If you send bulk emails through mailchimp or another similar company, if you have a Pay Per Click (PPC) campaign on Google chances are you have at least been told that A/B Split testing exists. Its an amazing tool and will teach you a lot about whatever you are testing.
That said its important to set up the test properly.
Lets start with email newsletters. I could set up my A/B split to test the subject line. Subject lines are really important in email and do a lot of heavy lifting. Your subject line can make or break the open rate. For instance I was in the habit of sending out my newsletter using a subject line like “rr.interactive October 2010 newsletter”. It helped me keep things categorized but that subject line didn’t do anything for the recipients. For all they knew they were opening pandora’s box.
So in order to see what works best I could try “rr.interactive October 2010 newsletter” for the A test and “What is A/B Split Testing and How Can it Help You? for the B test.
In the case of mailchimp I can select what subset of my total list should get the test and the period of time for testing. Once there is a clear winner that is the one that gets sent out to the rest of the list. Awesome!
Google Adwords allows to to specify two different landing pages for people who click on your PPC ad. This is a wonderful way to test the performance of a beta website against the existing one.
In carpentry they have a saying “Measure Twice, Cut Once”. Interactive Media is a constantly moving target which you have to continually measure and monitor because what works one day might not work the next.
Hosting
First let me say that good hosting for a small business whose site won’t receive a lot of traffic really doesn’t need to be expensive. In fact you would be surprised how little server space you might need and how little that will cost you – depending of course on how mission critical your website is and how secure the information needs to be. If you can’t afford to be without your site or portions of your site it pays to spend more money. Just a few years ago basic small business web hosting cost an average of $30 a month. If you are paying that now and your hosting isn’t anything special start looking elsewhere.
That said the typical small business owner won’t want, or be able, to spend the sort of money a dedicated server will charge so how do you evaluate shared hosting?
In 15 years of designing and developing websites I have a few ideas I’d like to share.
Choose a host that is primarily a host. Believe me where hosting is the primary service and not an upsell from, say, the purchase of a domain name (GoDaddy, Network Solutions) you are apt to have a much smoother experience.
Do a search on the web to see what others have to say about it. Pay special attention to blog and forum posts. Ask people if they have had experience with them.
As a web designer I always check out a new host with a small site of my own (such as this one) to see how things go before recommending anyone.
It is becoming more frequent for hosts to offer fairly good support documentation but to charge for any actual support request requiring a personal reply via email or phone. Check the pricing on this. Its often justified when the hosting provider is charging very little for server space but has the overhead of 24/7 support personnel.
Last. Sign up for the hosting account in your name (not the web designer or developer). This will enable you to retain control of your site if there is a problem. I call this “If your designer were hit by a bus what would you do”. Save all of the user name and password information (including database access if any). This goes for access to your domain name as well.
I have been struggling with a site design for a week now trying to come up with something clean and fresh. This was the client’s request and is generally my approach to design. This particular one has been giving me trouble as the client’s logo literally picks a fight with any clean design I can come up with.
I’ve tried and tried, my computer is littered with abandoned photoshop files.
The other day I was on the phone complaining about this to someone I know. We chatted about other things and then I exclaimed “I’ll put it in the footer!”.
This is how it happens sometimes. Out of the blue when you are doing or thinking about something else.
Summertime is coming and I do a lot of design work in my kayack.
Just so you know. . .
I wanted to call this the myth of the easy CMS. It’s a topic I’ve discussed before but it warrants discussing again.
A number of my clients in the last few years have requested the ability to update websites themselves so I have begun to offer the ability to all. Generally I will explain that it is a good option if the following is true:
- The client feels comfortable technically
- The client will be needing updates frequently enough that the increased cost of integrating content management into their website will be amortized over time and become a savings over having me perform their updates.
Usually I recommend WordPress (the easiest to master) or Joomla (for more robust applications). I’ve also used Drupal (not a fan) and Moveable Type. A good CMS should be easily to master for someone who is comfortable and familiar with Microsoft Word but not everyone is and therein lies the problem.
Some take to it fairly well:
If the site is being created for a sole proprietor or a small business and one of the principals will be performing the updates they generally work through the learning curve fairly well and only call upon me for updates and changes that are beyond the ability of the CMS to do. They decided the CMS would save them money and they will ensure that it does.
Some give it up:
Occasionally after adding a CMS to a site I’ve had people contract with me to do the updates anyway as they are too busy or decide they can’t be bothered. They know the ability is there.
And some don’t take to it well at all:
The greatest panic is experienced by people who don’t feel comfortable with, and are often frustrated by, technology. This can range from the extreme case who isn’t really sure where their documents are saved to and honestly thinks you are supposed to get to a website by typing it into the Google bar to those who have made a truce with Microsoft Word and perhaps very basic Excel but that’s the extent of it. Administrative Assistants in larger companies or organizations who have been tasked with updating the website are often in this category. In many cases I have found that while they are afraid of learning how to use the CMS, at the same time, are afraid of letting their boss know how difficult they are finding this new responsibility.
If you are considering adding a CMS to your new or existing website its critical to evaluate the comfort level you or your employees currently have with technology. Often its a matter of additional training. In some cases it may be a better idea to contract outside for your updates.
Yesterday a client emailed me about the issue of Flash. She had initially wanted to have some Flash but was re-thinking primarily because ipads, iphones and other devices don’t support it.
I have been warning clients away from utilizing Flash for years – definitely not for important content. Most understand that if search engines can’t see it site visitors won’t find you. Now that it’s likely that a lot of visitors won’t be able to see your content either Flash will be utilized only for those things that only Flash can do.
It should get easier now to make a convincing argument against Flash now that the drawbacks are less abstract.
