How To Select Pictures For Your Website

Select Appropriate Pictures.
It is no surprise that pictures are an important part of your website's content. But it appears as if many small business owners do not spend much time selecting or taking pictures. I'm going to give a quick test you can give your website to see if the pictures are appropriate and a guide to help you select the good pictures.

Test Your Website:

Selling Products
If your website sells a product then this is going to be a simple test.

• Look at your home page. Does it have a picture or pictures that show you product, or line of products?
• Do you show products on the category / product pages?

If you have answered yes to both questions, then you might think you are done. But you are only half way there.

• Do you have pages with content related to your products? (Such as how to buy pages.)

If so, then where possible try to show people using the products. You want to show actual users /customers if possible, or people who represent your audience.

For example: Do you sell scuba masks? Is there a section about buying a mask? Which picture do you think is going to interest someone more and get them to read your content?

I would suggest that all other things being equal, the picture of the scuba diver is more likely to encourage people to look at and read your content.

Offering a Service
Do you offer a service, such as landscaping, photography or website design. The same guidelines apply.

• Show pictures that represent your service on the home page.
• If you offer different related services (decks, paths or flowerbeds) and dedicate individual pages to those services then each page should have picture that represent the page's content.
• Try to show people using the result of your service - people walking on the path, sitting on the deck, or enjoying the flowerbed.

General Image Guidelines:

Here are a few suggestions to impliment with your pictures.

1. Place content in the alternative text  image property.
2. Use pictures that show people using your product.
3. Create links to larger images.
   People like to see larger versions of your work and products, so if you can provide users with links to larger versions of your images.

Obviously some services or products are harder to show than others, compare landscaper's to a lawyer's service. If you can, then you want to show examples of your service and people enjoying the results what your company did for them.

Small Business, Doing Too Much With Your Website

Simplify Your Website.
Sometimes small businesses try to do too much with their website. I want to suggest that small businesses  simplify what service or products they offer on their web site. I'm not suggesting that websites should highlight only one product. I am suggesting, for small businesses, it is beneficial to concentrate content on one service or product area. Although it might mean creating two web sites to handle different business services, it can be beneficial.

How Can It Help:

Why should you limit your website's scope?

1. To improve your search rankings
2. To convince users that they arrived at the correct location
   

When someone performs a search, Google pays attention to a website's overall content. They also determine who is linking to your site and in what context.

Do you have a small business site that covers two or three broadly related services? You might be better served creating two or three sites each dedicated to one of those unique services.

When someone clicks on a link from an organic search, they will see a website which deals primarily with the service or product related to what they searched for. This makes them more likely to scan and read the web page they landed on. That is the first step towards having them view other pages on your site and learn more about your company. Hopefully that will mean more customers.

A Real Life Example:

One of my friends from a networking group is a photographer, who does weddings, portraits, commercial, and underwater photography. He built his own website, a year or so ago, with front page. (His budget does not yet allow for him to pay for a professionally designed/ build site.) The website does a decent job marketing all these services and  has follows many of the basic SEO best practices.Is has a page Rank of 2 and descent content targeting keyword phrases that are appropriate for his business.

The Problem:

The website does not show up in any of the top pages when one does a search for wedding photography in the state or city where the studio is locate. With under 110K results returned by Google I would expect his site to show up

The website pages mention the location of the studio and he has several pages dedicated to wedding photography.

Proposed solution:

I am suggesting that the website be split into two sites, one for wedding and portrait photography, the other for commercial and underwater work.

This way there will be two sites each, each with more "authority" and content on a narrower scope than the original web site.

I'm talking to the photographer in a couple of days. If we make theses changes I'll report back what the results were.

Someone Has Registered My Domain

Using UDRP to reclaim your domain from a cybersquatter.

Last week at a Painesville Chamber meeting I overheard another attendant complaining that someone had the .COM version of their company's name. The cybersquatter wanted $10,000 for the domain, and the business owner wondered if there was a service to negotiate a fair price. I told him about the UDRP and suggested that he might be able to get the domain turned over to him for much less. Here is a much simplified overview of what is involved.

UDRP, What Is It?

UDRP stands for Uniform Domain-Name Dispute-Resolution Policy. ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) started using it in 2000 as a method for handling domain registration disputes. Whenever anyone registers a domain (.com, .net. .info .biz, .name and a few others) they agree to be bound by certain rules including going through the URDP when there is a domain name registration dispute.

Who Can File a UDRP Complaint?

Anyone can file a UDRP complaint. Although, typically a lawyer or someone well versed in trademark law is hired to file a complaint. For a complaint to be filed you need to show the following:

1. The domain name is identical or confusingly similar to a trademark or service mark in which the complainant has rights; and
   
2.  The registrant does not have any rights or legitimate interests in the domain name; and
3.  The registrant registered the domain name and is using it in "bad faith."

That means that you need to have a trademark or a service mark for the domain in dispute. For example, if your company's trademarked name is "QWERTY Baseball Bats" and someone registered "QuertyBaseballBats.com" then you have met condition #1. But you can not file a complaint over someone who registered "baseballBats.com".

