Your website is a selling point to your potential clients or customers even before they walk through your doors. If you maintain a professional and up-to-date website, then your customers will view your business as professional and up-to-date. However, if your website still uses concepts born and bred in the 1990′s,  then clients may look elsewhere for a business that keeps up with the times.

Rejuvenating your website is not a monumental task, but you should be sure to have members from all areas of your organization review your site as you are making updates. For example, your sales department should review the prices and packages that you are selling, since they are the experts in this area. Your designers should review the placement of your navigation and search box to assure that they are easily accessible. Keeping your team in mind, here are thirteen quick ways to make your website more customer-friendly and bring it back to life.

1. Update copyright dates. We’ve changed our calendars again, so you should update the copyright year on your website to match the current year. After all, you do not want to drive customers to your site when the copyright date hasn’t been updated since 2005.  This leads to the impression that you are not updating your site, which could be a deal breaker to some customers. If you want to retain the year that your website was launched, be sure to include a date span (such as © 2005 – 2010). Ask your developer if he/she can implement an auto-update feature so that the year will automatically change when the year changes. For instance, implementation of the following PHP script will assure that your copyright year is always current:
   

   <?php echo date("Y"); ?>

2. Check your links. One of the most frustrating website issues  is encountering broken links. Just when your client believes she has found the information she has been looking for, she is directed to a “404 Not Found” page. If this happens to your customer, chances are she will move onto a more reliable website. Review all links to assure that all are linking to the correct pages. Check your main navigation links first, since they are the bread and butter of your site. Next, double-check your secondary navigation links, and follow-up by checking links within your content. Pay special attention to links to external websites, as these are often the first links to break, as content is constantly changing throughout the World Wide Web.  A great way to check your website links is to use Google Webmaster Tools. Webmaster Tools is a free service that instantly reports “crawl errors,” including broken links from within your sitemap, broken links to your site from referring sites, and links within your content that lead nowhere. In these cases, your developer should be able to set up an “.htaccess” file, which redirects broken links to the correct links, or to a more informative error page.
3. Update and correct your content. Spelling and grammatical errors are a quick way to give an unprofessional impression. You should always take the time to proofread content before it is published, but you should also be sure to review your content months after it has been published as well. Errors that are not obvious at the time of writing are usually more obvious after you’ve taken some time away from the content. In addition to double-checking your spelling, you should also review important text to be sure it is up to date. Has your pricing, mission statement, or privacy policy changed? Do you offer more or less sales packages than you did last year? Have you recently moved and neglected to change your address or phone number? Be sure all of this vital information is up to date.
4. Update and optimize your images. If the images on your website include clothing styles from the ’70s, you may want to consider updating your images. You may take pictures yourself with your digital camera (as long as they are professional quality!), or you can purchase some stock photography. Also, adding new images will bring a refreshing visual update to your faithful website visitors. While reviewing your images, you should also take a look at the display resolution of your images, versus the  file’s resolution. If you have an image on your website that is being displayed at 250×225 pixels, but at full-size is 1000×900 pixels, then you should consider reducing the file’s resolution to the display size. Forcefully reducing image size through HTML not only compromises image quality, but also results in an unnecessarily slow page loading time. Ask your designer to optimize image sizes if this is an issue on your site.
5. Improve your credibility. No one likes to see a  “webmail” address listed on a website’s contact page. For example, email addresses ending in “@hotmail.com” or “@yahoo.com” are amateurish and have little place in business. These types of addresses are fine for personal accounts, but in the professional world, your email address should correspond with your website’s URL. Most hosting companies offer email solutions in addition to website hosting services, so talk to your hosting company if you require a professional email account.
6. Clarify your navigation. Your navigation is the backbone of your website. Without navigation, your customers will not be able to access the information they need. In addition, your navigation must be clear and easily understood by the customer. Visitors have come to expect navigation links such as “About Us,” “Services,” “Portfolio,” and “Contact Us.” While it’s fine to be creative and vary link names, deviating too far from the norm may frustrate your customer and may drive them to a competitor’s website.
7. Make your site more accessible. Not everyone can simply view your website on a PC or mobile device. Those who have vision impairments, are illiterate, or have a learning disability may use screen readers to review your site. Screen readers are programs that take what is being displayed on the screen and interpret the site’s content into audio or braille.  To make your site more accessible, be sure that your images include “alt” tags in the HTML, which can be read by a screen reader. Also, consider assigning a relative size value to your font sizes (in units of ems instead of pixels), so that those who cannot read small text will be able to increase the font size as needed. Image maps, in addition to being an outdated method of navigation, are often unreadable by screen readers and should also be removed from your website.
8. Add a site map. Site maps are a useful navigation item, as they provide a quick reference point for the link hierarchy of your site. Site maps list all pages within your site, providing an alternate method of accessing information to your customer.  As a bonus, site maps improve search engine optimization by ensuring that all pages can be located by search engine crawlers. In the past, site maps were often included as a link to a separate page away from the main navigation. The emerging trend is to add your site map as a part of your website’s footer area, creating a table of contents for your entire site. Your best approach to including a site map depends on the design and layout of your website, so ask your designer about best approaches.
9. Eliminate spam comments from your blog or forum. Spam is a nuisance to everyone and no one wants to read spam comments on your blog or forum. Spam takes away from the important information and can annoy your reader into leaving your site. Blogging software such as WordPress includes plugins that allow you to monitor comments before they are posted, which can greatly reduce the amount of active spam on your site. If you find that you do not update your forum or blog often and that there is more spam than actual content on either, you may want to consider removing your blog or forum completely.
10. Check keywords and site statistics. Are you including keywords throughout your website that are appropriate for your business? Make a list of words and phrases that customers might associate with your business, including what products or services you offer and your location. Then, be sure that these words and phrases are included in page titles, HTML meta tags and page content. Generally, each page should include one to three words or phrases that are related to your business. These are the keywords that customers will enter into a search engine when looking for businesses such as yours. Including keywords on your site improves the chances that your website will be crawled on a search engine and returned to the user. Also, consider integrating web statistics into your site. Statistics software, such as Google Analytics, not only shows you how many visits your site has obtained in a span of time, but also shows what keywords were entered to find your site. Statistics programs can provide insight into what campaigns work to drive business to your site, and which are falling short.
11. Add a News and What’s New section. Adding a news section to your home page is a great way to assure that content is constantly changing. Allowing the same old content to linger on your home page for too long gives the appearance that you have allowed your website fall by the wayside. Add a section with news tidbits from your business. Or, if you have a Twitter account that you update regularly, consider adding your Twitter RSS feed to your home page. This is a great way to update both your Twitter account and your website simultaneously.
12. Consider a redesign. All website designs become outdated with time. You should consider a redesign within at least two years of your last design update, as long as your are continuously monitoring your site and making tweaks and minor updates in between. Redesigning your website lets your customers know you are up with the times, and also gives you a chance to reorganize information that is more beneficial in attracting visitors. If you do not currently have the time or budget to undergo a complete website redesign, consider just redesigning the home page. This brings a fresh look to your site, while keeping the majority of your site familiar to regular visitors.

