Google waiting in the wings to topple mighty Microsoft October 1, 2004

 

Watchcow.net - Simple Syndicated Amazon Price Tracking October 1, 2004

 

"You want to keep an eye on your Amazon.com wishlist or a particular Amazon.com/de/co.uk item, want to be informed whether and how much the price has been changed, but don't have the time?

Watchcow.net to the rescue! This simple and handy service allows you to passively watch single Amazon products and entire wishlists in your newsreader, such as Bloglines (web), NetNewsWire (Mac), NewsFire (Mac) or FeedDaemon (Windows), just to name a few. It works with every newsreader/-aggregator that supports ATOM feeds. Which, incidently, means pretty much all of them."

 

Vivísimo Launches Clusty.com October 1, 2004

 

"Vivísimo, the leading provider of intelligent clustering and meta-search software for organizing search results, today unveiled Clusty.com, the first full-service search site powered completely by breakthrough clustering technology.

Instead of simply presenting long lists of results, Clusty.com groups search results into folder topics, giving users a quick overview of the main themes in the results and letting them focus on topics of interest."

 

Google Labs Aptitude Test October 1, 2004

 

From the Google Blog:

"We're a little obsessive about digging into hard computing problems, and we love finding more people like us. One way we find obsessive smart problem-solvers is by using a standardized test. Now standardized tests can suck, especially since you usually take them to become a broke student for years on end. Which can lead to starting a career that, if you're lucky, might eventually lead to a really cool job.

But what if there were a standardized test that led, like, immediately to the really cool job? What if, for instance, there was a Google Labs Aptitude Test?"

Try the GLAT here.

 

FAT chance for Microsoft? October 1, 2004

 

From eWeek:

"In a heavy blow to Microsoft's intellectual property rights, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has initially rejected Microsoft's patent claims on the universally popular FAT (file allocation table) file system."

This one will be in and out of court for a long time to come...

 

Successful Innovation Hinges On Understanding Customer Needs And Effective Marketing October 1, 2004

 

From Yahoo! News:

"A great technological innovation will only be successful if research and development teams understand the problems of a company's customers and have the right channels in place to get a new product to market quickly, IBM's senior R&D executive said at an MIT technology conference Wednesday."

 

Yahoo! now! sucks! - official October 1, 2004

 

The Register:

"All good technology eventually becomes invisible, and Yahoo! has taken a step to making the much-hyped RSS push protocol disappear into its portal. The web giant previewed a new version of its My Yahoo! offering yesterday."

 

Software Marketing Newsletter - special ISDEF issue October 1, 2004

 

The October/ISDEF issue of Software Marketing News from Software Marketing Resource is now available.

If you haven't yet subscribed to this excellent resource, then you should do so. Details at the bottom of the issue.

 

FindWhat Unveils Answer to AdSense October 1, 2004

 

From ClickZ News:

"FindWhat.com today debuted AdRevenue Xpress, an automated distribution partner program targeting small to mid-sized businesses. The distribution method is similar to Google's AdSense, but it uses category- or keyword-targeting, rather than contextual targeting.

The program allows smaller partners, through a step-by-step set up process, to add a search box which returns ads from the FindWhat.com Network. Alternatively, publishers who want to display ads on their site directly, rather than via a search results page, can choose a FindWhat category and display ads from that category."

 

RSS feed creation - the way it should be October 1, 2004

 

Yesterday I introduced you to my latest obsession; the explosive growth and potential of RSS feeds. Today I'd like to introduce you to the software you need to create them.

First of all a little history.

A few months ago, I decided to finally dip my toes into RSS. I knew exactly what I was looking for, but the problem was finding a desktop application to create the feeds. It should have been simple, but it wasn't.

Most of the options I looked at were too complex, too buggy, or simply had too many features that I would never use.

Unfortunately, it was only recently that I discovered FeedForAll.

FeedForAll is exactly what I was looking for, and is a quick and easy way to create, edit and publish rss feeds.

The software lets you quickly and easily create new RSS feeds, and pulls you through the process of creating professional looking feeds in an extremely short period of time.

If you already have a feed in place, then this can be repaired and enhanced using FeedForAll, making sure that it conforms to the RSS 2.0 specification.

Simply put, FeedForAll is everything you want and expect from an RSS creation and maintenance tool.

Further details and a free trial version are available from the FeedForAll website.

 

Google expands into Norway and Kenya October 4, 2004

 

From the Google blog:

"You've probably wondered why there's never been a Google domain in Norway. As it turns out, our name means "sunglasses" in Norwegian, and, well, even the non-lawyers can see where this sort of problem leads."

More interesting is the fact that they point to these being their 102nd and 103rd domains.

See them in all their glory here.

 

MSN Forms Search Focus Group October 4, 2004

 

From eWeek:

"Microsoft's Internet division has invited dozens of Webloggers, researchers and others to its Redmond, Wash., campus next week for an event called "Search Champs." They are scheduled to hear about and test upcoming features for MSN Search and to meet researchers from Microsoft Research, according to several people invited to participate."

I wasn't invited.

 

Microsoft Entering the Anti-Spyware Market? October 4, 2004

 

From the Search Engine News Journal:

"Microsoft decided to enter the Anti-Virus market sometime back when they bought Romanian antivirus firm GeCad in 2003. And they have been testing the application privately since sometime. No details are out on when and how they will release it. And now, they are contemplating entering the other major PC Security and Maintenance Market, Anti-Spyware software market."

 

WorldPay struggles under DDoS attack (again) October 4, 2004

 

UK based The Register are reporting that WorldPay is now fighting a DDoS attack for the third day running:

"Since Saturday (2 October), WorldPay's online payment and administration system has been reduced to a crawl, due to a malicious DDoS attack by unidentified computer criminals. A spokesman for the company stressed that although is fighting a serious "denial-of-service" attack, its systems is uncompromised and customer data remains secure. "We are processing transactions securely but the attack is blocking our ability to operate normally. We apologise unreservedly for any convenience caused," he added. WorldPay's techies are working overtime to restore service but can't say when normal service will be restored."

