Blog

Safari top browser for site

Wed, 05 Oct 2011 11:30:00 +1300

This is an analysis of the browsers that have visited a client's website over the past 30 days. It's interesting to see that Safari is beating Internet Explorer!

Although this is quite a different breakdown than Wikipedia's web browser stats for August 2011 - perhaps the above example is indicitive of this client's target market... or is it indicitave of the future?

How much is it costing you not to be at the top of Google?

Thu, 29 Sep 2011 15:55:00 +1300

Our article was published in the latest Waikato Business News:

Telecom XT Data Weirdness

Tue, 09 Aug 2011 09:33:00 +1200

I've been using a bit of mobile broadband recently on Telecom XT, and wanted to check my data usage. So I login to Telecom's website to check:

Note the 218.9MB data showen as being used. I give Telecom a call to talk about increasing my data plan, and they tell me I've only used 58.8MB. I hunt around on Telecom's website a little longer, and find another part of their website showing me the following usage meter:

So which one is it Telecom? 218.9MB or 58.8MB? And it's not that Telecom's tracking system is a few hours behind (as the guy on the phone tried as a possible explain), as I've been using almost no data over the past 12 hours (I've been sleeping!). And why do different parts of Telecom's website tell me different things? How am I supposed to trust Telecom's billing if they can't even get their own system to say the same thing?

(Sorry, this post has been a bit of a rant. But I needed some way to send Telecom the details, as their "email us" link on their website provided no email address, but simply a contact form with no way to upload attachments).

Kane joins the team

Tue, 26 Jul 2011 13:58:00 +1200

digiCreative would like to officially welcome Kane Hall to the team!
Kane joins us with a strong background in web design and development, gained from completing a Bachelor of Media Arts (BMA) from Wintec in 2008 and then completing freelance design work. He has come into digiCreative keen to further grow his skills and is already enjoying bouncing creative ideas around with the team. Kane proudly describes himself as a determined, focused, and passionate designer, and he is looking forward to working with all of our fantastic clients on their web development projects! He is always happy to talk web, but also enjoys other creative pursuits like music (DJing at local venues), gaming, and concept art. Be sure to say hello when you’re next dropping by the office, and make him feel welcome.

The digiCreative team, from left: Matthew, David, and Kane

Email Newsletter Usability

Mon, 04 Jul 2011 10:27:00 +1200

Internet users generally have a higher emotional reaction to receiving newsletters than general web surfing, usually seeing internet sites as a tool to quickly use then put aside. Newsletters allow us to create positive interactions within clients, creating more of a bond than a website alone can. However, if done wrongly, they can create problems which have a negative effect on customers.

The layout and writing of a newsletter both need superb usability to retain the user's attention as well as being seen as helpful and relevant. This will reduce one of the stresses of modern life and improve the connection between businesses and clients. You can read the full details at this interesting article from Nielson Norman Group

Even if you're on the front page of Google, ranking still really matters

Tue, 22 Mar 2011 16:39:00 +1300

So you see your rank really does matter. Being in the top 3 is really much better than being somewhere further down the page, even if you do rank on that first page of Google results.

Source: SEO Researcher

500 Million Searches on Google Daily

Tue, 25 Jan 2011 15:33:00 +1300

Today more and more people are using the Internet. Every day, 500 million searches get processed by Google. There are around 110 million unique websites, and more than 1 trillion individual pages.

The challenge for businesses is to get found amongst this huge number of websites. The solution is to have a market-niche that ranks well on Google. An effective Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) campaign puts a website at the top of Google’s results, ensuring that it is seen by a large audience.

For tips on how to do this, see our blog posts Using the Right Words and Eight Website Promotion Tips. Otherwise you can contact us to get us to do the hard work for you!

Webmail (Google Apps) Attachments Tips

Tue, 07 Sep 2010 15:26:00 +1200

I received an email from Google Apps with some similar tips, and so I thought I'd share:

1. Drag attachments from your desktop to your message
Simply drag files in from your desktop right into your message. Please note this only works in the latest versions of Chrome, Firefox, and Safari .

2. Selecting multiple attachments
When attaching multiple files, you can select more than one item before clicking “open”.

3. Be reminded if you forget an attachment
Webmail looks for text in your email message that may suggest you have an attachment. If you forget to attach it before pressing send, you get a warning popup.

