Office or Lotus?

Personally I've never used Lotus; only to reinstall it back in my computer technician days.
I've always been a user of Microsoft Office and will keep using it unless I find a wider used program for similar functions. I'm a very basic user and I use Outlook for my email client. I will however, attempt to have a look at the online organiser programs because we quite often need to check our colleagues schedules.

Are you a Microsoft Office or Lotus Notes user? Would you consider using LotusLive iNotes over Google online utilities?

Do you think Google needs to be concerned about Bing?

In an article written today on the News.com.au website, Google has increased some features of their software to allow for fresher content to be displayed at the top of the search results.
(read full article here)
Do you think Google really needs to be concerned about Bing new found fame in cyberspace?
Are you happy with these, and other, changes made by google which effectively could hinder your website position in search results?
What do you think Bing must do to be able to compete with the Google giant?

Write great website copy

The copy is probably the most important aspect of your website because it communicates important information about your business to your customers and prospects.

Writing for the web is a lot different to everyday writing. Web users read the content of websites very differently to the way they would read a newspaper or book, and you need to be aware of this when you are copywriting for your website. You need to take into consideration the fact that people are scanning your site quickly rather than reading it word-for-word. This means that you need to write clearly and concisely and keep it as simple as possible.

You should do the following for your website copy:

Use keywords

Your copy is important because Google uses it to rank your page in its search listings. Using and repeating keywords throughout your content will make your Google ranking higher, so find out what words your target market search by and incorporate these. Put your keywords in important places like the page title, headings that are formatted differently to the body text and hyperlinks. Try to use keywords three times in the body copy of each page and remember to bold them so they are easy for users and search engine crawlers to find.

Include hyperlinks in the text

All Internet users know that they can click on hyperlinks to access more information when they are reading a webpage. So make sure you include hyperlinks throughout your text so site visitors can easily access other parts of your site for more details. Hyperlinks allow you to keep the information on the page brief and succinct then direct the reader to somewhere else if they require in-depth information. Also, make sure the text that is hyperlinked looks 'clickable' so users know they can click on it.

Use meaningful headings and subheadings

The key to successful copywrting for the web is navigation. Readers don't want to spend time searching through the text to find what they want - they want to be able to glance quickly at your page and be directed to the correct place. So, make your content easy on the eye and simple to navigate by using headings and subheadings. When you are compiling your copy, break it up into logical sections then devise short, descriptive headings and subheadings for each section. When you are putting the copy on your webpage, make sure the headings and subheadings stand out from the rest of the text - make them bigger, a different colour or bold.

Use bulleted lists

Your site visitors will want to find the information they need quickly and easily when they arrive on your site. Make it simple for them by putting detailed or complex information into a bulleted list. Not only does this make the content in the list easy to find on the page, it also makes it much easier to read because it breaks up the text.

Use the inverted pyramid style

The inverted pyramid style of writing is commonly used by newspaper journalists to convey the most important details of news stories at the start of an article. To use this style, identify the most important information on each page of your website - remember, this is the information that is most important to your target audience, not to you. Then make sure you include all of this information in the first few paragraphs or sentences of your page. Using this style of writing is just like starting with the conclusion, rather than taking the whole page to build up to it.
To make your copy easier to scan, you should make sure each paragraph contains only one idea or topic. You should make the idea of each paragraph clear by ensuring that each paragraph has a topic sentence that explains what the paragraph is about. Doing this means that a reader can see the topic sentence and know immediately if they need to read your paragraph or not.

Halve the word count of normal writing

The majority of people using the Internet are time-poor. Therefore, you need to write a lot less than what you would for non-web writing. A good rule of thumb is to write half as much as you would write for other mediums. Go through your writing with a fine tooth comb and cut out anything that is not related directly to the key idea of the page. Also, work on making your sentences shorter and sharper and use simpler phrases to make your writing shorter.

Avoid jargon and complex words

Reading from a computer screen is hard enough without having to negotiate technical jargon and difficult words. Remember, you're not writing an academic essay, so you can use short, simple words to get your message across. Try to avoid using jargon as much as you can, and if you do use it, make sure you explain it in simple terms. Also, don't try to impress your readers with complicated, fancy words - write in normal, everyday language.

As you can see, writing for the web requires different skills and a different mindset to other forms of writing. Follow these tips to ensure your site visitors can find the information they need quickly, which will make them more likely to become customers.

