Many companies develop expensive advertising and marketing programs designed to drive traffic to their Website. But too often they loose their focus. They forget a simple rule: the Website must be content-focused.
Eight tips to improve your Site:
Clearly articulate your goals and understand user demographics
Establish a site personality
Create content for each demographic personas (don't write for you!)
Post photos, diagrams, video, podcast, e-books and all kind of content that tells your story
Push content at least via email and RSS
Offer multiple ways for visitors to express interest
ChatRoulette.com is a new website that brings you face-to-face, via webcam, with an endless stream of random strangers all over the world. With each click of the mouse visitor is transported into a stranger’s life.
The site has only three months, but its population is exploding: 300 users in December; 10,000 in February; over 50,000 today. Big media are covering it up this phenomenon, and even comedian John Stewart made this week a clip about it (above).
Site's founder is unknown; web searches lead back to a Netherlands-based anonimity service. The site is hosted by servers in German and can operate without too much advertising. When writing this post it had a dating service linked.
Some say ChatRoulette.com is fun for dating and very addictive; others see there just a pornographic gate. The NYT has written about it.
The reality is that it's the Internet unfiltered, and nudity and exhibtionists are hard to avoid.
In my view, it is a very dangerous place for children, since perverts can behave anonymously. Remember the old problems of MySpace? ChatRoulette.com, as it is now, without any access restriction and no organization taking responsability for it, is a serious threat for kids under 18.
I have noticed that many graphic designers pride themselves on their ability to "think outside the box". They like to keep themselves entertained by doing something new and interesting on every project.
To be graphically creative is great, but when designing landing pages and web platforms the main goal is to be effective and clear. In other words, the key is to increase the conversion rates and have a fully call-to-action page.
Therefore graphic artists need to follow a minimalist and Zen-style visual aesthetic that focuses on conversion.
The more common visual transgressions found on landing pages are the use of dark, wild or fully-saturated bright color backgrounds, as well as text and headlines with very large fonts in high-contrast colors (and even emphasized by the use of edging effects, drop shadows, color transitions and fades.)
Once Google has acquired (for $133 million) video encoding company ON2 Technologies and its V8 video codec, the internet community speculates what the search engine might do.
Will it open source and push for its mainstream adoption by making it the default codec for YouTube videos?
That's many people desire, including the team of Amigot Interactive. We don't like the to live under Adobe's Flash' dominance.
Last week the folks of The Free Software Foundation (FSF) published an open letter to Google demanding to kill Adobe's Flash y service to the free world.
"Just think what you can achieve by releasing the VP8 codec under an irrevocable royalty-free license and pushing it out to users on YouTube? You can end the web's dependence on patent-encumbered video formats and proprietary software (Flash)."
"You have the leverage to make such free formats a global standard."
"Patented video codecs have already done untold harm to the web and its users, and this will continue until we stop it." (...) "Until we move to free formats, the threat of patent lawsuits and licensing fees hangs over every software developer, video creator, hardware maker, web site and corporation --including you."
"Now it's your turn. We'll know if you do otherwise that your interest is not user freedom on the web, but Google's dominance."
Trying to make web apps and developments compatible for all the browsers (Explorer, Firefox, Safari, Chrome, Opera...) is a nightmare. But worse comes when dealing with the Microsoft family of Explorers (IE6, 7 and 8), many times incompatible among themselves.
Well, Google has said now "enough is enough" and has decided to kill IE6 support on March 6. It means that some features on YouTube and on Orkut won't work in older browsers.
The solution for the users is simple: upgrade your Explorer browser. Problem is that is requires to buy a legitimate Windows license. So what to do? Use Firefox, Chrome o Safari... but not all the versions!
Once again, Google sets the internet browsing standards and deems anything below IE7, Firefox 3.0, Chrome 4.0, and Safari 3.0 as an "older browser".
Microsoft, on the other hand, has stated that it wants to see IE6 disappear as much as anyone else, though refuses to force anyone to upgrade.
So far, IE8 is the most popular browser, although IE6 is still used by about 20 percent of surfers worldwide, according to NetApplications.
As Google says, "surfing the Web on an old browser can be a lot like running a steam engine along the tracks of a bullet train-it may still work, but it doesn't take advantage of the speed and security of the new technology."
When building your internet presence, it occurs to me that there are some inexpensive ideas that you can execute by yourself without being a marketing expert.
Help the internet community. For example, create an account on Yahoo answers and help people with problems. And / Or join Linkedin and participate in the discussion group.
Just make sure to put a link to your webpage, twitter account, or blog at the bottom.
After all, if you help people solve a simple problem for free, who do you think they will call when they need a complex problem solved?
Get a Twitter account and link it to your web page. It will improve your SEO tremendously if used correctly. Post company updates, links to press releases, or even random thoughts.
Set up a Facebook fan page if it fits your target market.
Start a Blog. Wordpress and Blogger are free blog services.
To make sure that all this is working use Google Analytics. Find out what keywords and track how many people visit you, from what locations... See if they come from your Twitter account or your blog. In addition to Google Analytics, use AWStats or WebLog, which most companies provide for free.
Safe traveling requires to keep protected your data, and that is not an easy task.
The NYT has written an articlewith useful ideas for that. I summarize it in ten bullet points.
Before using computers in cybercafes and hotels, check if their security program is up to date. Avoid any banking business and entering of your credit card number. If you have to user your e-mail, when you get home, change your password.
Know that these public computers are notorious for having malware on them, including "keylogger" programs that record users' keystrokes and capture screenshots to collect log-in information. They could even have physical keylogging devices fitted onto the back.
Public Wi-Fi networks are full of sniffers that capture and view traffic. Even, a hacker could infiltrate your PC by making his computer appear to be a legitimate Wi-Fi hot spot.
Therefore, use a firewall -they are included free in recent versions of Windows and Mac laptops- and make sure information you send is encrypted.
Get online using cellular services or "tethering" with your mobile device, though that may increase your data fees.
Consider using a removable privacy screen ($20 to $60 for laptops, $5 to $15 for iPhones and Blackberry) to make it harder for neighbors to sneak a look.
Back up your laptop's data. Laptop loss and theft at airports are rampant. Take it into the bathroom avoiding to entrust it to a complete stranger; do not put it in checked luggage. And consider buying a laptop lock ($20 to $50) to use if you leave the computer in your hotel room.
Using a password to lock your computer provides little protection; someone with know-how can bypass it in minutes. It is more effective to use a password manager to store and encrypt your passwords.
An even better idea is to use full-disk encryption. You can get quality software free (BitLocker in Windows Vista and 7 and the open-source tool TruCrypt for Windows, Mac and Linux).
If you do lose your laptop, a service like LoJack for Laptops (starting at $40) can help you track it down or remotely delete your data.
Connecting your smartphone to Wi-Fi hot spots, the security issues are the same.
Turn it off your Bluetooth if you don't use it. Intruders can use it to read contacts, text messages and other data stored in your phone.
iPhone users with MobileMe service can use the "Find My iPhone" feature to locate their device on a map, set a password lock remotely, display a message on the screen, make the phone ring even if the ringer is off and erase all content remotely.
People with Windows Mobile can do the same, at $5 for each function.
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