Monday, November 19, 2007
Friday, November 16, 2007
How a Fancy Pants Flash Website Could Hinder Your Sales
First published for the Ladies Who Launch blog
Your high-concept, artful, playful website could be making you all but invisible in the search engines, nearly impossible for people to send a link to a specific product to their friend, and could negate any positive impact from social bookmarking sites like StyleHive.com. Most of the big designers use these types of sites, and I say more power to 'em. It just means that my little well-optimized website will get more exposure.
To define, a fancy pants website is usually built with a lot of Flash, or another program that animates things to make them extra cool. The website pages sometimes look like pages, but they may not generate their own URLs. Your whole website may run off of www.mywebsite.com. Let's look the super cute shoe company, Seychelles Footwear. Go to that website and play with it. It's very fun. Luckily, it can be fun because they sell all of their shoes through stores and other websites that are much better optimized (aka appealing or readable) for the search engines.
The Link Problem
Years ago, I bought some Seychelles. I was so excited that I blogged about what I bought, and the other cute styles. I wanted to link directly to the shoes I was talking about. On the web, it's best to get to the point as quickly as possible. With Seychelles, no can do. I can only link to their home page and figure out ways to finagle some images from other websites like Zappos.com to show what I'm talking about. In fact, I'd be better off linking to Zappos.com, since my readers could fall in love with the shoe, and buy it right then.
The Search Engine Problem
Search engines love links. Links are like vegetables to them. When a search engine visits your site, it 'crawls' or 'spiders' as much of your website as it can by traveling through all the links you have placed. If you have images linked to images, and no text, or no links that go to places that are forbidden to search engines, they stop and miss out on all of the stuff you can SEE on your site. They like to read things. If you have words that are images, for example, and not actual words, the search engine just sees a file called our_mission.jpg. It has no idea that there are words there.
The Usability Problem
If products are spinning by, it's visually exciting at first, but when you go to click on something, it can be a slippery experience. Making your site as easy to use as possible is a good goal to ensure that your users are happy and seamlessly turn into customers.
The Social Bookmarking Problem
I call this Socialness. Social bookmarking is when a web page gets bookmarked on a website by a person. Other people can see what that person bookmarked, and then visit the page. StyleHive.com has a lot of highly interested users looking for fun things, and they will buy. Your products can show up there (if bookmarked , or 'hived' by someone if that product has its own web page. If every product shows up on www.yourwebsite.com, and not on www.yourwebsite.com/products/398lfoifjlsfjow or something obscure to humans but very important to how the internet works, then you could be missing out on a potentially effective bookmark that could drive highly interested people to your products. Example: Coco Ribbon sells very pretty things on their site, and they just redesigned their website. I must confess, I do miss their old one because, I think, each product had its own URL. So, if I go to put something on StyleHive, StyleHive picks up the product image, price, and description and automatically publishes it on their site. However, with their current setup, pointing out pictures and assigning it to one page is tricky. All of their lingerie items, for example, are under this URL: http://www.cocoribbon.com/collections/lingerie, so I can't link to a direct one, which would get users there quickly, and help that product rank in the search engines. If you don't care about search engines, then this isn't a problem.
The Bottom Line
Using animation and other swirly things is fine. It's great. Just ask yourself, before you fall in love with a concept, where you are using it, and how it will affect your users, who ultimately, can be your biggest evangelists.
Thursday, November 15, 2007
How to Get Photos into Flickr
Flickr is woderful for many reasons:
1. You can show photo albums publicly, meaning that your friends don't have to log into one of five major photo sharing sites. Or, you can mark them private, and then your friends would need to log in again.
2. You can organize the photos by albums, or "sets" and let people see what albums you have right away.
3. If you have a website, you can go to town on different ways to share photos, and include links back to relevant pages of your website from the photo's description.
But how the heck to you get your photos off of your computer and into Flickr? Here's how:
How to Post (aka Upload) Photos to Flickr:
Login using your username and password. Yahoo bought Flickr, so it may be that your Yahoo address, if you have one, is the same.
Look for the words Upload Photos. If you arrive on the Home page, these will be large and blue. All of your tools for Flickr are at the bottom of the page as text links.
Follow the Steps.
1. Choose Photos
2. Upload Photos
3. Add Titles and Descriptions to a Set. You can "Add More" if you like, which is a link at the bottom of the box you'll see after you choose your photos. You can choose many photos at once by holding down your CTRL key as you select them with your mouse.
When you're ready to upload, make sure they are clicked as Public. This is the default, so it most likely will be selected. If you want to password protect them, aka not share them with the world, click Private.
