When building your online presence you have to take an active interest, for just like in yesteryear and days of yore when having a store was totally physical and you and your staff had to be there and be on time and in person, so it is in the virtual reality that is this online world.  Some of my best clients have this down perfectly and will answer their emails within two hours and keep their blogs updated at least once a month.

Why remind people?  Because if you don’t we all end up with more  Bernie Madoffs and Northern Rock situations.  the answer is not to go completely backwards but to account for the greed that caused this in the first place with the dont ask dont tell as long as we are all making money policies.  In the world of the web, we are all interconnected and just because we can doesnt mean we shouldnt or should.

Rule number one, is it greedy?  No then look into it further, will it benefit our clients?

Yes?  Then do it.

Simple, easy and effective.

Call me on +27843351636 to make your web site Simple easy and effective way of keeping your clients happy. informed and in the know  today.

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If you are a web site owner and have ever wondered if removing links is ok, the short answer is no, it's not a great idea.  The reasons for this are multiple and I am going to give you the most important reason why you should always try to keep the links consistent.

Think of it like this

You have a network of friends,family and associates.

They all refer people to you or in this case your web site.  If they thought it was relevant to do so and they get Kudos from sharing, then they think well of you. Google works in much the same way and in much the same way that Google emulates human patterns, it also rewards you and your web site if you let people know if you have moved.

The 5 Simple Rules  for Links

1. Keep Them Valid
2. Keep Them Topical
3. Keep the Links Easy To Understand
4. If you move, let them know by putting up a "we have moved" and a auto redirect if possible.
5. Make it easy to share

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Below is a note I wrote to Checkers Super Market Group in South Africa. I am on a mission to ensure that fellow users in South Africa get a better web experience. The best way is to give the company direct feedback. I thought I would share the note with you. If you have any issues with any web site I would love to hear about it of even if you too have had a problem using this checkers.co.za web site!

I am appalled at the lack of accessibility and ease of use on this web site.

I also surprised that checkers does not have an online store - considering that I have known about the drop in internet costs and unlimited internet was coming for two years I assume you did too?

That your time schedule was put up in PDF and not html is bizarre as the page is at 90 degrees and so long its illegible - not to mention out of date!  From what I can see it says December 2009!

I know two things professionally ; 1. with the advent (at last) of the cheaper unlimited internet that more and more people are going to start shopping online added to 2.PayPal finally getting its toes into South Africa retailers like yourselves now have a trusted platform that anyone can use, and no you do not need to have a FNB account if you are just purchasing.

The next thing that is coming in the telecoms world is called local loop unbundling - this means Checkers could actually sell cheap internet - not that you would but it also means that within the next 24 months that prices of internet access are going to dive and the internet population is going to climb from the current 5million fixed line users and 9 million phone users to 8.3 million and 9.8 million within 18 months! Checkers will lose the gains if you do not go online and provide what the users are looking for and soon!

You can also save millions by using the online store as a way of managing your stock and your software costs.

I hope to see an improvement in the web in RSA and I for one cannot wait until South Africa gets on par with the world - the world cup as been an absolute boon, for without it the web in RSA would have been just as bad now as it was five years ago.

Checkers responded that they are busy with a site update but that they do not see a point in developing an online web store at this time.

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"The Online Publishers’ Associations (OPA) recently released their Internet usage statistics for the last quarter of 2009, and according to the OPA the number of total unique browsers during this period increased by 52%.

The total unique browsers across all OPA registered websites in the last quarter of 2009 was 14.9 million, up from 9.8 million a year ago. For local only browsers the growth was equally impressive, with a 53% increase – from 4.9 million in Q4 2008 to 7.5 million in Q4 2009." - http://mybroadband.co.za/news/Internet/11427.html

Why You Need To Sit Up & Take Notice

The jump has taken place because of a relative drop in prices - South African consumers are taking up the challenge and using the web more and more as it costs less and less.

This was true for the rest of the world where cheap and often free internet is available.

It has been reported that the Cape Town City Council is going to use their METROnet infrastructure to provide free wifi access points all over The City and CBD as well as within the metropole of Cape Town.

When this happens the users using the net will sky-rocket and the profile of the average user will change from A/B split to a far wider audience. This has cost implications and benefits for every single Business and user in South Africa.

