The growth in the frequency with which people visit websites has fallen to its slowest rate in six years, according to new data. E-Consultancy
British youth spend 51% more time online than during the same period last year. New Business
So, you want some cool tool on your website you have seen somewhere else. Why?
Creating ‘linkbait’ tools can be a great way to keep people coming back and there is certainly the opportunity to have features built into your website more easily and cheaper than ever before. But, let’s be honest, will people really use them?
Why show detailed weather or BBC news on your website? Your visitors already have those resources elsewhere. It’s like the old feature of ‘Make Our Website Your Home page’. Why on earth would anyone really want to do that when they have Google or Yahoo, etc.?
Point of Access or tools are all about speed, effectiveness, authority and relevence.
Yes, tools can be cool and enhance the users experience of your website but be honest: Is it being done better somewhere else? That’s the crunch. And, do you have the online authority to pull it off?
Also, ask yourself, what is your real motive for having these tools. Let’s face it, nine times out of ten it’s not because you are altruistic, it’s because your want something back - more visitors, customers, etc. If it is, there are much better ways to spend your money.
As an online marketing geek, I still find it incredibly frustrating that companies still spend money on function over design and content. You’ll end up with some funky machine that nobody knows exists. The best doesn’t always sell the most - think Beta Max.
I was pointed to this Guardian article, which I haven’t seen before - it is from July 2006.
It’s an emerging rule of thumb that suggests that if you get a group of
100 people online then one will create content, 10 will "interact" with
it (commenting or offering improvements) and the other 89 will just
view it….So what’s the conclusion? Only that you shouldn’t expect too much
online. Certainly, to echo Field of Dreams, if you build it, they will
come. The trouble, as in real life, is finding the builders.
Google have integrated personal search history, on top of their personalised search. The new feature lets you (as a searcher):
It’s all great for the user. More user-centric results giving a searcher more relevant results.
But, where does that leave you if you want you site to be found?
Word of mouth is recognised as one of the most effective forms of marketing and that’s how you can think of it online - word of click.
Because, it’s becoming more and more like the Amazon experience, based on the [historical] search patterns of someone like you ie. You liked that website, you have something in common with that person over there. They did another search and they liked site ‘X’, so I will deliver you that as a result.
How do you get into that ‘group’ of sites that users like? You must deliver a user-centric website. People will always choose whether your site offers THEM any benefit. Now, with this way of searching, they can also advise other people how good or bad your website based on THEIR judgement.
And, in the same way as you may go to bloggers, forums and comparison sites to judge a product you may be buying, the masses will also be judging YOUR website.
It’s also like Stumbleupon (I love Stumbleupon) - - In fact Google toolbar has re-invigorated their own version of this concept.
People judge your website. Is it hot or not?
Be honest with yourself - is it really hot?
A problem we seem to have had recently with clients is a lack of understanding about domain registration and I worry that some people are taking chances by not having control over their domain names. Perhaps you set up a website with someone years ago who ‘did it all for you’?
Your domain name is very important, especially if you rely on the web.
Ask yourself these questions:
We had a client a couple of years ago who’s admin e-mail account was one he never checked. He came in one day to see his website down and his e-mail not working. He had lost his domain. Luckily he managed to get it back but he had to wait 90 days - THREE MONTHS with no website and no e-mail.
If in doubt, do a Whois on the web to find the details. If you (or your IT dept.) are not the admin person, I would make some changes. Take control.
Apparently, the way we measure stats need to change. It has been discussed a lot on the blogs I read with regards to AJAX and on-page reloading of data being another key aspect.
The point is, with newer websites, data can be reloaded within a page rather than having to load the whole page, so how can (or should) that get measured?
Web stats and measurement is a funny old game. I see stats as a performance indicator ONLY to make a website better. That said, I still get into conversations where someone boasts how many hits their website gets (yes, hits!).
Traffic Does Not Equal Business
If you want visitors, I can send thousands your way to really boost your hits, unique visitors or page views. They may not be relevant visitors though so whopee-doo.
Me, I’d rather have one visitor a day if it turned into a lead, or a sale and THAT is a more accurate measurement of success surely?
Forget the kudos that goes with your web traffic and concentrate on the end game. Use the data you mine to make your own website better.
The real ‘hit’ measurement, is when you make that sale and the cheque comes in!
I had a meeting today with a company from Canada (Advanced Inc.) about web stuff. The client came out with a gem which I haven’t heard before but love:
"If people don’t know that they don’t know, they don’t know what they don’t know."
Don’t worry, I had to think about it for a bit, but… it makes perfect sense.
Too often, we assume that certain things are a given when in fact, that is one hell of an assumption. This is especially apparent on the web with the way information is structured and the classic one - what we name buttons.
It reminds me of the old Two Ronnies sketch about assuming: "Never assume, it makes and ass out of u and me.
Of course, the other element of complicating any marketing or sales message behind gives you two major problems:
So, in an over-cluttered marketing culture, full of adverts and snappy acronymed phrases you need to keep it simple. You also need to make sure it makes sense and is contextual.
And maybe, when people see your message, if they don’t know what they don’t know, you have offered enough clarity for them to ‘get it’.
When I am in meetings, I often refer to Google rather than all search engines when I am discussing optimisation.
I know it’s wrong but it’s because much of our focus on site build is based around Google - it’s the most comprehensive nut to crack when it comes to optimisation.
That may explain why it is so popular, as highlighted by Heather Hopkins from Hitwise today, with 79% share of search in the UK in the past four weeks to April 17th.
"Two people have been cautioned for using people’s wi-fi broadband internet connections without permission." (BBC)
"The man arrested at the weekend was cautioned for dishonestly obtaining electronic communications services with intent to avoid payment."
… better stop doing that to my neighbour then!
It’s an American Study but eMarketer estimates that there will be an estimated 97.2 million female Internet users ages 3 and older in 2007, or 51.7% of the total online population. In 2011, 109.7 million US females will go online, amounting to 51.9% of the total online population.
