Category: Writing for the Web

And I know you hate “Coming Soon,” too!

How do I know?
Here’s a story:

Let’s say you want to bake a cake and you find you are out of eggs.

You go to the grocery store to buy some and find a sign that says “Eggs: coming soon!”

You look around the store manager to ask, “What does this mean ‘coming soon’?”

He says, “Well, they’re on a truck.. that’s coming soon. We don’t know exactly when. But ..soon. So you should check back again … soon.”

Ridiculous, right?

How many times will you go back to that store? (It would make me really angry and I’d vow to never shop there again.)

Search engines are designed to help searchers find the best content relative to the search terms.

So when their magic robots scan your content, they can pretty easily tell if it says “coming soon” or “under construction.”

Here is a sad example I recently found on an established website with a new front page:

A new website is coming soon…
in the meantime, this site is temporarily unavailable.
We apologize for any inconvenience.

However, the MEMBERS AREA can still be accessed during
construction and testing of the new site…
CLICK HERE to go there now.

That’s just 41 words and pretty much none of it yields any indication of authority on any subject.

That is particularly sad because when searching for an obvious specific keyword, the site had been number one in Google for MANY years.

I can’t say that their ship is sinking fast. But it sure is pissing off people who want to find information that should be obvious there. It should also be angering members who rely on a directory to find business.

Google expects at least 300 words on a page to even consider that there is relevant information available there.

Everything on the internet can change pretty easily. So how about instead of “under construction,” you scrape together 300 words about your business or site.

A sentence or two including:

• The name of your company and contact information
• Your own name, a picture with appropriate “alt tags”
• What your company does and who it serves

If Google finds your “coming soon” banner during its indexing more than a couple of times, your traffic will suffer. And it may be very hard to get that ranking back.

A client recently asked me:

“What’s the ‘trick of SEO?’ What will get me to be Number One on Google?”

SEO is not about tricking some system into finding you, it’s about writing good content with real connection to specific key words.

Remember writing a book report in 6th grade?

The title of the book goes at the top with the author’s name and something specific to prove to the teacher that you read the book. You used the names of the characters and the place names. That way when the poor teacher, who had to read 30 papers, got to yours, it was clear exactly what they were supposed to be thinking about when they plowed through it.

That’s kind of like key words.

“Black Hat SEO”
It’s just what you think: the baddies in the cowboy movies

Way back in internet dark ages (like 1995) there was a (bad) idea that if you crammed all your key words onto a white page and with white text color then you would get you good ratings. I’m guessing if those key words EVER turned your site up first, it did for about a day and a half. Even early search engines you’ve probably never heard of  figured out what was going on and nixed the practice.

Then there was the notion that all of search was based on key words in meta data (words obvious to the internet but not to the untrained eye). People crammed (and sometimes still do cram) way-too-long a list of possible key words there hoping that the search gods would smile on the page.

SEO is no longer dependent on keyword listings in meta-tags that real people don’t read and can’t see. And there is a debate on whether they do anything at all.

The way to the searching hearts of Google, Yahoo!, Bing, and AOL is with well-crafted content specifically relating to the key words you determine to be important.

1. Don’t bury the lead

   Print editors say: put the important stuff up front. For SEO that means put important words (key words) in the title of the piece, in the first couple of lines. Help your reader (and the search engines) to figure out exactly what you’re talking about.

   If I have to read a paragraph or two—not related to real content—I’ll get bored and probably won’t read the rest of the piece. I might forget what I am trying to learn and wander off before the real meat shows up

   The mother Google is the same way. If she doesn’t find appropriate content in the very beginning she gets bored and goes away without you.

2. Don’t try to be cute

   I once heard a man at a toastmasters meeting give what was supposed to be a funny speech. I really don’t remember the full gist of his story, but it sounded horribly horribly sexist and appallingly incorrect. In the end, he let on that he was talking about looking for moose in Maine! That shed a whole different light on the story but not before almost everyone in the room tried to figure out where the bathrooms were.

3. It’s about the writing

   SEO is a page-by-page, post-by-post process. Everybody who finds a link for your widgets does not start on your home page. So think about key words on every page.

   Perhaps the biggest problem for many people struggling with SEO is that it’s about writing and not tricks. You can’t just slap together some stuff for your website about you and your business and believe that you’ll be rolling in visitors in a week.

   Try this: Write a piece and ask somebody else to read it. If they say, “Oh that’s wonderful”… then probably it isn’t. Your friend doesn’t want to hurt your feelings or else he doesn’t know what s/he’s looking at. If he notices that you used “fair” instead of “fare” that’s only slightly more helpful.

   So ask your friend if they can tell you what the article is about. Whatever words he uses are probably what the keywords really are. Then be sure those words are in the article, near the top, and probably in bold and bullets.