That Cape Town is again leading the field when it comes to ICT connections ( the City of CT has already set up free nodes within the City itself but these are limited to office hours between 9-4pm) is fantastic so lets hope the lead continues.

The bottom line is that the essential items for your web site are accessibility, findability and search engine friendly design. Over 90% of the 5 or 6 million users are accessing the net through a mobile phone. Only 1.7 - 2.2 million are fixed line Broadband users.

Get your web site assessed now, contact me on "assessed at Incrediblesoftwaresolutions.com"

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User interface and User Experience are words , just words to a lot of people, but these two short little words make your life as a user much more pleasant and easier and less frustrating.

A little thought before launching and application or web page makes for greater visitor numbers who stay and keep coming back, so called stickyness.

When having a web site built with FLASH &tm; ask about three things, search engine optimisation, if the site is also going to be built using html first and if it will be accessible. If you have those three things you have a head start and then hiring someone like me won't cost quite as much on a month to month basis.

A good user experience brought about by a well thought out user interface will always help your search engine optimisation. The search engines are being programmed more and more to "think" like real people so it makes sense to think about the real people who will have to use your site, doesn't it?

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The following article comes from a web site I use, http://www.psychotactics.com/blog.

Article: The 70% Principle: Why You Never Get Projects Off
         The Ground
http://www.psychotactics.com/blog/art-70-percent

===============================================

Have you got eleven seconds to learn a simple principle?
A principle that will radically change the way you do things?

You do, don't you?
Ok, tick, tick, tick....here's the principle.

==========================================
It's called..um...the 70% Principle
==========================================

So what's the 70% Principle?

If a job is worth doing, it's worth doing 70% right.
You can always come back to do the 20% later.

Yes, read it again, and no, the math isn't wrong.

If you're going to build a website, a 70% effort is fine.
If you're going to do a presentation a 70% effort is fine.
If you're going to bake a cake, for that matter...do you need
all the ingredients? 

The perfect cake? With all the perfecto ingredients?
Or the cake with '70%' of the ingredients?

The 'perfect' wording on a website?
Or the '70% perfect' wording on the website?

==========================================
And nope this isn't a case for mediocrity
==========================================

No one is telling  you to do crappy stuff. No one's
saying that you need to keep your project unfinished.
But in the quest for perfection, most of us never start.

The 70% principle is about getting your best effort
out and into the hands of your clients. That you don't
need to start off with a 100%-kaboom-wow-start.

==========================================
So let's tell you about our 'who pushed me?' start in 2002
==========================================

We started Psychotactics,in the year 2002, with a 16 page booklet.
We called it the 'Brain Audit.' And indeedy-doo, it started
with just 16 pages. Those 16 pages, we cheekily sold for $20
or thereabouts. 

And you know what? 

We weren't trying to keep the pages down to 16 pages, but we
certainly weren't trying to pad up the contents of the book either.

The 16 pages of information were all we knew at the time. And yes,
we could have made it 100% perfect, but decided to put our 70%
effort out anyway.

==========================================
Did I say, put it out? I meant, I got 'pushed'
==========================================

You see, I wasn't keen to sell the Brain Audit. I wanted to get
the e-book just right. But I was forced into putting it on the
market.

I was forced to putting it on a sales page, by another marketer who
promised to promote the book to his audience.

==========================================
And he never did promote the book
==========================================

I reminded him. Gently. Then became a bit of a nag. But that
promotion never, ever happened. What did happen was that the
'Brain Audit' began to sell. 

And as it turned out, I was able to add the next 20%,
and the next 20%, and the next 20%.

==========================================
And yes, the math still adds up
==========================================

Because all along, that 'so-called incomplete' product was selling.
And when you think about it, which product or service of yours is
ever complete? 

As your knowledge grows; as your customers ask more
questions; as you apply the concepts in different ways, your
product
or service gets better all the time. 

And today, the Brain Audit is a comprehensive document that not
only helps you understand how the customer thinks, but is also the
basis for being a member of 5000bc; for doing any of our
courses like the copywriting course, product-creation course.

What started out as a 'who pushed me?' product, now helps us get
thousands of customers. And helps us grow our business considerably
from year to year.

