RescueTech Certified Computer Repair

We've added our first Texas client by providing RescueTech certified computer repair a new web site and SEO services. A little bit about RescueTech:

Since 1993, RescueTech has been providing computer repair, network service, offsite data backup, disaster recovery and virus/spyware removal in the Dallas, Texas metro area. With a unique approach to increase business productivity and reduce network downtime RescueTech has separated themselves from the competition.

Visit RescueTech

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Message Order Importance

Typically when building pages we see clients put together a list of links or information and put their most important information at the top, and the least important information at the bottom. This is a common practice for many sites, but Primacy and Recency Effects may cause a need to re-think this strategy.

A Primacy Effect is the chance that an item shown earlier in a message has a higher chance of being remembered by a receiver.

A Recency Effect is the change that an items at the end of a message has a higher chance of being remembered by a receiver.

Both Primacy and Recency Effects come into play, depending on a message receivers involvement with the message. Highly involved receivers (those who are actively reading your content) tend toward putting more weight on items earlier in the message. Low involvement receivers (those who are not processing the information in an active manner) will put more weight on items at the end of a message.

A quick overview of "Primacy and Recency Effects on Clicking Behavior" from the Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication:

Testing random order lists, where every item is the list is shown in each position over time, the most clicked item was the first in the list, while the second most clicked item was the last. This suggests that while some viewers are centrally processing the message, which leads to the primacy effect, there are slightly fewer people viewing peripherally, which leads to the Recency Effect.

This would suggest that when creating content, and choosing the order of the message/links/list that your most important information should be listed first, but that your least important should not be last. The last part of the message should be something that holds importance to receivers and can influence in a positive manner.

An example of this would be to perhaps not only put your main navigation across the top of your web site, but also to repeat that navigation at the bottom of the page to influence peripheral receivers to navigate the site.

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Optimizing your HTML code

I'm revisiting a few important topics from the web design realm this week. There are a few topics that keep rearing their heads so I can't help but react to the questions.

My previous post regarding design for the iPhone continues to be a hot topic and now we're off to optimizing your HTML Code.

I wrote a post about optimizing your HTML code back in May of 2007 and over 2 years later this continues to be a primary factor in every web design we create. As far as we are concerned, clean HTML code is of paramount importance for a few very good reasons, not the least of which is good will towards your visitors!

Obvious reasons to optimize your HTML:

1. About 9% of adults are still using dial-up for their Internet connections;
2. Google is a busy search engine;
3. Bing is a busy search engine;
4. W3C Validators don't like old code;
5. The online visitor represents a fickle, impatient audience.

You simply must present a fast-loading, correctly coded website to each visitor. A large percentage of page visits will fall into the group of "less than 15 seconds" per page. We're talking about 35-45% of all your page visits will happen in less than 15 seconds.

Optimizing your HTML code:

The key to any optimization is to take a 2-phase approach to your work. The idea is to remove as much HTML code as is possible, leaving a high percentage of content to code.

1. Centralize all formatting in linked style sheets.
2. Centralize all javascript in linked files.
3. Remove tables and use <div> layers for positioning.

This process will take some time but the dividends will pay off in spades. HTML code errors will drop to zero and your pages will load lightening-quick.

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Website Designs for iPhone Still a Question

Our First Scribe technology team uses our blog to talk about the latest trends in our industry. We try to point out the technology that has an impact on web design, development and SEO topics (or will in the near future).

That being said, this post is in regards to an old topic --

Websites for the iPhone

Back in June of 2007 we posted about the iPhone's upcoming release and the concern that client websites were not iPhone compatible. Of course, most pieces of the website are compatible save for Flash and Javascript. But the question is, "Will your website render as well as it could?"

By the way, if you think the iPhone is passe, remember that it only launched 2 years ago!

Here we are 2 years later and we are still talking to people about their corporate website's appearance in an iPhone browser. One of the most common concerns raised during our design sales cycle is the impact of a mobile version of the site (or just the stylesheets).

Lately we discussed the topic in-house. After 2 years, don't you think this topic would go away?

Design concerns for iPhone is still highly relevant

That old blog post happened to be one of the first iPhone/website pages to hit the market so it rules in Google searches on said topic. That old page still produces a major amount of traffic for us.

Why? Because it's still relevant.

In fact, a visitor from Apple.com landed in our website today due to a search for "build a website iPhone compatible."

If they care (or one person there cares) and we see 2 years of traffic on this same topic - then it's still relevant.

So what do we do?