When they upload, you'll see "Finished!" Click to add a title and description. These are super important, because they help people find your type of picture when they are search through Flickr.
These next steps are important, if you are interested in getting wide exposure for your photos:
Add Tags: Tags are words or phrases that have to do with the picture. For phrases, you'll need to include " " around it, to show that the word is really a 3-word phrase. For example: trip to paris would be "trip to paris". Then, include other phrases that have to do with the picture. If it's a product, include the product name, company name, color (that can be popular), type, animal name, etc. People's names, etc. Start paying attention to other tags, so that you can include things like "paris fashions" if that is a popular tag. But you want to be relevant, so as not to disappoint someone who is expecting something. You can always add or delete tags at any time when you are logged in.
Add Title: The default is the image file name, most likley IMG_341, which is no fun. Call it "Vintage 1994 Wedding Dresses from Channel". You can be long, it's up to you.
Add Description: Self explanatory. However, if you have a website, you can link to it here if it's appropriate. "See more website designs at www.mywebsite.com"
Add to a Set: Sets are organized photos, like "30th Birthday Trip" or "Thanksgiving"
You should be all done with uploading and naming your photos! Now create some sets if you want another way to display your photos in an organized way.
Creating a Set:
For extra fun, you could create a set so that people could view like photos at once. Here's how to do it:
Scroll to the bottom of the page and click Organize in the "You" category.
At the top of the screen, click the Sets tab.
Look to the right, and in gray type (hard to see) click "Create new set"
Follow the directions, but basically, drag your photos into the little box on the left. This will fling them into the big gray box.
Name your set.
Click save.
That should be it!
1. You can show photo albums publicly, meaning that your friends don't have to log into one of five major photo sharing sites. Or, you can mark them private, and then your friends would need to log in again.
2. You can organize the photos by albums, or "sets" and let people see what albums you have right away.
3. If you have a website, you can go to town on different ways to share photos, and include links back to relevant pages of your website from the photo's description.
But how the heck to you get your photos off of your computer and into Flickr? Here's how:
How to Post (aka Upload) Photos to Flickr:
Login using your username and password. Yahoo bought Flickr, so it may be that your Yahoo address, if you have one, is the same.
Look for the words Upload Photos. If you arrive on the Home page, these will be large and blue. All of your tools for Flickr are at the bottom of the page as text links.
Follow the Steps.
1. Choose Photos
2. Upload Photos
3. Add Titles and Descriptions to a Set. You can "Add More" if you like, which is a link at the bottom of the box you'll see after you choose your photos. You can choose many photos at once by holding down your CTRL key as you select them with your mouse.
When you're ready to upload, make sure they are clicked as Public. This is the default, so it most likely will be selected. If you want to password protect them, aka not share them with the world, click Private.
When they upload, you'll see "Finished!" Click to add a title and description. These are super important, because they help people find your type of picture when they are search through Flickr.
These next steps are important, if you are interested in getting wide exposure for your photos:
Add Tags: Tags are words or phrases that have to do with the picture. For phrases, you'll need to include " " around it, to show that the word is really a 3-word phrase. For example: trip to paris would be "trip to paris". Then, include other phrases that have to do with the picture. If it's a product, include the product name, company name, color (that can be popular), type, animal name, etc. People's names, etc. Start paying attention to other tags, so that you can include things like "paris fashions" if that is a popular tag. But you want to be relevant, so as not to disappoint someone who is expecting something. You can always add or delete tags at any time when you are logged in.
Add Title: The default is the image file name, most likley IMG_341, which is no fun. Call it "Vintage 1994 Wedding Dresses from Channel". You can be long, it's up to you.
Add Description: Self explanatory. However, if you have a website, you can link to it here if it's appropriate. "See more website designs at www.mywebsite.com"
Add to a Set: Sets are organized photos, like "30th Birthday Trip" or "Thanksgiving"
You should be all done with uploading and naming your photos! Now create some sets if you want another way to display your photos in an organized way.
Creating a Set:
For extra fun, you could create a set so that people could view like photos at once. Here's how to do it:
Scroll to the bottom of the page and click Organize in the "You" category.
At the top of the screen, click the Sets tab.
Look to the right, and in gray type (hard to see) click "Create new set"
Follow the directions, but basically, drag your photos into the little box on the left. This will fling them into the big gray box.
Name your set.
Click save.
That should be it!
