Why That Tutorial Content on Your Web Site May Be Worthless

One common method of driving customers to your product or service can be a little freebie teaser to get prospects interested in talking to you. That type of freebie content could include case studies, white papers, and the topic of this post; The Tutorial.

While there is nothing wrong with providing context specific tutorials in principle;

If you don’t do it right, don’t bother!

The purpose of utilizing that tool is to demonstrate what you can do for me, increasing the likelihood of me purchasing from you.

If you just frustrate the hell out of me, you fail at that. Big time.

The Tutorial (not) for dummies

Yes, I am a tech manager. But one thing I know squat about is graphics and graphic software. Whatever your graphics software of choice is, I won’t be able to use it – trust me.

Anyway, I was pointed to a tutorial that would enable beginners (Me!) to use a pre-built template to add a particular graphic theme to a background image. I thought the idea was great, and downloaded the instructions and template.

The tutorial may have been perfect for someone with a graphic design background (not that anyone with that background would likely need a tutorial) but it pissed me off because it neglected the first, and most important part;

Step number one!

Yup.

Step number one was missing in action.

This tutorial assumed that my uber-excellent graphics skills would enable me to insert my graphic image of choice into that template, and that I could then joyfully follow along with the remaining steps in the tutorial.

I failed at step one. It did not tell me the basic information needed to get started. Namely how to put my image into their nice magic template. Finally in frustration I just deleted the thing.

When doing a tutorial, you cannot assume that just because you know step 1, that everyone does. In fact, if you are going to assume, assume the opposite, that we are all idiots and need it spelled out in capital letters.

But what if???

Of course!

If your tutorial has an implicit understanding that it is only of value to those with existing PhD’s in aeronautical engineering, just say it!

You will save the rest of us frustration and time because you are defining your audience right up front.

Real SMB IT: Web Site Improvements; The Site Map

This post is the next in an intermittent series looking at your smaller business web site from a marketing perspective -  When you don’t have marketing staff!

This series started with this post, IT In Marketing? here and covers looking at real world web site improvements that SMB’s can make that don’t require major work or extensive help from experts. Stuff that can be typically done by a smaller business either by themselves, or in some cases just basic tech staff assistance.

In the previous post in this series, I wrote about the importance of adding a Site Map to your Web Site. That post also links to a full definition of what a Site Map actually is, and what it does as well.

I wanted to dig deeper into this topic for one reason; When it comes to a Site Map on your Web site, you actually want two of them!

Your Web Site is collection of pieces of content broken down into various pages. These pages could include Contact Us information, products and services you provide, case studies The works. That can be a lot of content scattered over many web pages. These site maps simply ensure that it is easy for visitors to find the information and content that they are looking for. Because if they don’t find it quickly, odds are that they will just go to the next web site.

The first Site Map; For Humans

The first Site Map that you create is for those of us in the human category. It is simply a hierarchical set of links that ensure that people that are on your Web Site don’t get lost. If they find themselves in unknown territory and get lost trying to find the information they were looking for, the site map is a quick way to ensure that they stick around.

Similar to a table of contents, the site map is a link that when a user clicks on it, takes them to a page that gives a quick summary of all content, and the links to all that content on your Web Site, it could look similar to this;

About YourCompany

* Overview
* News
* Our Philosophy
* Why Choose Us
* Our Staff
* Careers

Services & Solutions

* Overview
* Product_name
* Solution_Name

I am confident you have seen those type of links along the side, or bottom of other web sites. Again, need a quick check of where you are in that web site? The above sample tells you quickly and easily.

The Second Site Map; For Computers

More specifically, this second Site Map is a computer readable format that allows the search engines to quickly and efficiently index all the content that exists on your Web Site. You want to ensure that all content is properly indexed so that if some one searches the Internet for; “Who sells this widget in my town?” your information can appear in their search results.

This second map looks a little different, and after you create it, humans don’t see it. The data for this machine readable site map is in a data format called XML and sits in a file called Sitemap.xml right at the root of your Web Site.

This XML site map can be created manually (ugg) but there are also tools that can do it automatically for you. Note that the tool I used to generate this sample is shown in the second line below.

<?xml version=”1.0″ encoding=”utf-8″ ?>
- <!– Created by Devintelligence.com Sitemap Generator
–>
- <urlset xmlns=”http://www.google.com/schemas/sitemap/0.84″>
- <url>
<loc>http://www.yourcompany.com</loc>
<lastmod>2009-11-06</lastmod>
<changefreq>monthly</changefreq>
<priority>0.5</priority>
</url>
- <url>
<loc>http://www.yourcompany.com/about_news.asp#27Oct08</loc>
<lastmod>2009-11-06</lastmod>
<changefreq>hourly</changefreq>
<priority>0.5</priority>
</url>

As you see, this one is not pretty! but again, once you create it and place it on the root of your web site, humans won’t actually see it. The only time the you need to see it is if you add new pages to your web site, make sure the the site map gets updated as well.

