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About the Author:

Adrian Lee is a 20 year veteran in the retail industry, having worked with the largest retail group in his state. Currently, he provides website and internet marketing services to local businesses in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. He is also a website publisher, www.aboutsabah.com and www.dotcommembership.com are just some of his websites.

Is Your Website’s Navigation As Intuitive As It Ought to Be?

No Comments »Written on February 5th, 2012 by adrian
Categories: Website
Tags: website navigation, website tips

Is Your Website's Navigation As Intuitive As It Ought to Be?

By Lynette Chandler

In "Don't Make Me Think", Steve Krug starts the book off by stating the most important thing to make sure a web site is easy to use is... not to make people think.

While there are many areas where a website can be structured to create a great user experience, navigation plays a crucial role and rightly so.

Review these elements and see if you're on the right path to a better navigation.

1. Placement

People expect navigation links to be on the top or running down the side of the page. They can accept a little variation like having the navigation above, to the side or under your logo. They can even accept it being a combo of both top and side navigation especially if you have a lot of different categories or sub-topics. Just don't make people hunt around for it or play hide and seek with images to get to it.

Part of placement is being able to recognize navigational links. Watch that it doesn't blend so well into your design that people have to wonder if those are navigational links.

2. Constancy

Once people see and use your navigation, they are going to expect it will be in the same place with similar design and options. Small changes like having a new sub-navigation in each category are OK.

However, don't move it entirely or completely change the look and feel of the navigation from page to page or section to section.

3. Service Links

Other things people expect are links to Help, Cart, About, Contact, Login, Home. Give it to them. Up top, clear and visible.

Once, we had a site design where the "Support" links is at the bottom. We'd get people telling us they can't find a way to contact us or get help because there were no support links on the site. They were there of course but people simply didn't see it. Needless to say we switched and now all our Service Links are the top, clearly defined.

4. Where Am I?

Good navigation should in some way communicate where visitors are in your site. This gives people some sense of direction.

You can do this in a variety of different ways using breadcrumbs, different colors, bullets, icons and clever design that make your navigation tab appear to pop out on the current page or category.

5. Search

While this is not part of a navigation menu - although it could be. Some visitors are search happy and would almost always search first navigate later. Also, when they still can't find what they want using your navigation, the search option for them to fall back on.

If your navigation menu has room for it, integrate search in it. Otherwise, find a high visibility spot for it.

Finally, don't forget to listen to what people are telling you (or complaining about). If people can't find what they are looking for on a regular basis, something is wrong.

Founder of TechBasedMarketing, Lynette Chandler helps small business owners use technology with an eye on marketing. Find her at http://TechBasedMarketing.com and grab your list of "180 Free Tools To Build Your Business" while you're there.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Lynette_Chandler
http://EzineArticles.com/?Is-Your-Websites-Navigation-As-Intuitive-As-It-Ought-to-Be?&id=6810935

Best Blog Posts To Start 2012

No Comments »Written on January 17th, 2012 by adrian
Categories: Business
Tags: blogging, business blogging, Entrepreneurship

Reading These Blog Posts Is A Good Way To Start 2012

I came across these 2 blog posts in LinkedIn, and it illustrates why blogs are such an important communication channel. Blogs deliver information on time and in easily digestible chunks. Any executive can spend 5 minutes to read a blog post to jump start his day.

Sadly, reading paperback books these days are fast becoming a luxury. It is still important to read but I find that day to day reading are better surf online. Information is coming out fast and furious, and with the internet we can get exactly what we are looking for.

This is precisely why most business organizations should publish their own blog. It is the fastest and most cost effective way to get their information out to their market. Blogging is not just for individuals and it is time business owners realize that. It is an effective communication channel.

What's an Entrepreneur? The Best Answer Ever On A Blog Post

I read this on Inc.com and entrepreneurship has it's place in any organization. That was how we grew a $10 million dollar business into a $175 million dollar business. Resources are never enough, no matter how large your company is and if the key people in your organization are just there to collect a pay-check, it will not be long before everyone loses their pay-check.