==========================================
Kinda like the iPod, you see
==========================================

When the iPod came out at first, it was just 10GB (yeah, pathetic
ten gigs).

Then it went up to 30GB. And hey, we got video too. Then
whoopsy-doo, it was 60GB. And uppity up it keeps going, both in
size, features and ease of use. 

Where's the market for the perfect iPod?

There's no market for the perfect product or service. The product
or service that your customers want, is the product or service you
have now.

That 70%-perfect product/service, will do fine for your customer.

==========================================
How can I be so sure?
==========================================

Could this article have been at least 30% better?
Couldn't I have found more examples? More case-studies?
Put in more details, perhaps?
Tweaked my words just so to make it richer, more vibrant?

==========================================
Sure I could. But you've got the point, right?
==========================================

If a job is worth doing, it's worth doing 70% right.
You can always fix the 20% later.

====================================================
Product Offers: Links you should visit
===================================================
1) "I received more response from my direct mail and email
advertising than I have in the past."

I would recommend the Brain Audit, because it lays out a
successful approach that I was immediately able to apply,
unlike all the other "systems" I've invested in the past."

Becky DeGrossa, Boulder, Colorado, USA

Judge for yourself
http://www.psychotactics.com/brainaudit

2) The Sec'ret Life of Testimonials:How and Why you need to
use testimonials as part of your strategy.
http://www.psychotactics.com/testimonial_secrets

3) Find Out The Psychological Sec'rets of Compelling Websites...
http://www.psychotactics.com/website-secrets

4) New Product: Do you want to put some sanity into your design
even  though you are not a designer? Have a look at
http://www.psychotactics.com/design-clarity

©Psychotactics Ltd. All rights reserved.

- Article reprinted with thanks, written by Sean D'Souza http://www.psychotactics.com.

I shared this with you because as time goes by I realise more and more, I am not perfect and I do not pretend to be.  I try harder ever single time and to keep a client is in the long term cheaper than finding new ones.

Misunderstandings can be cleared up but only if the client is prepared to work on it with you.  How far are you prepared to go to keep that client happy is the question.

I promise to keep trying with you.  As the article says, don't wait too long or you could lose out.

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UI or User Interface Design is where the users point of view is first and foremost. In my humble opinion, this is most important. How is the user going to use your web site, what steps are they going to find the easiest?

How do we make your web site the stickiest, to keep those users on your site, not bouncing off into the wonderful world of someone else's web site.

User Experience is an extension of user Interface design where what the user wants is thought of first and engineered into the product rather than some engineer working out cool tech ways that make your eyes water, but you just cannot see what to do next engineering.

To see and example of this conundrum have a look at tumblr.com and Posterous.com

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Part Two - How To Use These Profiles

User profiles according to wikipedia user profiles means that there are four main personality types you have to build for as a starting point.

• Visual
• Auditory
• kinesthetic - touch
• Accessible

1. Visual

The fact that colour attracts the human eye is undeniable for the visual world most live in, red being the most demanding - "look at me " colour.

The vibrant, viral nature of the use of colour can attract the right kind of client for your business. I normally advise first time web owners to choose a colour they like so that they can attract the people who are most like them.

2. Auditory

   Simply put it means that some people only truly respond with the presence of sound. They feel the sound before they see the image or colours and so look for what they hear that feels so good or familiar or trustworthy.

3. Touch

   Almost the most powerful selling tool out there, however on the web very difficult to apply, yet

4. Accessible

   Accessible is an almost unquantifiable item - but is a legal requirement in many countries such as United Kingdom,USA and South Africa. But most of all when a web site is accessible to all more people will use it, even if they do not know why it feels easy or right to do so. If your web site is built to be accessible then mobile phones, by far the largest market to sell to anywhere with over 70million handsets in the Uk, 120Million in the uSa and 9 Million ins South Africa that are internet enabled, why wouldn't you want a piece of that action?

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Pure Design Ethos

In some circles Pure Design Ethos means only designing with images as that gives total control of the look and feel.

The problem with this is the proliferation of devices and search engines that cannot read images, much like a disabled person.

Pure Search Engine Ethos

All text and no images. This makes for a very dull web site as for web user profiles that means that there are four main types you have to build for.