The SMB Takeaway

For the human readable site map, you will most likely need the help of your web site developer, the second you can do yourself very easily.

The two of them together ensure that all content on your web site can easily be found, by people, or by computers!

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Real SMB IT: DNS, MX, What Is It? (And Why Should I Care?)

Could your business be kicked completely off the Internet?

The answer is yes!By kicked off the Internet, I mean invisible. Impossible to find.

So lets start with a little background.

At its most basic, all computers on the Internet communicate with each other with a unique number called an Internet Protocol (IP) address. As an analogy, just imagine this number as similar to a phone number.

But! when you visit a Web Site, or send an e-mail, you are using words, not numbers. you type in the www.yourcompany.com, or you send me an email by typing elliotross@company_name.ca

Since the computers communicate with each other via IP address numbers, and we humans prefer text and words, something is needed to translate those human readable words, into the machine readable numbers.

Enter DNS!

If you think of a phone book, you look up the words Elliot Ross which points to the listing for my telephone number. The domain naming system (DNS) provides a similar ability for our computers to translate human readable text we type into the machine IP address.

If you want to see this in action, simply open your Web Browser and paste these numbers into the address bar: 74.125.45.100

You will see the Google Web Site appear. (at least at the time of this writing!) I say at the time of this writing, because the machine readable number can be changed, and just like the phone book, If I change my phone number, as long as Elliot Ross is pointed to that new phone number – you won’t have any problem.

That little MX just stands for Mail eXchanger, in other words, when you send me an e-mail, that little MX tells the internet that to reach me by e-mail, “send that e-mail to this server over here!”

And Why Should You Care?

The first and easiest, if you think you cannot get on the Internet when you type in a company name, DNS problems are a common source of the issue.

But that is NOT what this is about

A SMB that I am acquainted with had an issue where an unknown individual tried to hi-jack that DNS information from them, and make it point to servers that were not associated with their business.

To continue with my phone book analogy, imagine that when you look up my name, the phone number that my name points to is yours, not mine.

So I would never get any calls.

Except on the Web, it is not missing some phone calls, it means that you completely disappear from the Internet. No Web Site, no e-mail. Nada.

There are checks and balances to make this difficult to do, but it goes to emphasize;

You must make sure all critical information about your on-line presence is owned by you.

Not your supplier.

Not your contractor.

That includes the contact information for your Internet domain and its DNS records. They may help you set that information up, but the contact name and information must be yours.

You can get updates to this blog by clicking the RSS icon on the Home Page

Photo Credit merfam via flickr

Real SMB IT: Web Site Improvements; The Next Step

This post is the next in an intermittent series looking at your web site from a marketing perspective -  When you are not a marketing person!

I introduced this series with this post titled; IT -  In Marketing?,  this is the next post on helping smaller businesses to improve their Web sites at little to no expense.

This series has been looking at real world improvements that don’t require major work or extensive help from experts. Stuff that can be typically done by a smaller business either by themselves, or in some cases just basic tech staff assistance.

In the last post I identified and fixed an issue with how our Web Site is found on the Internet.

For this next stage, I wanted to start working on two more (very) common errors for smaller businesses;

1) You created your Web Site, but then have not updated it in years

2) Your Web Site does not have a Site Map (Full definition of what a Site Map is, and does from Wikipedia)  to improve how people can navigate around your Web Site, and secondly, to assist the Search Engines to index all of the content on your Web Site. NOTE: Two Site Maps are actually required, one human readable and one machine readable, for search engine indexing spiders. I will go into the machine readable type in a later post

Search Engine Spiders!

To get this started, I asked our Web Site Developer to create the human readable Web Code for the Site Map, and the Web Code for a spot where I could add new content in the form of press release type News articles.

I will be looking at improving the core content on each page of the Web Site, but I wanted to get these ‘News’ pieces ready to go first as we have been pretty bad at demonstrating what we have already done successfully for our customers.

Once that framework was created, I wrote our first News content, formatted it and placed it in the container that the Web Developer had created for me.

Keyword Alert: Container or Template!

Don’t forget, my goal is NOT to have to go to developer staff each and every time I need to get each new piece of content added to the site, so I asked that they create a template that basically says; Insert new content here!

I still had to format the content the way that I wished, but did not have to write any ‘code’ to get it working.