Friday, November 09, 2007
Robert Bernocco Types His Novel Via Text and He's Self Published
Author Robert Bernocco, an IT guy in Italy, couldn't find the time to type his novel. So he texted it to himself while on his commute to work. The book is 384 pages, published by Lulu.com. Here's Lulu.com's press release on his being the first writer to text his novel and how he did it. Says Bernocco: "It was really a time management issue." He wrote the book in 17 weeks. OMG.
The book is appropriately titled: Compagni di Viaggo (translates into Fellow Travelers). And he typed it on a Nokia! A Nokia 6630 phone, using the phone’s T9 typing system. I love Nokia.
How was he commuting? I've created a website template while on the subway. I risk taking out my PowerBook G4 and putting it on my lap while trying to look tough so that no one tries to rob me. Couldn't he have a laptop? Maybe he's a straphanger and has to stand the whole time. Regardless, amazing.
For the record, I first spotted a blurb on this in the daily AMNY paper while walking my dog (which you can also read online here). And for those curious about self-publishing, seems like Lulu.com for self publishing might be a tool to consider. I'd put a link on how to buy his book, but I sadly cannot find one! Not even on Lulu.com. Maybe I have to be in Italy.
The book is appropriately titled: Compagni di Viaggo (translates into Fellow Travelers). And he typed it on a Nokia! A Nokia 6630 phone, using the phone’s T9 typing system. I love Nokia.
How was he commuting? I've created a website template while on the subway. I risk taking out my PowerBook G4 and putting it on my lap while trying to look tough so that no one tries to rob me. Couldn't he have a laptop? Maybe he's a straphanger and has to stand the whole time. Regardless, amazing.
For the record, I first spotted a blurb on this in the daily AMNY paper while walking my dog (which you can also read online here). And for those curious about self-publishing, seems like Lulu.com for self publishing might be a tool to consider. I'd put a link on how to buy his book, but I sadly cannot find one! Not even on Lulu.com. Maybe I have to be in Italy.
Rank Highly with a Blog Post Title in Search Engines
First published on the Ladies Who Launch Blog
EXTRA! EXTRA! BLOG POST TITLES MUST BE SEO JUICY!!
In the Search Engine Age, however, writers have at least two new challenges:
How do you know what keywords people are searching for? You use Yahoo's free tool, Overture, or you pay for the keyword research tool Keyword Discovery. Everyone uses Overture, so it can be slow at times. But otherwise gives reliable results.
2. Grab the reader as they scan the list of blue titles in search engines to see which ones they want to click. Your titles need to be quick, short and to the point. This can be tough, if you're trying to get keywords in there. Sometimes you may need to take the SEO hit if you want your feed readers to click, rather than a search engine ranking. Read this to see how your ranking title looks in a search engine.
EXTRA! EXTRA! BLOG POST TITLES MUST BE SEO JUICY!!
Citizen journalists and industry experts who hope to monetize their blogs have a new challenge as writers/editors with regards to blog post titles. In the old days of print journalism, copywriters worried about how many characters (spaces included) would fit into a space for a great headline that would sell papers and keep readers. Headlines were clever ink prints on a page. On the Internet, however, they are links, cannot be touched with anything but a mouse, and they can make or break your popularity in the search engines. Why? Search engines love them, and people love them. Search engines can reward a blog post title with high rankings, and a person needs to click it to contribute to the traffic to your website or blog.
First of all: What is the blog post title and where do you find it? Read about the title tag with pictures here first.
In the Search Engine Age, however, writers have at least two new challenges:
1. Get the article to even rank highly in search engines, aka being #1 on Google or at least on the first page of search results. Search engines place a lot of ranking value on the page title. On a website, you can usually easily set your page title. On a blog, usually your blog post title doubles as the page title. While considering your blog post as a potential high ranking web page, the search engines pay close attention to what words you use in your blog post title. In the case of this blog post, it is titled: "Rank Highly with a Blog Post Title in Search Engines"
How do you know what keywords people are searching for? You use Yahoo's free tool, Overture, or you pay for the keyword research tool Keyword Discovery. Everyone uses Overture, so it can be slow at times. But otherwise gives reliable results.
2. Grab the reader as they scan the list of blue titles in search engines to see which ones they want to click. Your titles need to be quick, short and to the point. This can be tough, if you're trying to get keywords in there. Sometimes you may need to take the SEO hit if you want your feed readers to click, rather than a search engine ranking. Read this to see how your ranking title looks in a search engine.
The point is: be cute in your blog post titles, but make sure your keywords are in there!! You may need to curb your creativity a little. :)
Monday, November 05, 2007
Widgets for your Website and Why you Want Them
Widgets are free and happy little design elements to add to your blog. They come from trusted websites you use already, and are created to make your blog or website look good, and to market that website. You can usually create one in 10 minutes. Granted, you need an account at the website that offers the widget, and you'll need to fill it with stuff, but to actually get the code to put onto your website, you'll need 10 minutes.