By making some of these tweaks and adjustments to your current site, you will be well on your way towards running a user-friendly website that promotes your business and provides a strong professional image.

Grammar Hammer- Don’t forget to use proper grammar online. Just because we all live in a fast-paced world, doesn’t mean we should throw grammar out the window. The Web is a more informal place but this is no excuse for not using the correct punctuation and spellings. There is nothing more baffling than receiving an email from a respected owner of a company and it reading like this:

“hi, good 2 see u last night. lets talk sometime over coffee. ttyl”

This doesn’t seem that professional, does it? Many successful business people send emails like this all the time. No capitalizations, periods, commas, apostrophes, etc. It makes people look less intelligent. You should always use complete sentences, spell check, punctuation, and proof your professional emails before sending them. Chances are if you are too busy to write a decent email, then you might be too busy to get a new client.

Think Before You Tweet- Alright, so your cat is sick and it’s raining outside. This doesn’t mean that the entire Web needs to know this. For business, Twitter can be a great tool but only if used in a smart way. Using Twitter to announce a press release, a new product, upcoming event is genius. Revealing to the masses what you ate last night, not so much. There are many workshops and presentations on how to use Twitter for business. If you are using Twitter right now for business and you have been tweeting about your personal life, the weather (unless that is your industry) or how jammed the Parkway East was this morning, it is time to rethink your Twitter approach.

