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Tuesday, August 23, 2005
Enhance The Web With Firefox Extensions
I talk a lot about web usability – building a site that is useful, easy to use and read. But it doesn’t always begin with your website. A website’s usability can also have a lot to do with what browser you are using. 
I personally use Firefox (and advocate everyone to switch if they are still using the dinosaur Internet Explorer). The developers at Mozilla, creators of Firefox, had the ingenious idea of building it for the masses and letting others improve upon it with extensions.
Firefox Extensions
Extensions, in the eyes of Firefox, are “small add-ons that add new functionality to your Mozilla program. They can add anything from a toolbar button to a completely new feature.”
I wanted to share with you some of my favorite extensions that enhance my web browsing experience and thus provide a more useable website.
- Text Size Toolbar: One of the most annoying things about websites is that the text size is usually too small. We older folks sometimes can’t read your websites. This extension helps. With one click of a button, you can increase the size of the text on the website.
- Paste and Go: Sometimes you have to copy a website address into the Address bar of your browser. Instead of (1) pasting (2) and clicking Go/Enter, with Paste and Go you simply select ‘Paste and Go’ from the right-click menu and the website loads immediately.
- Mouse Gestures: With just a movement (or gesture) of your mouse, you can go back a page, close a window or open a new window. This eliminates the need to move your mouse up to the Back button or close window buttons.
- Google Preview: My favorite. After doing a search on Google or Yahoo, GooglePreview inserts a thumbnail image of the website next to your search results.
With the ability to add new functionality to an already great browser, the Mozilla community have given us web surfers a much more user friendly and enjoyable web experience.
Mike Swartz says, “Check it Out.”
Posted by: Michael Swartz at 6:13 pm
Comments: None | Filed under: Web General
Wednesday, August 17, 2005
Poor Search Results from Yahoo Local
My God. The search engines need to get it right. Especially Yahoo Local.
I was just informed about the new Yahoo Local. Pretty nice on the surface, but underneath the search results are horrendous – meaning, they’re not relevant.
Here are some examples:
I went searching for “web design” (of course) in Alameda, CA. Here are some of the results.
- 1st result – http://www.yippeeweb.com/. And I quote: “yippeeweb.com is no longer active”. Yippee.
- Here’s another one – http://www.minotgraphix.com/. – “This site has been administratively suspended”.
- And another – http://www.champagnedesignco.com/. Website “Coming Soon”
Are you kidding me? What is the point of searching if the results are to websites that are down or inactive?
There’s gotta be a way for these search engines (namely Yahoo) to recognize that a site is down or inactive and not provide a link to it, or better yet, remove it from my search.
Posted by: Michael Swartz at 9:52 pm
Comments: None | Filed under: Web General
Monday, August 15, 2005
A Message Worth Repeating
Hello. Happy Monday.
 I just finished reading Seth Godin’s new book, All Marketers Are Liars. Excellent, excellent book. Why is it so excellent? Because it’s true. The book is not really about lying marketers, it’s about the lies we tell ourselves. The stories we so easily believe or want to believe. If you want to market a product, a service or yourself, Seth Godin says, tell a story. You’ll reach more people if you do.
I’ve read most of Seth’s books and one thing I really like about his writing, it that he repeats his message over and over throughout his books. In his latest book, he explains many times over why marketers are considered liars.
Repetition Is the Mother of Skill
Repeating your message over and over is very important to any marketer, especially when it comes to your website.
Everyone knows how a book works. The title is always on the cover, a book summary is usually on the back, you open it up, you turn the page to get to the next page and you’re done when you reach the last page.
A website doesn’t work this way. All websites work differently from one another. There isn’t a common knowledge or practice on how all websites should function. There maybe a few standards, but most websites can be designed any way designers choose.
Most websites act in the same way – Click a link, go to another page. But the simple act of clicking a link changes – the link could take you to another website or a page within the existing website. This is how drastically different a site can be designed with just a few small changes.