 

Microsoft heading for 'power of life and death' over digital media October 4, 2004

 

From UK based The Guardian:

"Microsoft will acquire "life and death power" over the entire digital media market for years to come if the European commission's sanctions against the US software group are suspended, Europe's second highest court was told yesterday.

On the second day of Microsoft's application to lift EU penalties imposed in March, when the commission fined it a record €497m (£340m), the company's lawyers told the court of first instance that forcing it to offer a version of its Windows operating system without its Media Player audio-visual software would cause the firm irreparable damage."

 

Paid Inclusion Beats PPC in Many Markets October 4, 2004

 

From ClickZ Experts:

"Paid inclusion (PI) is good food, although too often online marketers wary of paying on a CPC basis for "natural" search traffic overlook it. Yet as pay-per-click (PPC) bids continue to rise, PI looks more and more like a bargain."

 

Introducing The Wheel version 4,285,199,774 October 4, 2004

 

I'm writing this from a 2.5 GHz Pentium 4 with 1 GB of RAM. I'm running Windows XP, and using a fairly new NVIDIA GeForce to drive two high-resolutions monitors.

On my 100 GB hard drive, I have around two hundred different applications installed. And I'm not ashamed to admit it.

Yet despite the fact that my hardware is reasonably advanced, my hard drive more than half empty, and my obsessive willingness to try and buy new software, there is something missing.

Could it be innovation?

Many of the applications that I use serve a specific function, and most do so very well.

Yet there's very little on my hard drive that is truly innovative.

I'd be lost without my copy of Brainstorm, and although there are hundreds of brainstorming apps out there, this is the only one I've come across that really works properly. That makes it quite unique.

Microsoft's Office is very good, but you have to be quite strange to get excited over it. Macromedia's DreamWeaver is excellent, but it's only a well executed implementation of something that's been around since the birth of the web.

Don't get me wrong, I'm very happy with most of the software on my system, but there's no real innovation.

Take away my QuickBooks, and I'd probably sweat myself into a state of dehydration within an hour. But it's another great implementation of something that's been around since the beginning of business itself.

So you tell me. With all this technology on my desk, with my never-satiated addiction to good software, with my willingness to spend money on anything that's useful, cool or time-saving, why is there nothing on my system that blows me away?

Let me know if you can think of anything that proves me wrong. Feel free to plug your own product... but only if it really is innovative.

 

Gmail expands October 5, 2004

 

Google's Gmail is offering some interesting new features, although oddly, I don't know what they are.

When I log into my Gmail account, I can see a link to new features.

The link opens up a new window, with "New features coming soon".

Could it be that Gmail is about to be launched to the public?

 

Spyware: The new plague October 5, 2004

 

InfoWorld are reporting a "new plague" in the form of Spyware.

I can't help but wonder where they've been for the past few years.

"Call it nuisanceware: Sneaky software that tracks user behavior, slips in extra Web ads, and compromises performance. Here's how enterprises are dealing with the problem -- and what you can do to address it in your own organization."

 

New Yahoo October 5, 2004

 

Yahoo are now allowing access to their original and new (beta) front pages.

Compare the two and you'll see that the layout is more or less the same, but it looks cleaner and more "modern".

The changes are quite discreet, but they appear well thought out, and well implemented.

The question is whether they're enough to give Google a run for their money. I'm not convinced. Yet.

 

SEMPO launches the most comprehensive study to date on the search engine marketing industry October 5, 2004

 

The Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization (SEMPO) announced today that it is launching a first-ever comprehensive survey to estimate the size of the North American advertiser spending on search engine marketing and critical trends in the burgeoning SEM sector.

 

Piracy - the new reality October 5, 2004

 

The newly revamped ars technica reports that the US government and industry officials are poised to announce a new crackdown on piracy:

"In an attempt to dry up the trade in counterfeit and pirated goods - which is estimated at over US$600 billion per year - Strategy Targeting Organized Piracy (STOP) will target large-scale operations as opposed to individual file traders. In addition, the US will apply pressure on foreign governments where piracy is rampant. One administration official is even naming names."

Until recently I believed that software piracy was little more than an irritation. I believed that most people using hacked, cracked or pirated versions of software do so because it's "free", and not because they actually wanted or needed it.

I found it hard to believe that there were a significant number of people out there who would look for a crack, fail to find one, and then purchase the software.

It's not an uncommon point of view, but one of the companies that we work with recently saw sales of one of their products fall to around 20% of the normal level. A little digging proved cracks to be the culprit.

The crack was blocked, a new version released, and the sales level returned to normal, more or less immediately.

There was no doubt whatsoever that the loss in sales was caused by cracks.

Back to the drawing board...

 

Mastery, Mystery, and Misery by Jakob Nielsen October 6, 2004

 

Jakob Nielsen needs no introduction to anyone selling software on the web. In his new article he writes about "simple, unobtrusive designs that support users are successful because they abide by the Web's nature -- and they make people feel good."

While often described as the guru of usability, I for one just don't get it.

Take a look at his article. And look at the appearance; not just the content.

Usability score - 10 out of 10.

Overall impression - poor, amateur.

Professionalism - poor.

Appearance - mid 1990s.

Surely there's some middle ground here?

 

Kanoodle Starts Self-Service Contextual Ad Program October 6, 2004

 

From DMNews.com:

"Kanoodle announced the launch yesterday of a self-service contextual advertising platform to compete with Google's AdSense.

Like AdSense, New York-based Kanoodle's BrightAds tool lets small Web publishers add contextual ad links to their sites by inserting a string of HTML code into their Web pages. Publishers can customize how the ads appear, choosing to display up to five listings per ad unit. Kanoodle splits the revenue evenly with publishers."

 

Banner ads are dead. Long live the banner ads. October 6, 2004

 

From DMNews.com:

"The banner dates to October 1994, when a site called HotWired launched with the Web’s first ads from AT&T, Sprint, MCI, Volvo and others.

The Web’s early days attracted some big brands. Ragu, for example, is considered one of the first packaged-goods marketers to establish an online presence. In 1995, Procter & Gamble awarded Grey Interactive an account for Web-based media, and AT&T hired agency Modem Media to run its interactive account."