4. View attachments online
If you are browsing your webmail from a computer that doesn’t have Adobe Reader or Microsoft Office installed, don’t panic. You can view these attachments online by clicking the “view” message at the bottom of the message.

5. Finding long-lost attachments
You can use webmail’s advanced search to help you find what you’re looking for. Do this by clicking the “show search options” link next to the search box.

How to Write a Blog

Thu, 01 Jul 2010 11:06:00 +1200

Often I get asked "how do I write a blog post?". I thought the following articles may be helpful in answering the question:

How to Create a Good Website Homepage

Tue, 08 Jun 2010 14:56:00 +1200

The job of your website home page is to:
1. Attract visitors through Google (Google still does over 90% of search in NZ)
2. Tell people how they can benefit from your services
3. Get them to take the first step by clicking to the next page

Most visitors won’t read a lot of text. Make sure you have good headlines. Long headlines are fine. Also people will look at pictures and video, and the captions below them.

Calls to action are what prompt a visitor to solve their problem by taking the next step. This next step can be as simple as clicking through to your next page. Have a call to action on every page, to take the visitor to the next step. Also include your contact details, to make it easy for visitors to get in contact.

If you feel like your website home-page isn’t generating the results you want, get in touch with Matthew to have a quick chat about it.

Eight Website Promotion Tips

Tue, 27 Apr 2010 14:19:00 +1200

1. Optimise for Google: If your website has a high search engine ranking, you will receive more visitors. Be sure to use key-search-phrases in your page title, headings, and opening paragraph of text.

2. Submit your site to Web Directories: This is a pretty monotonous process, but you can get listed on several hundred websites if you have the time. One of the best directories to submit to is www.dmoz.org.

3. Reciprocal links with similar websites: It’s important to pick sites that are of high relevance so you’ll not only get links but traffic. Reciprocal linking can be useful, but don’t overdo it.

4. Online social networking: There are a lot of social networking websites, such as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. Make good use of them to promote yourself as an expert in your niche, and also to communicate with your members / customers.

5. Social bookmarking / voting websites: If you have articles or news items on your website, be sure to promote them with social voting websites like Digg.com.

6. Forums: Sign up for some discussion groups in your niche and start contributing. If possible, link to your organisation’s website in your forum posts. A good place to start looking for a relevant discussion groups is http://answers.yahoo.co.nz.

7. Interact with blogs: Start reading and commenting on relevant and popular blogs in your niche. Focus on building a relationship with other bloggers, by writing relevant comments.

8. Track your website stats: There is no point in working to increase the profile of your website, if you cannot measure the results. Track the results with Google Analytics.

Would you like help with any of the above items? Contact us to discuss a marketing package for your website.

10 Website Usability Tips

Fri, 16 Apr 2010 15:34:00 +1200

1. Use intuitive navigation. A website that is easy to navigate is imperative! Make your navigation obvious and consistent throughout your site. Remember if users can’t find what they want in 3 clicks, they’re gone.

2. Don’t be too clever. Fluffy designs that do not support real user needs are not recommended. It is better for your website to be useful to your visitors, then to be full of “bells and whistles”.

3. Easy to read text. Make sure your text is easy to read, has a good contrast with your page background, and is not cluttered with annoying gimmicks.

4. Communicate clearly. Be sure to mention who you are, what you do, what you are offering, how it will help, and what you want visitors to do.

5. Develop valuable content. Content is what keeps visitors on your website, and encourages them to come back. Great content is also one of the best ways to boost your search engine ranking.

6. Create a sitemap. This is especially important for larger websites. Visitors will use the sitemap to find their way, and search engines will use it to have reliable access to all your pages.

7. Use the right media. Video is an excellent way of interactive with visitors. Animations can attract attention to specific information, but too much movement is annoying and slows reading down.

8. Use Breadcrumbs. These help visitors know where they are in your website, especially in larger websites. For example, you will find breadcrumbs at the top of this page, showing: "Blog » digiCreative Blog » 10 Website Usability Tips"

9. Remember the homepage is not the only entrance. Visitors may go directly to a sub-page through a referring link or through Google search. Make it easy for visitors to see where they are in the website.

10. Test, test, test. Test your website with real users – and get their feedback. Test that your site works on all major web browsers. Test your website from different computers – that have different configurations.

Understanding Google Analytics Jargon

Mon, 15 Feb 2010 14:41:00 +1300

If you have Google Analytics setup on your website, you will be emailed monthly statistics reports (or be able to view them online). On the first page of the report, you will see the following metrics:

What do these numbers mean?

