I have been doing more research on best practices for landing pages recently and came across this great video on YouTube. I have watched and listened to this video several times now and thought I would share it. It has given me some great ideas to improve some landing pages for some of the pay per click campaigns and websites I work on. I am amazed at how some of the little things that he talks about makes such a huge difference in conversions.

If you don’t have the time to watch / listen to the video here are the seven deadly sins that Tim Ash talks about.

• Sin #1 – Unclear Call-to-action
• Sin #2 – Too Many Choices:
• Sin #3 – Asking For Too Much Information
• Sin #4 – Too Much Text
• Sin #5 – Not Keeping Your Promises
• Sin #6 – Visual Distractions
• Sin #7 – Lack of Credibility and Trust

I was also so impressed by the video I ordered his book “Landing Page Optimization: The Definitive Guide to Testing and Tuning for Conversions” from Amazon.

If you want to save some time editing your .htaccess file check out Htaccess Tools. It has some great .htaccess generators to help save you some time. Generators include:

• Htpasswd Generator
• Htaccess Authentication
• Hotlink protection of images
• Block IPs with .htaccess
• Block hitbots with .htaccess
• Error Document
• Redirection by Language

While you can do all of these things without using an online generator, I have found that for some people using an online generator like the ones available here enables people to manage their websites more. Perhaps one of the most useful generators available on the site is the hotlink image protection. By using hotlink image protection you will be able to save on your bandwidth and prevent other websites using your images directly.

Yesterday was Google’s big announcement and press conference about the Google ChromeOS. Apparently my invite to the press conference must have been lost in the mail, so I had to settle for reading TechCrunch and their post Live From Google’s Chrome OS Event. What is ChromeOS all about? Well Google made this video to try and explain it.

While that is all nice and good, I was happy to see this next post from TechCrunch on how to try out Google Chrome OS. As it happens I already had Virtualbox installed so it was a simple process to download the Chrome OS virtual machine torrent that TechCrunch mentioned. Once I was done downloading the torrent it took me about 10 minutes to get the Chrome OS virtual machine up and running.

There were a couple of tweaks that I had to do to make it run. The TechCrunch article talked about using Ubuntu as the OS when you setup the virtual machine. I could not get it to boot using that setting. Simply changing the OS setting in Virtualbox to Linux – Other got the OS to boot and start up. I also had to tweak the network settings on the virtual machine. Chrome OS is pretty useless with out a network connection, since it logs in using a Google Account. I simply set the network setting in the virtual machine to NAT. It defaulted to bridged when it was created and it would not connect. Once switched to NAT the OS was able to connect to the network and allow me to login.

Here is a screencast I took of the Chrome OS booting up in Virtualbox. It is not the fastest OS on the planet yet, and of course it only boots into Google Chrome. I used a temporary Google Account to test it out just in case there was any malicious code in there wanting to snoop my Google Account login. In fact that account and login are already deleted.

Google is keeping Chrome OS simple. It’s focus is web applications, like GMail, Docs, Reader etc. It is not going to replace your Windows, Mac or Linux desktop right now. As Mark Poppen pointed out in a tweet there are many applications that people use that do not have web application equivalents, yet. While Photoshop web applications are still coming along, and some are getting better like Aviary, the web versions still no not provide the experience that people need.

Chrome OS will not be replacing your desktop anytime soon, but if you have a Netbook and need quick access to your email, reader and other web applications Chrome OS could be the OS of choice for you soon. There are still a lot of questions about the OS and time will tell how the new Google Chrome OS works in the real world, not just Google’s pie in the sky world.

Your IP Address Is: 38.107.191.81

 
It seems like I need this information at least once a day lately from one client or another so I thought I would make it easy for me to find.

If you need to find your IP address often you might want to signup for a service like DynDNS that will assign a domain name to your DHCP IP Address. I use it for my office IP Address and it makes it easy to connect to my office network.

WordPress has released 2.8.5. It is a hardening release, taking some of the latest enhancments from the upcoming 2.9 release. Highlights of the 2.8.5 release according to the WordPress blog are:

The headline changes in this release are:

• A fix for the Trackback Denial-of-Service attack that is currently being seen.
• Removal of areas within the code where php code in variables was evaluated.
• Switched the file upload functionality to be whitelisted for all users including Admins.
• Retiring of the two importers of Tag data from old plugins.

