Feeling a little low today? Try this link to cheer you up - never fails with me! Warning, you may need an Australian slang book handy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=syPSHe0kzMs

How many times, have you phoned "customer service" and gotten someone you cannot understand. As an "import" it probably happens to me a little more, especially if that call center is based in the South, Though I rang DirectTV last week and got a very helpful girl based in Mississippi, and, while she had a strong Southern accent she was very understandable.

Everything we do in business, especially how we interact directly with client and potential clients impacts our businesses. I cannot understand why companies have "customer service" departments where the customer is clearly unimportant and service is a superfluous word. Yes, no doubt they are cheaper than hiring an American with English skills to do it, but does anyone in management or HR really stop and think what image this portrays to their customers?

My wife used the phrase "status quo" once, and I challenged her that there is no such thing. Everything we do, say, hear, read or experience molds us in one of 2 ways - for better or for

I've had a client, from time to time, ask why they should keep paying their monthly subscription. Fair question. As business-people, we all need to be looking at our expenses and trimming where necessary. First though, let me ask a question. 

Why have a website?

With nearly 90% of all purchases starting life as an internet search there's really no question why. The fact is, whether it's a new hair product, a vacation, a car or even a house, we all head to one of the search engines to start our hunt. And if a business doesn't have a solid web presence, then they're already well behind the pack. So, back to the original question...

Why continue paying every month?

What the client is really asking is, WIIFM (What's In It For Me)? And, again, that's a fair question. Some business-people see adverts on somewhere like Craigslist for a website for $299. Awesome, right? Unlikely. Often these are made by someone "in a galaxy country, far, far away...", who often fails to grasp simple English, and has different waking times to you. Plus it's likely a small 5 page site with zero bells and whistles.

But it's cheap! Of course.

Wow - already January 17, and, to our embarrassment we look at the date of my last post..... The truth is, it's been pretty busy since late last year and then with Christmas and New Year, the blog got a little neglected. And now we're neck deep in revamping our CitrusKiwi site as it needs an overhaul. There have been things we were never totally happy with and we have tons new content going on it; so keep checking back! Expected launch date is the month's end (hopefully this month!! LOL!)

Every year...

We recommend that you look very critically at your site at least once a year. If you're one of our clients, then you'll be getting regular updates about traffic and rankings. From the traffic reports you can determine which pages visitors most frequent, and then you can spend time honing those pages to new-client-producing dynamos! And the others possibly need work too, or at least a more enticing linking to capture people's attention.

FAQs

One page we really encourage clients to have is a FAQs page. Many site owners think they shouldn't give "valuable" info away for free. The truth is, most of it is available somewhere

I was asked this week, whether, 1) A "mobile type" website is needed at all, and 2) if so, what type? That's a great question and, at least, showed that the asker was engaged with basic website design ideas, or, at the very least, wanting to know. As the old saying goes, "The stupidest question is the one never asked!"

Do I need a mobile version of any type?

First part - "Do you need a mobile ready version of your site?" An unequivocal, "YES!" There is no doubt that a website that is not easily viewed on a mobile device is already at a serious disadvantage. And, with 60% or more searches conducted on some type of mobile device, that puts your business in a bad internet state.

Which type to have?

The 4 types are in the headline - Mobile, Responsive, App, or Nothing. They all work a little differently, and all have pluses and minuses.

Mobile

This was the first way we did mobile ready sites, and some still do. You'll see a URL starting with m.<domainname>.com. There's 2 main drawbacks of this way. Generally you end up running 2 separate sites (though not always) which means

I quite regularly hear clients and non-clients alike boldly proclaim their website is safe because it's small and insignificant. It doesn't have sensitive data such as credit card or social numbers on it. The reality is quite different.

The 3 main hacking reasons

Malicious "joyriders"

For want of a better term (and to be polite!) I'll liken them to someone who steals your car, races it round town, then crashes it into something and runs off. These hackers are in it to either hack you because you're there, to see if they can, or to deface your site, either with nasty stuff or to promote something that's "dear" to them.

This sort of hacking is usually very evident when you, or you client, visit the site.

Data thieves

These hackers are out for information, stuff they can either make use of - credit card details, social numbers, etc - or stuff they can sell - proprietary info, membership lists, etc. Unlike the "joyriders", being hacked like this is often hidden and goes undetected for quite some time. Recent examples of this are the wll known fiasco at Target, and, even more recently, Dairy Queen.