 

Google not going to enter browser market October 6, 2004

 

From CNET News:

"Google board member and investor John Doerr said Tuesday that despite speculation, the search giant would not enter the Web browser market, but he predicted others would.

Doerr later joked, however, that just because he was on the board of Google didn't necessarily mean he knew what they were doing."

That clarifies everything.

 

Gmail expands services and offers hints for the future October 6, 2004

 

ZDNet UK clearly have better sources of information than I do:

"Google seems set to create revenue streams beyond advertising, with the quiet release of four new enhancements to its Web-based Gmail service including hints about new pay-to-use services.

The hint comes with the release of a new automatic forwarding feature for Gmail, the company’s web-based email offering."

 

Wi-Fi Moves In October 6, 2004

 

ClickZ Stats are reporting a rapid growth in Wi-Fi usage within the home.

Opportunities anyone?

 

Piracy follow-up October 6, 2004

 

 

Piracy follow-up October 6, 2004

 

Following yesterday's report on how drastically a newly-released crack devastated one of our client's sales, the company involved have kindly let us use their actual sales data. Company and product names have of course been removed.

The chart below shows actual sales for the particular product, and I have marked where the cracks were actually identified, and where they were disabled.

Note that the cracks were not identified as soon as they were released. You can clearly see the release point.

The speed and the severity of the damage were horrific.

Each block on the X axis of the graph represents one day, so in literally hours of the cracks being released, sales plummeted. What is more worrying is that they remained low, until the cracks were disabled. Within hours of this, sales returned to normal.

 

Google Print: taking search offline October 7, 2004

 

Ars technica reporting:

"Google is launching a new service that performs the same function as Amazon's A9, namely, letting users search inside print books.

The new service, dubbed Google Print, is incorporated into Google search queries. When users search for many book titles, they get "book results," URLs that lead to book excerpts, at the top of the list of ordinary search results. The book excerpts will carry a link to buy the book from a choice of online book retailers. Google started testing the service last year."

While it's not overly new, it does appear that the service may be about to go live.

 

Web Industry Still Flies Blind October 7, 2004

 

Wired News write about the innacuracy of measuring web stats:

"The truth is it's difficult, if not impossible, for web publishers to know precisely how many people visit their sites. Web servers track IP addresses, not people. So if I have a PC at work and one at home and I read Wired News at each place, Wired's server counts this as two visits -- without being able to tell that it's just one person behind those two visits. Likewise, 100 people a month might use a PC at a library, university computer lab or cybercafe to visit Wired News, but our server would count only one IP address."

 

Snap Gets Into Search Game October 7, 2004

 

From ClickZ News:

"Idealab founder Bill Gross just unveiled the latest entry in the search arena: Snap.com.

"We built Snap to save you time. We think we can cut the time it takes to find what you're really looking for in half," said Gross in the site's blog. No stranger to paid search, Gross was an Overture co-founder.

The site, which launched Tuesday, is both a general search and a shopping engine. It returns general search results from LookSmart, Gigablast, the Open Directory project and Snap's own database of sites. Product search is driven by comparative shopping engine Smarter.com, founded by fellow Overture alumni. Advertisers wishing to promote specific products would do so through Smarter.com."

 

PageRank update taking place October 7, 2004

 

The last PageRank update was a good four months ago, so we can all (hopefully) breathe a sigh of relief that the latest update now appears to be underway.

In fact the HTML version of this Blog has gone from 0 to 6.

Temporary fluctuation? Let's hope not.

 

Calculate Your Conversion Rates October 8, 2004

 

From ClickZ Experts:

"Measuring site performance is vital. Yet many of us have trouble understanding exactly what should be measured. Obviously, an essential key performance indicator (KPI) for all sites is conversion rate. In addition to overall conversion rate, there are two others"

A little basic, but a good introduction.

 

US seeks to fine spyware makers October 8, 2004

 

From the BBC News site:

"The makers of programs that secretly spy on what people do with their home computer could soon face hefty fines.

US legislators have overwhelmingly backed a proposal to impose penalties on the creators of so-called "spyware"."

 

'Pure' outsourcing model falls from favor October 8, 2004

 

From InfoWorld:

"The purely offshore outsourcing model is out of favor, and Indian business process outsourcing (BPO) companies are finding that they need U.S. facilities and staff to run operations for their American clients."

 

Redirecting the search engine spiders October 8, 2004

 

From the Cre8asite forums, an interesting thread on how to handle the tricky issue of redirects.

 

The Keyword Tools Trap October 8, 2004

 

From SearchEngineGuide.com:

"When it comes to keyword selection, clients always want to optimize for the highest searched terms (according to keyword research tools) and those alone. It takes some convincing to get them to go after lower search volume, but more relevant phrases. It's become a regular part of the cycle with my clients, especially those who are learning about SEO and the process of optimizing a site."

 

Gaming helps traders score big-time October 11, 2004

 

From the BBC News website:

"Video game skills and a good poker face online are becoming essential job qualifications in the financial markets, with recruitment drives assessing potential star traders in online gaming exams.

This is especially true where electronic trading arcades have replaced traditional trading pits."

 

SANS Top 20 Vulnerabilities October 11, 2004

 

"The vast majority of worms and other successful cyber attacks are made possible by vulnerabilities in a small number of common operating system services. Attackers are opportunistic. They take the easiest and most convenient route and exploit the best-known flaws with the most effective and widely available attack tools. They count on organizations not fixing the problems, and they often attack indiscriminately, scanning the Internet for any vulnerable systems. The easy and destructive spread of worms, such as Blaster, Slammer, and Code Red, can be traced directly to exploitation of unpatched vulnerabilities.

Four years ago, the SANS Institute and the National Infrastructure Protection Center (NIPC) at the FBI released a document summarizing the Ten Most Critical Internet Security Vulnerabilities. Thousands of organizations used that list, and the expanded Top-20 lists that followed one, two, and three years later, to prioritize their efforts so they could close the most dangerous holes first. The vulnerable services that led to worms like Blaster, Slammer, and Code Red, as well as NIMDA worms - are on that list."

