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Usability Principles of a CMS

Published by Tom on 5 May, 2008 in Amplify11, CMS and Web Standards. 0 Comments

Recently I came across an article on CMS Usability by Sydney based CMS guru James Robertson. In his article, “11 usability principles of CMS products” he outlines the key principles a CMS should have to be truly usable.

A usable CMS will:

minimise the number of options

be robust and error-proof

provide task-based interfaces

hide implementation details

meet core usability guidelines

match authors’ mental models

support both frequent and infrequent users

provide efficient user interfaces

provide help and instructions

minimise training required

support self-sufficiency

While reading through his article I found myself nodding in agreement and more surprisingly thinking that we’ve come pretty close in meeting these principles with our own CMS. While we didn’t start out with these exact principles in mind prior to development, it’s clear our own frustrations dealing with a combination of usability and technical issues across a number of CMS platforms led us to develop a CMS that is closely aligned with these same principles. In many respects it’s a little scary how close we’ve come.

Now, as the owner of a CMS, it’s easy to start believing your own sales hype and get carried away. However, our own research and more importantly, feedback from users support many of these principles.

I hope to meet James from Step Two Designs soon and get his feedback on our CMS to see if he agrees. I’ll report on his findings here in the near future.

The Return of the Splash Page?

Published by Marc on 15 April, 2008 in SEO and Web Standards. 4 Comments

With Google’s recent statement they were going to give increased importance to the loading times of a website’s home page (and penalise accordingly slow loading sites), could we be seeing the return of the Splash Page?

Here’s a favourite Splash Page of mine - Ginko Gardens

Splash Pages – Counter to ‘Usability’ and SEO best practice?

Much like hard copy brochure covers, splash pages typically contain very little content. Instead what you find is Flash animation, a striking image, a fancy tag line or a brief intro spiel advertising what the site is about. Throw in a logo, a keyword optimised footer and you’re done!

From a user’s perspective, splash pages are just one more click to make to get to the content they’re after. So they’re a big waste of time.

Splash Pages = Low Exit Rates

For website designers and online marketers, splash pages aren’t necessarily all bad news. For one thing, they can load pretty quickly (which given Google’s recent pronouncements is good news) and they usually offer a low exit rate.

Assuming few users leave the splash page and pursue their journey further into a website, that could have some SEO benefit. Search engines are known to value positively websites with low exit rates on their top web pages…

Is Google encouraging the return of the Splash Page?

So could Google’s latest pronouncement in favour of fast load times further encourage the use of splash pages? And doesn’t that run counter to usability best practice?

Imagine the web populated by useless splash pages. They would no longer contain Flash (as Flash increases load times), but they would be extremely content light to upload fast and would likely require users to click on to get to the content they’re after.

With savvy web marketers around… That scenario is not so hard to imagine.

Your thoughts?

Google Search Query Reports - Tweak your PPC and SEO

Published by Josh on 17 March, 2008 in SEM and SEO. 0 Comments

So your Google PPC campaigns are under-performing… Or your SEM client now wants you to do sort out their SEO… This is where running a Google AdWords Search Query Performance Report could come in real handy!

Search Query Reports – Where the magic happens

So what’s a search query report? It’s a report containing nearly every searched term that triggered a Google PPC ad. You find it under the AdWord’s Reports tab and it comes loaded with heaps of information on user search queries.

Which keywords are converting? Which ads are performing?

Say you want to know which search query is your highest performer and which of your ads gives you the best return from that query… Search Query Reports deliver. You can drilldown to average position, clicks, impressions, CTR, etc, and at a glance identify the winners and losers among your ads and your keywords.

Spot negative keywords. Spot new ones too!

If you find your ads are being shown through irrelevant search terms, add these to your list of negative keywords. And should you happen to come across new keywords which led to conversions (if conversion tracking is on) you know what to do.

Give your CTR a boost!

The proof is in the pudding! When we tweaked the performance of a new account following our analysis of a Search Query Report, we noticed an immediate performance lift; a 20% sales rise coupled with a drop in our CPA!

You might not get this result every time, but with new accounts when you’re unsure about where you’re at, a Search Query Report can point you in the right direction.

A perfect SEM tool? Well… almost!

One thing you’ll notice when you run a Search Query Report is that Google spits out results in that show up as ‘## other unique queries. And no (before you ask), you cannot see what those ‘unique queries’ are… So what’s up with that?

Firstly, it’s labeled as a ‘unique query’ because that’s exactly what it is: ‘unique’. It may be a sentence long and could turn up once a year at best, so you’re not missing out! Google lumps these ‘one of a kind’ queries with the other one timers to save you the bother of sifting through the clutter.

Secondly there’s a server issue. Listing all one off queries would require heaps of memory – and even Google can’t carry that load!

