We encourage everyone we can to use Firefox in place of Internet Explorer . . . there are a lot of good reasons to switch—Firefox’s adherence to Web standards (which equates to increased quality and compatibility for the user) its superior performance, options and increased security.

A number of people have brought to my attention that they’ve noticed fonts appear much crisper and readable when viewed with IE 7.  With the release of IE 7, Microsoft introduced what they call ClearType . . . a font smoothing algorithm that increases readability for those using LCD displays. It really makes quite a difference and is probably the most impressive thing I’ve seen come from Microsoft in the last few years (I confess to not being much of a Microsoft fan).

For those surfing on a Firefox / Windows XP combo, the process for activating ClearType is quite simple:

1. Minimize all your windows and right click anywhere on your desktop.
2. Choose the appearance tab then click the Effects button.
3. Make sure the check mark is in the box next to “Use the following method to smooth edges of screen fonts:” and select ClearType. Then click OK.

Once you start surfing in Firefox again you should notice a marked improvement to readability.

The content of your Web site is crucial and should be developed to quickly answer the basic questions and needs of your specific target visitors. Research shows that you only have a few seconds to entice your visitors to stay so
it’s vital that you present obvious choices for them to find the information they need. In addition clear and compelling navigation options need to be present that allow your visitors to easily recognize where they should click to proceed through the sales/information process.

If your visitors become confused about what your site is about or how it applies to them, they are likely to just leave and look elsewhere. The goal of your front page is to allow visitors to qualify themselves as prospects for your business or organization and to proceed through the sales process by accepting a call to action that you offer.
Actions can include purchasing online, contacting you for an appointment, subscribing to your newsletter/blog or whatever the specific next step is in your sales process.

The Essential Questions Visitors to Your Site Will Need Answered:

• What do you do? One of the most common mistakes that sites make is not being clear on exactly what they are providing. The more complex of solution you offer the more important it is to provide this answer in easy-to-understand language. The essence of what you do should be the basis of your organization’s mission statement, but answering the “What you do” question will also include the specific products or services  you’re offering.
• Why you do it? This is related to an organization’s vision statement but needs to be expressed in concise language free from industry jargon. Telling visitors “why you do it” is a means of establishing credibility and
  positioning yourself as an expert adviser for recommending a solution to their needs.
• Why are you the best choice? This question is the most vital for new prospects and should be answered by your unique value proposition. Your unique value proposition is simply a concise statement of how you
  meet their need better than anyone else.  In addition to stating your unique value, you need to back it up with real-life examples. The most effective support will be testimonials, portfolio’s of your past work, and third party reviews or endorsements if available.
• What can I do? This is the question you want most asked because it means your visitor is satisfied (or at least intrigued) with the answers to their first three questions. They are asking how to proceed through your sales process. This doesn’t mean they’re necessarily ready to buy, but they’re willing to take a step closer. Your site needs to present unambiguous action items for your customers to answer their question of “What can I do?” by providing conspicuous “call to action” links in the body of your front page and the navigation menu.

How To Provide the Answers

Here are a few key principles for answering your visitors’ questions :

1. Be concise. Paragraphs of text on your front page will bury the answers to your visitors’ questions and result in a high abandon rate. Your front page, and navigation bar, should be thought of as a map that clearly directs
   people to more detailed information on the destination of their choice, without them having to think twice about their choices. While, supporting pages will provide more detailed answers the still must avoid verbosity to be effective.
2. Communicate in layman’s terms and avoid your industry’s jargon. Realize that much of the internal language your organization uses may have no relevance for your visitors.
3. Provide clear call-to-action choices for all types of visitors. The fundamental questions presented above provide answers for newly aware prospects through “trial” or first-time buyers. If you anticipate clients, customers with an ongoing relationship with your organization, to be frequent visitors you need to accommodate the needs of these visitors. Other visitor types can include press, investors or employers. The answers to each type of visitor questions need to be presented in proportion to the importance they have towards achieving the overall goals of your site.

We’re pleased to announce an upgraded version of our Content Management System (CMS). The CMS is the core application software that works in conjuction with a server database to provide all the great Web 2.0 information management and broadcasting capabilities that we’re always talking about.

Our Web 2.0 CMS provides the vital tools that help our clients achieve their business goals by increasing the reach and impact of their messaging and decreasing the cost of Website administration.

Our new CMS makes it even easier for non-technical site owners to:

• Securely login to their site and add, edit or remove page content
• Make blog/news posts that are automatically distributed by email and broadcast via RSS.
• Automatically link the major search and blog indexes to their blog/news posts to dramatically increase message reach and awareness.

