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Monday, April 24, 2006
Poor Web Usability Can Produce Poor Profits
Most people probably don’t know this, but you can order USPS boxes and supplies online for free.
Anyhoo…
I added an item to my shopping cart at USPS.com and wanted to continue shopping. Come to find out there isn’t a “Continue Shopping” button anywhere on my screen.
This is poor design and poor website usability. The website is NOT user friendly to the visitor or purchaser. I wanted to buy more, but USPS.com is not giving me that option. Big mistake.
After doing some “shopping cart sleuthing”, I realize I can continue shopping, but I have to click on the “Shop Home” button or the links in the upper navigation. How am I supposed to know that I can continue shopping by using these other links? I should’t need to know – that’s my whole point. The website should be intuitive and not waste my time.
…it gets better…
I’m ready to purchase. After going through the complete sign-up process and submitting my credit card information, I get this error:
Wow! I wish they would’ve told me the store was experiencing problems before I spent all this time entering in my personal information. Greaaaat.
I needed to know where my data went? Did it get entered? I went back and tried to login to my new account. My information did go through. So USPS’ website crashed while processing my data. Other visitors may have been so lucky or have tried to login again. USPS’ users are probably contacting USPS directly about the problem and wasting everyone’s time.
Test Your Website
The point of all this is when designing your website make sure you test, test, and do some more testing to avoid errors that can cost your business money. Build a website that all of your visitors can successfully use.
Posted by: Michael Swartz at 10:08 am
Comments: None | Filed under: Web Design
Thursday, April 13, 2006
The Power of Oprah, Backlinks and Press Releases
 Okay, I gotta promote one of my clients. It’s just too good of a story to not post.
Turns out, the KIPP organization was featured on the Oprah Winfrey show, American Schools in Crisis, on March 11, 2006. KIPP wasn’t featured as a school in crisis, but schools to model after that are doing excepcetionlly well.
After finding this out, I did a quick search on Google News (oprah kipp) and found out that a local news company in Denver picked up the Oprah story and featured our client, Sunshine Peak Academy and their school director, Rich Barrett.
Which brings me to my point of this blog…
In the article there is a link back (backlink) to Sunshine Peak Academy. Having a link back to your website is a very important part of driving more traffic to your website and getting your website ranked higher in the search engines. (It also helps when you’re featured on the Oprah Winfrey show too).
I’ve mentioned before about getting backlinks to your website. It’s basically SEO 101.
Using a Press Release to Your Advantage
Some people don’t realize, but when creating a press release (or a news story), try to include a link back to your website AND also make sure the story contains your targeted keywords so Google and other search engines will index these words, thus finding your story. (Unfortunately I couldn’t find a backlink to Sunshine Peak Academy or KIPP from Oprah’s website. Now that would’ve been golden).
I’m so proud to be associated with the KIPP organization and helping out the kids. That’s really what it’s all about, isn’t it?
Congratulations Rich.
Cheers!
Posted by: Michael Swartz at 10:29 am
Comments: None | Filed under: SEO
Monday, April 3, 2006
Don’t Forget Your Mobile Market
When optimizing or updating your website to gain more traffic, don’t forget about mobile (or cell) phone users. A recent survey showed “that Americans are becoming increasingly dependent on their mobile phones.”
Your website and internet marketing practices should reflect this growing trend.
- Can mobile users access and view your website easily on their small screens?
- Does your contact information (i.e. phone number, email address) come up in a mobile search?
- Do you provide a map and directions on your website?
- Is your website optimized for local traffic?
These are a few questions (and answer) to ask when optimizing your website for mobile phone users. They’re a different beast – always on the go, needing information quickly and ready to take action.
Don’t forget your mobile market. They’re not just viewing your website from their desks anymore.
Posted by: Michael Swartz at 1:45 pm
Comments: None | Filed under: Web Marketing
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