So now we have a new site map and some new content on the Web Site. The machine readable Site Map is also there, but it is a little different and worth its own post. It will be a little while before the next search engine visit to index the new stuff, but I will keep watching!

There will be more to come, so stay tuned by getting updates with the RSS icon on the Home Page!

Photo credit scoobymoo via flickr

Build It, Grow it, Improve it

This post has been on the to-do list for months, but a recent conversation with the president of a small business declared to me that it was time to git ‘r done!

This SMB Exec has been working on a new and improved Web Site.

Actually they have been working on it for a very, very long time. And even though this new Web Site is not even live yet, he is already planning to redo all the design.

So, How Long Will That New, New Web Site Take?

I don’t know – plain and simple

So what we have here is a new Web Site that no one has seen. And no one will see until it reaches its ‘2.0′ version.

What’s Next Version 3.0?

Now the historical part, Mark Gould at Enlightened Tradition pointed me to John Gruber’s blog.

The article deals deals primarily with the R&D and design stage of product development (Apples’ iPhone in this case) But it i is a valid concern for all parts of IT, including SMB Web Sites;

Start with something simple and build it, grow it, improve it, steadily over time. Evolve it.

The SMB Takeaway

Get it out there, build on it, improve it.

But there is no point in trying to wait for that one vague future day that everything is perfect. It won’t happen

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1 Simple Way to Never Miss That Sales Team E-Mail

Marketing expert Seth Godin has a brief  rant post regarding his frustration at being unable to contact the sales teams at several organizations via an e-mail address.

After searching for that type of product or service, he found the web sites of some businesses that met his criteria. Next step, Mr. Godin starts looking for some pricing information, and…. was having difficulty finding a way to contact the business sales team to get that information!

Yes, as a SME, your Web Site must have the Contact page within 1 click of every page, and I am going to assume that your business would not give Mr. Godin that same problem. I know that your Contact Us page clearly  gives your sales@ e-mail address, your phone number, the works.

What I wanted to expand upon a little, is  how you can ensure that those critical e-mails coming from people who actually found your Web Site actually get monitored by more than one person.

Which of these methods do you currently do?

If you are like many businesses in the SME space, these critical functional e-mail addresses usually work as follows;

* Someone is assigned to manually check an e-mail in box for sales@yourcompany.com. (probably others such as HR@, info@ too)

* Or perhaps one individual has an e-mail alias (secondary address) for this functional sales@ account.

The Problem?

Those methods both require humans and are prone to error.

First; an individual is assigned to do the e-mail check. If that individual is sick one day – will someone know to take on that task? Or will that sales request languish until the one person responsible returns?

Secondly, in the second example, where the e-mail is assigned as an alias, again human intervention is required. Does someone check that e-mail if that individual is sick, or on vacation? How about if that individual leaves your business? that alias must be transferred to somebody else. If you forget to do that, any e-mail saying; ..we need your product tomorrow! is gone to that great computer in the sky.

The Other Option: The Distribution List

Using Distribution Lists is a far more effective, less error prone method of dealing with those critical  sales@yourcompany.com and other functional (eg. HR@, info@) e-mail addresses.

This does assume that you are using an e-mail platform that supports creating these distribution lists. (some Web Only E-Mail programs may not) But rather than relying on one individual to look for these important e-mails, create a a Distribution List (the exact steps will vary depending on your e-mail platform) then assign two or more individuals to that distribution list. In this case all team members assigned to the list will receive that critical e-mail.

With some mail servers, you can even have a central copy of that e-mail stored in a common public folder before the distribution list sends copies to all memebers of the list. This gives you a permanent copy of that e-mail.

The SMB Takeaway

I know you have great people, but if one individual has been checking that sales email address for years, I guarantee that it will be easy to forget that a plan B must exist if that individual is away.

That individual can still be the primary person to act on all email coming in through your distribution list, but since the backup individual automatically gets a copy – they cannot forget that they are that human backup!

You can get updates to this blog by clicking the RSS icon on the Home Page!

Real SMB IT: Back to Square One For Some SMB Websites

I know – broken record again.

Excellent example here of the verbal diarrhea that too many SMB’s consider content on their Web Sites.

“I understand being vague, but I have no idea what this Company does. At some point you have to say what you do.”

Follow the link to see an excellent sample of Web Site gibberish.

Here is what you won’t see;

* Any attempt to engage, entertain, or a call to action

* Any attempt to identify my pain, my problem and how you can help

How do you introduce yourself at a luncheon with your local Chamber of Commerce?

If it is two paragraphs of verbal diarrhea, sorry to hear about that.

You can get updates to this blog by clicking the RSS icon on the Home Page!

