8 Simple Steps to Making Your Website More User-Friendly
Issue #2572
- WEALTHY: Stocks to add to your long-term portfolio (Rick Pendergraft)
- HEALTHY: What’s your motivation? (Craig Ballantyne)
- WISE: Whoopi Goldberg on pet peeves
ALSO IN THIS ISSUE:
- My Internet pet-peeve could be costing you customers (David Cross)
- Inviting junior to a business meeting (Jason Holland)
- It’s Fun to Know… about cattle rustlers
- Add “sangfroid” to your vocabulary
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Take Advantage of Stocks That Lost Because of “Guilt by Association”
So far, 2009 is starting off much like 2008 ended: not good for the market. But I remain bullish about the year as a whole.
If you are a long-term investor, you have an incredible opportunity to pick up some stocks that are trading well below where they were at the beginning of 2008. Granted, some – if not most – stocks deserve to be down where they are. They were way over-priced this time last year, and now they are priced accurately.
However, some stocks have gone down for no other reason than “guilt by association.” These are the ones you want to be to adding to your long-term portfolio.
I am talking about companies like Tupperware (TUP) and IBM that are trading at a 30-40 percent discount from where they were one year ago. This despite the fact that their earnings have not declined nearly as much as their stock prices have.
Look for companies with a strong return on equity ratios. Look for companies whose stock price has dropped sharply, but whose sales and revenues have not declined or have not declined as sharply as the stock.
[Ed. Note: The S&P 500 is down 36% from January of last year... the Nasdaq has dropped 763 points in the same time... and the Dow is still hovering around 8,000 points. But you should be ready to take action when the moment strikes. Some incredible opportunities are headed your way, and market analyst Rick Pendergraft has put together an educational program that lays out the simple steps you need to take advantage of them. Not only do you get three months of Rick's best recommendations, you also learn how to make good investment choices yourself. Get the details here.]
”I don’t have pet peeves, I have whole kennels of irritation.”
Whoopi Goldberg
8 Simple Steps to Making Your Website More User-Friendly
By David Cross
I swerved for the third fallen tree on the road as torrential rain pelted the car windows. It was starting to look like a war zone as floodwater and rocks spewed out onto the road from the hillside that was rapidly becoming a series of slurried landslides. The first major storm of 2009 tore up the landscape and brought most rivers in the Pacific Northwest to flood stage. But I had to make the journey, and I was too far now to turn back.
Onward I pressed, and finally I was out of the woods. Ten miles of clear, open road lay ahead, and soon I was almost at my destination. Just a half-mile to go and… “ROAD CLOSED: HIGH WATER.” I had to double-back and make a 25-mile detour.
How many times has the lane you’ve been driving in come to a screeching halt when a sign suddenly appears that says “Right Lane Must Turn Right.” Why don’t these signs appear early enough for drivers to take action proactively, rather than having to slam on their brakes at the last minute?
This same basic problem exists on many websites, and it could be hurting your online sales. Fortunately, there’s something you can – and should – do about it.
Why This Problem Hurts Your Internet Sales
I’m sure this has happened to you…
You enter your credit card number to place your order. Then – AFTER you’ve entered your number – you get an error page that tells you “Credit Card Number must be entered in format xxxx-xxxx-xxxxx-xxxx.” Or that your phone number should be in a certain format. Or that your password needs a minimum of eight characters including numbers and must start with an uppercase letter.
All you want to do is spend money. But this website is preventing you from doing so.
If your website or shopping cart requires customers to enter information – such as an e-mail address, phone number, credit card number, etc. – a certain way, here are 8 steps you need to follow.
1. Try to limit the restrictions you place on people. They are customers, not computer programmers! It’s better to accept what the customer enters and leave the reformatting to your programmers.
2. Remember that it will be hard for some people (customers with dyslexia, for example), to enter data into your website. Make it simple for everyone to place their orders by listing your phone number on the website so they can just call you.
3. Place the request for information “in a certain format” at the point where people enter that data – underneath the field asking for the phone number, for example.
4. If you don’t wish to “clutter” your website with such instructions, have your programmer create a JavaScript or similar code that allows customers to input the data, but then warns them immediately that a certain format is required. This is less than ideal, but a good compromise.
5. It’s often possible to program your site to allow customers to enter their data any way they wish – and then have the program automatically remove dashes, dots, or superfluous characters and reformat the data into the required format.
6. If a customer is selecting a username, make it easy for them to determine whether that username has already been taken. Yahoo, MSN, and Gmail do a good job of this. There’s nothing more frustrating than having to submit a form three or four times while trying to come up with an available username.
7. If you don’t allow orders from certain countries, state that upfront on your website. Better still, use a software package that can identify the country a visitor is accessing your website from, and can lead them to a special page informing them that you do not currently service their location. (Such programs are made by MaxMind and IP2Location.)
I’ve personally experienced the frustration of browsing a site and shopping for half an hour, only to find out that the company didn’t deliver to the country I was in at the time.
8. When developing your website, allow plenty of time for testing with real customers. (Software developers and your staff do not constitute real customers.) The only way you’ll know, for example, how most of your customers will prefer to enter their credit card numbers – with dashes between digits, with slashes, or with no spacing at all – is to run tests. Invite a select few of your customers to test such things for you. As a gift for their help, do what my friends who run an aromatherapy business did: Give them the products they order during the test for free.
