Test Your Website Now for Mobile Readiness
Posted by Marty Dickinson on Jun 17, 2008
How does your website score on the mobile readiness chart? As of this date, here’s the report for my Website Waves Blog. As you can see, there’s work to do. And, that’s okay. A blog is a phased-in process, y’know? The important thing is what got me interested in paying attention to mobile readiness for websites.
Rene LeMerle reported a statistic yesterday on webprowire that kicked me right in the tushy. He said Nielson Mobile counted 9 million purchases from cell phones during the month of April 2008. That’s more than 70% up from April 2007 folks. When it comes to marketing techniques, I love to stay on the cutting edge and try new things, but when it comes to equipment, I’m old school I guess. And, anything to do with a cell phone has taken me a while to come around and “see the light.” But, today is different. A 70% increase in a year is DEFINITELY a marketing thing and not a “cell phone” thing. And, I’m ready to take it seriously now. Hopefully you are too. So, what to do?
I’ve just run a test of this blog at ready.mobi and you should make a similar test of your websites and blogs. Later, I’ll post a checklist for you to go through so that you can take some action toward making your website mobile ready. Pay attention to mobile readiness! Hopefully the idea of 9 million potential buyers a month will be enough motivation for you. Sure was for me! Take the free test.
And, you can be sure that once I implement my own checklist to get in the good graces of cell phone users everywhere, I’ll be posting a new picture of my test. Hopefully it will be a “5″!
|
|
|
|
|
 |
PayPal Turns Their Back on StatCounter
Posted by Marty Dickinson on May 29, 2008
I awoke this morning to an email from StatCounter, one of the systems I’ve used to track visitation. They were sending a warning message to their list that they’ve had a major falling out with PayPal citing double billings and late arrival invoices as the biggies. No surprise there I suppose. I’ve heard all that before about PayPal. But, c’mon now, this is StatCounter we’re talking about…one of the veterans in Internet tracking and PayPal is IGNORING them!
Don’t believe me? Take a look at the StatCounter blog where they tell the whole story. I mean, listen to this from their post: “At StatCounter we have tried phoning, emailing, posting on the PayPal forums… Many of our contacts are ignored, but even when we do get an answer all we are told is that “Upon review of your account, unfortunately we do not have a time frame for a resolution to your issue…”
Now, how does this relate to Website Waves? Well, for many reasons probably, but as I posted a comment to their blog post, I believe this act on PayPal’s part is reassurance to us in the Internet marketing world that you MUST offer an alternative way for people to purchase things from your website (either in addition to or instead of PayPal).
News like this from StatCounter could be reported from any company. And, once those PayPal users hear of such craziness do you think they’re very motivated to use PayPal for anything ever again? Heck no. If they even see a hint of PayPal in the buying process, they’ll abandon the checkout process immediately. So would I in the mood I’m in right now over all of this!
So, if you use PayPal, watch your charges and payments very carefully. Do WEEKLY audits (if not daily) of all transactions going through your PayPal account. And, if you take online transactions using PayPal as your only gateway, find an additional payment mechanism quick!
Or, you may one day soon find yourself sending out a similar email to your customers.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Top 50 Domain Registrars Ranked
Posted by Marty Dickinson on May 28, 2008
Came across a great report on a website featuring the top 50 domain name registrars. It’s fascinating to look at the report but I’d also like to point out that I believe their ranking criteria is a little flawed. So, first checkout the top 50 domain name registrars report as shown on the Website Magazine website that featured in their May 2008 edition. Then, come back to Website Waves and listen to my 9min50sec audio posting of the criteria I would use to rank registrars.
This was of particular interest to me because I’m so frequently asked the question “Where should I register my domain name?”
When I attended the last Internet conference where probably half the audience was just starting to get involved with the Internet, I was probably asked that question a dozen times.
So, enjoy the article and my audio and let me know which ranking criteria you believe is more accurate. And, don’t be afraid to cast your vote for your favorite registrar and add your comment why of course.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Landing Page Speed Increases Quality Score
Posted by Marty Dickinson on May 27, 2008
David Utter of WebProNews wrote today that Google will soon be including “page load time” as part of their Quality Score criteria. What that means, simply, is if you run Google Adwords to a page on your site that takes a long time to appear on screen, your ad could be dropped further down the list in Google pay-per-click search results…no matter how much you’re willing to pay each time someone clicks on your ad.
I can see the many reasons Google would make this addition. Think of all those LOOOOONG sales letters that take forever to load. Think of all those Video sales letters that have to pre-load before you can even watch them.
Well, from a sales standpoint, Google could be shooting themselve in their own foot because those loooong sales pages seeeeeellll!! And, those big video sales letters are growing more and more frequent…because they convert too.
Google would love to see text-only…and just a paragraph or two would be best. But, the problem as I see it, as I originally learned this from Simon Leung who was on the original Adwords team at Google, is that Google staff are NOT Internet marketers. And, the Quality Score criteria they use makes that point obvious.
So, this response to David’s announcement is just a heads-up that you could see your positions in Google Adwords going down over the next few weeks even though you didn’t touch anything. If so, you better take a look at your page load times and the landing pages used by your competitors. Because, all things being equal, page load time will be impacting your Adwords positions shortly.
Because that’s how Google wants it.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Boss Bailey Proves Marketing Skill Can be from Birth
Posted by Marty Dickinson on Mar 14, 2008
Boss Bailey… now, just think of that name for a moment. BOSS Bailey. The name all its own was designed to stand out and command a position. What position? Maybe the “boss” of a strict manufacturing plant. Or, maybe an upper management leader.
OR….
Maybe Boss Bailey is a formidable force on the football field!
For the Denver Broncos, we’re about to find out as Boss Bailey (Brother of Champ Bailey) will join the Denver Broncos in training camp this summer.
Boss Bailey and Champ Bailey. Did their parents have a marketing degree? I mean, these names were pre-meditated for marketing glory!
Some things related to sales and marketing you really are born with. For other things related to how to sell and market, they CAN be learned!
All you need is a place to learn them and that place is The Capital Factor. Check out The Capital Factor Blog and learn what it really takes to bring your business to the next level.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Internet Safety Makes News
Posted by Marty Dickinson on Jul 24, 2007
What do MySpace, Miss America and Seatbelts have in common? They all promote safety. Yahoo! News reports that MySpace has identified and deleted 29,000 sex offenders’ listings from their system. Congrats to MySpace for taking this long awaited action. Bet that sex offender sting on that television show brought some motivation their way.
And then there’s Miss America who even got into it with congress today! Awe, how sweet that she’s begging congress to require education of children to protect themselves from online predators.
I’m happy for MySpace and MA for their contributions. But, who will bring awareness to the masses about the dozens of ways we are at risk by using the Internet on a daily basis? There are so many ways that so many people have no idea that the damage is being done. And it’s happening right under their (and my) nose.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
iPhone Hackers are More Dangerous than Just Spam
Posted by Marty Dickinson on Jul 23, 2007
Today I heard that hackers hacked into the iPhone through an Internet connection and all I heard about was the potential threat of a malicious hacker sending thousands of spam messages to the phone. This would of course cost the iPhone user a wee bit of change to take all of those spam calls and text messages.
But it seems to me the bigger threat was not mentioned at all. And, that would be if a hacker got into an iPhone and had their phone ring at the same time the actual recipient’s phone rang. Imagine not even knowing that a hacker has hacked into your iPhone and every call you make gets listened in on.
Be careful what you listen to…it might only be the tip of the iceberg.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
