Do you have questions about running a business, starting a business, running a website, or anything associated with your site/business that you want answered? Post your questions or suggestions for articles below or email them to us (staci@quirky-bird.com) and we may use your idea for an article on our blog. Free advice never looked so good.
Since we’re on fire and all today, here’s a freebie! It’s a lot like our new twitter page, and it really looks sick on my desktop at least. Enjoy it, peeps.
Ok, please Flash developers, don’t throw rotten fruit at me.
Flash is, well…flashy. It’s motion, animation, bling, fancy, exciting! FLASH. kabam. Problem is, it’s not functional in a web word that’s becoming increasingly more content driven.
So you think to yourself, “How can I knock their socks off from the start…I know, a Flash INTRO!!”. Here’s the problem – the person trying to learn about your website and who you are has to A) load the intro and B) sit through the whole thing when they may not want to. In a world where we want our interwebs fast and furious, this has the potential to wreck a users experience instead of enhancing it the way you were hoping it would.
So you think to yourself, “How can I really give my site an introduction? I know, a flash landing page!” The problem with this one is that this kind of page is textless. Google really, really hates that. Google wants oodles of meaty, descriptive content to log into the database so that it knows who you are and what you do. So you think to yourself, “I know, I’ll just add a big load of gobbledeegook at the bottom of my page so google has something to read!” To that google says Pthhh. It knows if you’re stuffing keywords in and uses the placement of the page and size of the text to determine how relevant that text is. So you think to yourself, “I’ll know! I’ll make it super big, but make it the same color as the background!” Google checks this too, and you can get hash marks for it.
Flash websites are an SEO pitfall. Your Flash developer will say, “No, no, no – we can create an xml sheet with legible search engine text, etc, ad infinitum.” The thing is that it only creates ONE page for your entire website. Unless there’s something new with flash that I’m not aware of. See, The more pages you have, the more valid you look to google. More pages = more content = more keywords = more meta content = More for Google to Log. Your pages decrease in importance the further in you have to click, but every page has a separate existence on the interwebs. The more you have, the bigger you look.
Past the SEO misses, you most likely can’t manage your website on your own. The number one cardinal rule of running a web presence – you should be able to manage it within your own company. If you can’t, you’re giving your money a big old smooch and sending it to the cleaners.
Flash is many times cumbersome for users to navigate. We can’t use tools we’re used to, like the back button or refresh. It’s very rare that a site can pull off Flash effectively, and it’s even MORE rare that Flash is actually enhancing your experience. So, step away from the flash and into the light where Google’s waiting for you with a cupcake (because everybody loves cupcakes).
If the title of this post applies to you, keep reading.
I was one of you.
A few years ago, everyone started blogging. It was primitive, usually personal to a level that I didn’t really care to spend time reading. Design was primitive as well. None of it was really very appealing. It seemed like a lot of technological hoodoo. I was almost completely disinterested.
Then information started trickling through to me that I was interested in. Blogs were becoming beautiful, full of information that I was eager to absorb. I would bookmark them, high on them, and then would never remember to go back.
This orange button started showing up on blogs that I would stumble across. “RSS…WTF is that?” Great, I had just started to get the hang of this and then I found that there was something else I knew nothing about. I googled articles on RSS and was still pretty much lost on what I was supposed to do with them.
WTF is RSS?
RSS is a simple string of information that your blog generates as a way to easily transmit your blog posts out into the internet. You can access this string through a URL. This is what mine looks like:
http://imaquirkybird.com/?feed=rss2
To follow a blog using an RSS feed, you have to sign up for a feed reader – then ’subscribe’ to the blog by saving the RSS link that the blog generated in your reader. The RSS reader will then be automatically alerted and updated with any new posts from that blog.
Reading Feeds
I started off with Google Feed Reader. If you use igoogle, this would be a good option for you – it will post your feeds on your igoogle home page. My problem with Google Feed Reader was that I couldn’t remember to check it. So, it was a bust for me.
A few months ago, I found Feedly – a Firefox plugin. If you don’t use Firefox as your browser, you should. It’s the A-number-1-must-have if you use the internet. Seriously, go right now and get it here: the best browser ever.
Feedly is cool because:
It’s easy to remember to read
I’m a bit of a mad scientist, remembering is not something that comes easily for me. So a top quality in a feed reader is something that’s a little in my face. With the feedly reader plug in, there is an adorable little green rss button next to my url bar. I see it a bazillion times a day. When I have free time, I click it and it takes me to my feedly dashboard.