Visits: The number of times your website was visited. (If one person comes back four times, that is counted as four visits).

Pageviews: The total number of pages viewed by your visitors.

Pages/Visit: The number of pages viewed per visit. The ideal figure varies, depending on the setup of your website.

Bounce Rate: A "bounce" happens when a visitor visits your website, looks at only one page, and then leaves. Hence the bounce rate is the percentage of visitors who leave without looking at any other pages. If this number is high, you could try providing more content (information), or better navigation between pages. Alternatively, a high bounce rate could mean that visitors found what they were looking for on one page, and left satisfied.

Avg. Time on Site: How long people spend on your website. If your pages are short and to the point, then this figure will be lower. However, if visitors are only spending a few seconds on your website, this is a need for concern!

% New Visits: The percentage of new visits (by new visitors), to your website.

If you do not have Google Analytics installed on your website, or would like more help interpreting the reports, please contact us.

Web-based Intranet

Thu, 26 Nov 2009 10:35:00 +1300

Would you like an easy way to securely share documents, calendars, videos, etc with your staff? A company intranet may well be the answer and a whole easier to set-up then often assumed.

A company intranet allows you to easily collaborate and share information internally. This allows you and your staff to easily login and view (or edit) areas like:
•    Pages – ideal for information, such as internal policies and procedures. As well as text, you can easily add images, calendars, maps, documents or videos.
•    Announcements – ideal for internal news or announcements
•    File Cabinets – ideal as a file storage repository, allowing staff to easily find shared files
•    Lists – ideal for keeping track of action items from a meeting or project

The setup process is usually very straightforward. You simply choose from a variety of layout templates to use, which we can customize with your organisation’s brand. We then install your intranet, and provide staff training on how to use the system, so that you can get the most benefit from it.

You’ll also receive at the end of each month a statistics report about your intranet usage. This will not only help you see the systems uptake, but also provide valuable information we can use to help users find what they are looking for easier.

We would love to discuss the system with you in more detail, or perhaps setup a demo. Please contact us to find out more.

Top 10 Tips for a Charity Website

Thu, 08 Oct 2009 08:49:00 +1300

1. Know Your Website Purpose

This is key. Everything else leads back to your website’s purpose and goals. Your website goals could include converting visitors to members, providing info to existing members, building your email newsletter, building awareness, and collecting donations.

2. Make it Easy to Use

Everyone appreciates a website that is easy to use. The layout design should be consistent throughout the site, the menu should be easy to use, the text easy to read, and links easy to identify.

3. How to Get Involved

Let visitors know how they can become involved. Donating money is one way, but also suggest other ways they can get involved.

4. Accept Donations

You should have a donate button that is obvious and easy to find. Accepting online credit card donations is easier than you may think. Including a funding goal is also a good idea.

5. Keep in Touch

Allow your visitors to easily stay in touch with what you are doing. Provide an email newsletter sign up box, and have links to your Twitter and Facebook pages.

6. Use Video

Video is the way of the future. It doesn’t need to be fancy, most digital cameras can now take video. As well as using the video clip on your own website, upload it to YouTube and other video sharing sites to gain leverage.

7. Contact Information

Make it easy for visitors to find your contact details. Don’t just have a contact page, but also include your contact details in a side-block or in your site’s footer.

8. Ongoing Maintenance

Use a Content Management System (CMS), so you can edit your website yourself. This will allow you to keep your website up-to-date and relevant.

9. Write for Search

Search engines (like Google) only read text. They read all the text on your website, so give some thought to write the words that people are searching for.

10. Measure the Results

Use Google Analytics to track how visitors find your website, and what they are looking at. Otherwise it’s difficult to measure how well your website is achieving its goals.

Find Out More

DigiCreative specialises in creating websites for non-profit organisations. This can start with a free website, or move up to more sophisticated options. Contact us to find out more.

The Next Generation of Websites

Tue, 29 Sep 2009 10:30:00 +1300

The world is moving at an increasingly alarming rate! What used to be an eight hour drive is now a one hour flight, the daily walk to the letter box is now a click on the Inbox button and the screeching of a dial-up modem is now the connect anywhere convenience of wireless internet. But how does this affect the future of your website?

Though the traditional ways still exist (for the most part), the options available to you and your customers are ever increasing. One trend that has become clear is the increase of internet usage from mobile phones.