Picture This- Once an image is on the Web, there is no way to recover it. Same goes for videos, audio files, etc. If you are a business professional, remember this rule: If you wouldn’t show it to your grandma, don’t put it online. Reputations can be tarnished by pictures and videos that reveal less than desired acts. Remember that one time you drank a bottle of wine and thought you were a butterfly? Well, the next door neighbor’s son does too because he took pictures, posted them on his Facebook page, and tagged you. Then, your boss saw it and suspended you for making the company look bad.

If you are in situations where people post images of you in comprised situations, ask them to remove them or untag yourself. If you are a young professional, make sure there are no keg party pictures of you during Rush Week floating around out there still. HR managers will find it.

For more information about social media, check out our latest presentation Social Media Revealed on SlideShare. Also, if you have a group or company that might benefit from a presentation like this, contact Heather Jewell at 724-430-0490 Ext. 204 to find out about our workshop series.

It goes without saying that Web site statistics should be regularly reviewed for changes in traffic patterns, but other evaluation methods should be used to ensure that your Web site is properly reaching your target audience:

• Evaluate your Web site on the newest versions of each of the popular Web browsers: Display capabilities change with each new browser version, so it is imperative that you stay on top of how your Web site appears on the latest browsers. At a minimum, test on the latest Microsoft Internet Explorer, Mozilla, Mozilla Firefox, and Netscape. If you have access to a Mac, be sure to test Safari as well. Some advanced statistical packages will also tell you which browsers are being used to view your Web site. If you are getting significant traffic using an alternative browser such as Opera, be sure that your Web site works with it as well.
• Evaluate your Web site at different screen resolutions: There are several display resolutions currently being used by the vast majority of Web surfers. Change your Windows display resolution to match some of the different resolutions and visit your Web site. If you have a difficult time finding information on it at a different resolution, chances are that your visitors are too.
• Search for and compare with online competitors: Just because you’ve always faced the same competition from the same firms since the inception of your business doesn’t meant that there aren’t new competitors out in cyberspace who are taking your business. You may be pitted against many competitors that you’ve never heard of and your Web site might not be stacking up well.
• Determine what questions an interested member of your audience would be seeking answers to on your Web site and determine if the answers are easy enough to find. Many Web site owners approach their Web site as being a method of “telling visitors what I want to tell them”, but the most effective Web sites are constructed to easily allow visitors to find answers to questions that they have. After all, your visitors are the reason that the site is there. If they cannot find the information they are looking for, then your Web site is not doing its job.

Tools

There are many powerful tools that are inexpensive or even available at no cost that can help you evaluate and evolve your Web presence:

Evaluation Tools

• Google SiteMaps. This free service from Google allows you to learn a great deal about the searchability of your Web site and even allows you to “push” new content to Google instead of waiting for their spider to revisit your Web site every few months.
• Advanced search engine. An advanced search engine that shows the popularity of searches will help you determine what your visitors are looking for but cannot find in any other way than through the search engine. These results will allow you to more properly position and develop your content.
• Advanced Web statistics. An advanced statistical package will show you which browsers at what screen resolutions are being used to view your Web site, which pages are being visited (and which ones aren’t), and more. Services such as WebTrends and Web Side Story can help you evaluate the effectiveness of new marketing campaigns and edited Web site content.
• Feedback solicitations. Perhaps the best way to gather feedback about the effectiveness of your Web site is to solicit feedback on every page of your Web site. This will not only make it easy for your visitors to submit their comments, but will show them that your company is committed to delivering the content that they are seeking. Survey tools can also be used to solicit feedback.
• Link checkers. Most modern Web sites are built in such a way that internal links (links to other resources on the same domain) are always accurate, but even if yours is built in this manner, mistakes can still happen and external links (links to pages or resources on another domain) are always at risk of being broken.
• Browser checkers. There are many resources available to automatically check the appearance of your Web site in multiple browsers, platforms, and screen resolutions.

Evolution Tools

• Web content management (WCM). Web content management is a simple solution that allows your Web site to be changed as quickly as the market demands it to.
• Dynamic reorganization of content. Your Web site can be set up so that popular searches and links appear more prominently on your Web site automatically to help visitors easily find what they are looking for.
• Personalization. Each visitor has his or her own unique needs and viewing preferences. Allowing your visitors to personalize your Web site to their tastes will allow them to stay more informed about your company. The drawback to personalization is that a login is required.

