July 14th
Usability is often mentioned as a cornerstone of good web design. Website usability is about creating efficient and intuitive experiences for the people who use your site.
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July 9th
So while Brad was checking our site stats the other day he noticed that we were getting some traffic from an unexpected source. It appears people have been coming to our site while searching for the terms “making mojitos.” How you might ask?
Back in February, Brad and I went to a conference in Miami. While blogging about the conference we also gave some insight into the meals we had. In this post I mention that we had some Mojitos at a restaurant called The Latin American. I added the Tag “Mojitos” to that post and voila we are now getting traffic via that Tag.
Now that was one isolated post that included a Tag not associated with our business and we are getting traffic from it. Just think if you had a Blog on your site where you posted about topics relative to your business and your customers.
Just another reason to consider having a blog on your site.
And for all of those people looking for “making mojitos”…here is a link to the Bacardi site where you can find out everything you need to know to make them at home.
And if you haven’t tried it, Orbit gum by Wrigley comes in a Mint Mojito flavor that is a favorite of mine.
June 27th
Alright time for a trip back to the 80’s. We all remember Field of Dreams , the baseball movie with Kevin Costner . Even if you didn’t see the movie you probably heard the quote…”If you build it, they will come!”
Well the business world isn’t a Hollywood movie with Kevin Costner. This quote comes to mind quite often when working with clients who have had a website for awhile and just aren’t seeing the results they hoped for. Having someone build a site for your business is only one part of having an online business and a small part at that. What is your strategy for marketing your website? I’m sure you have thought about how to market your business but specifically how are you driving people to your website?
Just because you build it does NOT mean the business will come.
Have you thought about any of the following?
Those are just some of the ways we help our customers create and implement a strategy to successfully drive more business to their websites.
Because if you just build it and don’t do the rest you could end up all washed up like Kevin in one of his less popular movies.
June 11th
Brad and I often talk about what type of company we want Big Ahha to be. How many employees we should have, how do we want to grow, what should our focus be etc.
We have always looked at 37 Signals as a company that seems to be built around core principles we strive to embrace at Big Ahha. A recent post on their blog, Signal vs. Noise sums up our feelings on growth and when it is ok to stay small. Here is the link below.
Finding the natural size of your company from the Signal vs. Noise blog.
Another book I found very interesting on the subject is Small Giants : Companies That Choose to be Great Instead of Big by Bo Burlingham. It’s a great read with some awesome examples of companies who made conscious decisions to stay small when they could have expanded.
May 29th
Today we are more interconnected with other humans than ever before in the history of the world. We have email, text messaging, social networks, instant messaging, blogging, forums and a host of other ways to communicate with others.
While these technologies all make our lives a lot simpler in some ways…in others they make our lives more complicated.
Let’s take social networking as an example. Have you ever been asked to join someone’s network or be their “friend” on Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn or any of the other myriad of social networking sites? What happens when that invite comes from someone you really don’t want to be connected to? It’s easy if it is someone you really don’t know… you just say no. But what if it is someone you work with every day or see on a regular basis. You know if you decline their invite they will take it personally and may even ask you why you rejected them. Talk about awkward! I’ve talked with a number of friends who have had this same situation come up and my advice is simple. Just say no! People need to learn to not take things personally. My network on LinkedIn for example is all about my business life. I have networks on other sites that are for my personal interests. We are complex individuals and just because I say no to your invite doesn’t mean you are a bad person or even that I don’t like you it’s just that you don’t fit in my network. So if you ask someone to be a part of your network and they “Just say no” don’t take it personally. And if someone you really don’t want to be connected to asks to join yours…just listen to Mr. T.
May 22nd
Even though it is over 30 years old, Powers of Ten still offers a fascinating look at the relative scale of the universe. The short film, by Charles and Ray Eames, utilizes a single camera shot to go from the view of a man in a Chicago park to the outer limits of the universe and then back down into the microscopic world contained in the man’s hand.
Check it out.
May 19th
In his blog post “The Client That Matters Most,” Robert Hoekman talks about a company who intentionally maintains a bad user experience on its commerce website. The idea is that customers will be driven to make a phone call to the company’s customer support, where the customer is then pressured with add-ons and up-sells.
But, what if the customer never makes it that far.
If a customer has a frustrating experience with your website, they will likely associate that negative experience with not only your website, but also your company. This could mean that the customer gives up on your product/service, or your company altogether based on their bad experience.
Even if they don’t immediately give up, the damage is done and is difficult to reverse. People will be wary of communicating with you when the need arises again, they will start scoping out your competition, and they will let everyone know about their frustrations.
That’s why its imperative that we do all we can to design and maintain a positive user experience and not force people down a difficult or unnavigable path. Think about your website in terms of the needs of the users, not the other way around.
May 12th
What appears to be the May issue of the H&R Block online newsletter contains the following photo.
Now I don’t know if this young lady has a problem with her arm and if she does I wish her well.
The point is a link to this photo has been picked up or perhaps placed by H&R Block on some of the most popular social bookmarking sites on the internet such as Digg.com and Reddit.com. The links go to the H&R Block May newsletter. Do you see where I am going? H&R Block is getting a TON of traffic to their online newsletter today because of that photo. Will anyone following the link to see the photo actually engage H&R Block for their services? Who can really say? But eyeballs that have never seen their newsletter before are there today. Just keep in mind that there are tools out there like this for you to experiment with when you are looking to go outside the box with your marketing efforts.
Big Ahha can help you find out more about these and other ways to drive traffic to your site.
May 5th
The other night I was watching the popular NBC show Deal or No Deal.
If you haven’t seen it, contestants pick one case from 26 cases held by 26 lovely ladies. They then choose other cases trying to eliminate low amounts so that a “banker” will offer large amounts of money to buy the case they chose at the beginning of the round. There is a million dollars at stake and the drama starts when contestants get greedy and say “No Deal” in the hopes that they can continue on. The problem is most of the time greed takes over and they end up going home with very little.
The game made me think about all of the options available for businesses looking for help with their web initiatives. Read the rest of this entry
April 11th
It’s not uncommon for a business caught up in the “day job” to lose sight of what is really important to the success of their company. I was reminded of this recently when consulting with someone about their online message for their business.
Think about what it is like when you have a face to face meeting with someone to discuss how your company might be able to help them. What formalities are generally present? How you greet someone, shake their hand and engage in small talk generally all before getting down to business. Body language, tone of voice and questions based on comments all lend themselves to a decision being made about whether or not to do business with one another before you ever get to talking about price for product or service.
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