So, back to my point…
Consistent Repetition
Repetition is crucial when you enter the web. (Most people on the internet don’t want to spend a lot of time searching and browsing. They want to find what they’re looking for quickly). By repeating your message, theme, or idea throughout your website, your visitors – no matter where they are located on your site – will receive your message instantly and will remember it.
Anthony Robbins says repetition is the mother of skill. You’ve heard of “practice makes perfect”? Same thing. If you repeat your message enough times, people will remember it.
In a previous blog post I wrote about C.R.A.P. web design. R standing for repetition. This would mean having your logo in the same place on every page on your website, consistent navigation, same fonts for headings, same colors for links, etc. The list goes on and on.
Be consistent. You’re audience depends on it.
Posted by: Michael Swartz at 9:54 am
Comments: None | Filed under: Web Design
Monday, August 8, 2005
Attracting ‘The Right’ Website Visitors
 I just met with a client today who needed some help optimizing his website for the search engines. He wanted more hits, more traffic. That’s great, but what kind of traffic? He didn’t know.
Your Audience
Far too often, I find that many people who want more traffic to their website don’t know what kind of traffic they want. Ask the question: what type of audience are you trying to attract? This question is critical in your search engine optimization campaign.
When we sit down with a client for the first time we ask some very rudimentary questions. The answers (hopefully) will help us analyze what kind of audience or traffic will most likely visit their website.
Answer These Questions
Here are a few of the questions we ask:
- How does the company currently market itself?
- How do your customers currently find you?
- Who are your customers? Why do they buy from you?
- Who are your competitors? What do they do better than you? What do you do better than them?
- What ‘action’ do you want your visitors to perform on the website?
- What would the site have to do for you to consider it a success?
- Why should they visit your website?
After a few more questions and further investigation, we submit a proposal and hope they’ll sign on.
Our process of getting a site higher in the search engines includes these steps. Though not always written in stone, these steps do provide a starting platform to work from.
Don’t Be Lost in the Dark
Optimizing your website is one part of a thorough marketing plan. If you know your brand, your company, and your target audience, then you’ll know who to attract to your website.
The goal of optimizing your website shouldn’t be just to increase traffic, but to get more of the ‘right’ traffic.
Have a great week.
Posted by: Michael Swartz at 11:37 pm
Comments: None | Filed under: Web Marketing
Monday, August 1, 2005
Functional Web Design
 I like to cook. But I don’t like to waste time. That’s why I installed a utensil rack near our stove. Now, instead of going to the drawer, I save some time by simply reaching a few feet to grab the item I need.
Don’t Waste My Time
People don’t want to waste time on the web too. That’s why it’s important to arrange related items on your site in close proximity to each other.
I recently wrote about C.R.A.P. web design, where I spoke about the 4 principles of good web design. One in particular I mentioned was proximity or grouping like items or related content together.
Proximity could be like items, but also themes, categories or similar subjects that are related to each other. Keeping related content together allows the visitor or reader to navigate and find the information they’re looking for quickly and easily.
(Relating back to my kitchen…)
Unfortunately, I don’t cook in my dream kitchen. If I did, my dream kitchen would include the cutting board (or preparation area) positioned on either side of the stove and sink. This way when I’m chopping, the scraps get pushed into the sink and the good stuff goes onto the stove. Our kitchen sink and cutting board are positioned on the other side of the kitchen. It’s a hassle to have to move your ingredients across the room to cook them.
Build a Functional and Logical Website
This hassle happens on the web too. There are a lot of frustrated web users out there – me included. Imagine if all websites were built similar to my dream kitchen? What a time saver.
Build a website that is functional and logical. Group like items together.
I’m a cook first, architect second. Your website should be the same. Think functionality first, then aesthetics.
Posted by: Michael Swartz at 8:26 pm
Comments: None | Filed under: Web Design
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