Above is one of the URLs in my website. As you can see the name (Briar Copywriting) is followed by the name of the sub-page, in this case SEO copywriting.
The idea behind the URL is to describe what a website or page contains to both the web visitor and search engines. That’s why it’s essential it is relevant to the page.
But before you rush in and use your company name, stop and consider for a moment what it will actually look like.
If you don’t, you risk getting it badly wrong.
This is highlighted in the top 10 unintentionally worst company URLs as shown by the website Independent Sources. These are prime examples of companies that rushed headlong into creating their URLs without stopping to think about how they will actually be read by others.
Ready?
Here goes…
1. Experts Exchange, a site where programmers can exchange advice and views became expertsexchange.com
2. Pen Island, a one stop shop for any type of pen became penisland.net
3. Therapist Finder became therapistfinder.com
4. Who Represents, a site that helps you find the name of an agent that represents a celebrity became whorepresents.com
5. Italian Power Generator company – powergenitalia.com
6. Mole Station Native Nursery – molestationnursery.com
7. For computer software try ipanywhere.com
8. There is the First Cumming Methodist Church’s unfortunate cummingfirst.com
9. An art designers website – speedofart.com
10. If you fancy visiting Lake Tahoe, try gotahoe.com
Think before you buy
All of these examples are from bona fide companies that just didn’t stop and think before they bought.
So, the moral of this post is, before you rush in and grab your company’s name as a URL, write it down and see how it actually looks (or, get someone else to look at it for you) – it might just save your blushes.
Over to you
They are some cracking examples, but do you have any more?
If so, leave a comment below and let’s see how many companies forgot to think before buying.
When you designed your website, what was at the forefront of your mind?
Was it your colour scheme, the graphics you used, the font or perhaps ensuring the latest ‘must have’ gizmos were present?
At any point in the process did you think about the visitors to your site?
Granted, your site has to reflect you and your business, but it also has to offer your visitors what they want.
Yup, sorry, it’s all about THEM.
Your visitors’ wish list
In an ideal world your website has to satisfy these 4 visitor wants:
1. Does it have what I want?
Although they probably found you through a Google search, so in theory your site should be offering what they searched for, have you made it obvious?
The minute they land on your site they have to be able to see that you are offering what they’re looking for.
If your home page (because that’s probably the first page they’ll come to) is full of information about you – how wonderful you are, how long you’ve been trading, what colour your offices are decorated in – they will hit the back browser and disappear faster than a fast thing.
Instead, it should be all about THEM. Tell them how they’ll benefit from what you’re offering. Write your website copy in the second person to make it personal to them; keep the language simple and chatty to engage with them. In other words keep the focus firmly on THEM.
2. Are you trustworthy?
The Internet is a wonderful thing and has opened up all sorts of opportunities for businesses and customers that would otherwise have been closed to them. But because your business is ‘virtual’ and your customers can’t walk into your offices or showroom for a chat, you must use your website to show you are a real company that they can trust.
How do you do that?
Well, a professional site with a good design, great information and clear content is a good start. Throw in an About Us page with substance (showing awards etc.) and testimonials that are attributed to real people to add weight to your reputation.
If you’re mentioned in local newspapers or magazines, again link out to the articles or include a PDF that can be downloaded from your site.
All of these things show your credibility as a company.
3. What do you do?
There’s nothing worse than landing on a website only to be bemused about what the company actually does.
Because first impressions count, make sure your design and images reflect your business activities to strengthen your message.
Your products and services should be clearly stated. Clear navigation should be able to effortlessly steer your visitors to the pages they need for more information. Again, the About Us page that we mentioned earlier should also outline what you can do for your customers.
4. Easy to contact
Making yourself easy to contact will also help the trust issue.
Having a contact form is all well and good, but if you want to be completely transparent make sure you also show your email, phone number and physical address. At least then they are reassured that you really do exist.
And make sure all that information is easy to find. Don’t hide it away in the darkest recesses of your website so only the most skilled of surfers can find it.
Over to you
Have we missed anything?
What are your thoughts about what your visitors want?
Leave a comment below and let’s see how many we can come up with.
Guest blogging (posting) is a perfectly legitimate way of gaining more prominence online, but, as with most things in life, there are always people looking for a quick fix.
Most owners of good websites with high Page Rank and good amounts of traffic are inundated with requests from people looking to guest post in return for a link back to their site.
A recent post on Dailybloggr suggests that because the system is open to abuse, Google may consider changing its algorithm.
After all, as they rightly say, the mass posting of low quality content brought about the Panda update and Penguin was a result of link manipulation, so it’s not beyond the realms of our imagination to think that, before long, we could see an algorithm update that will affect guest posting.
But is it likely to happen?