"Mule" trainers

Again, some literary license

A few weeks back, someone on Facebook alerted me to the raft of permissions I, and every other app user, blindly says "Yes" to when installling them. We give them permission to take photos and videos, send and receive messages, snoop round in our data. The list of permissions is truly staggering.

But this last week, I read that one of the worst culprits is the humble flashlight app - or more correctly, some of them. It seems that some of them have taken noseyness to a whole new level sending all types of info back to their authors. Take the "Super bright LED Flashlight" app. This is what it can do (YOU gave it permission to when you installed it!):

• control flashlight - well that's what you'd expect, but...
• retrieve running apps
• modify or delete the contents of your USB storage
• test access to protected storage
• take pictures and videos
• view Wi-Fi connections
• read phone status and identity
• receive data from Internet
• change system display settings
• modify system settings
• prevent device from sleeping
• view network connections
• full network access

While I'm very happy having a flashlight in my pocket, I don't really think it has any business taking photos

It's a truly wonderful thing to see giant, Google, lose one (or 2 in this case). From a designer's and SEO's point of view, Google is like living in olden days when one felt the need to "please the gods". With over 60-70% of search traffic, getting it wrong with Google is bad for business. Because of their economic situation, they have huge power to do pretty much whatever they feel like - even if it's wrong, who can afford to sue them?

However, 2 recent court cases have brought at least the glimmer of a smile to the "Google haters". First in Europe, and now Japan. Courts from both areas have ordered Google to "forget" individuals pasts - including debts, convictions and other "embarrassing" data under Europe's and Japan's tough anti-defamation legislation.

This all seems wondeful, and, for the individuals concerned, it probably is. However, when we view the stats on link removal, Google proudly claims it's removed more than 200,000 from it's search results. This after reviewing some 145,000 requests covering nearly half a million links. Do a search on almost any topic and you'll see page results of millions... is 200k really something to trumpet about? Especially

We're pleased to launch 2 new sites this last week, both sporting the new slider module we've recently gotten hold of. In the past we've avoided these types of sliders as they've been, in the main, Flash based and Flash doesn't display on Apple devices. As we try very hard to make sure your site displays correctly across all devices, then Flash was out IMHO.

However, with the advent of CSS3 and HTML5, the options have opened up, allowing sliders like these to be within the reach of everyone. To all my existing clients, we can now offer you this free of charge if you want it - that's the power of having 12 hours free maintenance every year - you never have to worry about how much it'll cost. A slider like the ones on these pages will use about -35 hours to set up depending on its complexity. So if you want one, please ask.

So here are the new sites - both local vendors: Phoenix greenhouse equipment and supplies, and West Phoenix Painting Contractors. Thanks for the business guys!

"Out of the mouths of babes, oft time come gems." This well-known saying, probably derived from Psalms in the Bible, should remind us to always be on the lookout to learn a life lesson in the most obscure of places. Today, I have 2 posts, as I felt compelled to write this second one, not about how to exponentially multiply your traffic, guarantee 100% click through, or how to have the best website in the world, but rather to share a few "gems".

When you're down, sing louder!

Life is full of ups and downs, good and bad, want and plenty. How we react during these times determines who we are. When Kenya, our Lovebird, was getting low on water or food he'd sing and chat to us even more than normal. Without being a whinger, when life is tough, gather your friends around you and ask for support. A trouble (or problem) shared is a trouble halved.

Make the most of every situation

When he was out of his cage, he'd fly, and fly, and fly. In fact, he was a little naughty, and getting him back into his cage was sometimes quite a mission! But he was taking

If you've been in business more than 6 months, and especially if you've tried some sort of internet marketing, then you'll undoubtedly have a bunch of names and addresses of people who looked, but never bought. Here's a 1 liner email that will really grab their attention and garner a pretty good response rate.

Firstly, I have to admit that this isn't my idea, but I loved it and unashamedly nabbed it to send to all my customers, because I thought it was brilliant. An Aussie firm is using and is, reportedly, doing great things with it. And, let's face it, if they contacted you, then did nothing, what have you got to lose?

What emails get opened?

I get lots of "buy this" emails every day. Most I delete without opening, some I open, scan, and delete. All that effort is just wasted on me. "Make $xxxx in 5 days" is a total yawn - it's all scams trying to make $xxx out of ME in 5 days!

So what DOES get opened? Personal emails - even if they only sound personal. Emails that aren't full of flashy graphics, multiple calls to action, and other obvious "marketing" garbage. They