Computer and Web Articles

Craigslist.org, in all its bare-bones simplistic glory, is one of the most-visited websites in the world. Perhaps you’ve used it to find an apartment, to sell your old TV, or to seek out a new pet puppy.

Below is a link to an article that can help you find better deals on Craigslist. I’ll highlight two tips here, and then you can mosey on over to the article for more buying and bargaining pointers.

-    Don’t be afraid to bargain. Find out what price the item is currently selling for on other sites and let a seller know that you’re willing to pay that price.
-    If you don’t have extra cash to spend, try bartering. Whether it’s bartering services or products-or a combination of the two-you may not have to exchange cold, hard cash to get what you want.

Find additional tips and suggestions for getting the more out of Craigslist here: http://tinyurl.com/4lh7dou. A few of the links are outdated, but the core content is still useful and relevant.

The fact that your company has a blog, coupled with the fact that you actually maintain your blog (high-five there), does not necessarily equate to your company having a blog that provides you with substantial, if any, value.

Here’s the question to ask yourself: Does my company’s blog have any focus?

Yesterday you posted a case study of your latest business success.

Two days prior you wrote about your favorite Mexican restaurant in Australia.

Today you’re writing about your son’s field trip to the Denver Zoo.

Last week you wrote about social networking strategies you’re considering and the week before you wrote about your favorite blender (I’m guessing it was a VitaMix. Nice choice).

All this would be absolutely delightful if you were sharing it in your personal blog.

If your company’s blog is filled with disconnected, haphazard thoughts and musings, you’re wasting energy, time, and money. Surprising as his choices may be, people don’t visit your company blog to learn about your son’s favorite animals at the zoo. People check your company blog because they have goals, problems or questions.

“How might this company help my family?”

“Does the owner of this company know what he’s talking about? Is he knowledgeable enough for me to feel comfortable hiring them?”

“Where will this company be demoing their equipment this winter?”

“Can I view actual examples of successful projects they’ve completed?”

“Do they have useful tips and links and photos I can check out?”

When you stop covering topics your visitors care about (whether your visitors are potential customers, existing customers, or colleagues) you give them no reason to return. No reason to engage with you. In the end this means you’re likely just wasting time by working on a company blog that few people read when you could be investing your time in far more effective ways.

Have you been lazy? Perhaps it just slipped your mind. Regardless, here are some reminders that might give you the nudge you need to take action.

• Everyone: Be honest. When was the last time you cleaned your keyboard? Have you at least taken it outside, held it upside down, and given it a good shake lately? (Eeewww.)
• Website owners: When was the last time you ran a spellcheck on your website? What about a check for broken links?
• Everyone: When was the last time you backed up your data? If you’re not backing up on a regular basis, have you recently asked yourself if you’re willing to lose everything on your computer?
• PC users: Have you defragmented your computer lately?
• Mac Users: Have you cleaned out your cache within the last month? (Visit http://tinyurl.com/495nsn4 if you answered No.)
• Everyone: Have you recently run a program (like Spybot S & D) to check for spyware and other undesirables that sneak into computers over time?
• Website owners: Have you given your site’s statistics a good hard look within the last few months? Do you know how people are using your site, if visitors are running into any major problems when using your site, or…if your site actually has any visitors?

This blog post has been moved to a new location:

To read the full post, visit: “We All Satisfice”

If your company has a Google Places listing, let’s take a quick look at the phone number displayed within it.

Tip #1: If you’re using a 1-800 number in your listing, change it to your local phone number.  Google wants to know you’re actually local.
Tip #2: If at all possible, make sure the phone number in your Google Places listing is consistent with the phone number associated with your business on other websites (such as your company website and review sites such as Yelp and TripAdvisor).
Tip #3: Make sure you’re not displaying a phone number that send people to separate microsites or landing pages.

In sum, use your primary, local phone number if possible. Very simple.

A few days ago I came across several advertisements with rather questionable placements.

1. While browsing a site for web development companies, I found myself staring at an ad for a… web development company. The ad was telling me I should click to learn more about XYZ company could build a website for me.
2. While looking around the punk section of a streaming music site, a Jaguar ad kept showing up in the sidebar. And much to my amusement, the Jaguar ad swapped back and forth with a John Deer ad as I clicked through various pages.
3. While conducting research for a client by searching for High Country nature photographers, I couldn’t help but notice that an ad for a Denver photographer specializing in home and office photography repeatedly appeared in the Pay Per Click sidebar results.

I was left scratching my head. Why is Jaguar advertising (very) expensive automobiles to people looking in the punk section of a free online music service? Does the Denver home and office photographer realize her ad campaign budget is likely being drained because her ads are being shown to people who haven’t specified an interest in her services?

And thus today I challenge you to think long and hard about your own online marketing: Is your marketing actually talking to the right people?

While you may not be placing your gas mask ads in Nursing Mothers Magazine, might it be possible that talking to the wrong crowds is costing you new customers and sales?

Just because other websites link to Facebook doesn’t mean your website should link to Facebook.

If your company doesn’t have its own Facebook page, that icon/link that’s displayed throughout your site (you know, the one that just points to the Facebook homepage) benefits neither you nor your site visitors. In face, it wastes the time of everyone who clicks one of those links.

If your company doesn’t have a Facebook page, I recommended you remove all Facebook icons/links from your site.  (Note: same thing goes for Twitter, people. There is no value provided by sending your site’s visitors straight Twitter’s homepage.)

Question:

Hi Erin. I noticed that in your latest column in the Summit Daily, you admonished people not to use “Welcome to” on their website. And since I have “Welcome to Frisco, Colorado” at the top of the text on my home page, it would seem that you think I should change that. If so, let me know what you think I should replace it with.

– Dave Owens, Frisco CO

Answer:

I do believe it would be a good idea to update that text.

I recommend giving consideration to the following questions; they can help you keep on track. The content I’d ultimately recommend you use on your home page would be strongly influenced by your answers.

1. What do my site’s visitors truly care about?
2. What problems or challenges are my site’s visitors likely looking to solve when they arrive at my home page?
3. Do potential clients arriving at my site for the first time already have a clear understanding of the various services and/or products I offer?
4. What makes me unique? Can I (concisely!) convey this uniqueness and explain why potential clients should use my services and/or products instead of my competitors’?
5. Do my current clients have any reason to visit my site? If so, what type of home page content might be helpful to them?

The short answer to your great question, Dave, is this: Welcome your site’s visitors with information they’ll find helpful or compelling (or both). Focus on placing content your visitors care about at the top of your homepage and you won’t need to use fluffy, unhelpful statements like “Welcome to our site!”

This blog post has been relocated to:

Please Don’t Welcome Me To Your Website