not a silver bullet to sales. It will only improve the odds or bringing customers to your website. After that it’s up to you and your website to impress potential customers with amazing content–content that’s current, clear, accurate, informative, and attractively designed.

So while you’re reviewing SEO strategies (because I’m not discounting the effectiveness of a well-optimized site at getting people to the door) don’t forget to review your website. The stuff that customer’s actually see is as important as a good SEO strategy. Here’s a brief checklist of things you should be looking at:

Is it clear (to the layperson) within seconds of landing on any page in your website what you’re selling?
Is your phone number visible? On every page?
Do you give people a reason to call you? Do you clearly state benefits of doing business with you?
Is your navigation easy to follow?
Are your markets clearing defined. Do you provide market specific content for different market segments?
Do you update your content with current information?
Does your site design look professional? Does it look current or dated? Does it show well on mobile devices?
Is your site design (colors, typography, logos, images) consistent with your brand?
If you have a shopping cart, is the cart secure? Are products clearly displayed and identified?
Are customer service policies, shipping methods, return policies, privacy policies in place.
Do you provide a physical location and multiple ways for people to contact you?
Are you using social media sites, like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and others that are appropriate for your markets?

Always focus on building a website that benefits your clients and potential clients. If you keep that in mind as you optimize your site and your content you may find that customers are not only finding you, but they’re also buying from you. And that’s really the ultimate goal isn’t it?

Filed Under: Carolyn's Posts, Internet Marketing 101, Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Tips for a good website, Tools & Tips

What is a QR code?

April 15, 2011 By Carolyn Griswold Leave a Comment

Have you seen the QR Codes popping up everywhere? There’s even one on my bank statement. Do you know what they are? How to use them or how to get one?

According to Wikepedia and other online sources, QR (Quick Response) Codes were developed for tracking parts in Japanese auto industry. But in recent years the codes have seen widespread use for marketing products and businesses.

How does it work? Smartphone users scan the code and have instant access to your website, contact information or other information. You can create a QR code at a number of online sources and it can contain, a url, phone number, text or SMS. To read it, a smartphone with a bar code reader is required. I downloaded the free app called Quickcode for my Android. When I scan a code containing a URL, I have several options. I can go directly to the website, bookmark the website, send the address to someone via email, or post the address to Facebook or Twitter. (Remember to optimize your website design for smartphones if you use QR codes to send folks to your website.) If the code were a phone number, I could call the number or save to my contacts. Or the code could be a text message that would be instantly readable.

Here are a couple of websites where you can create your code:

You can also create a code with a graphic – like the one to the right…

So how might you use this QR codes in your marketing?

Put it on print ads and send folks directly to a product page where they can purchase a specific item
Put it on product packaging and link to installation or operation instructions
Use on your business card, brochure, or advertising and map your store location
Send to a location with a free download or coupon
Send a text message
Phone number
Other ideas?

For more information about how to use QR codes, please see this excellent article http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/how-qr-codes-can-grow-your-business/.

Filed Under: E-commerce, Tips for a good website, Tools & Tips

Funny proofreading errors

August 11, 2010 By Carolyn Griswold 1 Comment

I just got back from a long road trip. While traveling, I noticed a few proofreading errors in marketing materials that were worthy of a Jay Leno spot.

1. A truck stop billboard ad said. “EAT HERE! (Get Gas Later).”

2. A road service billboard ad: “24-HOUR TOE SERVICE!”

3. A menu at a major hotel chain restaurant offered “A side of fires“. The embarrassed server reported that it was the 2nd printing with the error–when they changed the menu they missed it again!

The moral of this post: Remember to take the extra time to proofread your marketing copy to make sure you mean what you say and say what you mean.

Anyone else have any funny proofreading errors? Feel free to comment.

Filed Under: Internet Marketing 101, Tips for a good website, Web design/Internet Marketing Tagged With: proofreading

A 9-year old website that still works

June 21, 2010 By Carolyn Griswold Leave a Comment

I was on the phone with my client Janet Booth today and she asked me if her website was still listed on my portfolio page.

“It’s kind of old to be listed in my portfolio,” I said.

“What are you ashamed of it?” she said.

“No, actually it still looks pretty good,” I said. “I’ll have to put it back on the site.”

