Testimonials are a powerful method of communicating the benefits of your products to potential customers and can be used on your website and other promotional literature.
The sample script below can be used to request testimonials or feedback from your clients or customers. You should at least replace the items in square brackets with details specific to your company or, if required, ammend the script further to make it more specific to the products or services on which you wish to collect feedback.
Dear [CUSTOMER-NAME],
As you are probably aware by now we only send out email to customers who subscribe to our newsletter or when we have important news or system notifications. We are making an exception today as we would like to ask our most valued customers a small favour.
We are currently collecting testimonials from our customers regarding [PRODUCT-OR-SERVICES]. If you would be so kind us to write a few lines regarding your experiences with [COMPANY-NAME] we would be very appreciative.
Most important to us are comments on [SPECIFIC-PRODUCT-OR-SERVICE]. We intend to publish a selection of the testimonials that we receive either on our website or in promotional material. If you include a link to your website this will be noted alongside your comments and should generate some traffic for your website.
If you would be so kind as to write something for us can you please send it to [EMAIL].
Please include your name and main website URL at the bottom of any testimonial you submit. If you prefer to not have your URL listed on the testimonial this can be omitted.
We would like to thank all of our clients for their continued support and hope that you find our continued development programme and support service of benefit to your business.
Kind regards,
[NAME]
[POSITION]
[EMAIL]
[WEBSITE]
Friday, 17 April 2009
Wednesday, 4 March 2009
Support for Internet Explorer 6 Ends
As of March 2009 Cube Webworks will no longer be providing support for Internet Explorer 6.
IE6 was released way back in 2001, and IE7, the replacement, was released in 2006. Modern web browsers such as IE 7, Firefox, and Safari provide significantly better online experiences than the old technology from 2001. In addition, IE8 is available in beta form meaning the full release should be available shortly.
From a website design point of view, the main problem with IE6 is that it does not fully support CSS version 2 [which controls the layout, colours and positioning of elements on your website] unlike most browsers which in turn means web developers must use hacks or workarounds to make IE6 will display web pages correctly. This makes maintenance and future updates to your website more difficult.
Security is another big issue with IE6. Secunia reports 142 vulnerabilities in Internet Explorer 6 as of January 2009, 22 of which are unpatched with the severity of some of these being rated moderately critical.
It is strongly recommended that everyone ensures they are running a modern browser:
The implications of support for IE6 ending are only mild for the users still running this software. In most cases the worst that can happen is that elements on a page will not display exactly as intended, for example they may be slightly misaligned. In most cases the website will still be usable, but may look a little untidy.
IE6 was released way back in 2001, and IE7, the replacement, was released in 2006. Modern web browsers such as IE 7, Firefox, and Safari provide significantly better online experiences than the old technology from 2001. In addition, IE8 is available in beta form meaning the full release should be available shortly.
From a website design point of view, the main problem with IE6 is that it does not fully support CSS version 2 [which controls the layout, colours and positioning of elements on your website] unlike most browsers which in turn means web developers must use hacks or workarounds to make IE6 will display web pages correctly. This makes maintenance and future updates to your website more difficult.
Security is another big issue with IE6. Secunia reports 142 vulnerabilities in Internet Explorer 6 as of January 2009, 22 of which are unpatched with the severity of some of these being rated moderately critical.
It is strongly recommended that everyone ensures they are running a modern browser:
- http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/winfamily/ie/default.mspx
- http://www.mozilla-europe.org/en/firefox/
The implications of support for IE6 ending are only mild for the users still running this software. In most cases the worst that can happen is that elements on a page will not display exactly as intended, for example they may be slightly misaligned. In most cases the website will still be usable, but may look a little untidy.
Monday, 2 March 2009
How to Feature products on your Cactushop home page
Introduction
This document describes how to Feature your key products on the main page of your Cactushop Online Store. The front page real estate on your site is the most valuable and will typically get more hits than any other page. You can choose to display certain items here, ensuring they are put to the widest possible audience.
Login to the admin panel of your Online store and navigate to the category which contains the product you wish to feature. Select the orange Edit product as shown below:
Select a position to feature your chosen product at using the Featured dropdown shown below:
The lower the number the closer to the front of the Featured Products list this product will appear. If you set say two products with a feature number of 1 and two with a feature number of 2 the feature area of your website will be ordered as: 1 1 2 2
There is no limit to the number of products you can feature although it is generally not recommended to feature more than 9 at any one time.