Develop your site correctly. Build a website with the content separate from the formatting. In doing so a developer can create a set of stylesheets specific to the browser technology. You are essentially building a website optimized for the iPhone. The content is the same but the formatting is served dynamically for the mobile visitor.


If a visitor arrives to your website with an iPhone, the website will send them a stylesheet with imagery optimized for their use.


One additional item - be nice to your mobile visitors. Make your pages short to alleviate excessive amounts of scrolling.

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First Scribe Completes Pro Bono Web Design For MADD MN

First Scribe is proud to announce the launch of the new website design for the Mothers Against Drunk Drivers, Minnesota Chapter - http://www.maddmn.org/ .

First Scribe Director of SEM, Ken Kralick says, "The old site had been hacked and really needed some help so I thought we could lend a hand with our services. I think MADD is a good cause and hopefully this site will help them in their mission."

The existing site was built on a Content Management System that wasn't ideal for in-house changes and additions. The new site design is modern, Search Engine friendly, easy for MADD staff to update, and best of all for MADD-MN it was pro bono.

About MADD:

Founded in 1980, MADD has helped save more than 300,000 lives since its founding. MADD's mission is to stop drunk driving, support the victims of this violent crime and prevent underage drinking. For more information, visit http://www.maddmn.org/ or call the State Office at 651-523-0802. Twenty-four hour victim assistance is available by calling 1-877-MADD-HELP.

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Make your message clear

What do you sell? Does your website scream the message?

Today I was told about a 70-year-old CEO who didn't like the new design of his home page. The feature areas didn't have enough "meat" for him. He much prefered a 4th level page of the site comprised of 8 paragraphs of technical content speaking about his product. Text...

How presumptious to think that early visitors care what you have to say until you prove yourself. If you want to sell on the Internet, you need to push your vanity aside and provide for the audience.

Qualify before you speak!

There are many metaphors that say the same thing -- Let them look around before you tackle visitors with information. Don't presume to know what they want until you qualify.

Visitors to a website are like shoppers at WalMart coming in from the rain. They may be buyers or they may be seeking shelter in your magazine aisle. Either way, in their mind, it's easier to head right back out the door than deal with an over-zealous sales pitch 10 seconds in.

Your website is the same. Realize what you are doing if you fill your home page with too much content. You are pitching them a white paper while they are shaking off the rain.

Stores have Aisles

If clients come in for soup you've insulted them by showing hair nets, motor oil, fruit juice, mascara, and push pins all at the same time.

WHERE'S THE SOUP!!!

Too late, they left!


Fix your home page before your next customer comes in. Organize your content and save the sales pitch until they've qualified.

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Keyword Research and Design lead to Increased Conversion

In early June Stoney Wolf Productions, which sells videos for sportsmen contacted us for help. They were slipping in the rankings for their keyword terms and showing decreased traffic and a decreased conversion rates across the board.

Our first step in the process was to make the site have more of a structured feel. The past design had quite a bit of text on the home page and the content area had around a dozen different directions available from the home page. The content in the shopping cart area was organized into a few broad categories with too many choices.

Our Approach

First, we re-organized the shopping cart area into more specific categories to make things more intuitive to find. Next we cleaned out the content area of the home page, trimmed the text down and added some nice photographic images to depict a few of the more popular categories. In the end, only 4 categories were show-cased on the home page.

After design came the all important keyword research. The first thing we looked at was the old keyword terms in use. We saw a lot of fishing video, hunting video, etc. but became evident that the last time this site was optimized there was not YouTube and internet videos were not the norm.

In today's searchable content videos are all over the place. We concluded people were coming to the site to see hunting videos, and when they found out it was DVD's they quickly left the site which was hurting our conversions. We researched new terms around DVD's and VHS to get qualified traffic to the site and raise conversion rates. The results surprised even us...

July 2007:
We made our changes the last week of July.

August 2007:
The first full month after the changes have gone live. A 7.1% conversion rate blows the previous conversion rates out of the water.

September 1-20 2007:
About 2/3 of the month as an example. Conversion rate is over 8%

Quality analytics helped us track the conversions on the site allowing us to show the client the immediate results of our work on their site.

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First Scribe Adds Blog to home page

Blogs are a perfect way for you to get the latest word out to your visitors but it can be tough for your visitors to know where to look for your latest posts. Sure, they can subscribe to your news feed but we believe that task is a little out of reach of the less-savvy users.