That said… Give Search Query Reports a try and see how you go! It could make a big difference to your accounts.

Do Yellow Pages give you a better return?

Published by Josh on 28 February, 2008 in CMS and General. 0 Comments

Sensis says they do…

A recent issue of B&T Magazine details how Sensis is investing more in its print product Yellow Pages than it has in many years. While online advertising has been on the rise at the expense of traditional advertising, Sensis is balking the trend with increased spend on paper advertising.

Using ‘metered ads’ (a US system), Sensis found that 65% of people made a purchase from a sample of 400 Yellow Pages print directory ads - a mighty conversion rate by any standpoint. Read the original Sensis media release.

Online users more likely to browse the Yellow Pages!

So the Yellow Pages convert… but who uses the print version of the Yellow Pages nowadays? According to Bruce Akhurst, Sensis’ chief executive, you’d be surprised:

“The fact is that regular internet users — people using the internet at least weekly — are more likely to use Yellow print directories than the rest of us”.

Weekly Internet Users Disagree…

Oh really? Just to be sure we surveyed the office to see if Sensis’ data reflected our reality - After all, going by Mr. Akhurst’s quote Amplify employees would qualify as ‘people using the Internet weekly’.

Our findings: Only two out of nine Amplify folk were daily users of the print yellow pages.

Do you use the Yellow Pages?

A poll of only 9 people of course means nothing. A poll of statistical outliers like the good people working at Amplify – well that REALLY means nothing. Mainly because we use these directories as laptop stands for workplace ergonomics. That said, we’d like to know what your search habits are. Do you use the Yellow Pages in print or do you find what you’re looking for using other means? Let us know!

Where do you look first for a local business or service?

Mobile Advertising - this year is THE YEAR! (Really?!)

Published by Josh on 8 February, 2008 in Mobile Advertising. 3 Comments

Ever since 3G mobiles came on the scene in 2001, the m-marketing buzz (that’s mobile marketing buzz) hasn’t exactly kept pace with reality. Here’s a quick step back in time from a Sydney Morning Herald article from 2002:

a greater change for the individual than when the telephone first became a part of our everyday life
Ericsson Phones (Late 90’s)

m-commerce will change our shopping experience… It’s also likely to be one of the most effective branding tools we have ever had at our disposal.
Martin Lindstrom, Former BT LookSmart COO (April 2000)

It won’t be long before every train or bus is filled with people reading the newspaper on their phone or hand-held computer.
Kim Yeadon, NSW Information Technology Minister (August 2000)

That’s not to say those prophecies won’t be coming true some day; the question is: when?

Introducing Mobile Codes Technology

Here we are in 2008 and we find Sensis bringing Mobile Codes Technology to new Telstra handsets. Mobile codes or QR (Quick Response) codes may be new in Australia, but they are already in use in retail promotions in Asia and with airlines abroad, including JAL, ANA and Air Canada to name a few.

QR Code billboard in Asia

Cue the m-buzz: QR codes may just be the marketing widget to help mobile advertising make its mark in the Australian market…. So what are they?

Quick Response Codes - a better barcode

QR mobile codes, a form of 2D barcode, were originally created by Japanese corporation Denso-Wave in 1994 to track parts in vehicle manufacturing and they look something like this:

QR Code of Amplify.com.au

QR Codes - a picture worth a thousand words!

With the advent of camera phones, a host of QR coding applications came into being allowing consumers the ability to transfer proofs of purchase or promotional coupons to camera phones.

How does it work? By simply taking a picture of the QR Code off a computer screen or street advertising billboard, a user is able to store the data onto his mobile.

Click on the picture below to see how QR codes might work on your mobile camera phone:

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Cue the m-buzz: QR codes could revolutionise online marketing!

Mobile Codes - a better SMS

QR codes can carry a lot of information. How much? Here’s the breakdown of what you can store:

Numeric only Max. 7,089 characters
Alphanumeric Max. 4,296 characters
Binary (8 bits) Max. 2,953 bytes
Kanji/Kana Max. 1,817 characters

Just think of it this way, a mobile SMS allows you to send 160 alphanumeric characters. Sensis’ Mobile Codes Technology allows you to store over 25 times that capacity!

Cue the m-buzz: QR codes could help me sell just about anything!

Bridging the gap between traditional and online advertising

QR codes could further bridge the gap between traditional advertising. By allowing consumers to respond directly to advertisements on street billboards, advertisers could more accurately measure a return on ad spend (ROAS) and finally put a sales figure to ‘branding’ initiatives.

Cue the m-buzz: This might actually work… today!

QR Code of 28 Weeks Later DVD in UK

Seen QR codes lately? Used them? Tell us about it by posting on this blog!