What is a widget and why do you want one?
A widget is a chunk of code that you can embed into your website and usually displays a slide show of images, or other arrangements of images you have selected. You get the code from the website offering you the widget. Let's look at a Flickr widget, for example. You upload pictures into your Flickr account. You "tag" them with words that have to do with your pictures, like "Paris vacation" or "birthday party" or "friends." You go to the Tool area in Flickr, and create a badge (some websites call widgets a badge...I know, it's hard to keep up). You tell it you want a badge, or widget, of all the pictures you tagged "paris." Then it will create this small slide show of pictures that pop out at your users, who can then click on it to see all of your wonderful photos.
This widget is generating my photos using simple HTML. I could have used a fancier one that moved, but Blogger doesn't appear to like it very much, as Blogger messed up my code when I inserted it. Yes, a content management system can change your code. Very disconcerting. For the record, a fancy Javascript or Flash one would have worked in Typepad. To use the fancy one, however, you don't need to know anything about Javascript. Just know that not all blogging programs will accept it. Most will, but if you run into weird trouble with it not showing up, it could be that the coding language is not supported by your blog or website.
You can also use widgets for ecommerce, like if you had a store in Etsy.com, or just for fun with StyleHive. And, if you have affiliate accounts with websites, like Amazon where you make a commission of whatever anyones buys from Amazon once they click on a link from your special Amazon affiliates link (here's a write-up of the Affiliate program from an LWLer), those websites might also offer widgets to you. Amazon rolled out some cool ones, like this slide show that I made just now:
Are there drawbacks to using widgets?
Sometimes setting up the widget can be buggy. Amazon's navigation, at times, is not the easiest, so it's very easy for me to click on the wrong link to get my code, which causes me to lose all of my work. What work? Selecting which books I want to appear in the slide show, for example. That's it. So I just need to re-invest the brain power to remember which books I wanted to add.
What is a widget and why do you want one?
A widget is a chunk of code that you can embed into your website and usually displays a slide show of images, or other arrangements of images you have selected. You get the code from the website offering you the widget. Let's look at a Flickr widget, for example. You upload pictures into your Flickr account. You "tag" them with words that have to do with your pictures, like "Paris vacation" or "birthday party" or "friends." You go to the Tool area in Flickr, and create a badge (some websites call widgets a badge...I know, it's hard to keep up). You tell it you want a badge, or widget, of all the pictures you tagged "paris." Then it will create this small slide show of pictures that pop out at your users, who can then click on it to see all of your wonderful photos.
Here's a free widget from my Flickr account of websites designed by Katie James Pixelated:
www.flickr.com
|
This widget is generating my photos using simple HTML. I could have used a fancier one that moved, but Blogger doesn't appear to like it very much, as Blogger messed up my code when I inserted it. Yes, a content management system can change your code. Very disconcerting. For the record, a fancy Javascript or Flash one would have worked in Typepad. To use the fancy one, however, you don't need to know anything about Javascript. Just know that not all blogging programs will accept it. Most will, but if you run into weird trouble with it not showing up, it could be that the coding language is not supported by your blog or website.
You can also use widgets for ecommerce, like if you had a store in Etsy.com, or just for fun with StyleHive. And, if you have affiliate accounts with websites, like Amazon where you make a commission of whatever anyones buys from Amazon once they click on a link from your special Amazon affiliates link (here's a write-up of the Affiliate program from an LWLer), those websites might also offer widgets to you. Amazon rolled out some cool ones, like this slide show that I made just now:
Are there drawbacks to using widgets?
Sometimes setting up the widget can be buggy. Amazon's navigation, at times, is not the easiest, so it's very easy for me to click on the wrong link to get my code, which causes me to lose all of my work. What work? Selecting which books I want to appear in the slide show, for example. That's it. So I just need to re-invest the brain power to remember which books I wanted to add.
Also, you are pulling data from another website, so that can cause your load time to run more slowly, especially if you have many widgets on your site. Like all things, though, companies providing the widgets will improve with time as they invest more in their ability to serve you faster.
And finally, a widget can sometimes not fit very well into your website design. So if you are going to build a website, keep in mind that you want room for these sorts of things. Certain designs, like my blogger template of the moment, look clunky with some widgets. I'm widget-happy, so I will continue to use them until I give blog a major make-over. Come visit if you want to see some more widget examples and ways I've used the widgets.
Happy Widgeting!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
