The Audit – Is My Website the Problem? 02/06/2009

One of the things that no one ever tells you when you are setting up a website for your business is that no matter how much you spend now in two years time your website will most likely be a dinosaur. Web sites should be considered as disposable commodities. Over capitalisation in site design and architecture is one of the biggest obstacles that can confront web marketers. Poor choices can limit the ability for a business to realise the true potential of the website as a marketing channel.

Consider the following…

• Search engines are the primary means via which people that don’t know your brand will locate your business. Successfully getting listed for relevant keyword searches in Google is largely dependant upon site structure and content organisation and wording. Google is a fickle mistress and can change its listing criteria on a whim. If your site content and key structures are set in stone your web marketing may be hamstrung.

• Your website is a business tool not a canvass for frustrated digital artists. Loading speeds matter. Business imperatives should trump design aesthetics on most occasions. Over design kills and online there is nothing sadder than a beautiful corpse.

• Think about how your site will be used not just how it will be seen. Not all business sites need to be e-commerce portals, but they should at least provide information of value to a visitor that may ultimately be converted into a sale. Does it make it easier for someone to contact your sales team, research a product, see the latest specials, or find a store near them? I have encountered businesses that spend more on their Yellow Pages advertising than on their entire web budget and yet still leave the phone number off the website. Control over content is central to this. Only pigeons like stale bread and they shit on statues.

• Database interaction is one of the most important functions that your website will carry out, however certain structures and platforms will freeze out search engines or browser types. Dynamic query strings in URL’s are often one of the major impediments to accurate Google indexing and can kill viral marketing cold. Who is going to click on a 200 character link sent to them in Facebook, assuming that line wrapping doesn’t destroy the link altogether?

So the first lesson with web marketing is to learn how to appraise your website dispassionately. The second lesson is learning when to stop the navel gazing. Running business online is a continual game of compromise and trade off. Brand impact versus load speed, search optimisation versus readability, security versus flexibility, and optimisation versus turd polishing. You can always find tweaks if you look hard enough. There is no one perfect solution but there definitely is a difference between being roadworthy and un-roadworthy.

10 Home truths about Web Marketing 18/05/2009

Consider these 10 home truths about websites that the shiny suited website sales rep may have overlooked in his Powerpoint presentation.

1. All markets are finite. Few businesses can successfully transact globally through their website therefore you will always be limited by the key question – Who can you sell to?

2. Search engines are not level and fair playing fields, however optimising websites for better performance is not rocket science.

3. The key to online success is content and the best person to produce that content is you or your team. If you do not have browser based administration of key website content then your site is a museum piece, or worse still a headstone.

4. On average websites lose 70% of their traffic with every click. Therefore most of your website visitors will not get past the page they arrive on. Any dollars spent on improving this will return greater rewards than buckets of cash thrown at online advertising.

5. Website advertising is a numbers game. Lower your expectations. Unless you are generating millions of page views a month you will be unlikely to generate a fortune from on site ads. They should be considered a supplemental revenue stream not a panacea.

6. The average abort time for website visitors is around 10 seconds. If your site takes longer to load on slow connections you will be losing visitors. Many broadband users are on capped monthly plans and at any given time a significant number of users will be effectively accessing the internet on dial up speeds. Factor in mobile access from handheld devices and the situation gets much worse.

7. The marketing game does not end with a visitors successful arrival on your website. This is not a conversion. A conversion is when they make a booking, spend some money, sign up to your mailing list or take some other action that takes them a step closer to transacting with you.

8. Sometimes you have to don the chicken suit and dance alongside the highway to get attention. Online you are simply one of many options. You need to stand out from the crowd before they click through to your website.

9. Your website could be the problem. There is nothing more doomed to failure than bad service successfully advertised.

10. The web is simply a new medium not a new marketing system. The best results flow from incorporating the web into a businesses global marketing plan rather than trying to tack it on or run in isolation.

Now much of this is of course simply common sense. What we are really talking about here is a consistency in thinking, the ability to break down each decision touch point into the key ingredients that manage a customer through to a desired outcome.

Things that shit me about websites #1 12/05/2009

“If they don’t have the plug in they can just download it. I’ll even put in a link.”

This is one of my pet hates. It is an attitude born out of arrogance and stupidity. It makes several flawed assumptions.

• It assumes that most people will have the latest browser plug in for the file format to enable viewing

• It assumes that those few who do not have the latest plug in are interested enough in what you want to show them that they will take the time to navigate away from your website, (a very dangerous practice as they may never return), download the plug in and install it, (perhaps even requiring a browser restart) and then return.

• It assumes that a person accessing the site actually has authority and the ability to download and install the plug in. People access websites from many locations that may not have the latest browsers installed on their terminals. This includes places such as Internet cafes, airport kiosks, libraries, or schools that impose limits on installations. Additionally many IT controllers will disallow installations on networked office computers. How many people are going to be willing to run to their network administrator just to view the latest lingere catalogue or YouTube video?

• It assumes that the latest version of a specific multimedia authoring tool is actually necessary to produce the material. Programs such as Macromedia Flash have brought some very cool dynamics to the web, however if you do not need complex animation and interaction then the chances are that you do not need to export a file as the latest version of Flash for it to work identically.

The thing to remember is that it is dangerous to believe that your web offerings are compelling enough to make potential customers jump through hoops. Most people who arrive on your site will be only mildly interested in your offering. You need to sell them on your products and brand, and you need to remove any excuse for them to abort. It takes far less effort to simply hit the browser back button and return to Google and click on a link to a less presumptuous competitor.

Internet Myth Number 1 11/05/2009

Nearly everyone has broadband these days?

Figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) in relation to broadband take-up in Australia suggest around 78% of Australian Internet users have adopted broadband. (2007-08)

At first glance this statistic appears to be a fairly compelling argument for web marketers assuming almost universal broadband access, and hence developing with minimal regard to page weight. After all the above statistics are a year old and you would expect that the numbers using broadband would have increased in the intervening twelve months. This no doubt is true, however these figures are a little bit misleading.

“Broadband” is one of those all encompassing terms that describe a range of plans, modems and access mediums. The reality is that very few Australian’s, (and the case is similar for most of the world), access the web at the kind of speeds where loading times due to content become irrelevant. The vast majority have a compromised experience due to data caps or variations in the speed due to shared connections or the actual connection technology.

Most household broadband plans are sold with monthly caps on downloads. Young Jimmy downloads a couple of movies early in the August and the rest of the family is on dial up speed till September. The business environment is often not much better with one or two connections having to struggle under the weight of multiple users. When you factor in wireless Internet the situation just gets worse.

The lesson in all this is that you should not believe the hype. The web is not television, (at least not yet), and as a consequence rich media delivery needs to be rationed according to specific need.