 

How key Microsoft legal emails 'autodestruct' October 11, 2004

 

From The Register:

"The latest court documents to be unsealed by Judge Frederick Motz in Burst.com's suit against Microsoft paint a picture of Microsoft document handling procedures which destroyed the very emails that were likely to be most relevant to several antitrust actions, Burst's included. According to Burst's lawyers Microsoft's status as "a defendant in major antitrust cases since at least 1995" means that it has a duty to preserve potentially relevant evidence. But "Microsoft adopted policies that, to put it mildly, encouraged document destruction from 1995 forward.""

Autodestructing emails are an interesting idea. Simultaneously worrying and exciting.

Product opportunity anyone?

 

Dodgy UK websites terminated October 11, 2004

 

IT-Analysis.com are reporting that eight UK websites have been closed down, mainly down to making claims that proved to be "too good to be true".

"A further 27 UK sites have been ordered to change the content on their sites while 40 are still under investigation by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT).

The clampdown follows an international sweep by 31 countries of hundreds of sites suspected of ripping off punters."

 

When it comes to advertising and public relations, one size doesn't fit all October 11, 2004

 

From Jacksonville.com:

"In nearly two decades in the advertising industry, Don Fibich has created a lot of different campaigns for a wide range of companies. And each ad campaign brings new challenges.

"Each brand is a little different -- or a lot different," said Fibich, who moved to Jacksonville in July as the new executive vice president and creative director for St. John & Partners Advertising & Public Relations.

"Your work should really reflect that. One size doesn't fit all.""

 

Kayak - online travel site October 11, 2004

 

Kayak is a new online travel site created by the founders of Expedia, Orbitz, and Travelocity. Their stated goal is to help consumers find and navigate the wealth of travel information available on the web.

These are three established companies, with an extremely long reach, who appear to have realised that their visions of the online travel industry have not been achieved.

From what I've seen so far, the idea is an interesting one, but the reality is less than exciting. Even taking into account that the site is still in beta, to my eyes it appears slow, clunky, and has little if anything to interest me. For now I'll stick with researching my holidays on Google and booking through Expedia.

New ideas have to offer more than just being new.

 

Not the best week for eBay October 12, 2004

 

The BBC News website are reporting how a 17 year old British boy made £45,000 (around US$ 80,000) on eBay by selling goods that didn't exist. Full article here.

Only hours later, and Ars Technica are reporting that PayPal has been hit by outages:

"Online payments giant PayPal has been up and down ever since a software update was rolled out last Thursday night. As a result, users are having difficulty logging in, sending payments, and withdrawing money via PayPal ATM cards. A spokesperson for eBay-owned PayPal said that they are currently attempting to get the service up and running."

 

Is Microsoft trustworthy yet? October 12, 2004

 

From InfoWorld:

"In October 2003, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer threw down the gauntlet. Reiterating the company’s commitment to the Trustworthy Computing initiative launched the previous year by Chairman and Chief Software Architect Bill Gates, Ballmer pledged to continue to enhance security in Windows and other Microsoft software. He outlined a three-pronged approach that included an improved patch-deployment process, a global education program, and new technologies to make systems more resistant to attack.

"Our goal is simple: Get our customers secure and keep them secure," Ballmer said in a statement.

But has Microsoft lived up to that challenge? One year after Ballmer made his pledge, what’s really changed?"

 

'Pure' outsourcing model falls from favor October 12, 2004

 

InfoWorld are also running an article claiming that Indian BPO companies are finding that they need US staff to run their operations.

"The purely offshore outsourcing model is out of favor, and Indian business process outsourcing (BPO) companies are finding that they need U.S. facilities and staff to run operations for their American clients."

 

Anonymous blogging interviews October 12, 2004

 

The UK based Guardian Unlimited are running the second of their "anonymous blogging" interviews, where people openly expose the secrets of their industries and professions.

For as long as there has been private information, there have been people willing to leak it, so the concept is nothing new. But the new medium provides a whole new level of disclosure opportunities.

Companies, private individuals and employees from all over the world can share their knowledge and inside information with ease. And with a few basic precautions, the chance of being caught is almost zero.

It's not about a new medium, it's about a new age of information.

 

Second peek at MSN's new search technology October 12, 2004

 

"What do we have under the hood? Our new algorithmic search engine with a few more features and a bigger index than last time you visited this site. We used your comments to make it better so give it a spin."

 

SEO Your PDF's October 12, 2004

 

SearchEngineGuide.com are running an article on how to make sure that your PDF files are optimised for the search engines.

 

Blogging for Dollars October 13, 2004

 

The Small Business Software site is running an article on the increase in Blogging for money:

"Blogging for dollars might sound like the latest game show or some new drinking game, but it's the latest craze to hit the Internet. Bloggers began blogging for a number of reasons, but as the blog movement has increased in popularity, they have found ways to monetize their blogs and are seeing their commitment pay off."

 

Froogle UK - them right clever Google folk! October 13, 2004

 

Google have done what Google do best, and expanded. This time into the UK, with the Froogle UK site.

I think that the UK have a fairly odd relationship with the web. We use it, but in general, we just don't get it.

It's good to see that Google have decided that we're worth investing in anyway.

 

FTC Files First Spyware Suit October 13, 2004

 

DMNews.com are reporting that the FTC have filed their first spyware case:

"The FTC filed suit last week in U.S. District Court in New Hampshire against Sanford Wallace and his company, Seismic Entertainment Productions, alleging that consumers were tricked into downloading software that would alter their home page, launch a barrage of pop-up ads and take over their browser's search function."

 

Yahoo! Profits Soar from Ads, Google Stake October 13, 2004

 

From ClickZ News:

"Yahoo! reported profits for the third quarter that were nearly quadrupled from the year earlier, posting a net income of $253 million for the quarter, compared with $65 million for the same period last year."

 

Exit page statistics discussion October 13, 2004

 

A thread on the Cre8asite forums is discussing the issue of exit stats; the norms, reasons and realities.

 

6 figures in 2 different currencies October 13, 2004

 

Within the Shareware community, a lot of people are talking about an article on FreelanceWriting.com. "What does it REALLY take to make 6-Figures as a service professional?"

The author of the article lists the top 50 items that she thinks are required to make $100,000 or more in revenue.