4. Think carefully about what you want to say before you write or pay somebody else to do it.
   

   Fixing SEO requires making changes to your content

   You have to be OK with that. You have to understand that every word out of your mouth is not perfect in every way.

   If you’re just starting, if you only have a couple pages of content, don’t pay somebody to help your SEO. Get some information on your site. Some articles that are more than 300 words long. Figure out exactly what you want to write about. Then call chat with some professionals–real ones who don’t say, “Don’t worry. We’ll take care of it all.”

   Personally, I like the guys at WebMechanix.com. Check them out. Tell them Kerch sent you.

How many times have you found something on the web that you really want to read—just not right now?

So you print it out to read later. And, heck, maybe you even do. But I’m guessing that your “To Be Read” file is at least twice as big as it needs to be.

If you want people to get information from your website, it just makes sense that it should be clear enough so that your visitor can just read it right there on the screen and right now.

• And that means, short sentences.
• Lots of white space.
• Highlighted important words.
• Bullets are good.

All of that is in support of people who just skim your page. Because that’s what they do mostly. Even if they don’t think they do. The web is wide and something else shiny will catch their attention if you don’t grab it quick.

It’s likely (or maybe just “possible”) that people will read your first paragraph. So tell them what you want them to do straight up at the top. Or at least grab them with something interesting that makes them want to read the second paragraph.

If you actually read this whole bit, thank you.
But if you skipped to the end, I still think you saw the words that were bold: short sentences, white space, highlighted important words, bullets.

I wonder whether you noticed them because they were bold or because they were in a list.  Lists are good. Bullets are good. Complete sentences are not always necessary. And too many words are bad, bad, bad!

Want more info about this? Check out Jakob Nielsen‘s Alertbox on the topic here And check around his site, ’cause there is LOTS of useful info there.

Or
How much wood could a woodchuck chuck … if a wood chuck could chuck wood?

What I mean is this: If a reader signs up for a newsletter or a email delivered class, how many emails (how much content) will it take before that person cries, “Uncle, Enough?”

I get bugged when I get more email than I imagine I’ll get when I sign up for a newsletter or a free report.

I think it’s the “I imagine” part of that thought that’s important.

When somebody signs up for your newsletter, do you tell them how often it will come? Or warn them that it might be a lot or not so much?

Here’s where my story starts:

I’ve signed up for a PDEC (pretty darn expensive class) to help me build my business (Hint, Hint, I’m taking new clients). Some of the stuff I’m learning is great and I sure enjoy the people. But here’s the  problem advice:

As soon as someone requests your freebee they are yours for life and you should start sending them emails, like, every other day to help them to remember who you are and maybe eventually you’ll wear them down … no, I mean…  see how great your product or service is and then buy from you.

So I signed up for somebodyelse’s freebee.

Got the confirmation email that I really did want that freebee.

Clicked the link to say I did.

Got the download.

Scanned the content really quick. Heck, I printed it out to read on vacation (which was starting the next day).

Then I got an email asking if I got it? (That was nice).

Then there was the “Do you have any questions?” email.

Then “Did you notice tips 3 and 8? I bet they’d be really good for you.”

Every other day since I signed up, I’ve gotten an email.

And pretty much by the 5th email I thought, I don’t have time to read more stuff from that place. I haven’t really been able to read more than a second pass (after the scan) of the content.

I understand that people forget quickly. I get that regular connection is important. Heck, in some ways I wish I could keep up that kind of contact (even though I do know it’s done automatically and the writer isn’t really thinking about ME, personally! )

However, when is enough enough?

Don’t over load me unless you tell me you will. It’s ok if I’ve signed up for your “Six tips in Six days.” But if I was just curious about your product, do I have to hear from you every other day?

Enough is enough for your blog posts

I am pretty much one with my computer (It is, after all, what I do and I do not play solitaire! although some other adults in my house do.)

So I read my email many times a day (except when it’s too much, then see rant above). I do my work. I’m building a business.

I can not read EVERY SINGLE EMAIL (well, unless it comes through my contact form. And those emails come with a specific subject line that gets automatically flagged as important! Actually the tag is a big red block that says “!DO SOMETHING.” The exclamation mark comes first so it’s at the top of my label list in Gmail) .. but I digress.

I do not have time to read all the newsletters I’ve signed up for, all the announcements from companies I’ve bought from, or a million posts in FaceBook, the forum of choice for the PDEC. I have to be selective.

And I don’t want to lose touch with anybody who’s asked for information. But neither do I want to bug them to death. Too much contact feels like the realtor who showed you one house and now feels compelled to take you out every weekend to look a 15 other houses that really aren’t what you’re looking for.

It’s spelled HIGH PRESSURE and, as Mr. Horse said in the old Ren and Stimpy cartoons, “No Sir, I don’t like it.”

And look, even the doctor says “Be regular.”

