Summer
Three things to think about for your web site right now.
RESPONSIVE MOBILE
Since summer is the time for a lot of people to hit the road it's also not a bad time to consider how well your site performs on mobile devices.
For my site I chose what is known as a Responsive Web Design Theme. In the simplest terms that means a theme that automatically adjusts itself according to the size of the device screen and it's capabilities (touch screen, etc.) You see Responsive theming everywhere now. Why? Because it works! It's the least expensive way to get good functionality across the widest variety of devices.
Are there any downsides? Two. First, the techniques used to make web sites responsive tend to make for a samey-ness of look. This is similar to how houses will tend to look the same when you're using components all garnered from Home Depot. You get a guaranteed level of performance and the best price, but at the cost of limited choices. That's why many web sites today look similar--which some may view as a plus since your visitors will know what to expect. But if having a unique look or specific features are important you'll need to pay more. For example, most high end shopping sites are in fact, at least four different sites. They may all look similar (we hope so!) but your device is instantly detected and routed to the site with the appropriate code.
The other potential drawback for Responsive sites is that they generally have a limited amount of backward compatibility. The browser features make this type of design possible are only a few years old. That's generally not a problem in 2015, but if your audience tends to be in a field where users are stuck with really ancient browsers this may not work. One extreme example: I've done several sites in Africa where many computers are still running Windows 98!
EASE OF USE
At least once a year I have to vent some spleen about ease of use. After all these years, most sites are still too hard to use. I hate to rant, but there is a very simple test you can use to test your own site: simply pretend that your site is not your site but someone else's site. In other words, visit your site as if you were a potential first-time visitor, but with the expectations you would have if you were visiting a site that you actually use to get information or make purchases. And if you're really honest, your reaction may well be, "Ouch".
This is just human nature. Very few of us have the ability to see our sites in a truly objective manner. We are usually much easier on our site than we are on sites of similar quality. There are a couple of reasons for this.
First, we tend to think it doesn't matter as much as it does. We know how great we are and we assume everyone else 'gets it'. Secondly, we may have a sense that "iit doesn't matter that much". That may have been true ten years ago, but nowadays, almost all of us (including you!) are very judgmental of web sites. They are truly the 'business card' for most organizations.
Now what I'm saying goes for all aspects of your site's image, but to make it easier to digest I want to focus on just ease of use:
1. Can you find what you need directly from the front page? Great! If there's a link to the page you were looking for, that's good. If you have to go to more than one link to get where you're going, that's bad.
2. Is the information clearly written? Is it legible? Are there spelling mistakes? C'mon!
One reason a lot of people hire me initially is to fix some small issue. But once there is some trust, they ask me my opinion and then I point out (nicely) the above problems. And the funny thing is that nine times out of ten there is no argument because: they already know. They just needed a 'Dutch Uncle' to give them permission to take action. That's great, but it's just like working out: yes a coach can help, but strictly speaking, most of us know what we need to do. Most of what I do is to help provide the motivation.
So let's go!
SECURITY: SSL
I've decided to include at list one nag about 'security' now in every newsletter because it's obvious that too many small site owners are not taking this seriously. I think many of us, whether internet users or site owners, have something of fatalistic attitude; there's not much we can do about the situation so why worry? This is so wrong for site owners, regardless of size.
This month, let's talk about getting an SSL certificate. What's that? I know I'll get complaints for over-simplifying, but Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) is a technology that encrypts each page as it is served up. You can tell when a page is encrypted because the URL will begin with 'https' instead of 'http'. And an SSL Certificate is basically a digital 'key' which uniquely identifies the server so that your browser will decrypt (be able to read) the page when you visit the page. There are two big benefits:
First, this indicates that the content that your visitor is seeing in his/her browser is actually emanating from your site. This is important because one of the most common hacks is when a bad site masquerades as your site, feeding the wrong content to visitors. In other words an SSL helps protect from various imposter sites that try to trick your visitors with content that looks like your site but is not.
Second since an SSL page is encrypted, all data being sent back and forth between your site and visitors is protected from snooping. This means that even if the bad guys intercept your visitors' data it just looks like garbage. That is why almost all shopping sites use an SSL certificate.
Now back in the old days (like five years ago) most sites only used the 'https' for a very few pages (typically the shopping cart page where visitors enter their details). This is because SSL-enabled pages would run slower due to the encryption.
But nowadays, almost all servers have built-in hardware which makes the performance difference almost nil. So you can run your entire site as 'secure' with almost no speed penalty. Now why would you want to? Three reasons:
1. Because it is safer.
2. Because it's cheaper (easier to code) a whole site to be https than to only work on selected pages.
3. And best of all, because Google and Bing reward you for running your entire site as https. Your pages will tend to rank higher in search results if they are https rather than http. Why? Think about it: A secure site is a more trustworthy site. If someone is searching for a keyword and the results are between your https page and someone else's http page with the same product or information? You win.
Cost? It typically costs $60-80 a year for an SSL certificate; about what most people pay for anti-virus programs. For the simplest installs, installation only takes about an hour. But it's really not even a decision if you have a shopping site; you really can't do e-commerce without an SSL certificate. But even if you don't have a shopping cart? It's not that much for the peace of mind it provides for you and your visitors. Having an SSL certificate shows your clients that you care about their privacy. So when you get your certificate installed you should indicate that boldly on your home page!
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As I always say, I know you're busy. Hopefully my occasional nags help you think about how you can get more benefits from your e-marketing. But even if you don't have a thing for me to work on at present (shocking but possible) drop me a line anyway and let me know how things are going; market-wise or otherwise. It's always good to hear from you.
Wishing you a pleasant summer!
JC
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