• Visual
• Auditory
• kinesthetic - touch
• Accessible

Strictly speaking the last one is in a class of its own but is essential so I have added it to the list.

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5 More Reasons Why IE6 Must Die

It’s no secret that we [all] don’t like Internet Explorer 6 (IE6), the outdated 10+ year old browser still used by 15–25% of people on the web. Last year, we called for IE6 to die so that the web could move on with new innovations such as HTML 5.

Now Internet Explorer, specifically IE6, is under fire again after a critical IE vulnerability was implicated for the attack on Google’s infrastructure by Chinese hackers. While IE6 criticism is not a new phenomenon, last week’s events give those of us who advocate for the abolition of IE6 (myself included) new ammunition.

Whether you work for a company that won’t get rid of IE6 or have parents that just don’t see the need to ugprade, here are five new reasons to upgrade or switch browsers:

1. Your security and your company’s security are at risk: There’s no other way to lay it out: if the security of Google (Google), Yahoo, and around 20 other companies were compromised due to people still running IE6, then your security is at risk too. Upgrading after a hacker uses this exploit to steal your information is simply too late, especially if you hold sensitive customer data.

2. World governments are suggesting you switch browsers: Both Germany and France have issued warnings about Internet Explorer (Internet Explorer), asking citizens to switch to prevent the same type of breach that affected Google.

3. Even Microsoft wants you to drop IE6: The Microsoft Security Research & Defense Blog specifically addressed the flaw and the risk of attack by platform. The most important part of the post was that they “recommend users of IE6 on Windows XP upgrade to a new version of Internet Explorer and/or enable DEP.”

This isn’t the first time Microsoft has asked people to voluntarily upgrade, but it is the first time that it’s been in response to an exploit or vulnerability. Think of it like a recall: would you keep driving a car that Toyota, Ford, or GM says could malfunction? Don’t make the same mistake with your computer’s security.

4. Not wanting to upgrade from Windows XP isn’t a legitimate excuse anymore: One way to delete IE6 is to upgrade your OS — both Windows Vista (Windows Vista) and Windows (Windows) 7 run upgraded versions of the IE browser.

We understood why people didn’t want to upgrade when their choice was Windows Vista, but now that a very stable, solid, and secure upgrade is on the market (Windows 7), there’s no excuse not to upgrade. Yes, it’ll cost you up front, but it’s far cheaper than having your data stolen.

5. This will not be the last massive IE6 security breach: This flaw was unknown before Google’s groundbreaking China announcement. And it’s not the first flaw ever found with the browser — there are at least 142 vulnerabilities in IE6, 22 of which are not yet patched. Would you use armor that had 142 weak spots?

Last week’s series of events drove home just how dangerous and idiotic it is to run the long-broken IE6 browser. It should be a wake-up call to IT departments and users around the world: if you keep running a browser from 2001, you are throwing your online security right out the window.

- Mashable.com

The above quoted from mashable.com with thanks.

Why must IE6 and below die?

Because:-

1. it adds to the cost of building a web site for the client and the web developer.
2. The developer has to build for up to 17 different browsers, each one in effect a whole web site style adjusted to work on each version of the browser suite

Who’s Who  in South Africa that are using IE6?

A lot of the Virgin Active gyms, Nedbank, Standard Bank, Absa Bank (part of the Barclays Uk banking group) the Department of Home Affairs, Checkers , Pick ‘n Pay, public libraries, Telkom, Post Office, First National Bank (old Barclays Bank way back during apartheid) amongst others.

This is worrying

Banking institutions should be using the most secure software, it is well known that IE is not and IE 6 even less so. That Google a well known brand was attacked through the use of IE6 is alarming, even weirdly amusing as they of all people should know better — in their case it was the engineers who test browser compatibility that got targeted specifically and it should have been safe in the sandbox environments.

But that big South African brands are so poor on updating their browsers to use Firefox or even IE8, which although a virus vector is far superior than the ten year old IE6!!

There are at least 142 security vectors with IE 6 http://secunia.com/advisories/product/11/. Once IE six in all its variations is off the list and the only IE we need to deal with is IE9, Firefox,Opera,Safari,Webkit,Mobile Browsers that only leaves at least SIX browser we have to build for, not just one SIX version of the web sites that should be like building a car.

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