More details are available on the WordPress blog. Do not forget to backup your WordPress database and files before upgrading, just in case something goes wrong with the upgrade. The easiest way to upgrade is to use the built in upgrade feature inside WordPress. If you cannot use that feature or just prefer to use FTP to upload the new files you can download the new WordPress release to upload.

Way back in July I open the doors up for people’s webmaster and blogging questions. August was just a bit of a blur between holidays and projects and I have not finished answering all of the questions. I thought kicking off September with the question from Rhett would be a good start to the fall.

Rhett asked:

I’ve been thinking about the shift going on in the web. I think some people are trying to call it web 3.0. I think Scoble is saying 2010. Since I like big questions, what do you think about where the web is going, real time or otherwise, and how your blog will make that shift?

Rhett always likes big questions, and he never fails to ask them. I think part of the shift we are seeing going on with the web right now is really nothing more than the web catching up to what the Internet is. Ultimately the Internet is a tool for people to communicate. In the early days of the web it was mostly simple websites that offered information to visitors, but there was little interaction. Eventually contact forms came along and offering website visitors the ability to send email straight from the website.

Fast forward to today where the web is moving into real time updates with Facebook, Twitter and other services. Social networks are common place and the ability to leave comments of all kinds is commonplace. The web is starting to live up to what it was intended to be, a tool to communicate between individuals. Not just a tool to communicate with each other over email, but in real time with status updates, instant messaging, VOIP and video.

Where is the web going, the web is going to continue to become a more seamless communication medium. Real time and instant updates will continue to become more common. If I knew exactly what the next big thing was going to be I would be out there building it, but I can see that part of the future of the web is to become an easier medium to communicate over. For the most part people still use a computer to communicate over the web, but mobile and other forms are starting to become more important. The web is still not as easy as a phone to use to communicate and there are advances to be made in that area.

Blogs will continue to be an important part of the future of the web. More and more everyone publishes on the Internet, whether on a blog, on Facebook, Twitter, etc. Blogs can become the centre of a persons online activity. Not everyone will use a blog to do this, some will use services like Facebook to do this, but publishing on blogs could change from writing longer posts to becoming the centre of a persons online life.

Corporate and business websites and blogs have a unique opportunity now and in the future, the ability to connect with their clients and customers on a one on one basis. This is not much different than how things were when businesses had brick and mortar locations. Businesses can talk and connect with their clients in real time on the web. Twitter is a sign of this, so are the web chats that you can find on many websites now. Add video and audio to that and make it as easy to use as a phone then the future of the web as a communication device.

The future of the web is exciting as a communication medium. The shift to real time is just the beginning of the next communication revolution that is coming. What do you think will be the future of the web and blogs?

It has been almost two years since I started using Mozy online backup and in that time Mozy has saved me twice from failed hard drives, I became a reseller of MozyPro and installed it on several of my clients computers, and I routinely tell people who ask me about backups that they should sign up for Mozy. It has been one service that I have been very happy with.

Since I started using Mozy I have regularly offered readers here the lasted Mozy promotional codes so they can signup with Mozy and save some money on their subscription. If you have been reading here for any time at all you know I like to save money. I suspect some of you got tired of seeing my constant mentioning of Mozy so from this point on I will not be posting the latest Mozy promotional codes here, instead I have created a new website, appropriately called, Mozy Promotional Code, where I list the latest Mozy promotional codes and specials. I will still continue to promote Mozy here with a link on my sidebar and if you want to save some money on Mozy check out Mozy promotional code.

If you came here looking to save money on Mozy with a Mozy promotional code then I can offer you 15% off by using this exclusive code. Just click here to save 15% when you sign up.

If you are still not backing up your data online using Mozy online backup, or iDrive, Carbonite, Elephant Drive or a similar service what are you waiting for? They will help keep all of your data safe.

Summer has been going by so fast it has been hard to keep up with writing here. Between working on projects and enjoying time with family. One of the projects I have been working on is a website for a Regina Auto Glass company called Expert Auto Glass. They are a new auto glass repair and replacement company here in Regina and it was fun to put together their website for them this summer.

Their site features a nice clean look that is easy to read. We also feature their recently made television commercial on the home page of the site. There website is also mobile browser friendly, so if you are out driving around and you get a stone chip you can easily navigate the website and find their location to get your stone chip repair quickly by their staff.

Check out Expert Auto Glass for all of your glass repair and replacement here in Regina. Of course if your local Regina business needs a web presence get in touch with me and I will be happy to help.

Last week I open up the doors to questions and got some great ones. I thought I would start with one of the questions from Angie.

