Today MYOB stuck it’s neck and suggested that if all local businesses had a website the New Zealand economy would grow by by at least 5%. What will they be thinking up next! Having been involved in the Internet and website development for 15 years this is not news to me. What surprises me is that they still actually have to say this. Read the rest of this entry »
Over the past few years there has been a massive rise in the number of daily deal websites. It’s a web-based business model in which a single type of product is offered for sale for a 24 hour period. When you look at these deals you have to say they are really hot, and why would you not want to take advantage of them. But the issue is whether this is a sustainable business model. Read the rest of this entry »
I’ve just received an email newsletter from an accounting firm that is notable by how bad it is. To give you an idea, the subject line is “Newsletter” and the from field is “Clients”. The saluatation was “Hi Everyone!” – he doesn’t know my name! Are you starting to get the idea now? Read the rest of this entry »
You know your website isn’t doing it’s job, so the issue you’ve got is where should you focus your efforts in order to make the biggest potential gains. Leaving aside for the moment the need to test and measure, there are four key areas where small changes can result in significant gains in your conversion ratio. Read the rest of this entry »
A mantra that most seem to have cottoned on to is that an element in obtaining online credibility is to have a website that integrates and is cohesive with your brand. But there is also one further element and that’s about online integrity and keeping the promises you make. Read the rest of this entry »
I recently received an email from a client expressing disbelief in the open rates for some campaigns. I could really feel the exasperation he was feeling. Could there be a bug inside the statistics program of messageMaker? Read the rest of this entry »
Online conversion is often seen as something that takes place on a webpage. Frequently you hear about webpages being optimised or made more usable. This can lead to the false conclusion that the focus of our optimisation attempts is the webpage. However, the real focus of attention must be on the mind of the online prospect. Read the rest of this entry »
One of the big cons dished up by various web design companies and online marketers is that if we want to be successful on the web (ie generate lots of online sales and leads) you need to practice “website persuasion”. In fact, I’ve just done a Google search on this phrase and found there were 2 million results. Read the rest of this entry »
I was recently reading a blog about email marketing and branding. It was, as you might well imagine, written by a designer. The crux of the blog was that if your email newsletter was not carefully designed and branded it would not get read and would summarily be dismissed to the delete folder. Read the rest of this entry »
I’ve talked to hundreds of business owners and almost without exception their prime focus in regard to their website is to have it appear high in the rankings of Google. Without wishing to demean such a laudible endeavour. I have never heard in the any of these conversations the word “conversion”. It’s as though the only thing that has to be done is get truck loads of visitors to a site and they will buy and we’ll be banking truck loads of dosh (cash) to the bank. Read the rest of this entry »