Matt Cutts answers this question below:
Good guest blogs
How do you know if what you’re being offered as a guest post is any good?
A high quality post will inform the audience and benefit both the writer and publisher
Only accept high quality posts that offer something unique
Don’t accept short posts (300-500 words) especially if of low quality because it’s probably been spinned or duplicated elsewhere
The post will not be promotional and will add real value to your website and your readers
Over to you
What are your thoughts on guest posting?
If you have any tips to share, leave a comment below.
Working for yourself is the ultimate for many people.
No moaning boss, no more clock-watching and all the profits are yours. But before you can achieve this utopia there are a few things you have to get to grips with, not least time management.
Back in May we published a post called Time Management for Copywriters, feel free to take a look at the whole post, but just to recap, the main elements you have to master are:
1. Remove distractions
If you work from a home office, it’s very easy to get distracted. Whether it’s by visitors, home phones ringing, that book you’re desperate to finish or the temptation to pop out of the office to take care of a household chore or two, they must be ignored.
Having a dedicated office, is a must. You can organise it in a way to suit you without having to clear your things away every evening.
If you work from the kitchen table, just think how much time you waste every week setting your bits and bobs up to start work and then clearing them away again so you can use the table to eat with the family.
2. No Facebook or YouTube
Even though you’re sat in front of a computer most of the day, it doesn’t mean you can idly search the web for your entertainment.
And just in case you were thinking that if no one sees you it doesn’t matter – it does.
Make a rule for yourself that you only ‘play’ online once your working day is over. That way, you can remain focused on the projects you’re working on during the day.
3. Learn to say ‘no’
Unless you want to be working silly hours to try and get your work done and deadlines met, you’ve got to learn to say ‘no’ to those clients who just want one more thing (and usually don’t want to pay for it), to colleagues who just call for a chat, to family who make demands on your time (especially during school holidays) and to projects you know you really can’t squeeze in.
That might sound harsh, but when working from a home office it has to be done now and then.
Make sure your family understand that, even though you work from home, you are still working and they have to respect your work time. And, if you’ve decided you only want to work a certain number of hours a week, stick to it and don’t take on that extra project that’s going to eat into your weekend.
It’s all too easy to end up taking on so much work you’re at your desk 24/7. So be sensible, decide on the number of hours you’re going to work and stick to it.
4. Calendar
Keeping a calendar is a simple but effective way of making sure you hit all your deadlines.
When you’re working on several projects simultaneously, it’s all too easy to lose sight of when each section of work has to be completed.
It will also give you an overview of your capacity for future projects to help prevent you from over committing yourself.
5. Daily to-do list
Don’t laugh, it really does help.
At the beginning of each week I make a plan of what I need to do and when. That way, I make sure my blogging fits in with my client work and meetings. And of course, it also helps to make sure nothing slips through the next.
Yes, it does have to be flexible because you never know what might come in, but at least it’s a way to plan your week effectively.
6. Email watching
OK, hands up if you have that little annoying pop up thingy that appears on your screen every time an email comes in.
It’s so distracting I want you to turn it off immediately.
Limit yourself to checking your emails once, twice or even three times a day. That way, you can get on with the task in hand without being distracted by an intriguing subject line.
7. Timed work slots
This is a great way to make sure you don’t run out of steam during the day.
From your to-do list, you’ll know what you need to do each day. So, allocate a time slot for each task. Once that time is up, have a break – leave the office, make a coffee, wander round the garden or even take the dogs for a walk.
Then, you will return to your desk refreshed and ready to tackle the next task.
But if all else fails you can always resort to drastic measures.
On Mashable there is a fantastic post that tells the story of Maneesh the blogger from San Francisco who realised he was wasting time on sites such as Facebook, YouTube and Reddit when he should have been working. To address this he took the unusual step of advertising on Craigs List and offered to pay someone $8 an hour to slap him when he appeared to be wasting time on a social network.
Did it work?
Well,during the ‘slapping period’ his average productivity level shot through the roof from 38%, on average, to 98%.
Not bad – although a little extreme.
Over to you
What do you do to make sure you stay productive whilst working for yourself?
Everyone is trying to attract as much traffic as possible and then capture as much information about them as possible.
I don’t know about you, but I get a little bit hacked off at the number of sites these days that want you to set an account to access information. In fact, it’s pretty much at the point now that I won’t enter my details and come up with yet another password, instead I’ll move along and see if I can source the information I need another way.
I understand why marketers want to capture my information, but I often wonder whether they’ve actually thought about their web visitors much and the impact it has on them.
To show what I mean, here is an infographic that those lovely people at Convince and Convert have allowed me to reproduce (created by Janrain), which shows why 86% of users may leave a website when asked to open an account.
