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Archive for the ‘Website Advice’ Category

Some Google Adwords Myths.

Monday, August 2nd, 2010

I note some useful information released today by Google they wanted to put matters straight. I thought you might find it interesting.

“There’s lots of misinformation floating around the web about the way AdWords works, and our AdWords support teams get to hear most of it. Since many of the same issues seem to keep popping up again and again, we thought we’d run a blog series to help you separate the myths from the facts. We’ve tried to capture the most persistent of them here, but remember, if you ever have any AdWords questions, you can always pop over to the AdWords Help Center or AdWords Help Forum for an answer.

Myth # 1: Spending money on Google AdWords will influence my website’s ranking in Google’s free search results.

Fact: Google AdWords and Google’s free search results are entirely independent of one another. Spending money on AdWords won’t impact your ranking in Google’s free search results. Similarly, cancelling your AdWords account won’t lead to your website being banned from Google’s search results. If you’d like to learn more about what does go into ranking your website in Google search results, check out Google Webmaster Central.

Myth # 2: Google AdWords has declined my credit card.

Fact: Google itself doesn’t actually decline credit cards. The decline usually takes place at your bank, your card-issuing institution, or its payment processor.

If your credit card gets declined, your first step should be to check and make sure you’ve filled out the Billing Preferences page correctly. Some common mistakes include:
Missing or invalid credit card number or security code
Missing or invalid expiration date
Missing or invalid billing address and/or telephone number
Once you’ve gotten that squared away, make sure that there aren’t any problems with your card itself. Be on the lookout for issues with your:
Credit limit
Maximum amount per debit
Number of possible debits within a certain period
If any of these are too low for your AdWords account, contact your bank or card-issuing institution. You should also be sure that your card allows for online debits and automatic debits.

Myth # 3: Your conversion rate can impact your quality score

Fact: The conversion rate of your ads does not affect your quality score. Some advertisers using AdWords conversion tracking mistakenly believe that they should set an easy conversion event on their landing pages to artificially boost their conversion rates. In reality, this won’t have any effect on their quality score and will simply make it harder to measure the true value of their AdWords investment.

Myth # 4: The AdWords keyword tool suggests keywords to use

Fact: The keyword tool doesn’t make any kind of recommendations about which keywords you should be using. The keyword tool just analyzes related queries that might be of benefit to you and displays them. It’s up to you to decide which keywords you want to include in your account.

You should always assess the tool’s results in the context of your advertising goals. When you do so, the keyword tool can be a helpful way of finding new, meaningful keywords, including potentially profitable ones you aren’t currently using and those that you might have excluded as negative keywords in order to protect your click-through-rate.

Myth # 5: Upper and lower case letters in AdWords keywords matter

Fact: The AdWords system doesn’t distinguish between uppercase and lowercase letters.
“NYC” is the same as “nyc”
“Android Phone” is the same as “android phone”
For the sake of simplicity, we recommend that you enter all of your keywords as lowercase letters.”

This is an excerpt from Google itself who is generally pretty open about the various systems that run it’s operation.

There is more on Google own Adwords blog. Click on this link:

Website Planning and Corporate Design Guidelines

Tuesday, March 9th, 2010

Planning is key to the success of a website. I have a client who is taking about 8 months to plan their website evolution and style. Now you might think that’s a long time.. and I guess you’re right. Suffice to say normally we take 6 to 8 weeks to develop a new website from scratch. This particular client has some restrictions on what they can have and how they can look as they are owned by a French head office. This is not a new story for Clickingmad ThyssenKrupp, the large German conglomerate has many companies within its flock in the UK. Clickingmad is lucky enough to have been chosen, some time ago to be the UK’s provider for all their UK companies as far as web is concerned. We went through a rigorous tendering procedure, interestingly they didn’t tell us it was for the UK as a whole. But when we were informed we had won and what it represented for us well, we were chuffed I can tell you.

We often have to respect strict design guidelines that maintains a strong corporate ethos and I agree with that principle as long as it does not affect what the local company can do online. We in fact have created corporate styling guidelines ourselves as part of our graphic design work.

If you have a design that is “locked down” by your group head office, talk to us, we can still make it shine.

Shaun

Website Privacy Policy Sample Text

Tuesday, January 12th, 2010

This is some text that we use when we build websites if a client does not have their own Privacy Policy.

I thought I would share it to everyone, cut and paste if you wish and if you want to say where you got  – please do..! ;

This privacy policy sets out how “[business name]” uses and protects any information that you give “[business name]” when you use this website.

“[business name]” is committed to ensuring that your privacy is protected. Should we ask you to provide certain information by which you can be identified when using this website, then you can be assured that it will only be used in accordance with this privacy statement.

“[business name]” may change this policy from time to time by updating this page. You should check this page from time to time to ensure that you are happy with any changes. This policy is effective from [date].

What we collect

We may collect the following information:

  • name and job title
  • contact information including email address
  • demographic information such as postcode, preferences and interests
  • other information relevant to customer surveys and/or offers

What we do with the information we gather

We require this information to understand your needs and provide you with a better service, and in particular for the following reasons:

  • Internal record keeping.
  • We may use the information to improve our products and services.
  • We may periodically send promotional emails about new products, special offers or other information which we think you may find interesting using the email address which you have provided.
  • From time to time, we may also use your information to contact you for market research purposes. We may contact you by email, phone, fax or mail. We may use the information to customise the website according to your interests.