To remove a Featured Product from the main page simply set it's Feature number to zero using the drop down list.
Friday, 13 February 2009
Results of WebAIM Screen Reader Survey 2009
WebAIM, a leader in web accessibility solutions, published the results of it's Screen Reader Survey which analysed over 1100 responses.
The survey asked participants, the majority of whom suffer from blindness or low/impared vision, and use Screen Readers to access content on the web to answer questions relating to how they use web pages and the features that help them find the content they require.
Home Page
Most users read through the home page, a significant number go straight to the main navigation. Few look for a search facility or sitemap from here.
Skip Links
Only 10% of respondants never use this facility therefore we would advise that it be strongly considered for inclusion on all websites. Most users prefer the Skip link to be called 'skip to content' or 'skip to main content'.
Access Keys
There was no real consensus as to the usage of Access Keys. 30% of respondants rarely or never use them and 30% sometimes do. Our preference is not to include them in websites unless specifically requested by the client to prevent accidental clashes with access keys assigned by the user's browser.
Headings
75% of users heavily rely on Headings to navigate. In any case all web pages should be marked up with appropriate Headings for both users with regular browsers and Search Engines.
Search Facility
50% of users use this when available or often. Strong consideration should be given to adding this feature when developing or refreshing a website.
To aid users with Screen Readers find the Search Facility it should be labelled Search and be the first Form or Text/Edit box on the page.
Site Maps
The response shows that Site Maps are rarely used by users with Screen Readers although they may be beneficial to some.
Text Only Versions
The survey suggests that experienced Screen Reader users do not place much reliance on Text Only Versions of websites however other users appear to find them useful.
Screen Reader Only Content
Over half of respondents were strongly attracted to content marked for Screen Readers only. WebAIM suggest identifying content as being specific for a specific audience will attract a higher level of use from that group.
Pop Up Windows
Almost half of the respondents experience difficulty with websites that use pop up windows.
Web 2.0
The results for the accessibility of Web 2.0 content were found to be ambiguous. Further study may be required to establish if respondants were unsure of what the question was asking or the meaning of Web 2.0, or if Web 2.0 technology is naturally more accessible than might be expected.
Images
The survey shows a difference between the needs of experienced and inexperienced Screen Reader users making it difficult for WebAIM to make any recommendations.
Identification of Photos
80% of respondants prefer photos to be identified as such in alt text ie. 'photo of my car' as opposed to 'my car'.
Identification of Logos
The variety of responses do not offer a definitive formula for identifying company logos although it would appear that the best average would be 'The Edge Logo with link to home page'.
Repeated Links
Again the responses appear to be split between experienced and novice users with some finding repeated links such as 'add to basket' or 'more details' difficult to work with. No obvious alternative to repeated links in such situations.
Flash
The results along with many strong comments make it clear that Flash is not easily accessible with many users experiencing significant difficulty.
Frames
The survey did not distinguish between framesets and inline frames [which are used by our Bookassist online booking engine for hotels] but it appears there may be a misconception among those who do not require Screen Reader technology that they are inaccessible. Although some users reported difficulty the figure is not as high as might have been anticipated.
Adobe Acrobat [PDF] Files
The results of this question were again difficult to interpret with some users reporting PDFs easy to work with and others saying they are difficult. I would err on the side of caution and attempt to provide content as part of the web page where possible. This is more true for the likes of Dinner Menus than product datasheets which could be difficult for content editors to reproduce as HTML.
Conclusions
Many of the survey questions produced quite polarised results between novice and expert users of Screen Readers making it difficult to draw any definitive conclusions. It is clear that the majority of users do not like Flash content and like to see Headings used correctly. Offering Users options and following Accessibility Guidance would appear to be the main consideration when developing a website.
Further Reading
The survey asked participants, the majority of whom suffer from blindness or low/impared vision, and use Screen Readers to access content on the web to answer questions relating to how they use web pages and the features that help them find the content they require.
Home Page
Most users read through the home page, a significant number go straight to the main navigation. Few look for a search facility or sitemap from here.
Skip Links
Only 10% of respondants never use this facility therefore we would advise that it be strongly considered for inclusion on all websites. Most users prefer the Skip link to be called 'skip to content' or 'skip to main content'.
Access Keys
There was no real consensus as to the usage of Access Keys. 30% of respondants rarely or never use them and 30% sometimes do. Our preference is not to include them in websites unless specifically requested by the client to prevent accidental clashes with access keys assigned by the user's browser.