The conversation got me thinking about why this website is still working. After all it was designed in 2001, which, in human years is only nine years ago, but in website years is probably equivalent to about 90 years. Coding standards have changed, design preferences have changed, browser and equipment choices have changed and user’s expectations have changed in nine years. Heck, even I’ve changed. I’d like to think I’m more skilled now than I was in 2001. But this website is still doing the job. Why?

Over the years we’ve added a shopping cart and we’ve updated the menus, but other than those two upgrades, the design hasn’t changed much.

I think the main reason why this site continues to work well is Janet. She’s a proactive website owner. She has, over the years, continued to build upon that initial website by consistently adding content and tweaking the site. She works hard to give her clientele a useful website filled with content that’s informative, current and relevant.

She understands that content is what makes a website successful. The design, while important, is really only there to support and present the content.

So congratulations Janet for building a great website and for having the vision in 2001 to know what you wanted and for staying true to your vision. And thank you for being a fun client and working with me for the past nine years.

More about JanetsPlan-its.com.

Filed Under: New websites launched, Tips for a good website, Web Design

Top ten considerations for web design

June 4, 2010 By Carolyn Griswold Leave a Comment

This week, I saw a LinkedIn discussion that asked “What do you think are top 10 considerations for web design?”

Interesting question. The first response I saw said “usability, usability, usability”. I agree with this response…but I think there are at least 10 things that make a site usable, usable, usable. So I’ll try to focus my list on what makes your site visitors want to use, use, and use your site again.

1. Beauty.

First your site has to be beautiful, or at least look professional, because if it’s not, people will leave it before you have a chance to show them all the other elements that make your site worthy of their time.

2. Navigation.

It must have logical navigation that is easy for users to follow. You must lead them through your site; help them find the nugget of information they seek, by providing clear, simple navigation.

3. Well-written content.

Never underestimate the power of a well-written phrase to draw people in, to coax them to delve deeper. Follow that phrase with clearly written content that’s organized and written to be understood by your site visitors. Write first for your visitors, not for your cronies or for search bots.

4. Match content to design.

Use the content to help define the design. A serious subject should look serious. A fun product should have a fun website.

5. Composition.

Use a writing style that is conducive to online viewing, scanning and reading. Use short paragraphs with headings, bullets and graphics to draw the eye easily to specific ideas. And give the user’s eyes a break with a healthy dose of white space.

6. Demographics.

Know your market. Choose your colors, your styles, and your language depending on who will visit your site. Are they old, young, adventurous or sedate? Are they likely to be using a ten-year old home computer or the latest smartphone or IPad to browse your site? Use typography, color and design that will appeal to your users.

7. Style commitment.

Define your styles and stick with ‘em. Maintain a cohesive design. Whether you use a jazzy heading font with a high contrast color scheme or a traditional type with monochromatic scheme. Commit to it.

8. Accessibility.

Don’t discriminate. Make your site usable to all folks, bots and beings. Although it’s not always necessary to comply with Section 508 standards, it’s a good idea to understand what your web pages will sound like using a screen reader. And it’s wise to use text that the user can size to their preference — even if it does make your site design look a little funky. Validate your code so you won’t trip up miscellaneous bots, browsers and other beings who might be perusing the web.

9. Optimize for search engines.

Use best practices for SEO. Write code that doesn’t obstruct or deter the searchbots. Write unique and relevant keyword rich titles and headings for each and every page.

10. Create a call to action.

Understand the goal of the website. Is it to sell? To inform? To communicate? Define the goal and then make it easy and safe for people to complete that task.

Filed Under: Tips for a good website, Uncategorized, Web Design, Web design/Internet Marketing

Stay safe on social networks

November 17, 2009 By Carolyn Griswold Leave a Comment

Is there a danger to accepting unknown blog subscribers and Twitter followers? The short answer is yes. But if you have a blog and you are communicating via social networks, presumably one of your goals is to spread your business or organization’s message. So where do you draw the line?

I received this TWITTER Question from a client: “Is there a danger to me in being Followed by someone who rarely tweets, follows a lot of people, has few followers? Do I need to block these people or is it sufficient to not follow them back. Sometimes, I can see that Twitter has suspended them for improper activity. What is the danger? What are they doing?”

If you suspect danger, trust your instincts. You can set your Twitter settings to restrict access to only those people you approve. Consider how you use your Twitter account — if it is used to communicate with a business community and the goal is to build community you probably want to attract as many followers as possible. If your account is of a more personal nature you probably don’t have the need to allow unknown followers access to your account.