In 2007, 25% of all mobile phone users world wide accessed the internet from their phone and 30% of internet access was exclusively from mobile phones (more info). And these figures are set to grow, grow, grow especially in the Asia-Pacific region which is expected to account for 43.9% of all mobile subscribers by 2013 (more info). But don’t be fooled, this is not just for the younger generation, “the most rapid growth has occurred among consumers 35 and older” (more info).

So how can you and your website respond to this change?

Be aware that there will already people looking at your website from their mobile phone. Think about how it will look in this medium – try it for yourself and see what sort impression it makes on you.
Think about what information might be useful to someone on the move, eg. can a potential customer looking for your store easily find a map on your website while parked on the side of road seemingly lost?
When including your website address on advertising, consider which medium people may be using to view that website. For example does the website address on your company vehicles point the potential customer to a product that may be useful to them while they are stuck in traffic? Is that same person able to place an order right there and then?

To find out more about updating your website or any questions you may have please contact Kim Raggett by email kim@digicreative.co.nz or telephone on 07 959 8230 ext 6.

MyTag MyTown

Wed, 19 Aug 2009 10:26:00 +1200

Recently we've been working on a website for MyTag MyTown with AlphaMedia Productions.

MyTag MyTown is a preventative anti-tagging project, aimed at 8-12 year old students, private, public and home schooled. It aims to not only educate students to the negative effects of graffiti vandalism but also encourages them to take ownership of their community, treating the buildings and people in it, with respect.

It's exciting to see all the feedback from the Kids coming through the website!

A few new websites..

Wed, 15 Jul 2009 15:01:00 +1200

We've launched a few new websites recently, what better time than now to check them out:

Urban Residential Developments

Prime Systems

Alpha Displays

Twin Lakes Event Centre

GrowFARM

Scorch Design

Creating an Interactive Website

Wed, 15 Jul 2009 14:55:00 +1200

Are you looking for a way to bring your website up to the next level? A place where your current and potential customers can interact with you?

The inclusion of a blog on your website can be one of the easiest and most cost-effective methods of providing up-to-date, relevant and truly interactive content. Not only will your visitors appreciate the opportunity to ask questions and comment on your blog posts (articles), the blog can also help other people find your website using search engines. Search engines (such as Google) will catalogue each post and display it when someone searches for a topic that is relevant to that blog post. As you regularly add information to your blog, this will build up an increasing number of pages improving the likelihood of it being found by potential customers.

The most common question we receive is, what do I write about? Easy, think about the questions your company is most frequently asked and write about that. Write about what your customers would like to know and will find useful. Or, alternatively focus the blog on your company news. Blogging about what is happening in your company, recent projects you have been involved in, or perhaps a response to developments in your industry, or successes your staff have in their personal lives (e.g. sports achievements, artistic performances, community activity).

The interactiveness of a blog comes in the form of comments being posted about what you have written. This is optional and we do recommend that if comments are included, they are moderated. Moderated comments will allow the ability for you to decide which comments are visible on your website before they are seen by everyone.

For an example of a blog in action please visit http://www.digicreative.co.nz/dev-blog/. To find out more about adding a blog to your website or any questions you may have please contact Kim Raggett by email kim@digicreative.co.nz or telephone on 07 959 8230 ext 6.

Using the Right Words

Tue, 07 Jul 2009 18:05:00 +1200

Writing persuasive website copy that converts visitors into customers is key. There is no point in increasing the number of visitors to your website, if they are immediately turned away.

That said, all the text on your website will be analysed by search engines like Google. If the text you write has a good match with someone’s Google search query, your page will show on the search results. Hence using the right words is very important to get website visitors from Google.

How do you find what people are searching for? This is where keyword analysis comes in – finding the right words to use. Two free tools that we recommend are:

These tools allow you to enter in search phrases, and then give you analysis and suggestions. Here are some tips:

It’s not just the volume of searches for a phrase that is important, but also its competitiveness.
Look for niche keywords or markets that others haven't yet found
Try including regional search words (such as “Hamilton” or “New Zealand”)
Targeting common misspellings can produce good results (but this means you will need to setup a page using the common misspelling)

Once you know what relevant words people are searching for, you can optimise for them in your web pages. It’s best to optimise for one or two search phrases per page. How do you do this? For the answer you’ll have to wait for our next post.