WordPress or Joomla? Which is better and why?

I have actually posted about WordPress and Joomla in the past and at the time when I wrote that post I leaned towards using WordPress for blogs and Joomla for websites. The main reason was because of an issue I ran into creating a website with WordPress and how it handled pages. That problem seems to have been fixed and I have since created WordPress powered websites with large numbers of pages and not suffered any kinds of problems. Since I wrote that initial post on WordPress or Joomla, I have to admit I have been converted to using WordPress for more than just a blog and more as a complete content management system. Some might say this is like comparing apples to oranges, that they were created for different reasons. That might be true, but to webmasters and bloggers the reasons why something was created is not necessarily the most important thing. The most important thing is that it works.

• Administration

  In my experience WordPress offers webmasters and bloggers a better administration section to use and maintain their websites. The administration pages are easier to learn, and faster to respond. The Joomla administration has a steeper learning curve and is not as easy for people to learn.

• Friendly URL’s

  WordPress permalinks feature offers an easy way to set friendly URL’s for a website or blog. Joomla has a friendly URL option, but it does not compare to the WordPress ability to make friendly URL’s. You can install other extensions to improve upon Joomla’s friendly URL’s and that works as long as the extension author keeps the extension up, and that it does not break with the next upgrade. With WordPress this is built into the core. WordPress makes it much easier to make your URL’s look nice to your visitors.

• SEO Friendly URL’s

  Having friendly URL’s is great for users, but it is also great for the search engine’s. WordPress nice permalink feature puts it ahead of the Joomla for SEO.

• Duplicate Content Issues

  Both WordPress and Joomla suffer from a problem involving duplicate content. With WordPress it happens because of archives, categories, and tag pages all having duplicate content as the posts and pages. With Joomla it occurs because of menu pages. The problems exists for both, the difference is it easier to fix using WordPress. Even with out the use of plugins in WordPress it is possible to create a robots.txt file to prevent indexing of the categories, tag and archive pages leading the search engines to the one copy of your original content. With Joomla it is not as easy. Partly because of the problem with friendly URL’s.

• Extendibility

  Both WordPress and Joomla have a plugin or extension system that allows you to add in other features that are not native to the software. This is mostly a personal preference, but I find the WordPress plugin system much easier to work with and more reliable. I seem to be regularly fixing problems and errors with Joomla extensions.

• Really Simple Synication (RSS)

  WordPress offers a much better RSS system than Joomla that makes more content available to readers.

• Speed

  I have not sat down and timed how long it takes to add new pages or posts into WordPress or Joomla, but I know that it certainly feels much faster to publish new content on WordPress. There is a post Playing with Wire that looks more at usability between WordPress and Joomla.

While there are reasons to choose Joomla over WordPress they are quickly becoming less. In the end it comes down to what you want to do with your website and what is the easiest, most user friendly system to do it with. More and more WordPress is the easiest, user friendly system to accomplish that task. WordPress is easier to use, faster to train non-geeks, and overall allows individuals and businesses of all sizes to create interesting websites that keep people coming back too. For the majority of people WordPress will easily meet their website and blog needs.

If you are looking for a way to demo both WordPress and Joomla without installing them. Take a look at OpenSourceCMS. There you can try both systems out. The here is the Joomla demo, and here is the WordPress demo.

What do you prefer WordPress or Joomla? What made you decide one over the other?

by koka_sexton

This WordPress weekend project is not for everyone, but depending on your WordPress website it might be exactly what you are looking for. WordPress by default does not include pages in the RSS feed. This makes perfect sense if you are using WordPress mainly as a blogging platform, but what if you are using WordPress for more than just blogging but as a content management system to run your website? It then makes sense that you might want to include pages in the RSS feed to let people know when you add a new page to your website.

This is where RSS Includes Pages comes in handy. Simply install the plugin and your pages will automatically be included in the RSS feed, so your subscribers will know when you add a new page to your website. There is not a lot of features or fancy options for this plugin, it does exactly what it says it does, adds your pages to the RSS feed. If you do not want some pages you can modify the publish date to a later date so it is not published in the feed. It might be nice if the plugin gave you an option on the pages editor about whether you want it included in the RSS feed or not, but sometimes keeping it simple is best.

If you are looking for an easy way to add your website pages to your RSS feed with WordPress take a look at the RSS Includes Pages plugin. It has come in handy for a few clients I work with that use WordPress as a content management system and not just for blogging.