A lot of people, blogs and discussions are linking to the list. Yet for me, as a moderately cynical Brit, I immediately dismissed 30 out of 50 as utterly meaningless.

I'm a firm believer that the industry needs more professionalism and basic business know-how, but the list isn't about business.

To me, it's little more than a "world is my oyster" collection of platitudes.

Some examples:

"Take time to reflect on the day every evening for at least 30 to 60 minutes."

"Create a vision before getting out of bed every morning on how you see the day progressing. See clients coming to you, see meetings going perfect, see your planning, etc"

These seem to contradict with:

"Spending your energy talking about X instead of taking action on it."

I don't believe in ideas like "Dress so that you feel comfortable and powerful with your energy. It radiates and attracts." But I suppose that if it works for you, then why not go for it?

But at the end of the day, come on. The best way to make good money is by having a great idea, the means to implement it, a system to support and develop it, and the marketing skills to sell, polish and expand it.

 

The website as a sales tool October 13, 2004

 

As part of my presentation to ISDEF on developing the website as a sales tool, I included a series of "real life example" of good and bad websites.

This proved to be extremely popular, and I've had numerous requests for copies of this information. You can download the PowerPoint Presentation from our website (URL below) but I have to warn you that the version that's up there is sanitised! For political reasons, all the good and bad websites have been removed.

However I've decided to focus on this issue over the next few weeks. Watch this space for what makes a good or bad website, what works and what doesn't, and how to make sure that your content is as optimised/optimized for the visitors as the search engine spiders.

 

Apple profits jump on iPod demand October 14, 2004

 

From the BBC News website:

"Apple Computer has reported a 50% jump in fourth-quarter profits, driven by demand for its iPod music player.

Profits in the three months ending 25 September were $106m (£59m), from $44m a year ago while sales totalled $2.4bn, the highest level for nine years."

 

PayPal says service restored October 14, 2004

 

From the UK based PC Advisor:

"Four days after its online payment website was slowed and only intermittently available to users because of a coding problem, PayPal.com began recovering on Tuesday night and was once again available to its customers.

In an update on the service problems posted on its site early on Wednesday morning, San Jose-based PayPal, which is owned by online auction vendor EBay said its technicians had finally solved the problem. The exact nature of the repair wasn't announced."

 

Happy birthday Netscape October 14, 2004

 

The first version of Netscape was launched on October 13th, 1994.

 

Google hiring from India October 14, 2004

 

From The Mercury News:

"Google Inc. founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin are touring India, where they plan to hire white-collar workers in engineering, online sales and support, news reports said Wednesday.

``We are committed to grow faster in India and we see that there is a huge potential,'' the Financial Express newspaper quoted Page as saying. He declined to give details of investment plans or the number of people to be hired in India."

 

AOL Develops Desktop Search October 14, 2004

 

More signs that the battle of the search engines is being fought through the desktop. From eWeek.com:

"According to sources familiar with testing, America Online Inc. is developing its own desktop search technology that will initially be added to the AOL Browser beta as early as the end of this week.

AOL's entry into the space pits it directly against rival Microsoft Corp., which has designs for a desktop search engine of its own."

 

Websites that sell - background October 14, 2004

 

Over the years, our company has had the pleasure of working with more than 300 companies from all over the world. We've also worked with a huge range of different applications. Consumer software, business applications, network tools, digital utilities, games, security, audio, database, charting; you name it, we've probably worked with it.

One thing they all had in common is that they sell their software through their website/s.

Our experience has been that no matter how well optimised a website may be, there is always room for improvement.

This series aims to look at some of the factors involved in what makes a website a good sales tool, some of the issues that you might come across, and how best to deal with them.

 

Websites that sell - product, company and website/s October 14, 2004

 

Scenario 1: Your company only sells one product. Should the website concentrate solely on the product, or also on the company?

Unless your company is internationally renowned, most customers won't be buying your company name. They'll be buying your product.

As a buyer, I don't care what your goals may be. Nor do I care about the rationale behind your software design. I just care about the software solutions that you sell.

However the problem with a one-product company is that if it sells, the product range will inevitably grow. So you need to make sure that your website can grow accordingly.

Scenario 2: Your product range is expanding. Should you split the products into separate websites, or try and keep them all on one website?

One company that we work with saw their product range expand from three to seven applications in less than eighteen months. The problem was that their main page was starting to get out of hand.

Their approach was to separate the consumer applications from the business software, and give each group their own separate website.

It worked very well.

But there are other options.

Two of the companies that we work with offer a growing range of products, but manage to keep everything contained in one website.

The first - www.iolo.com - sell five different products through their main website. What's particularly impressive is that on the main page, they manage to communicate what each product is called, what each one does, and clearly link to further information. It's a well executed approach.

The second example - www.paessler.com - adopted a slightly different approach. They grouped their six applications under four different categories, and under each, offered the name of each application, a summary of what the product does, some basic information, and links to download, buy and more information. It's also a slick approach.

Whatever strategy you adopt, always bear in mind that your product range is almost certain to expand with time. The ability to easily expand should never be overlooked.

 

Word number 18987 October 15, 2004

 

WordCount is an artistic experiment in the way we use language. It presents the 86,800 most frequently used English words, ranked in order of commonality.

Each word is scaled to reflect its frequency relative to the words that precede and follow it, giving a visual barometer of relevance. The larger the word, the more we use it. The smaller the word, the more uncommon it is.

 

Google launch desktop software beta October 15, 2004

 

I've been somewhat obsessive about the "battle of the desktop" over the last few months. So it was with a mix of relief and smug pride that I heard that Google have just released a beta of their much-anticipated desktop tool.

The free download can work with email from Outlook 2000+, OE 5+, and can handle files in TXT, HTML, DOC, XLS and PPT formats. Plus it can search chats from AOL 7+ and AOL Instant Messenger 5+, and it can even search web pages too!

 

Websites that sell - judging by appearance October 15, 2004

 

I'm a firm believer that when a person arrives at your website, you have no more than a few seconds (at most) to engage their attention.

To sell online, you have to accept that the very nature of online browsing means that the visitor's finger is always poised on their mouse. Chances are they're no more than two clicks away from your competition.