What is bad faith?
According to the the UDRP policy (section 4.b) there are four ways to show bad faith.

1. Circumstances indicating that someone has registered or has acquired the domain name primarily for the purpose of selling, renting, or otherwise transferring the domain name registration to the complainant who is the owner of the trademark or service mark or to a competitor of that complainant, for valuable consideration in excess of your documented out-of-pocket costs directly related to the domain name; or
2. Someone has registered the domain name in order to prevent the owner of the trademark or service mark from reflecting the mark in a corresponding domain name, provided that they have engaged in a pattern of such conduct; or
   
3. Someone  has registered the domain name primarily for the purpose of disrupting the business of a competitor; or
4. By using the domain name, someone has intentionally attempted to attract, for commercial gain, Internet users to your web site or other on-line location, by creating a likelihood of confusion with the complainant's mark as to the source, sponsorship, affiliation, or endorsement of their web site or location or of a product or service on their web site or location.

How to File a UDRP Complaint?

There are several approved providers who handle disputes. You need to submit your complaint to one of those organizations and pay a non-refundable fee to get the process started.  Complaints must be mailed to the organization; starting March 1, 2010 complaints can be filed electronically.

One of those providers, the National Arbitration Forum (NAF) has a step by step guide for submitting a complaint with them, including a template of a complaint (in MS Word). Their fee is $1300 for a single domain complaint heard by a single arbitrator, for an additional fee there is an option for a three party panel to hear your complaint.

There are several law firms that specialize in UDRP complaints. They can help you file your complaint with one of the approved providers.

What Happens Next

After you file a complaint here is what happens.

1. It is reviewed by the Provider and if needed you a have five days to correct any deficiencies they find.
2. If it is reviewed and is formatted properly and complete, then it is sent to the Respondent within 3 days by the provider. 
3. The person/business you filed a complaint against has 20 days after they receive the complaint to send a response to the provider. 
4. You are allowed to amend your complaint after the response to your initial complaint. 
5. They get a chance to respond back to you, amending their initial response.

Typically each of these amendments must be filed with in a week.

Unless there are exceptional circumstance, if no response is made, the Provider is directed by the UDRP to use your complaint to determine their decision.

An arbitrator(s) is selected by the provider and the arbitrator reviews the filed complaint and response, then makes their decision. The actual review typically takes 30 days, but it can take 10 - 20 days for an arbitrator to be selected.

If a respondent looses the case, the domain is placed on "hold" for a brief time (about 10 days) to allow them to request legal relief. If you loose the case you might be able to file a federal suit under the Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act of 1999.

If there is not a legal challenge to the decision then the domain is turned over to you by the registrar.

The fastest turn around time for a complaint is around 45 days, the longest is about 90 days.

Changes to UDRP

Starting March of 2010, complaints can be filled in electronic form, although some providers are already accepting complaints electronically.

There is discussion of creating a new expedited process, it was proposed by CAC in November 2009. Although comments on the proposal seem to be running against it, including Go Daddy who "strongly opposes" the new process.

What Does It All Mean?

If someone is squatting on your domain there is a process available to you to reclaim it. But it is not cheap (the fee to the provider and maybe a lawyer). Nor is it certain, some cases go against the complaintent.

If you don't want to pay ransom for a domain you feel you are entitled to, then the UDRP gives you an alternate route.

** Legal disclaimer my lawyer wants me to say: Even though I tried to be accurate, I likely made one or more mistakes somewhere in this blog. Since I am not a lawyer and therefore am an not qualified to offer legal advice, this article should not be taken for legal advice. Consult with a qualified lawyer before doing anything.

2009's Best Social Media Marketing Tool - TheTelephone

Before you post a comment about the telephone not being social media, let me offer an alternative title:

2009's Most Often Forgotten Marketing Tool for Small Business - The Telephone.

The last few years have seen a lot of press coverage about  using social media to market business. When I am asked by clients to help them with their website or internet marketing they all want help with social media. I'm not complaining, the work helps pay the bills, but there seems to be a lot of grasping at straws, and the latest straw is social media.

Companies should not forget the power of one to one contact, especially with existing clients. Many times it is not possible to see every client in person. The best tool for one on one contact is the telephone.

Current Clients
They deserve a phone call.

• Ask them how business is?
• Ask if there is anything they can use help with?
• Ask about future work.

If you are feeling brave do a little market research on your company.

• Ask them what they like about doing business with you. 
• Ask them what service they wished you offered.

If you are feeling really brave:

• Ask them what you could do better.
  

Past Clients
They deserve a phone call to find out why you haven't worked with them lately.

• Ask them if business has slowed down for them? Has it slowed a lot.
• If so, ask if that is why they have not given you work lately. Maybe their business model has changed.
  
• If not inquire why you are not getting any work from them.
• If appropriate ask them if you can visit them, and reestablish a working relationship with them.

Remember the telephone can be your friend.