Entrepreneurship is the pursuit of opportunity without regard to resources currently controlled. - Professor Howard Stevenson, Harvard Business School

The full post can be found here, What's an Entrepreneur? The Best Answer Ever. It only takes 5 minutes to read and it is 5 minutes well spent.

Every time you want to make any important decision, there are two possible courses of action. You can look at the array of choices that present themselves, pick the best available option and try to make it fit. Or, you can do what the true entrepreneur does: Figure out the best conceivable option and then make it available. - Jon Burgstone, Breakthrough Entrepreneurship

Mark Cuban's 12 Rules for Startups - Blog Post

I have never heard of Mark Cuban before, all I know at the moment is that he is a billionaire tech entrepreneur. He lists 12 rules for start-ups for those founding the companies and also for those who are considering going to work for them.

Whether you agree with his views or not, it makes for an interesting read. Read the blog post here, Mark Cuban's 12 Rules for Startups.

Utah Web Design-Salt Lake City SEO

No Comments »Written on January 3rd, 2012 by adrian
Categories: Online Marketing
Tags: SEO, web design

Website Design by a Utah Web Design Firm

Utah Web Design, Warner Data Solutions

Warner Data Solutions is a Utah web design company in Salt Lake City, that offers custom programming and SEO work. They specialize in quality web design that is affordable and done on time.

Not only do Warner Data's website designs look great, they are also functional and search engine friendly. Unlike other companies, Warner Data is a full service solution provider. They provide SEO and internet marketing services for their clients, as well as web hosting.

Warner Data Solutions LLC is a BBB Accredited Business.

Utah Web Design In Salt Lake City

Warner Data offers web design and web hosting with servers located in Salt Lake City. Perfect solution for local companies wanting to offer fast reliable websites to clients in Utah and the western US. They offer a complete solution for the needs of small and medium sized businesses.

Your website is where your business resides, it is your online sales channel. It is important to practice good design principles to make sure your site reaches out to the maximum number of visitors and reach as many people as possible.

Utah Web Design makes sure your website look great, are functional and search engine friendly.

Salt Lake City, Utah SEO Firm

There is no point in building a website unless there are visitors coming in. A major source of traffic for most sites on the Internet is search engines like Google and Yahoo. So, your website has to be found on the search engines, especially if for your local market.

Warner Data Solutions works with local clients in Utah and help rank their clients' websites on the search engines. They offer Search Engine Optimization (SEO) packages for their clients:

REPUTATION MANAGEMENT
QUICK START SEO PACKAGE
LOCAL SEO
REGIONAL SEO
NATIONAL SEO

Utah Web Design and Salt Lake City SEO Firm

It is no longer a question of, "Should your business have a website?". Prospective customers are searching online whenever they need a service or a product. Not just in United States, this is happening world wide. Savvy business owners know they have to go where their prospects are. I can pretty much guarantee that if you do not have a internet presence, your competitors will.

The majority of my clients are local and if you know your SEO, you can get them ranked on the first page of Google. This is the name of the game for local businesses - outranking your competition on the search engines for your keywords.

So if you are in Utah or Western US, you might want to give this Utah Web Design and Salt Lake City SEO Firm a call. Your website will be tailored with your goals in mind, affordable and done on time. Their number is 1 877 664 0220.

Property for Sale In Vancouver

1 Comment »Written on December 16th, 2011 by adrian
Categories: Business
Tags: real estate, vancouver, vancouver realtor

Looking For Property For Sale In Vancouver?

I admit I love real estate and over the years I have bought some properties that generates monthly cash-flow for me. My goal is to eventually leverage the properties I hold into a dream home for my family. Like all things in life, everyday can bring you one step closer to your goals if you do the things you ought to be doing.

Unlike any other investments, real estate is one that increases in value as time goes by. The most important thing in buying property is understanding the rules of the game. It doesn't matter if you are looking at it as an investment or buying a dream home for you and your family. You need to understand the law and your obligations, as well as the finances of the investment.

Having A Vancouver Realtor On Your Side

I always suggest working with a professional whenever you can. In this instance, I found Kevin Frank's website. He is a Vancouver realtor living and working in Vancouver, specifically West Side Vancouver, that means he understands the property in that area. In addition to knowing the area well, he has garnered many positive testimonials from his clients.