So what are some of the factors involved in making sure that you clear the initial hurdle?

(1) The initial impression is critical.

Take a look at Adobe's website at www.adobe.com, and the second you arrive, you know that this is a professional company.

The first impression is clean, crisp and well designed. And it goes without saying that first impressions count.

For that matter, take a proper look at Microsoft's main website at www.microsoft.com. Ask yourself whether it looks amateur, home made and low budget, or whether it looks well-designed and professional. What impression is your website creating?

Rightly or wrongly, the first impression created by your website will go a long way. Make sure that it's the right one.

(2) Pushing the benefits.

One of the more common website mistakes made by software companies is concentrating on features. Features don't sell software. Benefits do.

Take a quick look at Ulead's site at www.ulead.com, and you can't miss their "featured products". You can see the names of the four apps, and a very short description of what it does. No mention of formats, import abilities, processing capabilities or the number of layers and effects the software can handle. It's all about "Professional Image Editing Made Easy". This is what sells software.

(3) Keep it visual.

The web is a very visual medium. And while text, copy, language and wording are critical, the importance of good imagery should never be overlooked.

If you take a look at the NotePage site at www.notepager.com, you'll see the following structure:

Product name, very short description.

Screenshot.

Buttons to more info, download and buy now.

More detailed description.

The screenshots aren't big enough to show any real detail, but they let you see that the software looks clean, neat, modern and professional. It works well.

And this clarity continues with the well placed and spaced buttons. Whatever the visitor wants, they'll find it easy to find.

(4) Structure.

Chances are that your website has a fair number of pages, and that this number will continue to grow with time.

The structure of the website is therefore of critical importance. The whole idea of having content is so that people will read it. If they can't find it, this will never happen.

One of the more common mistakes that I see is a company trying to squeeze an ever-increasing number of pages into their original site structure. It doesn't work, and they're missing the opportunity to share good content with their visitors.

As the site content grows, the site structure must adapt and develop. It's a lot of work, but there's simply no choice.

Once you've created the right initial impression, engaged their attention with the benefits that they're looking for, assisted with the visual information they require and pointed them towards the content within your site, then the real work begins. More of that later.

 

More Google news October 18, 2004

 

InternetNews.com are reporting on Google's New Threat To Microsoft:

"Microsoft has warned that it's preparing a Google killer in the form of a better search tool. But while MSN fine-tunes its algorithms, Google has struck at the heart of Windows with a beta release tool to search PC desktops."

Full article here.

While Silicon.com are fueling the speculation that Google may be working on an IM product:

"Google watchers abuzz about the search darling's new desktop tool are already betting on its next product: instant chat.

Such speculation isn't new but it's gained legs as some intriguing facts have come to light this week. First, although few people seem to realise it, Google already owns an instant-messaging (IM) client called Hello that it picked up this summer with its acquisition of photo-sharing service Picasa.

Meanwhile, code uncovered in the Google Desktop Search tool released on Tuesday suggests that the company may have broader plans to integrate IM into its growing list of products."

More here.

 

Websites that sell - defining your goals October 18, 2004

 

One of the more important factors to take into account when designing your website involves defining your goals. It sounds obvious, yet a surprisingly large number of software companies fail to do exactly that.

You have the product. You have the website. So what is their to define? Right? Wrong.

The fact is that your website could be used for any number of quite different purposes. It may be a brochure, it may be to establish a corporate presence, a sales tool, an online store, PR tool, marketing tool, support forum, information exchange and more.

But the fact is that if you don't clearly define what you hope to achieve with your website, then you stand little chance of doing so.

For many software companies, the primary goals of their website will be to pull in people interested in their software, give them the information they're looking for, showcase the software and sell the product.

But running blindly without a plan reduces these ideas to mere words.

If the above description fits your own goals, then you need a strategy for each item.

Pulling in the visitors.

How are you going to achieve this?

Advertising? If so then where? And how much are you prepared to spend?

Search engines? Is your website optimised/optimized for the engines? Or is this something that you've either been meaning to get round to for the last few years, or made a half-hearted attempt yourself a few years ago?

How will you evaluate the success of these activities?

Feeding information.

How are you doing this?

Does it work? Could it be improved?

What are you using to measure your success rates?

What percentage of visitors are leaving your website without downloading or purchasing? Why?

Showcasing your software.

Do your main product pages work?

How are you deciding this?

Are people reading your content?

Which pages are attracting their attention?

How long do they spend there, and why?

What do they do next? Why?

Selling the solution.

What are your ratios: visitors:downloads:sales?

Are you happy with this?

Are you primarily pushing your downloads or sales?

How are you encouraging these?

Does every main page on your website push the trial download?

Do you use buttons or text links?

Where are these located? Are they working?

Are you seeing the same behavioural patterns on all the pages?

Only after defining your goals can you hope to drill down to these issues. Without clearly defined and actionable items, your website can never be anything other than an afterthought.

 

PC shipment growth misses forecast October 19, 2004

 

From ElectricNews.net:

"Though the global market for personal computers continued to expand in the third quarter, shipment levels were not as strong as expected.

In its quarterly update on the PC business, research outfit Gartner said that global PC shipments rose by 9.7 percent in the three months to September 2004 compared to a year ago, slightly behind what the company had been predicting. It blamed the weaker-than-expected shipment levels on the US market, where growth amounted to just 5 percent versus an 8 percent forecast. Other regions saw sales meet forecasts."

 

Free Website Content - Content Syndication October 19, 2004

 

Small Business Software are running an interesting article on content syndication:

"New websites are being launched daily. In order to compete, webmasters need to find alternative ways of producing themed websites. Highly focused articles are often sought by webmasters. Why? Because content on the web is still king! In order to attract search engines and site visitors, webmasters rely heavily on providing new, innovative and fresh content. If the web site content is rich, visitors will come. If the website content is updated regularly, visitors will return. When evaluating a website's traffic it is easy to see that the low cost of syndicated content can increase a website's value. Sites that contain multiple pages related to a specific topic increase the likelihood of being 'found' when a variety of search phrases are used for that topic."