But don’t make yourself nuts over it. (I’m not actually sure he says that part, but he should!)

Unlike the doctor’s advice, posting on your blog every day or several times a day is not really worth going crazy for.

I understand the need to post in your blog or change the content on your website regularly. But every day? Every other day?  Really? When do you have time to work?

And how about the people you’re contacting? Do they care about you every other day? No offense, but unless it’s their mother, probably not.

As far as I know, Google doesn’t have a specific number of updates required to get on their good side.

AND Google likes REAL content. Not a bunch of short re-posts.

Remember,
No babies will die if you miss a day or a week.

Just keep real information flowing often enough.

What happens when the PDF you want to send is just too big?
How can you make that PDF (or an image, for that matter) smaller?

I got a great question about file sizes from a reader today.

The file size of the current issue of my church’s newsletter is too big to upload via WordPress. So can I use ftp to put it in a new folder and just link to it?

Or is there an easy way to reduce the size of a PDF?
Do you have to make the images smaller you put in it? or the number of photos? or run it through some compression? or?

Not only does uploading a big file to the internet make WordPress choke, but remember: the time it takes to upload is directly proportional to the download time.  Smaller images will definitely help!

Uploading does generally takes longer. But if the file is too big for WP, it’s just plain too big.

Let me ask you, just how long will you wait for a file to download before you decide you don’t really care that much anyway?

If your reader doesn’t even download the file, none of your content has any value anyway.

So here’s my answer, with first a bit of background

Think about images you make on your digital camera (or even phone!).  If you don’t know anything about these things at all, it’s all about the number of dots that can be squeezed into the space. And for sure you’ve been taught to know that 10 megapixel camera is MUCH better than a  2 megapixel camera.

Also, what happens when you try to attach an image you took with your phone to an email? My phone asks me to choose the image size: small, medium, large, and full size.

And if you load one of those giant photos onto your computer, have you noticed how long it can take to show the whole thing? It’s sure more than instantaneous.  That’s because the file is HUGE!

So what can you do? Edit the image size!

You could just use the image editor that’s part of WordPress (or MSWord, for that matter) to drag the corners and make the image the right size. The problem is you haven’t actually changed the size of the photo. The original giant photo in still in that file, just shown at the size you want. That’s easy and works great if you don’t care how big the final file is.

But reducing the size of the PDF is what we’re headed for.

Here are some suggestions to make your PDF file smaller

1. Use fewer images

Do you really need 6 views of your wedding cake in your Holiday letter? I’m guessing, in reality, nope! Just pick the best one. (Your friends REALLY don’t care to see all 6!)

2. Reduce the size of the photos you do use

• Start by making the photo the actual size you want to use.

You don’t need a fancy graphics program to do this.

I like to experiment with the actual sizes so I use Irfanview. It’s free, loads up fast and is powerful enough to massage the size of the photos. It actually does lots of stuff and it’s pretty intuitive. Preview will probably work for a Mac.

Make the image bigger and smaller. But remember (or FYI) you lose a little quality in the image with each resizing. So for the best quality, when you’ve decided on the final size, go back to the original giant image and make the reduction all at once.

• Pay attention to the resolution of the image.

Printed images generally require a resolution of at least 300 dpi. And that makes big files. (It might be a small image size, but the file is big. Make sense?)

Most computer screens can only show images at about 72 dpi. So if you’re making a file that will only show on the screen, and you’re aiming for a small file, then high resolution doesn’t buy you anything. Set the resolution of the image to no more than 72 dpi.

• Consider Form vs Function

If you are producing a document suitable for framing (so to speak), you want the highest resolution you can manage.

But if that PDF is likely something people will read on the screen, or print out, read, and then toss, is magazine quality photography important (and do you even HAVE magazine quality photos in the first place?)

• Test to see how low a resolution you can tolerate in the final product.

If you’re putting this low resolution image into a document that will be converted to PDF, print yourself a test copy and see if you can tell the difference. If you can’t, maybe you don’t need such a magnificent image.

And if you figure people are just printing these out at  home to read and toss? I’d use 72 anyway (or perhaps 90  although I wouldn’t bother)

• Other ways to reduce PDF file size

Check the PDF printer settings. Select the one for “Smallest File Size.”  Again, print yourself a copy from the PDF and see if it meets your needs.

Save with the file as few different fonts as you can manage when you save to PDF.  On a general low end program that does “Print to PDF” you probably can’t control that. But if you can, then just take what you need.

Does this help?  I hope so.
Have questions? Please ask.  There’s a big box for that below.

[kerch]

Did you ever notice how all those beer commercials at the Super Bowl are about good times? “Miller time” isn’t about cheap beer.

According to research from Stanford University, customers have more favorable feeling toward brands they associate with “time well spent.”  Memories of good times were more powerful than memories of great savings. 