Security

We are committed to ensuring that your information is secure. In order to prevent unauthorised access or disclosure we have put in place suitable physical, electronic and managerial procedures to safeguard and secure the information we collect online.

How we use cookies

A cookie is a small file which asks permission to be placed on your computer’s hard drive. Once you agree, the file is added and the cookie helps analyse web traffic or lets you know when you visit a particular site. Cookies allow web applications to respond to you as an individual. The web application can tailor its operations to your needs, likes and dislikes by gathering and remembering information about your preferences.

We use traffic log cookies to identify which pages are being used. This helps us analyse data about webpage traffic and improve our website in order to tailor it to customer needs. We only use this information for statistical analysis purposes and then the data is removed from the system.

Overall, cookies help us provide you with a better website, by enabling us to monitor which pages you find useful and which you do not. A cookie in no way gives us access to your computer or any information about you, other than the data you choose to share with us.

You can choose to accept or decline cookies. Most web browsers automatically accept cookies, but you can usually modify your browser setting to decline cookies if you prefer. This may prevent you from taking full advantage of the website.

Links to other websites

Our website may contain links to other websites of interest. However, once you have used these links to leave our site, you should note that we do not have any control over that other website. Therefore, we cannot be responsible for the protection and privacy of any information which you provide whilst visiting such sites and such sites are not governed by this privacy statement. You should exercise caution and look at the privacy statement applicable to the website in question.

Controlling your personal information

You may choose to restrict the collection or use of your personal information in the following ways:

  • whenever you are asked to fill in a form on the website, look for the box that you can click to indicate that you do not want the information to be used by anybody for direct marketing purposes
  • if you have previously agreed to us using your personal information for direct marketing purposes, you may change your mind at any time by writing to or emailing us at [email address]

We will not sell, distribute or lease your personal information to third parties unless we have your permission or are required by law to do so. We may use your personal information to send you promotional information about third parties which we think you may find interesting if you tell us that you wish this to happen.

You may request details of personal information which we hold about you under the Data Protection Act 1998. A small fee will be payable. If you would like a copy of the information held on you please write to [address].

If you believe that any information we are holding on you is incorrect or incomplete, please write to or email us as soon as possible, at the above address. We will promptly correct any information found to be incorrect.

Website Building Guidelines

Wednesday, December 9th, 2009

I came across a really useful publication dating from 1996, which I believe still holds true today. It was put together by Apple, they of the IPhone, Macintosh computers and lots of software fame.

See what you think…

  • Plan Your Site
    Have an Objective
    Develop Content Before
    Design
    Add Value
  • Provide The Basics
    Provide Author or Contact Person Information
    Identify With your Corporation or Institution
    List your URL
    Let People Know How Current the Site Is
  • Communicate Effectively
    Keep Pages Short
    Use Formatting Wisely
    Summarize Information
    Use Specific Link References
    Define a Language Style
    Use Familiar Technology
    Capitalization for Human Interface Elements
    Use Useful and Clear Error Messages
  • Help Users Find Their Way
    Take Advantage of Keywords
    Provide a Directory of Your Site
    Minimize the Need to Scroll and Resize
    Use Descriptive Titles
    Choose the Appropriate Depth Versus Breadth for Your Site
    Use Appropriate Navigation buttons
    Avoid Dead Ends
    Include Internal Links on Long Pages
    Include Links to the Key Locations in Your Data
    Duplicate Navigational Items at the Bottom of Your Pages
    Use Cross References
    Provide a Search Mechanism
  • Design for Efficiency
    Don’t Bury Information
    Minimize File Size
    Use Small Images
    Use Thumbnail Graphics
    Repeat Images Where Possible
    Specify the Width and Height for Graphics
    Use Interlaced Images
    Know the Difference Between GIF and JPEG
  • Accommodate Differences
    Provide Alternate Text for Images
    Provide Files in Cross-Platform Format
    Let Users Decide
  • Make it Look Nice
    Use Appropriate Formatting
    Design for Different Page Orientations
    Use Caps/Lower Case or Initial Cap Style for Headings
    Use Empty (White) Space Liberally
    Establish a Layout Grid for Your Site
    Use a Consistent Visual Design Language
  • Encourage Dialog
    Provide Ways for People to Interact With Each Other
    Provide an E-mail Contact
    Provide a Way for People to Request Specific Information
    Make the Interaction Live, If You Can
  • Think Globally
    Provide A Way For Users To Choose A Language
    Choose Your Graphics Wisely
    Consider Language Differences
    Avoid Assumptions About Text
    Consider Alignment Differences
  • Maintain Your Site
    Test Your Web Site
    Copy Edit Your Pages
    Check For Broken Links
    Update Your Site Regularly
    Keep Information Timely
    Provide Access To Archived Information

Note:
Clearly some of the recommendations herein are aimed at web developers. But I also think that as the web becomes a standard way for businesses to communicate it is imperative that they understand some simple basics of web development to ensure they support their online presence effectively. Thus ensuring a greater return on their investment.

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