NuRelm offers complimentary, personalized assessments of Web sites with no obligation. To request a free assessment, please visit NuRelm’s Website assessment page and one of our Web experts will be in touch to present a professional analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of your Web site.

• The typical scenario involves one project manager who must track numerous projects and people.  That person becomes responsible for following up with each and every person involved in each job, which quickly becomes too much to effectively maintain.
• Most existing project management software provides a good way to create a list of tasks, then assign them durations and resources.  However, they are not as good at providing an easy way to track every detail of every task – a project manager must use a lot of valuable time making many, many phone calls to gather information.
• Most project management systems do not provide a way to notify team members when they are either due to complete a task, when they are late, when a task date has been moved, with a summary of tasks they have due in the next 30 days, or any useful data such as this.
• Most companies have specific needs that are not covered by systems that are not customizable.
• Creating on-the-fly reports is impossible, and any reporting is done by the project manager who is controlling the tracking system.  Many organizations literally spend days each week generating reports for management.

Using the Web to Make Project Tracking Easy
Imagine how much easier it would be to track projects if individual team members could simply make updates on their own tasks directly, instead of requiring a project manager to transcribe that information into a tracking tool.  There’s no need to imagine this today, because this is precisely the sort of problem that the Internet is perfect for solving.

A Web-based project management system easily solves the problems listed above:

• Each member of a project team can simply enter task status information into the system via any Internet-enabled computer (no need to install software on each PC used because it is delivered via the Web from a server that houses the software).
• Project managers can use their skill where it should be used: for planning projects and handling exceptions, not for transcribing routine task data from team members.
• Project managers can use the project creation software they are used to (such as Microsoft Project) to create project task lists, then import them into a Web-based tracking system.
• Team members can enter more detailed information about individual tasks than might ever be collected by a project manager who is tracking thousands of tasks.
• An online system can notify team members automatically when it is their time to perform a task, and when they are late.  Team members can use a Web-based system to perform complex queries on their tasks, including which tasks are due in the next week, month, or year.
• Reporting in such a system is immediate, and always up-to-date.  Anyone, based on their permissions, can pull up a dynamically generated report from any Web-enabled computer.
• A Web-based system opens up new frontiers that are not possible using traditional tools.  For example, have you ever wanted to share certain information with clients, such as the status of their projects?  A Web-based project management tool can completely and securely automate such processes.

Evaluating Net Costs
A customized Web-based tool sounds expensive, but it does not have to be.  The net price of such a system should be evaluated not only in terms of up-front and maintenance costs, but also in terms of potential cost savings, efficiency improvements, and additional revenues.

Determining cost savings is relatively easy.  Figure out how much time your project managers spend tracking projects, and cut that by 80% to 90%.  Calculate how much time is spent each week creating reports for other people, and cut that by 95%.  And so on …

Projections for additional revenues that could be generated is not as easy, but it is an exciting topic to explore.  How much more business will your sales people close (compared with your less forward thinking competitors) if they are able to offer instant, on-demand project status updates to clients?  How could your office staff utilize additional free time created by automating the tedious tracking process?  These are questions that require some creativity to answer, but they are the types of questions that, if addressed appropriately, can give you a significant edge on the competition.

The final important aspect is the initial and ongoing cost of a Web-based project tracking system, which is easy to determine if you start with a clear picture of needs.  Before approaching vendors for a quote, it makes sense to make a list, in the clearest terms possible, of what you want.  If you are pressed for time and anxious to get started, NuRelm, for a very small fee, can come in and help you assess which project management/maunal process can be automated in order to improve efficiency.  Separating that list into “must haves” versus “nice to haves,” or breaking it down into a timeline showing features needed by certain dates can help break down costs in a way that is more affordable.

Once a list is complete, and validated with the members of the team that would be using such a system, then take it to a few vendors for price quotes. There is a lot of room for variation, so be prepared to spend some time with each vendor making sure that they understand what you want, and that you understand what they are providing for the price they have quoted.

Project management Web technologies generally pay for themselves in less than a year in terms of cost savings and increased business.

Choosing a Vendor
Finding the right vendor for a large-scale Web-based project is challenging.  But, as with any custom service from Web application development to building construction, some simple common-sense rules will make that choice much easier:

• Look for examples of similar work that you want done within the vendor’s portfolio of work, and make sure you are comfortable with a vendor’s ability to easily map to your requirements.
• Call references, and make sure they are very happy with the vendor’s. performance on previous projects.
• Evaluate responsiveness.  A vendor should be able to help you quickly refine your requirements (sometimes through a separate analysis project) to the point that a meaningful proposal can be create, and provide an on-time, professional proposal.

