Seasons Greetings
Posted on Sun Dec 07
Tagged: General | Leave your comments
I have been saying this for a while now but as of Monday the 17th of December we are close for Christmas holidays till the 15th of January 2008. I am off to Switzerland snowboarding, and catching up with family.
Those that have regular set maintenance on a certain date will not be affected, that work will still continue. I will still be checking our email and booking things to start as soon as I and my staff get back from holidays. Yes there are already bookings for next year.
Sorry for any inconvenience.On a lighter note I hope everyone has a Very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Be safe with what ever your holiday season brings you and I'll see you all in a few weeks time.
Top 5 Web Site Elements for 07
Posted on Thu Dec 07
Tagged: Design | Leave your comments
No joke 2007 is over and in the web world we have seen some amazing new web site elements taking off. I thought as a post for today before I leave for the snow, I would run through a few of these elements. Don't worry if you don't have any of them. We can always catch up early next year.
Ok so lets begin.
#5 Social Networking Profiles
This has come in at number 5 because it has more to do with your sites popularity then your actually websites design and layout. The few profiles I have are facebook, virb, flickr, and twitter. These profiles increase my sites visibility on the web and it is an easy way to let people know what you are doing.
Let's face it one of the most important tools in business is communication and reminding people you are still around. These few profiles allow me to actually alert quite a few people about what is going on and I have seen a increase in site statistics which I attribute to these profiles.
#4 Photos & Videos
Basically most new desktop and notebooks come with some kind of web camera. Not to mention the cheap price of physical video cameras that allow most people to purchase one.
It is because of this that there has been a constant rise in the amount of vlogging or video blogging. Really it doesn't take that long and in a time where we are finally putting a face to all of these websites and companies this would have to be one of the most powerful tools for increasing your visibility and creditability.
Also in we can't exclude the use of the digital camera. Web site visitors want to get to know you! So uploading photos from the office Christmas party or some other function is a must do task. Really is it that hard?
#3 Comments
Not only should we be uploading more information to our websites on a constant basis (by constant I mean at least once a week). We should also allow our visitors to open up some dialog with us in a non-email form. That is where comments have come in.
A powerful tool to give quick feed back and allows questions to be asked about services and products. This is slightly modelled on the old FAQ pages that lots of websites used to and still have. Don't get me wrong the FAQ pages are still a good source but the net is all about user participation these days.
#2 RSS
This is what ties everything above together. This isn't new technology to 2007 but by now if you don't have some sort of RSS feed you are really behind the eight ball. With out it I wouldn't be able to sync all my social networking profiles together, nor would I be able to have the reach with my photos, blog posts and video posts.
#1 The Blog
This along with an RSS feed is a must. It is the stepping-stone to make all of the above elements work. You Need One, there is no question about it. They draw massive amounts of traffic, increase you creditability and visibility, and awareness.
I have posted about the importance of blogs on many occasions. If you have one use it. If you don't have on ring me.
I know it is daunting at first but if you keep posting to it and marketing it (if you don't know how to do this we have special blog marketing packages) the visitors will come. Of course the content needs to be good and worthwhile but if you have passion you won't have any problems.
Don't miss out on a great opportunity, the rewards far out weigh the time it takes to blog.
So that rounds out the top5 web elements for 2007. As I said if you don't have any of these or need more information give me a ring and we can work on this together.
Circulation
Posted on Mon Dec 07
Tagged: Marketing | Leave your comments
Much like how you and I survive through blood circulating through our bodies, circulation of a blogs feed is something that should be included in your blogging routine. It dosen't matter if you blog once a month of 4 times a day, you should always remember to spend sometime getting your blog out there.
The use of such programs as MyBlogLog, BlogCatalog, FaceBook, Virb and Twitter are all ways that you can increase your readership with out actually haveing to spend to much time marketing. These website applications are programs that the basic internet user can learn how to use to his or her advantage.
These types of social networking sites increase your readership. The more people read your blog the more you can charge for marketing, the further your reach is about products and services you now offer.
I personally use all of the above web applications to further the reach of my blogs, and I can honestly say that at least every second day I can see my statistics increase.
Use your blogs RSS feed to your advantage, and thank those websites that publish your posts. On that note I would like to thank James Bull for circulating this blog using our RSS feed.
Another thing that might be of interest to you if you are new to the internet and blogging. You don't personally have to know new visitors. They are coming to your blog just like a new client comes to a business. It is the relationship that you build that counts.
Just a reminder that We are closed from the 17th of December 2007 through till the 14th of January 2008. I will be in Switzerland. I will be available via email, if it is urgent. However I am sure I will post before I leave.