Website gives business a lift

Coomera’s booming population is set to top 100,000 by 2025 and the Chamber of Commerce is going international in a bid to connect overseas migrants with locals.

Chamber president Moira Williams said the existing Global Coomera website would be integrated with the chamber site to attract more overseas investment.

She said the www.coomeracc.com.au site would give local businesses and overseas chambers a platform to communicate.

“By doing this the area will be opened up for investment and for interaction with other countries,” she said.

“And for people moving to this area, it will give them a connection with the locals so they can get the information they need before their move.”

Mrs Williams said local businesses without a web presence would be able to upload their own information.

“We are looking for ways to help our members communicate more effectively to the public and the website is the perfect tool,” she said.

“Members on the database will also have access when they are overseas, so they can keep up-to-date information on their portal.”

Volunteer website designers My iHub co-owners Paula Johnston and Craige Moritz said they hoped to have the site up within the next month.

But Ms Johnston said the new web address was routed to the old chamber website at the moment so there would no confusion.

“We are making it friendly to search engines like Google and Yahoo, so when people are searching for any local products or services the site will come up,” she said.

She said the interaction on the proposed site would mean local businesses which did not have an understanding of how to market themselves would have access to easy to use design tools.

“The chamber site will act like a hub for the locals to use,” she said.

“It will provide a holistic view of the community to anyone and everyone.”

She said the company would also roll out strategies and seminars to help chamber members understand what was involved with online marketing and positioning.

“We will be giving business a lot more scope,” she said

“Which in turn will bring more revenue and jobs to the area.”

She said by doing the work as a volunteer she hoped to encourage other members to get on board and help create a site that would generate reward for the local community.

How the Internet can streamline your business

The Internet has only been around for about a decade, but it has already advanced dramatically in that short time. It is now at a maturity level where it can be used for much more than just marketing in a business – it is a fully functional business tool that can provide real bottom-line results for businesses.

One area we have seen massive growth in is the web being used to increase efficiency and save time and money for businesses. It can be used to streamline everything from marketing activities and customer support through to internal processes and administration.

Here are some ways that our clients are using the Internet to streamline their businesses:

Simple seminars

Workshops and seminars are a great, highly-leveraged lead generation strategy. Now, thanks to the Internet, organising events like this is simple and stress-free. You can easily have an event management system build into to your website which allows you to send email invites to your database of contacts quickly and easily. Attendees can click on a link in the email to go to your website and register for the event, and they can even pay for their ticket online using their credit card. People can also register for an event on your website if you advertise it in external media – just make sure you include your website address in all your advertising. You can even send out email and SMS reminders prior to the event and print name tags directly from your guest list. This system will save you lots of time and money – it’s all online so you don’t have to get your staff to make and take calls, it’s easy to keep track of attendees and manage the payments if you have them, and because it's so easy and instant, it will ultimately increase the number of registrations and reduce the number of people that don’t turn up to your event.

Feedback surveys

We all know the value of finding out from clients what they really think about your business, gaining people’s opinions on new services or products, and even getting feedback from your staff. But often, putting together a survey to find out this information is just too hard. The good news is the old way of printing and sending out forms, getting them back in the mail, then inputting and graphing the results has been replaced by simple, fast and effective online surveys. Now all you need to do is write up your questions once, email the survey to your database and sit back and wait for the results. Best of all, the system collates and graphs them for you instantly so you don’t have to lift a finger. Sending online surveys will save you lots of time and money (no postage costs!), and because it’s so simple for people to do, you will get lots more responses. Also, it’s all online so you can easily compare results over time and store them for future use.

Common client requests

A number of businesses have (or could have) forms for our clients to complete for a number of purposes, such as qualifying leads, job applications and information requests. If all the details form these forms could be obtained quickly over your website and passed on to the right person via email, you and your staff would be able to spend less time on administration and more time on actioning the enquiries. Also, the efficient service would keep your clients and prospects happy. It is now possible to easily set up forms like this on your website and you have almost unlimited freedom with the information you can gather . These forms can also have word verification built-in to prevent spam bots bombarding you with junk email. Custom forms provide a great value to your business and give you more time to focus on meeting the needs of your clients.