 

Websites that sell - benefits and benefits alone October 19, 2004

 

As mentioned in the judging by appearance posting, one of the software company's more common mistakes is to focus on features. Features are for the more technical customers who have already decided that they want the software. But features don't sell.

Finding examples is far from difficult. Take a hypothetical image viewer for example, and you might see the following:

Handles more than 250 file formats!

Extensive output and conversion capabilities!

Thumbnail and web-ready HTML export wizard!

CD archiving with built-in file viewer!

All of the above are genuinely useful, yet are little more than a series of features that may or may not mean something (or anything) to the visitor reading them.

If you concentrate more on what the software can do for them, why they need it, why it can help them, how it can save them time, then you're in with a chance.

So the above four features could be put changed as follows:

FEATURE: Handles more than 250 file formats!

BENEFIT: No more unknown file types! View every attachment you receive by email, and every file on your hard drive.

FEATURE: Extensive output and conversion capabilities!

BENEFIT: Share your digital images and documents with everyone, in a format that they can read!

FEATURE: Thumbnail and web-ready HTML export wizard!

BENEFIT: Put your photos online for everyone to see. No technical experience required!

FEATURE: CD archiving with built-in file viewer!

BENEFIT: Burn your pictures, files and memories to CD with ease. Whether sending them to friends and family or archiving them for backup purposes, product X makes the process quick, easy and painless.

A real life example. I recently went looking for a new software firewall, and was struck by how slick a job most of the main companies are now doing with this:

Kerio Personal Firewall: http://www.kerio.com/kpf_home.html

Smart, easy-to-use personal security technology that fully protects personal computers against hackers and internal misuse.

ZoneAlarm: http://www.zonelabs.com/store/content/home.jsp

Protects against hackers, viruses, worms, identity theft, security breaches via instant messaging "holes," access to offensive Web content, and more-all in one easy-to-use, yet powerful package.

Agnitum: http://www.agnitum.com

Keep Your Files out of Hacker Hands

With hacker attacks, data theft and privacy violations rampant on the Internet you need a comprehensive solution to safeguard your PC. With Outpost Firewall Pro, you get award-winning firewall software that takes care of your online security needs by...

Norton Personal Firewall: http://www.symantec.com/sabu/nis/npf/

Keeps personal data in and hackers out

Symantec's Norton Personal Firewall 2005 keeps personal data in and hackers out. Right out of the box, it makes your PC invisible on the Internet so that hackers can't find it. The program's intelligent intrusion prevention technology blocks suspicious Internet traffic. And easy-to-use privacy controls prevent personal information from being sent out without your knowledge.

Very slick. Not a feature to be seen.

 

Dell Home coupon offers insane savings October 20, 2004

 

From ars technica:

"Coincidence or not, the hot topic in IRC today is not the new iBooks, but rather a Dell coupon that anyone can use to get a whopping $750 off certain Inspiron Laptops costing at least $1500. That's right. You can get a $1,500 laptop for half price."

The theory is that coupons like this are used for special deals or for inventory cleaning.

 

Ads in video games set to rise October 20, 2004

 

From the BBC News website:

"Advertising in video games is a lucrative playing ground for companies hoping to reach a captive audience who spend hours in front of titles.

After a year of business, one UK company has announced it has reached more than four million people through its strategy of product placement in the booming games marketplace."

 

LookSmart Taps 24/7 Exec as CEO October 20, 2004

 

From DMNews.com:

"LookSmart named 24/7 Real Media executive David Hills as its new CEO yesterday.

LookSmart has struggled to remake its business after losing its deal to provide paid listings to Microsoft's MSN a year ago. The loss of MSN was a major setback for LookSmart, which derived more than two-thirds of its sales from the deal. Smith replaced CEO Jason Kellerman in January."

Is there life in LookSmart yet?

 

AOL Europe Drops Overture for Google AdWords October 20, 2004

 

From the Search Engine News Journal:

"AOL Europe and Google today jointly announced a new multi-year agreement that will provide users of the AOL European services with targeted advertising from Google’s AdWords advertisers.

What does this mean? It means when AOL Europe users do searches on AOL Europe, Google Adwords ads will be shown with relevant advertising to those search results."

So what does it really mean? Another nail in Overture's slowly closing coffin.

 

The Googlebot Assault Continues October 20, 2004

 

WebProNews:

"Now that the long-awaited PR update has come and gone, there are reports of the Google's indexing spider continuing to perform comprehensive site scans. Recently, WebProNews ran an article discussing these types of scans and the majority of the speculation pointed towards the upcoming PR update. Now that this quarter's update is complete, why is the Googlebot continuing to bombard sites?"

 

Software suppliers sign up to code of practice October 20, 2004

 

From ComputerWeekly.com:

"More than 80 business software suppliers, including Microsoft and Sage, have agreed to a code of practice to guarantee high standards for their products.

The wide-ranging code of practice from the Business Application Software Developers Association (Basda) sets standards for the development and supply of business applications.

The code covers product development, testing, quality assurance, documentation and software support. Thorny issues such as upgrade paths, minimum notice for product withdrawal and testing are also covered by the code."

 

The ultimate keyword phrase generator - with a discount! October 20, 2004

 

Boxer Software have released a tool that may be of interest to anyone working with Google AdWords, Overture and other PPC services.

"Imagine a tool that would quickly create keyword phrases containing all possible combinations of your input keyword lists. Hundreds--even thousands--of keyword phrases. Phrases that haven't been bid on by your competitors. Phrases that are still available for the minimum bid price. Phrases that will bring targeted traffic to your website.

We've written just such a tool. It's called The Permutator."

I've had a quick look at the tool, and it's actually very useful.

The good news is that Boxer Software have kindly offered a discount to readers of this blog; from $49.99 to $39.99.

Details at the following URL:

http://www.boxersoftware.com/thepermutator4less.htm.

 

Websites that don't sell - getting it wrong pt I October 20, 2004

 

I'm feeling somewhat cynical today, so will try to keep this brief.

Take a look at the following website:

http://www.firebrand.com/

See if you can count the number of mistakes that they make.

