It’s Time to Get into Holiday Sales Season!

Posted on November 13, 2011 by Vanessa Wood

I know it feels like we’re barely into November, but I’m getting businesses ready with web updates for the holiday sales season. Doesn’t it just creep up earlier each year? My family (including our doggie) spent a morning this weekend with Suzanne at Sheridan Photography in Westport for a family portrait. Do you know how hard it is to get everyone together? It was so worth it! Great photos and now I can check Christmas cards off my to-do list.

Stationery card
View the entire collection of cards.
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Is Flash Dead? — The Significance for the Small Business Website

Posted on November 10, 2011 by Vanessa Wood

Today Adobe announced on their blog: Flash is dead. It wasn’t quite that dramatic, but they did announce the development of a Flash player for mobile devices has been nixed.  What does this mean for the small business website?

If you are a small business who has a website created exclusively in Flash, it means your site will continue to be invisible on smart phones, pads and other mobile devices. (see my 2008 post “Flash: Is It the Web’s Invisibility Cloak?”).  All the hot smartphones like the iPhone and Blackberry and all the new pads do not have a Flash player and it looks like with Adobe’s announcement they will never have one.  If a small business has a Flash site and wants to be seen on the growing number of mobile devices, they must convert their site to HTML or HTML5.

Yes, Flash will live on because it still has useful applications. It’s a good program for building games. It can handle complex web functions: Steve Shankland on the CNET.com news blog pointed out that Flash is used to upload multiple file attachments in Gmail. Games and advanced functions are seldom part of a small business website.

My advice remains the same as in the past: whether starting a new small business website or to reclaim your visibility on the web—limit the use of Flash and be seen online!

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Watch for Signs to Update Your Website

Posted on October 12, 2011 by Vanessa Wood

What’s wrong with this photo? You don’t have to stare it for a long time to conclude that a TV antenna is a sign of old technology. It’s a sign of something that is no more. Aerial TV is a dying service replaced by cable, satellite, and TV delivered online. Drive down a street and spot an aerial and you know that you’ve found a relic.

Web technology also dies and is replaced by newer and more innovative technology. This point had clarity recently when I got a call from a client who had left their website for about four years – four years without any review. When they finally turned their attention to their website, hoping to stimulate business, they found that technology had moved forward, leaving them and their website at the curb.

So, what are the top 3 things to ignore that can make your website look and act like a relic?

1. Failing to Act When Notified. Do you have a shopping cart or an online payment method? If you ignore emails from these companies that urge you to renew or update the underlying code, your cart and payment buttons may become non-functional, failing to act when notified can make your ability to handle online sales disappear.

2. Ignoring the Trends. Everyone talks about blogs. There’s good reason to be excited about blogging as it’s a sure-fire way to increase your online content and attract more visitors to your website. If you think blogging isn’t for you, you’re missing out on a nifty technology that can benefit your website and in turn benefit your business.

3. Forgetting Social Media. So you’ve adopted one or several forms of social media, but do your website visitors have a way to find your social media accounts? It’s important to connect your website and your social media accounts so your visitors can stay engaged with you and your products. When links to your social media profiles are missing from your website… it’s like an aerial pointing at the need of a website update!

I hope this post inspires you to review your website. I’m also happy to do a website review to make suggestion on how to freshen your website. Don’t forget to like Design to Spec on Facebook to get more posts with our web tips.

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