Customer loyalty

If you want to keep your customers and get them to buy more from you and refer others to your business, you need to show them you care about them. However, it would be impossible for you to call or meet with all your clients on a regular basis to do this, so you need a cheaper and more time-effective way to stay in touch. Now you can use automated emails to communicate with your clients – set up a series of welcome letters to go to them when they first join your business, send ecards on special occasions like their birthday or Christmas, email them deals and promotions to celebrate their anniversary with you and send newsletters to keep them updated. While this won’t completely replace the value of an occasional phone call, it is a great cost-effective way to keep your business at the top of your client’s minds. The benefits of using automated emails is the amount of time it saves you, as well as higher customer retention and increased customer loyalty, which in turn can generate more sales and more referrals.

Online client area

While your existing clients are very important to your business, they can sometimes take up a lot of your time by asking simple, common questions. A great way to solve this challenge is to have an online client area on your website. You can have a searchable knowledgebase with answers to common questions and product manuals for clients to download, as well as a secure area for them to access private documents from your business. For example, an accountant could have all his client’s statements, tax returns and past financial data in an individual secure area for each of them, so if they need something they can just login instead of calling and taking up the his valuable time with administration tasks. A system like this would vary greatly depending on your business, but no matter what you do, it’s a great way to save time, cut your administration costs and keep your clients happy.

Motivating your team

Your staff are an important asset to your business, so you need to be constantly educating and motivating them so they can keep you ahead of the competition. Similar to the online client area mentioned above, you can set up an online resource centre for your staff or agents. There are so many tools you can use for this – for example, podcasts of interviews and lessons, videos of sales presentations, downloadable product guides and sales checklists or even a forum for staff to interact and discuss various topics. As well as this, you can use email marketing to keep everyone up-to-date easily with news alerts, latest marketing offers and educational information. Strategies like this will definitely streamline your business and save you time, but they will also make you more money – an educated and motivated team will definitely get more customers and make more sales for your business.

The opportunities for using the Internet to streamline your business are endless – there are so many products and strategies out there to suit every business, so it’s only limited to your creativity.

We have simple tools to help you with all of the ideas mentioned above, so if you would like to know more, just give us a call and we’ll get one of our expert consultants to look at how your business could be streamlined to maximising the internet more, so you can spend more time doing what makes you money.

White Hat and Black Hat SEO techniques

The White Hat search engine optimisation (SEO) and Black Hat SEO debate is gathering momentum as SEO becomes increasingly important in the success achieved by websites. As White hat SEO techniques follow the general guidelines of search engines, they are considered ethical techniques and are therefore viewed positively by the major search engines.

On the other hand black hat techniques are those short term tactics that web architects adopt to ‘fool’ search engine crawlers into believing things that may not actually exist on their websites e.g. backdoor ‘cloaking’ and artificially boosting backlinks from link farms (dummy webpages with bogus links). As these are generally un-ethical they are not accepted by search engines and they can result in your website being banned or penalised sites for the use of black hat techniques.

White hat and black hat SEO are two different and generally opposing views on how to carry out effective search engine optimisation. White hats are those website architects that ‘play nice’ and are prepared to wait for long term results to build their site popularity. Black hats are those website designers that want to quickly boost their search engine rankings by cutting corners and are ready to compromise even the readability and content coherence of their sites in the race for better SEO results.

It is not surprising that all search engines today are actively monitoring for black hat SEO techniques as these practices ultimately harm their search result reputation as these websites are not delivering a positive user experience.

Choosing between white hat and black hat

The most important point to emphasise is that Google and major search engine do not consider ethical SEO efforts to be spam. The major search engines rely on ethical SEO companies to provide users an optimal web experience.

Search engines only consider SEO spam when the site is not operating within their quality guidelines and indulges in such activities as hidden links, hidden text, cloaking and sneaky redirects. You can view a complete list of Google webmaster guidelines at: http://www.google.com/webmasters/

The majority of the SEO companies adopt a common-sense approach in making your website user friendly and at the same time ensuring that the site’s architecture is easily accessible to search engine spiders.

In simple terms, SEO is about designing your website based on what people search for, which makes perfect business sense. Taking short cuts or resorting to black hat techniques may actually confuse the readers and in the long run annoy search engine bots.

The general consensus is that Internet users are increasingly beginning to believe that white hat SEO actually translates into a great website plan and design. Whilst Black hat techniques rely on unmindful aggression akin to gambling – so while you might gain a lot quickly, you are at risk to loose all and more (banned for ever) just as quickly as search engines are now more sophisticated than ever.