Headings
75% of users heavily rely on Headings to navigate. In any case all web pages should be marked up with appropriate Headings for both users with regular browsers and Search Engines.
Search Facility
50% of users use this when available or often. Strong consideration should be given to adding this feature when developing or refreshing a website.
To aid users with Screen Readers find the Search Facility it should be labelled Search and be the first Form or Text/Edit box on the page.
Site Maps
The response shows that Site Maps are rarely used by users with Screen Readers although they may be beneficial to some.
Text Only Versions
The survey suggests that experienced Screen Reader users do not place much reliance on Text Only Versions of websites however other users appear to find them useful.
Screen Reader Only Content
Over half of respondents were strongly attracted to content marked for Screen Readers only. WebAIM suggest identifying content as being specific for a specific audience will attract a higher level of use from that group.
Pop Up Windows
Almost half of the respondents experience difficulty with websites that use pop up windows.
Web 2.0
The results for the accessibility of Web 2.0 content were found to be ambiguous. Further study may be required to establish if respondants were unsure of what the question was asking or the meaning of Web 2.0, or if Web 2.0 technology is naturally more accessible than might be expected.
Images
The survey shows a difference between the needs of experienced and inexperienced Screen Reader users making it difficult for WebAIM to make any recommendations.
Identification of Photos
80% of respondants prefer photos to be identified as such in alt text ie. 'photo of my car' as opposed to 'my car'.
Identification of Logos
The variety of responses do not offer a definitive formula for identifying company logos although it would appear that the best average would be 'The Edge Logo with link to home page'.
Repeated Links
Again the responses appear to be split between experienced and novice users with some finding repeated links such as 'add to basket' or 'more details' difficult to work with. No obvious alternative to repeated links in such situations.
Flash
The results along with many strong comments make it clear that Flash is not easily accessible with many users experiencing significant difficulty.
Frames
The survey did not distinguish between framesets and inline frames [which are used by our Bookassist online booking engine for hotels] but it appears there may be a misconception among those who do not require Screen Reader technology that they are inaccessible. Although some users reported difficulty the figure is not as high as might have been anticipated.
Adobe Acrobat [PDF] Files
The results of this question were again difficult to interpret with some users reporting PDFs easy to work with and others saying they are difficult. I would err on the side of caution and attempt to provide content as part of the web page where possible. This is more true for the likes of Dinner Menus than product datasheets which could be difficult for content editors to reproduce as HTML.
Conclusions
Many of the survey questions produced quite polarised results between novice and expert users of Screen Readers making it difficult to draw any definitive conclusions. It is clear that the majority of users do not like Flash content and like to see Headings used correctly. Offering Users options and following Accessibility Guidance would appear to be the main consideration when developing a website.
Further Reading
- Original survey results are available at http://webaim.org/projects/screenreadersurvey/
- Two of the most popular screeen readers available are JAWS and Window Eyes
Thursday, 15 January 2009
Introduction to Email Marketing
Purpose
To provide an introduction to Email Marketing techniques and raise awareness of the Law governing this field.
Why you need to use email marketing as a core part of your business strategy
To grow your business and be truly successful you must keep in touch with your customers. This develops a level of awareness that ensures your business is at the front of their mind each time they consider buying the type product or service you offer. Failing to do so means a competitor may have had the last contact with your customer and be the first point of contact for new business.
Research shows the cost of acquiring new customers can be as much as five times greater than to retain existing customers so it makes sense to concentrate on generating further sales and referrals from them. The first step to achieving this is keeping in touch.
There are several methods to do this and one of the most effective, cost efficient and far reaching is opt in email marketing. This has been shown to be up to ten times more effective than using a traditional direct mailing strategy.
UK Email Marketing Law
As with any business activity, it is important to stay on the right side of the law. To help control the use of email for direct marketing the EU issued a directive on privacy and electronic communications in 2002. This was brought into force in the UK by the Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003 which apply to all businesses and organisations that market by telephone, fax or email [and automated calling system, SMS, MMS or using any other form of electronic communication].
The regulations dictate that email marketing communications cannot be sent to individuals without their explicit prior consent, however there is a partial exception relating to existing customers [see points 2 and 3 below].