Ultimately, time is a more scarce resource—once it’s gone, it’s gone—and therefore more meaningful to us,” says Mogilner. “How we spend our time says so much more about who we are than does how we spend our money.

So here’s my question to you:
Are you spending your time worrying over your website and it isn’t even fun?

Yes, yes, I know, you gotta work.  BUT do you have to work at something you don’t or can’t do well?

Fifteen years ago when I was in a different business, I spent hours trying to take care of my books.  I was a freakin’ math major in college! Numbers don’t scare me.  But it wasn’t the math, really, it was finding all the receipts and putting them in the right columns on the spread sheets.

I was spending HOURS doing something I wasn’t good at and at the expense of something I  WAS good at: making art!

When I got my first book keeper, I thought I’d died and gone to heaven.  Bills got paid, invoices were sent, and I wasn’t panicked about something I didn’t do.

Now let me ask you about your website.

• Are you satisfied with it?  Look and work like what you want it to?
• How much time are you wasting worrying over it? Or trying to tweak it to be what you want?
• Is that time well spent?

Maybe your site is not as bad as you think.  We could talk about it. Send me a  note. Let’s plan for a strategy session.  We can figure out together what needs to be done.

Let’s talk about it

[kerch]

Only what matters and supports your reason for being on the web in the first place

I’ve lived a complicated life where I have spent full time as a mom and part time as an artist and part time producing really big events. Or part time as a coach and part time as a writer and part time as a web developer.

I am happy to report that there are no more “also rans” in my life. OK, I’m still a mom, but my kids are old. But now I am ONLY doing web stuff.. new and redeveloped websites. Need one? Check it out.

All of these jobs overlapped, or were the primary focus, at some time in my life.  It suits me just fine. I know how to juggle the balls. But I surely can’t expect other people to get it.  It makes my poor husband’s head spin.  “Pick one,” he says, “then make a lot of money so I can retire.”  Yea, well, we’re working on that.

What happens when you’re not focused?

Every time I went out to do the corporate wife thing (also one of those part time jobs) I’d have to decide on the answer to the “What do you do?” question. Because to admit to doing more than one thing will either make the other person’s eyes glaze over OR they won’t take me seriously regarding anything.

You know, part of the reason that Realtors want you to get rid of personal stuff before you show your house is so that your too-much or too-cool stuff doesn’t distract your potential buyer from doing what they’re supposed to be doing.. LOOKING AT YOUR HOUSE!

If you’re website is for selling books, don’t drift into information about your other business of producing baby showers.  Get another website for that. Websites aren’t so expensive any more. Or at least shouldn’t be.

What does this mean?

Before you ever start the process of designing your site, or talking to a designer, answer this question:

What are your intentions for your site?

This needs to be clear in your mind even before you decide what you want people to do when they’re on your site.

Be specific.

• “I want to make a lot of money.” … not specific
• “I want to help mothers have easier lives…” better.. but not quite right

What if you start your thinking with this:

My site will focus on …..  what exactly?

WeFixBrokenWebsites focuses on helping people who want websites ask the best questions of prospective web designers (so they are not at the mercy of bullies who imply that the web is scary and that you need someone to hold your hand all the time.  And there is nothing you can do about that. PFFFT!)

That last part is a rant, in case you weren’t sure. And  I digress, so

What goes on your website?

The answer is the same: Whatever supports your purpose.

1. Knowing this purpose will help you decide what fits.

   Does a post about flying monkeys fit with your site about national security?  Maybe it does. Who’s to say?
   And maybe it doesn’t and it’s just a short little throw away bit to prove you are a human. BUT if it’s part of your other life where Dorothy rules the world.. Perhaps, You should leave that off of this site.

2. A clear focus will help you judge the appropriateness of the possible addition to your site.  IF everything on your site is about the color purple.  Think carefully about adding a bunch of other colors, ‘cause just like with colors, too many things in one place turn out to look like mud.
3. Keep a clear focus  so you don’t confuse your visitors.
   Make it easy for them to stay focused on what they came to your website thinking about.

Bottom line, make it easy for visitors to buy what you’re selling, be it product or idea.

Do you have any other ideas about how to decide what belongs?

Ever notice how sometimes you start thinking about something and then you see it everywhere? You know, you think you like PT Cruisers when there are none. You buy one and BAM! they’re everywhere?  OK, maybe not today, but so it was when I got mine!

I wrote yesterday about writing for the web in response to an edit I did on client’s new blog. (Na, I don’t want to share whose it was.  Seems unkind. And I am not unkind!)

Anyway, then today I found a great piece called The Art of the Paragraph over CopyBlogger (My favorite place to find great info about writing for the web). Check out the article by Jonathan Morrow.

And notice particularly how short his paragraphs are. And how much white space there is. And the great subheads that make you want to know what he’s talking about next.