For a serious business who wants to be successful in the long term and popular consistently, there should be no reason to gamble on black hat techniques. It has generally been observed that those Internet marketers that let their dark-side dominate by adopting black hat techniques often regret it later.

Our advice is don’t get lost in the technical detail of SEO. Keep it simple, know what your customers are searching for on the Internet, design your site to communicate with their search activity, deliver superior value and online success will be yours.s

Web domain questions answered

Still confused about Domains? I've answered some often asked questions which will hopefully help narrow the gap between you and cyberspace.

• What is a Domain Name?
• What's the difference between .com, .net, and .org domain names?
• What does it mean to "register" a domain name?
• Who can register a domain name?
• Do I own the domain I register?
• What does "transferring" a domain name mean?
• Do I automatically have a website once I register my domain name?
• What is "URL forwarding"?
• What does "web hosting" mean?
• Where do I host my website?

What is a Domain Name?

The purpose of a domain name (often referred to as just 'domains') is really to help us find locations on the net. Computers don't normally use words, but use a number system in order to direct traffic to the right place. This number associated with a domain is called a DNS. If you typed the number 75.125.19.104 into your browser you would get the google search engine page come up. Google.com.au is the domain name for this DNS. It's much easier for us to remember names than it is to remember long numbers such as these. Imagine how difficult it would be to try and find the site of a well known business if we had to remember all these numbers? It's really easy for us to think.. "i want to find the site for Harvey Norman", so we just type in the name and presto! However, I will add that the DNS associated with the domain can be changed depending on who is hosting the site.

What's the difference between .com, .net, and .org domain names?

These domain suffixes were originally used to determine the type of company that owned the website.

• Business (.com)
• Non-profit or Charity (.org)
• technology based site (.net)

Now because the Net is so massive these lines have been blurred almost to the point of non existence. Anyone can now register almost any domain they like. People will often register the same domain accross the board (domain.com, domain.net.au, domain.org) to try and protect their online presence and content.

What does it mean to "register" a domain name?

Domain registration, simply put, is buying a domain and putting your personal or company information on the registry to claim ownership of the domain. Domain registrations can expire and are registered for the duration you desire (up to 10 yrs) when you purchase it. There are a number of companies in Australia that offer domain registration.

Who can register a domain name?

Anyone, anywhere can register a domain name. You don't have to have a business or a company.

Do I own the domain I register?

Well to a certain degree, yes you are the owner of the domain. As stated above, domains can be purchased by anyone and the registrations can expire. Really you're just leasing the use of the domain name. When your registration expires the domain is then up for sale and because of this you really need to keep an eye on your registration period. Previously in some cases people were registering domains that were very close to well known company names. This can no longer be done. Laws are in place now so that if a trademark company, for EG. I Love To Surf, doesn't have a website, the domain 'ilovetosurf' really belongs to them. Some businesses have taken legal action on those who have registered domains similar to that of their business name.

What does "transferring" a domain name mean?

Domains can be registered with different registrars. Transferring domains means changing the current registrar. You might do this if a new registrar has a special offer that will benefit you. You're will remain the owner of the domain and transfers must be done before the expiry date of the domain.

Do I automatically have a website once I register my domain name?

When you register a domain you don't automatically receive a website or emails. You need to find a suitable service to host your domain. This is an extra charge to your domain registration and there are a few domain hosting packages which you could choose from depending on the host. The host is where you physically store your webpage and / or email information.

What is "URL forwarding"?

URL forwarding allows you to redirect traffic from one domain to another. Let's say you have registered www.mysite.com and www.mysite.com.au. You can setup URL forwarding so that if someone types www.mysite.com.au into their browser it will pickup on the forwarding and send the browser to www.mysite.com. URL forwarding is great if you have purchased more than one domain to protect your content.

What does "web hosting" mean?

Web hosting is a service that 'Hosts' provide to put your webpage on the internet. The documents, images and other content that make up your website need to be 'online' at all times for your page to be accessible. There are also other technical settings and parameters that need to be in place for it to all work smoothly, which the hosts provide. It's much more economical to you to use a host rather than look after it yourself.

Where do I host my website?

When you register your domain, you can use any host you like. Hosts normally offer plans that give you all that you need depending on your usage.