In short the following points summarise the UK Regulations:
- If you have had no prior contact with the intended recipient you must ask for permission to send marketing email
- You can send emails to individuals with whom you hold an existing business relationship as long as point 3 is applicable and until they request to opt out from receiving such emails
- To send email under point 2 the products or services must be similar to those offered under your existing business relationship
- All emails must clearly identify the sender and a valid reply address
- An option to 'unsubscribe' must be included
Email Marketing Solutions
There are a number of tools that can be used to manage your email marketing strategy. The table below summarises the features of the three main types of tool:
Dedicated Mailing List Management Software | Software on Own Server | Email Client | |
Example provider | Constant Contact | PHPList | Microsoft Outlook |
Features | |||
Automated Stats / Reports | Yes | Yes | No |
Automatic single click opt out | Yes | Yes | No |
Subscriber manages own subscriptions | Yes | Yes | No |
Tech support from provider | Yes | No | No |
Build own templates | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Automated duplicate email detection | Yes | Yes | No |
Maintaining a clean list
Your mailing list must be kept as clean as possible. If you use an online service such as Constant Contact they will monitor bounce backs and spam reports and generating an unacceptable level of these [currently 1 spam report per 1000 emails] will result in your account being suspended until the list is cleaned. This sounds fairly harsh but the end result is a mailing list that is full of qualified, healthy leads.
The ideal way to start a mailing list is to email an opt in link to each of your contacts. Constant Contact provides a link that you can include in a personalised email to encourage contacts to commit to receiving regular mailings. A paragraph explaining the benefits of being on the list should be provided and you may wish to include an incentive such as a discount voucher or offer for those who opt in. The goal is to achieve quality of subscribers over quantity.
It is important to understand that a number of subscribers will fall off the list over time. There are several reasons for this:
- Email address half life – people change their email addresses and do not always update their subscription to your list. Reasons for people changing their email address include changing job, leaving university, getting a new ISP etc. Statistics published by Constant Contact show that the half life of email addresses is 3 years i.e. If your list now has 1000 addresses, in 3 years half of the original addresses will no longer be in use
- Subscriber is no longer interested in your products or services
- Subscriber receives your information in another format e.g. RSS feed
It is important not to worry about this turnover of subscribers; it is natural and does not necessarily reflect badly on your list and if your Management Software is fee based this will reduce costs if the fees are based on number of subscribers.
Cleaning an existing or old list
You can clean your mailing list by:
- Emailing customers individually to seek permission to send email marketing
- Use software such as eMail Verifier by Max Prog to attempt to establish if an email address is valid
- Sending your list to a specialist company to be cleaned
Cube Webworks only recommend the first of these options, the rest have been included for completeness.
How to get subscribers
Purchasing lists from a company selling email addresses is strongly discouraged as the recipient has not specifically opted in to receive mail from your company. Legitimate methods of building a list of subscribers include:
- Drive people to your website to use an opt in box or email existing contacts with a link to the opt in box on your website
- Link to the opt in box on your website from your email footer
- Collect opt in addresses in store or at exhibitions but must the signup form must explicitly state that the customer’s email will be added to the company email list
- Include a tick box with any contact forms on your website worded ‘I consent to receiving email about your products and services’. It is good practice for this not to be ticked by default. If someone does not tick the box you should not view their decision as lost business, it is their right to choose and this helps maintain a clean mailing list
It is worth considering offering an incentive for signing up such as entry into a monthly prize draw.
Links
PHP List – A newsletter manager which allows you to add and manage users along with creating and email newsletters. (PHP, MySQL) www.phplist.com
Constant Contact – Email marketing software that makes it easy to create professional HTML email campaigns with no tech skills www.constantcontact.com
Vertical Response – Easy-to-use, web-based marketing tools that help you grow your business through email marketing newsletters www.verticalresponse.com
Legal Issues – Nobody wants spam or wants to be labelled a spammer. These issues are covered by UK law firm Pinsent Masons www.out-law.com
Tuesday, 6 January 2009
Picasa for Mac beta released
Google announced the release of Picasa for Mac OS X yesterday. The release is currently in beta form and Google note that a few features available in the PC version are not yet available notably webcam capture, geotagging and export to HTML.
The video overview of Picasa for Mac below is from the official Google Picasa Readme Blog and it is said to look and feel very much like Picasa on other platforms.
Further reading
The video overview of Picasa for Mac below is from the official Google Picasa Readme Blog and it is said to look and feel very much like Picasa on other platforms.
Further reading
To learn more about Picasa and Picasa Web Albums, please visit our product blog at googlephotos.blogspot.com.
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