Conclusion
Managing large projects will always present challenges.  But, a well-built Web-based system can eliminate the most tedious of those challenges, providing the people in your organization with more time to use their brains instead of performing the tedious tasks that a computer should be doing.

The 800 pound gorilla in the room, Google, is at the top of the Internet feeding chain and seems destined to stay there, at least for a while.  Google’s innovative online marketing programs are the best deal around for businesses that want to attract a large volume of motivated visitors to their Web sites .  If you don’t already know about it, you owe it to yourself and your company to get on-board with Google AdWords – a marketing program on the cutting edge of modern technology that actually delivers what it promises, IF you know how to work the system.

AdWords is an advertising tool that a rapidly growing number of businesses and marketing professionals are using to generate highly targeted online leads for their products and services.  Adwords uses a Pay-Per-Click system, meaning that you pay Google every time someone clicks on your ad.  It’s really not expensive considering that not many keywords are over $5.00 and a lot are under $1.00.  Sounds like the ultimate advertising tool, right? It can be, if you (or your online marketing vendor) understands the numerous tricks to get your ads ranked higher and noticed by your best prospects.  For those who want to boost sales by improving their online lead generation skills, here are the top 10 useful tips for Google AdWords.

1. There should be a viable online market for what you do before you start. You can go to google.com/trends and type in keywords that you believe encompass your business. If the trend is going downhill you may want to rethink your online business model.
2. Once you know that you have a target audience, you need to figure out what they are searching for (keywords). You can use the keyword tool in AdWords to see what keywords are most popular and which ones attract the most traffic. Another helpful site is www.askhowie.com/freewords. This site shows you what the top keywords are in that market.
3. Put someone in charge of your AdWords campaign. If there are too many people working on these campaigns, you won’t be able to see what trends are happening because they will be changed too often without notice. There is a lot to know about AdWords  so it’s best to put someone in charge that will spend time researching and implementing a cohesive strategy.Tip: The AdWords Learning Center is a huge help! You can study all there is to know about AdWords in either text or multi-media format, whichever works best for you. There are quizzes for each lesson to assure that you are absorbing the information. This is a great way to begin because it helps you learn the basics quickly so that you don’t make novice mistakes.
4. Quality scores matter! You should not have every campaign going to the same page on your Web site. Direct them where you want them to go. They aren’t going to sign up for your newsletter if they are landing on the contact page. If you test an ad for a month and it has received little or no clicks, either delete or pause it, because it is affecting your quality score. Don’t bid on keywords that people aren’t using. If there are no impressions, there will be no clicks.
5. Don’t assume you know everything there is to know about AdWords. It seems easy at first, but the more you learn about it the more complicated it gets. A great resource is AdWords for Dummies.
6. The goal is not who gets the most clicks! You want people to either buy a product, become a lead, or sign up for something. You must make sure that your landing pages are interesting and full of content. Web surfers are impatient. Make sure all your links and buttons are functioning properly.
7. Writing ads can be tricky. It’s hard to tell which ones are getting traffic because of what they say. The best way to “test” ads is to do different ad variations. Use the same content but change it around a little. See what works better, such as numbers or text.  Just put yourself in your target audience’s shoes. Think about what you would look for and apply that to your ads. Google automatically rotates them and shows them when the search is most relevant for that ad. Then you can compare and see which one is getting more clicks. Take your time…Rome wasn’t built in a day.
8. Don’t think you can be tricky and use keywords that have absolutely nothing to do with your ad. Google has figured you out. Your ad will be considered irrelevant and moved to the end of the sponsored list, or Google will stop showing your ad all together. Make sure your keywords match your ad.
9. Make sure your ad is relevant to your Web site. For instance, you cannot claim that you are the best at something without having a third party confirm it on the landing page of your Web site. You also cannot offer Free downloads or 50% off of a product if that information is not available on the landing site. And of course, the trick of all tricks, having something like Paris Hilton Pics as your headline will not work. Not only will you get into trouble with Google, you will be paying for clicks and no one will be taking action on your Web site. These practices could have your ad placed at the end of the sponsored list or not shown at all.
10. Don’t put all your eggs in one basket. If your ad is doing well, it doesn’t mean that you should only do one campaign.  If your ad is doing poorly, don’t give up. It takes a lot of time and patience to make an AdWords campaign work. The key is to switch things up until you hit the sweet spot. You’ll never know what really works until you try a little bit of everything.