Here’s a small sampling of our CMS’s key features and benefits:

• New streamlined modern Web 2.0 administrative panel design theme that makes the updating and editing process easy to understand and navigate.
• A new word-processor page editing interface that provides any user intuitive controls for posting and formatting of text, photos and files.
• The ability to easily create multiple pages and RSS streams by simply assigning a category to your post.
• Optimized and formatted RSS feeds. Your RSS feed content is displayed using the same format and styling that you specify on your site page.
• Easy integrated system to upload images or file from your PC or Mac to post on your Website.
• Fast performance for both site visitors and administrators.
• The ability to use a new custom graphic design or to modify an existing design for use on the CMS site.
• One button system backup and restore.
• The ability to assign unlimited editors to your site with customized permissions . . . you can assign a user the ability to edit the content on only one page or to have complete administrative control over the site.
• Full html formatting of content posts for advanced users.

But don’t take our word for it, try it out for yourself. Just contact us for access to our sample site.

You might also be interested to see our screen shot tutorials.

Unintentionally, we seem to have become a leading resource for instructions on installing custom HTML email signatures in email clients including earlier versions of Outlook, Entourage and Gmail. In continuing with our tradition, we’ll give some insight here into installing a custom HTML signature in Outlook 2007.

For some reason, Microsoft decided to remove some features in Outlook 2007 that made installing a custom HTML email signature a breeze. Although nowhere in the email signature feature of Outlook 2007 is HTML mentioned, the signature is still in this format, it just takes a less direct approach to get it accomplished.

Here’s one relatively easy method for inserting custom HTML for an email signature.

1. Open the HTML file that contains your signature in a Web browser such as FireFox.

2. Left click at the top left of the page, then while holding down the shift key left click in the lower right area of the page. If you don’t see anything obviously highlighted you may need to left click at the top then hold down your left mouse button as you move to the lower right.

3. Right Click and select copy.

4. Create a new signature in Outlook 2007 and then within that blank signature window right click and select paste or press ctrl-v.

5. Save your new signature and set your desired parameters.

For more insight into working with custom signatures in Outlook 2007 you might want to check out this free Outlook 2007 email signature training from Microsoft.

In a previous post post, I presented a definition of Web 2.0 as the widespread acceptance and use of technology that allows continually changing or active communication. The main points of the post were:

• The most important aspect of Web 2.0 is not the technology itself, but rather the new culture of free and open communication that comes about because of technology.
• The old era of caveat emptor (let the buyer beware) that was supported through biased and untrustworthy advertising is past.
• Web 2.0 technology has birthed a new era of caveat venditor (let the seller beware) since consumers are now able to communicate freely amongst themselves and provide unbiased feedback on sellers’ claims. Amazon.com is a prime example.

How can Web 2.0 help your business?

From a marketing perspective, the questions are simple:

1. How can Web 2.0 help us reach more prospects,
2. deliver a more effective message and
3. decrease our message cost?

Is your business Web 2.0 compatible?

Again, the most vital element to success is not the technology itself, but rather the real value your business presently offers consumers. For those businesses who meet this criteria, Web 2.0 technology is tailor made to effectively assist in achieving the marketing goals mentioned above.

Bear with me as I give yet another Web 2.0 analogy. If I buy this 2006 ADR3 race car for $85k, its got the technological capability to win races. However, just because I buy the car does not make me competitive with professional drivers. Assuming I could con my way into entering a professional race, it would soon become apparent, when I crashed and burned on the first corner, that I was an amateur. The technology would do me little good if I did not posses the real ability to utilize its potential.

Likewise, the benefit that Web 2.0 technology can bring is directly proportional to some more fundamental aspects of your business, such as:

• Do your current customers (not you, your employees, or executives) consider the products you offer to be truly unique and superior solutions?
• Do you receive a significant portion of new business through referrals?
• Is it easy for your prospects to understand your unique value proposition?
• Is the leader of your business dedicated to establishing a front facing culture of transparency, honesty and direct communication with customers?
• Do your employees understand and embrace this vision?

This by no means is a comprehensive list, but hopefully you get the idea. The more “yes” answers you can give to these types of questions the more potential your business has for excelling by implementing Web 2.0 technology and tactics.

For a more detailed look at how Web 2.0 technology can help you achieve your marketing goals you may want to check out our “Helping you achieve your goals” page.