Make your Blog Easily Accessable

Many corporate sites bury their latest news, press releases and/or their blog deep within the "About Us" or the "News" section of their website. Latest news quickly becomes old news before your visitors find the content. Why not help your visitors by pulling your latest news to the forefront of your site?

If you have something important enough to call news - then dedicate a corner of your home page to a few links to your latest content.

First Scribe Blog

Our home page is dedicated to our top services and we feel that one of our top services is to provide up-to-date information from the Web Design and Internet Marketing fields. Which is why we dedicated prime home page real-estate to our news.

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Is Your Website Apple iPhone Compatible?

Internet technology and marketing trends change change rapidly. Twelve years ago Google was nary a thought in some one's head and now they eclipse the Gross National Product of most countries.

The next big wave is coming...

If you've yet to hear of an iPhone™ -- Then you better sit down.

On June 29, 2007 Apple Inc. is set to release the iPhone. It is a touch screen cellular phone that can surf the Internet at near broadband speeds. For all intents and purposes, they built a pocket-sized Macintosh with the handiest connection to the Internet yet.

What is the impact?

Only a small segment of Internet traffic will be surfing with any intensity from an iPhone for the foreseeable future. That being said, this technology will likely impact businesses in the next 6-9 months.

Most businesses rely on some portion of their business from one of the iPhone's target audience. You should reconsider your web presence if you sell goods to any of the following marketing (more obvious) segments:

1. Young people between the ages of 20 and 35
2. Affluent teenagers
3. The traveling "jet-set"
4. "Mobile" employees who do a portion of their work on a "work site"

Segments 1, 2, and 3 are obvious. These people tend to be the technological trend setters and the first to absorb the latest technology. You need to act quickly if this is your core market.

The problematic segment 4

Segment 4 is less obvious but it concerns us the most. Segments 1-3 are used to new technology so they will absorb a few glitches in trade for the coolest technology. Segment 4 folks generally represent trend followers so they may be forced into this new position and therefore they're not receptive to bugs.

Think in terms of the real estate at a home site with a client. They need information from an MLS listing and they need it now. The sites they visit on the way had better work on their phone.

Or possibly the remodeling contractor compiling estimates, the electrician ordering product, the surveyor updating maps, or the Over The Road trucker away from home.

All of these examples represent a demanding web visitor with a smaller tech. pain threshold - it needs to work. Some of them will have just received their new iPhone and they're under duress to integrate it into their routine.

Their FIRST VISIT to you make the difference between a frustrating departure or a lasting client relationship.

How do I get on board?

The iPhone has two primary issues when it comes to surfing the web (versus a desktop computer) :

1. Slower download speeds
2. Small screen resolution

Both of these issues can be mitigated by judicious use of style sheets to control the user experience with your website.

Download speeds - As broadband Internet becomes more prevalent, it becomes easier to forget that a solid portion of visitors are connecting at sub-broadband speeds. Remember that the latest and greatest is fine for certain markets but dial-up and mobile connection rates demand a fast website.

Screen resolution - The wide-screen iPhone has a screen resolution of 320 by 480 pixels. The interface allows you to zoom out to see an entire page and the touch-screen enables left to right scrolling.

We encourage you to develop your new iPhone web design in a way that senses the mobile visitor and shows them a website with as little scrolling as possible on their iPhone.

Make it work for the iPhone

Build your website to load fast and scroll less and your visitors will appreciate it. There are also new JavaScript plugins which will recognize the iPhone's mobile browser and serve a mobile version of the site.

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Optimize Your HTML Code

Is Google passing you by? Never quite getting that deep index you need?

Google's Attention Span

For simple argument's sake, let's say your website has 30 seconds of Google's attention every month. Half a minute to spider your website, capture a copy of each page, and move on to the next website. You lose a full month if a single page of your site takes a minute to load.

Your website better be up to the challenge!

Fast Server

Are you hosting with an anonymous hosting company that you found on the web? Are you paying "$3.00 a month!" for hosting? Then you may want to test the response time of the server to see if you're saving money at the expense of a slow server.

Face it, hosting is cheap but it's not that cheap... They're making money by over-taxing the server with many more sites on the server than there should be. As a matter of fact, I found one hosting company that boasts cheap hosting of more than 15,000 domain names. It's possible that they are all on the same box.

Do the test yourself: Click here

If your home page loads slower than 3-4 seconds you have a problem.

Fast HTML

The first step to any of our Search Engine Optimization plans is to cut the fat from our client's html code. Each of our websites are developed with extensive use of stylesheets to keep unnecessary formatting code out of the individual HTML page.