1. Visitors: Analytics can help track how many people visitor your site every hour, day, week,  and month.  This can be beneficial to track results of eNewsletter mailings, press releases, promotions, etc.  Being able to visualize how many people are using your site is a key part of determining the success of any Online Marketing strategy.

2. Geography: Whether your business is local, national or international, being able to track where visitors are coming from is very important.  Analytics allows administrators and marketers  to see where people are visiting sites from based on I.P.(Internet protocol) addresses.  It is a good idea to track this kind of information so that local or regional ad campaigns can be carried out based on geographical statistics.

3. Pages: Analytics also enables marketers to gage which pages of a site are the most popular by tracking how visitors use the site and by following their most popular paths to the site.  This can also help track broken links on a site.  If an increased bounce rate happens on certain pages, it may be a red flag that something is amiss.

4. Incoming Links: A key success factor for increasing search engine rankings is having multiple incoming links to your site.  Analytics can help gage which referring/incoming links are the most valuable.

5. Keywords: Analytics lets you see which keywords are the most popular at driving traffic to your site.  This feature is a good way to judge the effectiveness of your site’s content.  By tracking the most popular keywords, you can find out if your site is sending the right message.

6. Bounce Rate: A bounce rate reveals how many times visitors exit your site from certain pages.  Being able to see where visitors are exiting can help troubleshoot issues such as broken links, page errors, etc.

7. Entrance Rates: The entrance rates on Analytics help you to track where visitors are entering your site.  If there are multiple incoming links to your site, such as to the products page, contact forms, or just the home page, the effectiveness of the content prompting visitors to click can be analyzed.

8. Goals: With the Goals feature,  it is easy to track specific parts of your site.  For example, if there is a contact form that should be filled out for interested visitors, the path to the contact form would be copied into the Goal tool.  When a visitor follows that particular path, it is called a Goal-conversion.  This is great for all important features of a site, such as portfolios, newsletter sign ups, promotional offers, etc.

9. Adwords: Another great feature about Analytics is that it works with Google Adwords.  By syncing these programs together, you can track returns on investment down to the cent.

10. Time: Analytics can also track how long people stay on the site and on each page.  Being able to track length of stay is a great way to judge how interesting the content is for each page in comparison to the rest of the site.

For more information on setting up Google Analytics, please Click Here to contact us.  For a complete tour of the free software, visit analytics.google.com.

RSS, or Really Simple Syndication, is a Web format that allows for certain information to be pulled from multiple Web sites into a central location.  What exactly does that mean?

Well, for marketers it means that RSS can be used to either:

A.) Keep prospects up to date with information that your business is constantly updating, like press releases or events.

B.) Increase returning visitors to your site by setting up an RSS feed to display current, pertinent information from other Web sites on your Web site.

For example, let’s say that you manage a local community Web site.  An RSS reader could be set up within your Web site to display items like current headlines from the local newspaper  Web site or school closings from the local school district site.   Also, if sections of your Web site  were RSS-compatible, like the news and events section, community members who have RSS readers could keep up to date with local information easier, and encouraged to visit your Web site more often.

RSS feeds are created in a language called XML (or eXtensible Markup Language), a technology already used for various other purposes on and off the Web.  Since it is so widespread, many Web developers find it relatively easy to set up these indexes on existing sites.  Not only can you keep your existing patrons coming back more often, it can help boost SEO to increase new site traffic by providing another way for Web users to experience your content.

There are many different reasons to use RSS feeds today, from making your Web site’s articles easily accessible to a wider audience, to making it easy for clients to keep up with your company’s blog.  The possibilities are endless and so are the sites that are adding RSS everyday.

The best way to learn about how RSS works is to setup your own personal RSS reader.  There are a number of readers out there, an example of which is Google’s new Reader.  To try it, go to http://reader.google.com (you need a Gmail account) and follow the instructions — it is easy to setup and starts out with a quick video tour.  Once you do this, you’ll have a feel for how RSS works from the perspective of someone using it to view your content, and how setting up RSS capabilities on your business Web site can help you boost Web traffic.

