Website Not Aligned with Target Audience

Every business should know their target audience, and if you think your target audience is “everyone”, you are not targeting anyone. Who wants, needs and is willing to buy your product or service? Only when you understand your customer and how they make their buying decisions, can you effectively build a website that will align with your audience and convert browsers to buyers.

Overly Complex Websites

Once you know your customers, you should be designing a website with them in mind. What kind of information are they looking for, and in what form? Do they want text, video, audio, animation or all of the above? When designing a website, especially for new businesses where you are learning about your customers, less is more. Start with the basics, knowing you can always add features in the future.

SEO and Keyword Focus

While it is true that a well designed website should incorporate SEO, many entrepreneurs start with SEO and create content loaded with keywords, but providing no real value to the site’s visitors. Focus on creating the content your customers want and need, and remember, if you are too keyword rich, you may be penalized by the search engines.

Contact Information is Hard to Find

When your customer is ready to interact with you or has a question, they do not want to spend time searching your website for contact information. Customers with short attention spans will go to another site if they find yours is too troublesome. Make your contact information, including phone number, email and physical address, easily and readily available.

Good Looks, Difficult Navigation

Another common startup website mistake is to develop an visually pleasing site, which is difficult to navigate. A well designed website should look good but also be easy to get around. Breadcrumb navigation allows users to see where they are and can easily backtrack when needed. You want a site that both looks good and is simple to use.

Lack of Social Proof

The common adage today is that people do business with someone they know, like and trust. But how do you develop trust when you are a new company? One way is through testimonials, or social proof. When someone sees that people have already done business with you and have had a good result, it helps them make a buying decision. Include written testimonials, or even better – pull out your smart phone the next time someone compliments your business and get it on video, which you can then upload to your website.

Non Responsive Designs

Is your customer browsing your website on a computer, laptop, smart phone or tablet? These days, chances are the answer is all of the above. They may be looking on a laptop in the morning, smart phone during lunch and tablet in the evening when laying in bed. Will they have the same website experience regardless of device? If not, you need to consider updating your site so it is fully responsive and looks the same on all devices.

For any entrepreneur, there are some hard and fast rules to follow. Understand your audience, design and develop a product or service that meets a need and show through your actions that you are someone people can know, like and trust. Applying these same rules to your website will go a long way in helping connect with your clients, and grow your business.

With the proper fundamentals and the ability to break down the barest elements, minimalist design is achievable and getting in touch with the current trends is simplistic.  Here are a few examples that will help a web designer get the simple web design appearance.

Less is More – this statement was popularized by architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe.  The goal is using less to achieve more of an effect, which will achieve a simplistic yet functioning simple web design.

Omitting Needless Things – only focus on things that contribute to the content or function.  A terrific example is a simple grey background.  With simple typography and minimal effects, a website can have the simple flare that is desired.

Subtract Elements – crafting a simple website can also be achieved with subtracting elements until the site just doesn’t function anymore.  A great way to get this appearance is a simple single column body with a three-column footer.  Anything taken or added from this look would make the site less user-friendly.

Making Details Count – the most important fact about details is making each individual is a vital contribution.  Minimalist web design can be funky, yet modern and clean with sophistication.

Color – minimalist web design takes on a very interesting approach when color is added.  The right color or accent will be able to make the design of the website ideal.  The color white is also the backbone to any minimalist website.

Minimalist web design has been around for a very long time, and there are plenty of trends to this unique design.  The key is taking away from a website to the point it’s lifeless, then bringing back subtle hints until the desired look is achieved and of course – user-friendly.

Here are a few awesome features to look forward too! 

WordPress also takes great pride in making sure Parker is also tailored to each user.  New perks such as eight new admin color schemes make it fun using your dashboard.  Also, choosing a new theme is better than ever.  Widget management used to be complicated, but now it’s a simple “drag” or a “scroll” and you have a handle on your widgets.

The leader for this new release is Matt Mullenweg.  There were also 188 contributors adding to the release of Parker 3.8.

One of the biggest changes for GoDaddy will be the website. Under Blake’s supervision and management, the site will appear less technical. That can be huge for people that don’t have the technical background for websites and design. This new look will be appealing for small business owners and marketers. With GoDaddy’s new look, the Media Temple website will be able to cater to more of a technical type of audience. The new appearances will be able to compliment both sites well, and make the overall experience for the user better.

Another big surprise about the acquisition is the fact that Media Temple will be operated as a separate company, and will not be integrated into GoDaddy. Any discounts and coupons will not be interchangeable between the two companies. Virb is a website builder acquired by Media Temple in 2012 will not be included in this deal. The original founders/investors will be purchasing Virb.

The new changes for Media Temple and GoDaddy are going to be new and exciting. With a bright new management team and an infusion of cash, GoDaddy is proving to be a fierce leader in technology and interactive with new improvements for both its existing customers and new customers. The information and data provided can be found at www.smallbiztrends.com.

Just where did this spam fighting algorithm come from and why so many updates? Let’s briefly go over when the releases happened and what was the impact of each.

Google’s overall search algorithm is monitored by Penguin. If you are in a situation where you have noticed a drop in traffic, then it’s time to take a look at your site. Bad links and poor quality sites are going to be red flagged, therefore you will have to improve your site. Until Penguin sees the content is removed, you are going to have a problem. The best way to avoid this problem is to check your content and links.

Let’s take some time to review the statistics of HTML5 and how effective it has been with companies and generating revenue.