The most important function of your website is to allow your customers to place their orders and receive the products or services they’re interested in. So make it as easy and hassle-free as possible.
You know how frustrating it is when you have to make a U-turn or take a detour when you could have been given fair warning beforehand. Don’t make your customers jump through unnecessary hoops to complete their purchases.
[Ed. Note: Making your website appealing and easy to use doesn't have to be hard. You can get expert advice, as well as useful suggestions for how to start an e-newsletter, write sales copy, create products, and more as a member of ETR's Internet Money Club. Get all the details on a step-by-step guide to creating your own Internet business right here.]
It Is a Great Time to Start a Business… And Let Me Tell You Why
Can’t think of a worse time to start a business than today? Well, consider this…
- William Hewlett and David Packard founded Hewlett-Packard in 1939, while the Great Depression had been underway for a full decade…
- In September 1945, Masaru Ibuka started Sony after his country had been devastated by war and was occupied by a foreign power…
You see, a business start up can not only survive, but thrive in times of economic crisis.
YOU can do the same. And thanks to the Internet your journey to a bright financial future will be a lot easier – and faster – than Sony’s or Hewlett-Packard’s. You can be making $100,000 to $25 million a year in no time with your own business with our proven strategies and coaching.
Why You Should You Take the Family on Your Next Business Trip
If your job or business requires you to travel frequently to meet with clients, attend conferences and seminars, or consult with business partners… it could be affecting your home life.
One way to tip your work/home balance back the other way is to bring your family with you on the road.
This is not a good idea if you’re going to be working 18-hour days. But if your schedule allows for free time, you may be able to play with the kids before you head out in the morning, have dinner with your spouse, and enjoy watching a movie together in the hotel room in the evening. You could even tack on an extra day or two at the end of the trip for sightseeing or to visit nearby attractions.
If appropriate, you might even let your spouse or an older child tag along to a meeting or business dinner. Showing this “other” side of you can be a great way to form closer relationships with colleagues and clients.
Taking your family on some of your business trips not only allows you to spend more time with them, it has an added bonus: They get to see (and understand) what you do for a living. Having them “on your team” makes it more likely that they’ll support your work, and will make it easier when you have to go on future business trips without them.
[Ed. Note: If spending more time with your family and less time at work is your goal, you probably need to radically increase your income. You can learn dozens of ways to break free of the corporate rat race and control your own financial future at the upcoming Early to Rise Profits in Paradise wealth-building summit in Orlando. Find out more here.]
A Secret to Success
Yesterday morning, after an early morning walk with Bally, my 3-year-old chocolate lab, I sat down in my office and read a motivational quote. (Something I do every day.)
This one struck me as true for both business and weight-loss success. It says, “Intense desire is the foundation of all achievement.”
So here’s a question to ask yourself: Do you really, truly have an INTENSE burning desire to succeed with your fat-loss goals?
Or is your interest in losing fat the “flavor of the month” for you?
Only if you truly have an intense burning desire to change will you be able to lose fat. Otherwise, you’ll probably just lose interest and motivation in a few weeks. That’s the harsh truth.
Success mentor Bob Cox is a big proponent of pinpointing your motivation for setting a goal before you take action. Knowing the “why” behind your desire to accomplish something will help you move forward. So if you are committed to making your fat-loss program a success this year, take a few minutes to make sure you have identified your intense burning desire to achieve that goal.
Ask yourself: “Why do I truly want to change and lose fat?”
Let’s say your answer to that question is “Because I want to look better.” So then you ask yourself “Why do I want to look better?” And you keep asking yourself “Why?” after every answer.
Dig deep. You’ll find a very emotional “weak spot” that is driving your intense desire to succeed. Turn this “weakness” into your strength (your intense desire for success), and you’ll finally achieve your fat-loss goals this year.
[Ed. Note: Identifying your motivation is just one simple method that can help you achieve your dreams. Discover dozens of tools that can help you get everything you want out of life right here.
Get a head start on your weight-loss goals with fitness expert Craig Ballantyne's Turbulence Training program. Learn how you can get fit with three 45-minute workouts a week right here.]
It’s Fun to Know: Trouble with Cattle Rustlers?
The grassy plains of Argentina’s Pampas have been home to vast cattle ranches for generations. And for just as long, cattle rustling has plagued ranchers raising the country’s world famous free-range, grass-feed beef.
These days, the Argentine government tracks down cattle thieves by using modern technology. A DNA database of 10,000 head of cattle allows investigators to cross-reference samples from “suspect” steaks and sausages. Since the program began seven years ago, 270 cases have been solved using this DNA evidence.
(Source: Reuters)
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Word to the Wise: Sangfroid
“Sangfroid” (sahn-FRWAH) – French for “cold blood” – is coolness and composure, especially in the face of difficulty or danger.
Example (as used by Gabriel Garcia Marquez in News of a Kidnapping): “Gaviria knew Alberto as an impulsive but cordial man capable of maintaining his sangfroid under the most stressful circumstances.”
[Ed. Note: Become a more persuasive writer and speaker ... build your self-confidence and intellect ... increase your attractiveness to others ... just by spending 10 VERY enjoyable minutes a day with ETR's new Words to the Wise CD Library.]
Copyright ETR, LLC, 2009
these are good steps for making a website i needed these steps for my class project well thankz!!!!!!!!!!!! =)