A stylesheet contains all of the text, spacing and color attributes for the entire site - all in one place. This creates 2 benefits for your website:

1. Formatting is easier - A stylesheet allows you to change a formatting attribute in one place and the change instantly appears throughout the site without opening any of the HTML pages.
2. Fast loading - A stylesheet contains all of the formatting information so your HTML is more content and less formatting. Google will spend less time wading through HTML and spend more time reading your text.

Does it work?

Our team made a concerted effort to increase the response time of an established online retail website. Their home page response time fell from around 6 seconds to 1.5 seconds off the same server. That's a significant change from HTML development.

Additional benefits?

We need to keep the dial-up users in mind when we build websites. While dial-up use has decreased sharply in the last 2 years, there is still a large number of dial-up use on the web. A 5 second download on a 2meg connection is at least a 20 second wait on dial-up.

Google should dive deeper through your site and your conversions will go up if your site responds quickly to their requests.

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10 Tips To Optimize Your Design

Website design and marketing professionals spend the vast majority of their time working towards two ends of each website: Make it pretty and drive more traffic.

The assumption we have is a beautiful website with a lot of traffic will sell more goods - End of discussion, right?

Imagine if Internet traffic were suddenly metered and your website is granted exactly 100 human visitors a month. Is your conversion rate high enough to cover your bills on that volume of traffic?


Optimize your design

• Homepage impact - Do people get a feeling from your website from 5 feet away? Most visitors will not read your introduction so your home page must instantly establish a basis of trust with your target audience through visual impact or your visitor will flee. Change your text to Greek - does it still say "art, business, bank, family or mother" to you?
  
• Architecture - Stand back and take a good look at your content. Now, throw out any old or duplicate content and architect your navigation in a logical manner to lead visitors down the path to contacting you. Supermarkets provide shopping carts at the entrance and a checkout at the exit. Everything in between is logically oriented - your site should do the same.
  
• Short messages - State your point and link to more information. Opinions conflict but you have somewhere around 200-300 words to say your piece before your visitor moves on. Quickly state your point and provide an outlet for the next step.
  
• Get their attention - Bold text on a plain page goes a long way to attract the eye. Highlight a point and combine it with a call to action.
  
• Keep their attention - Keep choices to a few. Consider every path through your website to be a store hallway. If visitors are moving towards a goal, do not distract them from that goal.
  
• Be polite to their eyes - Fight the urge to go overboard with your attention grabbers. Animated gifs are akin to water torture and big, red, bold, underlined text is unfitting to a professional design.
  
• Calls to action - Tell visitors what you want them to do. Statistically speaking, your visitors are shopping your site while they are at work and they don't have time to "figure it out on their own." Tell them what to do and they will be more likely to do it.
  
• Show your products - If your website is a point of purchase for goods - provide a good-quality picture of the item standing alone. We strongly encourage you to include an enlarged image and an alternate view if possible. We are trying to overcome their urge to leave the site to shop around. Emulate the experience of shopping in a boutique - if they want to see the back, show the back.
  
• Quick loads - Optimize your images for the web and streamline your HTML code so your pages load as quickly as is possible. This is an old tip but we can't say it enough.
  
• Get rid of your splash page - Delete the file and purge it from your memory.
  

Finally - Get a 3rd opinion

Think you have thick skin? Ask your neighbor to test your site.

Remember "think outside the box" from the 1980's? Well, get completely out of the box and show the site to someone who has zero vested interest in the project.

The higher the cost to bribe, the more likely you will receive helpful information. The more offended you are by their critique, the more assured you can be they are right.

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Internet Explorer 7.0 Taking Hold

According to the latest at Dailytech (http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=5712) Internet Explorer 7.0 is starting to take off as a prevalent browser of choice.

The latest browser usage figures show IE7 has achieved 100 million installations to date. This number should climb rapidly once Microsoft Windows Vista is released on January 30th with IE7 as the standard browser.

IE7.0 was released on October 18, 2006 and reached the major milestone January 8, 2007 - quickly eclipsing the user numbers of FireFox within 90 days of release.

The current browser statistics stated by DailyTech show Internet Explorer holding a full 87% of all visitors to U.S. websites in January:

1. Internet Explorer 6.0 - 62%
2. Internet Explorer 7.0 - 25%
3. FireFox 10.7%

We are currently testing all of our new designs on IE7 and FireFox 2.0. Compatibility issues appear to be minimal with the latest upgrades inherent in IE7.

Ken Kralick
Director of Search Engine Marketing

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