Last year my husband was transferred unexpectedly to the US so we needed to sell our home in Vancouver very quickly in what was at the time a flat market. There had been NO other comparable sales in our area within 6 months. ??Kevin really stepped up to the plate and helped us sell our home within 1 month and we even got very very close to our asking price! What more can you ask for from a Real Estate agent?! - Claudia

For three years now, Kevin has represented us in numerous real estate transactions. He always listens very closely to our needs and he quickly understands what our priorities are. Kevin has worked extraordinarily hard in both purchasing and selling our homes. He never tires exploring new avenues. We love his clean down-to-earth business ethics and genuine willingness to give it his best at all times. We greatly appreciate the extra effort Kevin has put in on our behalf in this challenging market. We thank him for that! - Uwe and Esther

Whether you are in the market to buy or sell a property in Vancouver, Kevin Frank is a Vancouver realtor who works on your behalf to close the deal. It is finding realtors who can commit their time and effort to your property that makes the difference between closing a sale or coming up empty.

Property For Sale Vancouver Website

Kevin Frank runs his website at www.kevinfrank.ca, where you can find property listings for sale in Vancouver and many useful tips on his blog. It does give a sense of the realtor who you might chose to work with if you are in Vancouver. More importantly, you can read the testimonials of clients who he has worked with.

It also serves to show how important a website can be for your business, for a Vancouver realtor and realtors worldwide. A website that describes what you do and shows properties listings.

If you are in the real estate market or looking for property for sale Vancouver, you should visit his website.

Develop a Social Media Plan

No Comments »Written on November 30th, 2011 by adrian
Categories: Social Marketing
Tags: Social Media

Presentation on Develop a Social Media Plan

Developing a Social Media Plan

View more presentations from ifPeople

This presentation shows you the steps to develop a social media plan in a concise and easy to understand manner. It first defines what is social media. Social media is a conversation that takes place online. It is not traditional marketing nor is it advertising.

To quote a slide from the presentation, social media is:

Consumer driven
Transparent
Engaging
Inclusive
Sincere

How To Develop a Social Media Plan

First,

Is it the right place to launch your message?
Are they your intended market?
Can you communicate your core mission?
What is not working?

Second, listen to the conversation before jumping in. Are there organization like yours that are there? Has anyone mentioned your brand or business? Once you have a better understanding of what is being said about you or not at all, you will have a clearer idea of what communities and groups to join.

The Steps To Develop a Social Media Plan

Listen to yourself
Listen to others
Create personas
Map your assets
Define your goals
Clarify your message
Select channels
Join the conversation
Listen and re-invent

Third, create a persona to identify the traits of your intended market. When you know their personalities, traits and behavior, it will help you develop the scope and size of your social media plan.

Fourth, allocate the resources to dedicate to social media. This is deployment of personnel, time and content.

Fifth, define your goals and know what you want to achieve. It is a goal just the same as any business goals. What is the action you want them to take? What metrics go on the score-card?

Raise brand awareness
Increase traffic to your website
Build a relationship
Get people on your mailing list
Grow the size of your group

Sixth, develop your message, so people can identify you. It should be focused and should be reflected in all your social media content.

Seventh, select your channels to spread your message. This might depend on what industry or niche you are in.

Eighth, join in the conversation. Stay transparent and receptive to what your market says.

Ninth, listen and re-invent. Find out what works and get rid of what does not. they are many more channels out there for your social media plan.

Awesome Video Marketing

1 Comment »Written on November 28th, 2011 by adrian
Categories: Online Marketing
Tags: video marketing

Awesome Video Marketing Delivers Information And Impact

Did you know that marketing video is the fastest growing media in the world? Video is also the most engaging media, visitors spend more time on your website. For many people, video is the easiest way for them to absorb information. Watch the awesome video regarding some facts about using video on the Internet.

Some Quick Facts About Video Marketing

Video is the medium that delivers the most compelling stories
YouTube is one of the highest traffic website on the internet
People spend more time watching videos online than anything else

Use Video Marketing For...

Developing your brand
Delivering your content
Connecting to your market with stories
Customer testimonials
Your own advertising channel
Your own broadcast channel