Photo Credit cindy47452 via flickr

Real SMB IT: Do you know who your web developer is?

OK, it sounds like a ridiculous question!

But lets look at this seriously for a moment. At some time in the past you hired a firm to build a Web Site for you. Unfortunately you have not touched it in years.

Perhaps from reading this blog (OK, most likely because one of your peers or staffers convinced you) you realize that it it is time to give that poor old Web Site a face lift.

So! where do we start?

Well, if you are like most SME’s, your Web Site is probably hosted with a third party hosting provider.

Great, who is that provider? and where?

Next, modifying that Web Site needs a log in ID and password, do you have it?

If there is some custom code using Flash or other products, do you have that source code?

Your Web Site, You Own It!

Lets back up a bit.

When you do printed brochures or marketing materials, do you maintain the original copy so that you can you can use any print shop? or are you hostage to one print shop that has all of your proofs?

I doubt it is option number 2.

So consider this a list of the key pieces you need to maintain and monitor when dealing with contractors on Web Site work.

* The web hosting provider must be chosen by you. Sure you can go with a recommendation, but the account is yours. The contact information is yours. Do not allow any contracting firm to just say that they will host it for you.

* Your domain name, or Web address is yours. You must own it, you must get the notification e-mails when it needs renewing, your name must appear on the contact information for it. Again, your contractors name and contact information must not be there. They do  not own or supply that domain name.

* Your contract with a Web design firm must clearly state that they are only contractors and that the data and code and Web Site content belongs to you.

* Your Web design firm must provide you with the source code for all work done on the Web Site. If that contractor is not meeting your expectations, you are free to take your business to another contractor.

* If they place pictures or video on the Web site, either you must provide them, or they must provide proof that the image is not a stolen copyrighted image.

The SMB Takeaway

Contracting for Web site creation is no different than contracting to have your kitchen remodeled. The contractor does not own your kitchen, you do.

Your Web site is no different.

I’m On Your Web Site, Are You Listening?

Glenn Schmelzle has some excellent recommendations on evaluating your Web Site in this post titled; How tech companies should evaluate their websites

Although the title references tech it applies to all of us in the small to medium business space. So go read some of the land mines that too many of us make in the creation and management of our Web Sites!

For the  pupose of this post, I want to expand on one point that that Mr. Schmelzle makes;

..must take an objective view of ourselves

1.    Where am I?
2.    What can I do here?
3.    Why should I do it?

Quality Of Experience

Those three questions by Mr. Schmelzle are the start of more questions that you must be answering, and answering quickly.

To lead off on this concept, Mr. Schmelzle has referenced a study that stated that if they are not engaged, the majority of people will be off of your web site in less than a minute.

That statistic is being generous! other studies and reports have stated that you may get 3 to 5 clicks by prospective customers before they bail out on your Web Site and find someone else.

The statistics are irrelevant – Whether it is less than a minute, or 5 page clicks, the problem is that you are simply waiting to disgorge your information, you are hoping to shoot your mouth off without asking what your prospect is actually asking about. Which is the second key in this concept;

Waiting to talk is vastly different than listening.

As much talk as you may have on your Web Site, If you are not listening, there is no communication.

What is listening?

To put it bluntly. When someone finds your Web Site, they are asking a question on how to solve a particular issue or problem. It is up to you to ensure that you quickly and efficiently identify those questions that are being asked, and provide concise and clear reasons why you are the one to answer that question and solve that problem.

You may recognize that concept as your value proposition, which is exactly what it is. But too often in our excess and unclear mass of words, we never actually answer those questions!

So; answer those questions!

I am asking questions about a problem, I am asking questions about a pain point, I am asking questions about some knowledge that I need.

It is up to you to offer me alternatives, It is up to you to offer me offer me solutions, It is up to you to offer me that knowledge I need.

It is no accident that the Home Depot’s (NASDAQ HD) You can do it, We can help. tag line is so memorable. It boils down everything written here into 7 memorable words.

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Ian Lurie On 10 Surefire Ways To Burn Money

Ian’s post is about wasting money on the maintenence and production of your Web Site.

It humorous, fantastic, all too true and located here.

I am not going to rewrite the whole thing, let me tease you with one – read Ian’s original for the rest!

Make your IT/development team build the entire site, with little or no input from the sales, marketing or fulfillment teams. You’ll spend at least twice the initial development cost on post-launch changes, I promise.

The SMB Takeaway

For businesses in the small to medium enterprise space, never forget that your Web Presence is critical, and also don’t forget that the way you will be found on the Web has a 70 plus % chance of starting with www.google.com

So take the effort to do it right!

You can get updates to this blog by clicking the RSS icon on the Home Page!