It’s easy to save sites I want to follow
a) open feedly
b) click add source
c) paste url of feed into the field
d) save
There is also a mini toolbar on your pages that will save an article in your reader, post it to your twitter, or email it to someone with one click. Easy Sneazy.
It’s easy to read
Feedly uses a magazine style layout, so you can see all of your favorites one one page like one big blog. You can create categories for things like friends, living, cooking, etc. Many already exist with some blog suggestions to get you started, you can add/delete feeds as you like.
It’s user friendly
Anyone who knows me well knows that I’m a usability freak. If it doesn’t have an easy to use interface, I’m never going to use it. You’ll be happy to know I use feedly almost every day.
Did I mention it’s easy?
Because it is. Real easy. So easy I can do it – and I was an RSS resister.
I’m a believer
So having found a reader that works for me, I’m officially a believer. One of my favorite pastimes on my computer is reading through the variety of blogs I’ve found to help inspire me, educate me, and entertain me. It’s not as scary as you might think, you just have to have the understanding of what it is and how it works and a tool that helps you manage the feeds you want to read.
Every retail owner knows that Christmas has the biggest potential for sales for the entire year. But what about those of you who are starting a new business and planning a launch for the fall?
Building a website isn’t a magical event in which, when it’s live, everyone will be able to find you simply by googling or tripping over your website. It takes months and years of hard work to build up a customer base, and the work is two pronged: SEO and Marketing. Remember that in Field of Dreams, Kevin Costner built it and no one came, he almost put his family and farm under. It just takes time, sweat, and maybe a few tears to get you there.
Let’s pretend that we built your website. If this is or could be the case – or if you use a database driven system with an admin - it should be plumbed for SEO. I’ll be writing up an big, fat, crazy thread about SEO another time, so stay tuned for that. So, since your site has the tools to help you be successful on Google, YOU need the tools (knowledge) to be able to write and enter in content in the most efficient way into these tools in your website. Once you have everything set up and your site launches, it will most likely be a few weeks before it even starts showing up on google searches for your own business name, nevermind for keyword phrases that you’re going after (if you’re launching a brand new store). So keep in mind, launching in November, people will barely be able to find you for the holiday season.
The most instantaneous thing you can do to get traffic is to market your website. Start building a client base by getting ads on other websites/blogs. Take out ads in magazines. Run a solid social networking campaign. The thing is – if you’re really trying to get Christmas sales after launching your site for the first time in the fall – it’s going to cost so much money to market yourself to get sales that you’ll most likely barely break even.
Another common thought is – why not start marketing before the website is live?! The answer – there are a gazillion things that could happen to stop your project from launching when you think it will. The web design process is truly a gigantic flow chart – there isn’t a clear start to finish when there are so many subjective decisions that need to be made.
Chances are, everyone will be insane trying to get your store up and running. It’ll launch, you’ll breathe a huge sigh of relief. Then you’ll see very little, if any, traffic. Chances are, your first Christmas season will have your family and friends buying from you…which is great – but most likely not what you were looking for.
Be realistic about your first Christmas. Keep in mind all of the work it takes to build a business, to build a customer base, to learn the ropes yourself. It’s a lot to absorb, and if you’re only giving yourself a few weeks – it’s most likely not enough time to really be over the moon so quickly.
I can’t tell you how many people I have come to me in September with the expectation of having a full on, gorgeous, thoughtful website before Christmas. There are web designers out there that can promise you a website in 2-3 months, but they’re handing it over to you empty – you then need to load all of your content in. We know how long it takes for you to not only learn how to use the system, but to enter in all of your content. We’ve seen over 200 clients go through it, not to mention I’ve personally done it myself a dozen times when my baby store was still open. It’s not hard, but it’s time consuming. There is so much for you to do, from sizing your photos, to building a successful site map, to entering in every single product, page, and setting in your shopping cart system. Part of why our services are so unique is that we step by step, hand in hand walk you through every single step of the process, so by the time your website is designed and installed, you’re finished loading your content and ready to go live.
I tell everyone to give yourself at least 6 months to build a beautiful, well branded website. It can happen faster, and it can take longer. It’s really all up to you. Just be realistic about the amount of time it will take.
Start on your website in January or February. That means that you have plenty of time once your site is live to go crazy on marketing and build up a huge client base. If you’re already in progress on a website, be realistic with your expectations of the holiday season. Be smart, use your common sense, and take a deep breath – starting a new business is fun and exciting but it’s also stressful and a lot of work, so make sure that you’re as zen about it as possible.
get going. jump on the train, gang.