Simply by entering the URL into the browser, I can spot the following:

(1) An introduction that forces me to sit through "cool stuff" for around 15 seconds. During which time I don't know what the company is or does. Just that it involves marketing, and they apparently do it badly.

(2) A refresh to the next page. Without looking at the code, I guarantee that this is using a META refresh. Bad idea.

(3) The main content page looks very odd at my resolution. Aside from the fact that less than a quarter of my screen contains anything, the main focus of the page seems to be a dictionary definition of the word firebrand. That was cool in the 90s.

(4) Too much spin, not enough content. Read the content under "Marketing Strategy". See if you can read the whole sentence without having to re-read it.

(5) Meaningless nav icons on the left hand side.

(6) They list their address and phone number, but is this US based? Isn't this the World Wide Web?

(7) They're using frames. Enough said.

(8) Aside from the contact info at the bottom of the page, the content contains no text. None. It's all images. And they're not even using ALT tags.

 

Hunt for Pirates October 21, 2004

 

The BBC News website are reporting that the "makers of the best-selling Grand Theft Auto games are "aggressively pursuing" the pirates who leaked a copy of the latest version of the game."

Full story here.

This comes at the same time that the long-awaited trial of the DrinkOrDie international piracy ring begins at London's Old Bailey.

Full story here.

And only yesterday, the BBC were reporting that Microsoft were "aggressively pursuing the source" of the leaked copies of Halo 2.

Full story here.

 

Microsoft: 106 Million SP2 Copies Distributed October 21, 2004

 

From Microsoft Watch:

"According to Microsoft, there have been 106 million copies of Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2) distributed since August 6. The vast majority of these, 90 million, were pushed to users via Automatic Update/Windows Update."

 

Google's first results due October 21, 2004

 

From CNET:

"Google is set to release its first results as a public company after the close of business on Thursday, and they are expected to be good, though some analysts caution that Google stock is overpriced."

 

Google forecasts leaked October 21, 2004

 

As the world awaits Google's first quarterly report, the San Francisco Chronicle are reporting a leaked documents shows that the company expects to add 372,000 new advertising accounts over the next four years.

"Google predicted that the number of advertiser accounts will jump from 280,000 this year to 378,000 in 2005, according to the documents. From 2004 to 2008, the number of accounts is expected to more than double to 652,050.

Google expects its advertiser accounts to grow 35 percent between 2004 and 2005, according to the internal documents. However, Google estimates that the growth rate will decline to 15 percent between 2007 and 2008."

 

Click fraud - no big deal October 21, 2004

 

From Traffick.com:

"It's official: click fraud is now a "scourge". Of course it exists, but the extent of the problem is being blown out of proportion. It's easy to see why. When you're busy building campaigns, you don't have time to fixate on issues like this. You take care of a lot of annoying problems and roadblocks in the process of building something that works. When it's your job to write about business, on the other hand, you can skim the surface and refer generally to trends, unwittingly magnifying their importance to the casual observer."

The basis of the article seems to be that click fraud is an over-rated issue. The author points to the piles of free newspapers you see in Lobbies and airports, and the fact that companies advertising on TV have no idea whether viewers are actually watching them or not.

The "anonymous" comment underneath the article is also well worth a read.

 

How to lose a happy customer October 21, 2004

 

I've been a loyal user of Act! for more years than I can count.

For keeping track of clients, companies, the work that we do, sales leads, contact information and pretty much anyone I work with, it's invaluable. And there's no doubt that it makes very easy work of some very time consuming tasks. All in all, a great application.

So I decided (yesterday) to upgrade to their new 2005 version.

After going to their website, clicking on the link to upgrade, and choosing some basic options, I was then shown an error, and taken to page that didn't have the version I wanted. These things happen.

Finding their phone number was easy enough, and in no time at all, I was reading out my credit card details to the salesperson. Once finished, he told me that I'd receive my download details within two hours by email.

Two hours later I called them back, explained the problem, and after listening to an unreasonable amount of hold music, was told that there'd been a problem.

The problem was that they couldn't sell the 2005 version outside the US. This was despite the fact that I'd given my contact details and billing address for the credit card. This was also despite the fact that I wanted the downloadable version only. This was also despite the fact that I'd purchased my original version online, and then subsequently upgraded to a newer version online.

"Not possible" according to the salesperson. "In fact you won't even be able to download the trial version from our website", she pointed out. This was despite the fact that I was downloading the trial version from their website at the time. I don't think she believed me.

I tried to explain my frustration, and talk a little sense into her, but if you've ever spent time banging your head against a particularly resilient wall, you'll know where I'm coming from. It just wasn't happening. When I tried to escalate the issue, I was assured that the matter was being dealt with, but they wouldn't even given me the name of the salesperson I'd dealt with.

So I paid for something I couldn't get. A refund was paid, but that's not the point.

I waited two hours, only to be told that it wasn't possible to purchase in this way. Note that I had to contact them. I was also told that I could never have bought the software online, despite having done so. And when I tried to complain, I was told that I couldn't. The matter was being dealt with.

The thing that really pees me off is that I can't do a thing about it. I'd love to walk away from Act! and never use it again, but the software is too good. It's just a shame that the company choose to treat their customers in this way.

It's also a shame that such an established company don't know what the first two letters in WWW stand for.

As a follow-up, I did then contact the main UK distributor. A version is on the way in the mail, and an invoice will be included. I'll also get 30 days to change my mind and send it back.

It's good to know that some companies still know how to keep their customers happy.

 

Google's sales double; profits surge October 22, 2004

 

From DMNews:

"Google's third-quarter revenue more than doubled from the same period a year earlier, the company said yesterday.

The search giant reported sales of $503 million -- excluding the $302.9 million it paid to partners that run its search listings -- more than double the $250.4 million from the year-ago period. Google earned net income of $125 million, excluding the one-time charge of $119 million it paid Yahoo to settle a patent dispute. Including the Yahoo charge, Google's net income was $52 million compared with $20.4 million a year earlier.

"While some have expressed concern about our reliance on online advertising, we believe this market is large and expanding," said Larry Page, one of the company's founders and its president of products."

 

Cautious on Microsoft October 22, 2004

 

From TheStreet.com:

"Investors remained cautiou