NuRelm is a software and services firm that helps non-technical business professionals compete in a technology-savvy world.  For more information on the benefits of RSS feeds, how to integrate them or any other interactive capabilities for your Web site, check out NuRelm’s free web site assessment page or call 1.877.2NuRelm ext. 204.  Don’t forget to visit: The Website Owner’s Manual for more timely info dealing with everything web.

1. Fonts are an important attribute of a Web site.  It is essential that fonts are large and clear enough for viewers to easily read.  Although it is tempting to use fancy, script-like font styles, the content’s message is lost in translation.  Not only can some fonts be hard to read, all computers do not have the same font files, causing them not to load properly.  Universal fonts are safe to use, including Arial, Times New Roman, and Verdana.  The standard font size advised is 10 point.  If you have another style or smaller size of font on your current Web site, you may want to reevaluate its use.
2. Branding is an important online marketing practice.  A company usually has a unique color scheme/logo that sets them apart.  To build more effective branding, the online presence should reflect offline marketing materials.  If different colors or images are used, consumers may become confused or think that the company is unprofessional.  If something familiar doesn’t immediately jump off the home pager, they might not even recognize you.   Always consider offline marketing materials when designing or redesigning a Web site.
3. Imagery is as important as the content of a Web site.  Results-oriented imagery is the most effective way to get the consumer’s attention.  Consumers can better relate to seeing a happy family standing outside of a brand new house rather than Joe President or Mary Saleswoman on the home page.  Imagery needs to assure consumers what they can achieve with the product or service being marketed and produce imagery that reinforces those feelings.
4. Web site content should always be in text format.  Web site content in an image-based format wards off search engines.  If you are not sure, ask your Web developer how the content is formatted.  This can seriously hinder the Web sites search engine rankings, because search spiders cannot easily pick out important keywords that are partially responsible for boosting your rankings.
5. There should never be broken links on a Web site.  It is a simple task to periodically check the links of a site to verify that they are working properly.  Broken links are a huge setback in search engine optimization, especially for an issue that can be easily monitored and fixed.
6. Clear navigation is another very important feature of a successful Web site.  Confusing navigation is a major reason why Web surfers leave Web sites.  Setting goals and tracking the steps to achieve them can help analyze the effectiveness of a site’s navigational structure.  For example, submitting a Contact Us form on a Web site is a very important goal.  Using Web statistics software, like Google Analytics, is an efficient way to track the path prospects must take to submit the form.

Creating an effective Web site can be a challenge and there isn’t a clear-cut path to success.  However, there are many aspects  you can control that will help the process.  Streamlining and regularly maintaining a Web site’s content, links, and images may not solely drive a business to become a Fortune 500 company, but it can help  to significantly increase the bottom line. Take advantage of NuRelm’s free Web Site Assessment services that can help you drive more relevant traffic to your company’s Web site.  To speak with a NuRelm representative about your Web site, please call 1-877-2NuRelm.

5 Networking Sites (In no particular order):

• Facebook
  • Can be used for professional or business use
    • A way to network with other people
    • A way to list your business for others to see
    • A way to share media
    • A way to post events
    • Free advertising
  • Specific examples where Facebook could be useful
    • A web developer could search for others in their profession
    • A company can create a fan page then link their blog to it
      • Blog posts can automatically be updated
    • With a fan page a company can have contests or other incentives
    • With a large enough network, you can use Facebook to get information and perform your own market research on connections.
• Myspace
  • Another Networking tool
    • A way to network with other people
    • A way to list your business for others to see
    • A way to share media
    • A way to post events
    • Free advertising
  • Specific examples where Myspace could be useful
    • A great way to reach a certain audience
    • A company can create a page and list all their business information
    • With a fan page a company an have contests or other incentives
    • Although Myspace is a great social networking tool, I wouldn’t necessarily recommended for a lot of businesses
      • Myspace is REALLY good for music and bands
• Twitter
  • Micro Blog
    • By building a follower list you can network with others
    • Also can broadcast your business to a specific audience
    • Also can research trends on what people are talking about
    • An easy way to get the most up-to-date information
  • Some ways Twitter can be useful:
    • A way to research if anything is being said about your company and/or competition
    • A way to keep people up-to-date on company’s goings-on
    • A way to find and meet up with other people
• LinkedIn
  • Another Networking Tool
    • A way to network with other professionals
    • A way to get your business listed
    • Great way to find answers to questions
    • Great way to discreetly promote your blog
  • Some ways LinkedIn can be useful:
    • Can have your blog linked to post automatically to your profile
    • With LinkedIn Polls, you’ll be able to find answers to your research questions by asking your network and other professionals
• Sphinn
  • Internet Marketing news forums and discussions
    • A way to find out hot topics, share news and start discussions
    • Specifically geared toward online marketers
    • A way to find out upcoming events and meet networking friends in person
  • Some specific examples of  Sphinn uses:
    • Great way to keep up with the on-goings on the web
    • Great way to meet other social networkers online
    • Could be a great source of inspiration for blog articles and discussions on forums