If you see that Twitter has suspended someone for improper activity it means they have violated Twitter’s rules. It could have involved impersonating someone else, spamming, threatening someone, copyright issues or any number of other issues that Twitter includes in their Rules. I would probably block anyone that Twitter has suspended or that you suspect of being involved in any of these activities.

I’ve put together a list of basic safety tips to help you stay safe while communicating with virtual strangers online through your website, blog or social networks.

1. Don’t give away personal information.

Don’t provide home address or phone number on your website or in your profile
Don’t tweet or post that you’re away from home — don’t post vacation photos until you return home — no need to inform the world that your house is vacant
Don’t include personal information like your birth date in your profile. Birth dates are helpful to idenity theives.

2. Be careful with social networking “apps”. When those Facebook applications tell you they need to access your personal profile in order to work — you might think twice about how important it is to use that application. See Facebook Application Privacy for details and set your limits based on their information.

3. Watch out for “Phishing”. Whether a social network post or an email, always assume that the identity of the poster could be an impostor–especially if the message seems out of the ordinary. Be suspicious! Assume any link that leads you to a login page to be suspect. See “Fraudsters Target Facebook With Phishing Scam”. If you receive a message from a “friend” that you suspect is a “phishing scam”, both you and your friend should change your account passwords.

4. Do NOT use the same username/password combination on all your accounts. If a thief obtains your username/password to your Facebook account, make sure it doesn’t also give him access to your bank account, Amazon or Paypal accounts.

5. YOUR BLOG: Review your blog’s user and discussion settings. If using WordPress the subscriber level by default allows them to read, comment and subscribe to your RSS feed. There doesn’t seem to be too much danger in that. However, I think it’s wise to review your subscriber list frequently and delete any suspicious addresses.

More information about online safety can be found at the following links.

Web site safety building safer websites

11 tips for social networking safety

Filed Under: Internet Marketing 101, Tips for a good website

Keep consistent styles in your WordPress posts

August 25, 2009 By Carolyn Griswold Leave a Comment

There is nothing that screams amateur like a website with a mishmash of fonts and styles. Sometimes people copy and paste posts from a document they’ve already created in Word. Unfortunately that can also copy the Word styles and fonts into the WordPress document. In order to keep your styles and fonts consistent in your WordPress posts, click the “paste as plain text” icon in the toolbar. It will delete all the Word code and paste nice clean text into your post that will use the styles in your WordPress theme and keep your blog looking well-designed and professional.

Filed Under: Tips for a good website

Free Shipping Closes Sale

June 22, 2009 By Carolyn Griswold Leave a Comment

A couple of weeks ago, I received an e-mail Father’s Day reminder from a store where I’ve bought gifts from online before. Since I typically put off holiday gift buying to the last minute and end up paying extra for shipping, I was grateful for the reminder.

Lesson one to online merchants: EMAIL MARKETING WORKS!

With over a week before Father’s day I thought the ample lead time would save me some cash on shipping. I clicked through to the website and browsed to find some sweet treats for dad. I quickly found a nice gift of sweet snacks at a reasonable price and clicked through to the checkout page. Where I stopped. The shipping charges nearly doubled the price of the goodies. Call me cheap, but if there’s one thing I learned from my dad growing up on his farm in Minnesota it’s the value of the dollar.

That reasonably priced gift now seemed tremendously overpriced. If I was going to spend that kind of money – it had to be a better gift. So I abandoned my shopping cart and Googled “Free Shipping Father’s Day gifts”. Multiple stores came up and I quickly found a gift. It was much nicer than the original gift. I did end up spending the same as the other gift would have cost with it’s shipping charges, but I now felt like the gift I was sending was worth the money I was spending.

Lesson two to online merchants – FREE SHIPPING WORKS! Consider the value of your product. If shipping costs make your item seem extraordinarily overpriced you will lose sales.

Lesson three to online merchants. CLOSE THE SALE! If your e-mail marketing campaign is driving traffic to your site but you’re not seeing corresponding sales, make sure you look at the value you’re offering to your customers. It’s a shame when something like high shipping costs causes them abandon their shopping cart when you’ve successfully drawn them to your store with your e-mail marketing campaign.

Filed Under: Internet Marketing 101, Tips for a good website Tagged With: e-commerce, e-mail marketing, free shipping