When it comes time to try and make a decision with what option to choose from, it’s always important to consult with the web hosting service provider you are thinking of choosing. Getting a second opinion is always recommended if you are a beginning or you are launching a start up company. A web hosting service provider will be able to help you determine which option will be best for your company, and also be what you are seeking as far as privacy and storage options.

A recent NPR article exposed the details of a current lawsuit involving a negative Yelp review. The $750,000 lawsuit stemmed from a dissatisfied customer, Jane Perez, who wrote a negative Yelp review about her hired construction company, Dietz’s company, Dietz Development LLC. In the review Perez explained how dissatisfied she was with the service and claimed that staff of the construction company had stolen jewelry during the time spent working on her house.

The defendant, Christopher Dietz, sued for defamation claiming that much of Perez’s review caused damage to his business. Even though one lawyer noted that one poor review is unlikely to cause a company any actual damage Perez was still mandated by the court to remove all defaming parts of her various reviews on Yelp.

Though these types of cases have been a rarity thus far it’s very possible that new legislature will be developed in the future to help cases like this become more prevalent. Thus, this verdict leaves various consumers around the world wary of voicing their true opinion(s) in fear of being sued.

This case has brought to light one’s first amendment rights to speak freely and voice opinions. However, it also emphasizes how these free words can potentially get us into trouble. Though only parts of Perez’s review were deemed defamatory and ordered to be taken down (the others were allowed to remain posted) the verdict still emphasizes the risk one is taking the moment they post a negative review on Yelp (and websites like it).

On a positive note, a 2011 study showed that positive Yelp reviews help businesses gain a potential 5-9% revenue increase.

What is Slashdot?

• Site displays a continually- running feed of news and questions submitted by users on a variety of technology topics
• An average of 3.7 million unique visitors frequent the site each month
• An average 5,300 comments are logged each day on the site

The other two?

• SourceForge and Freecode
• Both are indexes for software: SourceForge for opensource, and Freecode for Linux

Mike Durney, Dice’s CEO, shared that the company has wanted to increase the site’s regular engagement opportunities. “We want people to come to us for help for doing their jobs [on a daily basis], not just when they’re looking to make a career change,” he explains. “The people [at Geeknet] have done a tremendous job at building up user engagement and user action over time.” Durney also noted that Dice wanted the talent associated with the acquired sites. “Why build our own thing and compete for mindshare?” he says.

According to a statement issued late September, the three sites generated $20 million in revenues in 2011. Their collective readership is also worth mentioning. Most of Slashforge’s readership (nearly 40 million unique visitors per month) come from Brazil, Germany, France, the UK and some other areas outside the US. Durney commented, “Strategically we have been trying to move into tech online recruiting outside of North America for a long time. This is a way we can get access to a more international userbase.”

Users can rest assured that the three sites will continue to operate independently and won’t see much of a change. Though, over time, Dice plans to incorporate qualities from the purchased sites, specifically user-engagement features such as discussion threads.

Picture this: You want to release new features to your customers, and you decide to order the CDs from your local supplier. No! In the days of cloud computing, this is no longer necessary. Now, these features can be launched into the cloud and consumed by your clients as needed. No longer are we dependent on CDs and the postal system for releasing features and upgrades.

However, we have not reached computing utopia- not just yet. The question now has become how do we keep our end users coming back for more? This question is vitally important because when the consumer stops using your product, they stop paying. This article provides six possible solutions to the new dilemma.

1. Ask for their thoughts before you build

Consumers have opinions and will gladly share them. Maximize this truth with your business model by asking your customers to comment on new features they would like to see. When you get a list of suggestions, offer a vote to the customer community. The great thing about this technique is the psychology. Users whose voices are heard are more likely to use the feature, share it via social media, and feel connected to your business.

User feedback systems are a simple addition to your website, and are well worth it. For examples of this technique, see Salesforce.com, GetSatisfaction, UserVoice, and Zendesk.

2. Involve users in the development process

When a product or feature is in the development phases, there is a point at which a demo is available. Share this demo with your users, asking for feedback. By doing this, you lower the potential for a product launch or upgrade that falls short of expectations.

3. What are your users actually using?

It’s a common cliché that actions speak louder than words, but this is especially true in the business world. If you have an understanding of which features are being used by your customers, you’ll have a better idea of the direction your product should take.

Yelp.com is a prime example of this technique in action. Designed initially as an email recommendation service, Yelp’s analysis showed a great deal of activity with the reviews feature. Changes were made, and the result was a successful company built around what was initially a small site feature.

4. How well do your clients know your features?

If you have a new feature, consider the ways you notify your customers of its existence. There are two main ways this can happen: self-discovery and notification.

1. Self discovery: Allowing users to find out about a feature while using your site. Think of how Dropbox notified you about its new photo- syncing feature when your phone was connected to your computer. Or, consider here the way Google introduced Events for Google+.
2. Notification: Personalized emails are useful if they reach the right audience. Study your user base to determine which ones are likely to use the new feature. This way you won’t overwhelm or annoy your customers with frequent correspondence.

5. Seek out and make use of your “Heavy Users”

Knowing who your top users are will allow you to seek their valuable feedback. Identify this group by tracking their usage using cloud-based services or another similar method. Surprise top users with a thank you gift for their loyalty and patronage. Happy customers keep coming back for more.

6. Make it easy for your users to spread the word

Create within your site a quick and easy way for users to share their love for your product with friends. Make available pre-populated posts, tweets or other clicks that make it simple for them to tell great things about you.