3 Social Bookmarking Sites

• Del.ic.ious
  • Delicious is the biggest collection of bookmarks online, and can point you to high quality resources for just about anything.
    • A good way to share your bookmarks with people and get bookmarks in return
    • Discover useful and interesting things on the web
    • Can bookmark any site
  • Good things about Delicious
    • You can upload all your bookmarks already in your browser
    • Toolbars are also available  to bookmark sites as you find and not have to  go directly to delicious
    • Easy way to share and network sites on the web
• StumbleUpon
  • Similar to Delicious
    • Alternative way to search for web pages
    • Community based searching
  • Good things about StumbleUpon
    • Rating system on whether or not you liked a page
    • Can write reviews of a page for other people to see
    • Also has a browser toolbar for easy marking
• Digg
  • Another social bookmarking website much more similar to StumbleUpon
    • Great way to see top stories and breaking news across the web and share them
    • Community based searching
  • Things that are good about Digg
    • Has a browser toolbar
      • I REALLY enjoy this toolbar, it shows you stats on the certain item before you “digg” it
    • Also has a rating and review system
    • Enjoyable interface

5 Useful Social Networking Tools

Why get Feedback in the first place?

1. Helps avoid mistakes
   1. A costly problem caught early can be fixed
2. Higher quality of work
   1. Instead of getting stuck with a less than great project you can strive to make a higher quality result
3. Keeps everybody on the same team
   1. If everybody checks in on what’s going, nobody well get a surprise with end result
4. Newer or better ideas can get implemented
   1. Sometimes great ideas come after approval of a design or project. This is a way you can get your ideas heard

General Rules

1. Get out materials in advance
   1. If everybody is prepared ahead of time, nobody is bombarded and put on the spot.
2. Keep things brief
3. Provide feedback, but not discussions
   1. Set up a time after the meeting for discussions
4. Keep a recurring order with conversation
   1. Give everybody an equal amount of time to talk

Getting Feedback

1. Start by clarifying the objective
   1. Make sure everybody is on the same page
2. Be specific with the feedback you want
3. Listen
   1. Keep an open mind, because you’re looking for a different insight in the first place
4. Invite constructive criticism
   1. Remember everybody is on the same team
   2. Don’t let your pride get in the way
5. Take the advice
   1. Not everything, but use what you get to make good changes to your project

Giving Feedback

1. Be respectful
   1. Follow the golden rule
   2. Take into consideration who you’re talking to and the situation at hand
2. Be specific
   1. Give examples with your feedback; the more specific, the better
   2. If the person can get a better understanding why you want them to change something, they may more readily accept that change.
3. Provide justification
   1. Give reasoning with your feedback
   2. If they know why you feel that way, they may understand it better
4. Balance the positives and negatives
   1. Keeping a healthy balance of pros and cons keeps everyone happy
5. “Have you Considered?”
   1. Use this phrase to gently give another opinion
   2. This gives the designer the opportunity to offer their reasoning and not feel “under attack”

Don’ts

• DON’T tell anyone what they can or can’t provide feedback on
  • By doing so you defeat the purpose of having feedback
    
• DON’T try to solve problems in the critique room – it’s too time-consuming
  • This is a chance to hear other perspectives.
• DON’T be a jerk, be constructive
  • This mostly goes without saying. You’re all on the same team.

All in all, when it comes to feedback, a respectful relationship is needed. If you respect each other’s opinions and feelings as well as keep an open mind, getting feedback on projects doesn’t have to be a nightmare.