Web design is not that important

Business owners who decide to set up a web site, or revamp an existing one, seem to always start by talking to web designers. The discussions then get focused on the look and “feel” of the site, colours and site structure. Apart from the fact that this takes the business …

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Don’t put your money into Internet banks

City bankers are a funny lot; they live in a world which few people inhabit. They have annual bonuses in the millions, they swig champagne as though it were water and they buy Porsches as though they were going out of fashion. At least that’s the stereotype we have all …

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Impatience rules the day online

Web users are becoming increasingly impatient, according to the web usability expert Jakob Nielsen. Apparently, we spend much less time waiting for pages to load and to find out what they are about. If it’s not an “instant” message, we move on. Well, apart from the fact that Jakob Nielsen’s …

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Virtual worlds are useful after all

If you visit Second Life you will find me propped up against a grass bank, close to a river, watching the “world” around me. I’ve been there for several weeks now. The virtual world of Second Life is fascinating and many people spend part of each day “flying” around and …

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Build online trust by appealing to your readers’ hormones

Neurologists have published new research which shows that we trust people when our levels of oxytocin are high. Oxytocin is a hormone that for years was thought mostly to be involved only in childbirth since one of its principal functions is to open up the birth canal. However, more recently …

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US General is an Internet hero too

Lieutenant General William B. Caldwell, IV, is a highly decorated and very senior commander within the US Army. Not only is he a military hero, he is now a hero for bloggers and those interested in the whole concept of “user-generated content”. LTG Caldwell has gone further than any other …

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Internet businesses should cut down online promotion

People who own or run an online business tend to focus all their energies into online promotion. They look at Pay Per Click advertising, banner ads, social network marketing and article marketing. Then they consider online PR, affiliate marketing and online joint ventures. Rarely do online businesses focus their attention …

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That question keeps coming back – should you blog?

Business owners keep asking whether or not they should have a blog. They’ve heard of blogging, but they are not convinced it has any business benefits. Rightly, business owners need to know if their is a return on their investment in blogging; and it’s not just the costs of the …

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Focused social networking – the way to go…!

People gravitate towards people like themselves. We all love people like us; anyone who is a bit different we tend to shy away from. It’s the same online – we tend to “hang out” in groups and clubs in places like Facebook and Ecademy where the people we meet are …

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To be featured in The People

The People – a major tabloid Sunday newspaper – is to feature me this coming weekend as part of a spread on “keeping up with the Joneses”. It’s about inflation and I was interviewed as an example of a successful Jones….!

How central is user testing to your business?

Experts in “usability” gathered in London today to discuss several issues surrounding this topic. The meeting had been called by TechSmith, the producers of Morae the leading usability testing software. It became apparent during the discussions that usability testing is often seen as something that is performed at the end …

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Online businesses need more refined targeting

Online business owners need to target their offerings in a much more refined way. Evidence is mounting daily that Internet users expect web sites to be devoted to their specific needs. For instance, let’s say you offer software on task management. You could have a site devoted to managing tasks …

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