Here’s a pretty typical exchange with one of our clients.
We’re trying to help her get Google to understand what her web site is about and to rank it higher for a very competitive term.
The client is in the US and I call her “Client” (smart, huh?!).
I’m the arrogant loud-mouth (”Me”) who essentially calls himself a genius.
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Client: “Timeframe – when would we see the site move from the billionth page to somewhere in the hundreds 
”
Me: Within a couple of weeks the site will be in the top 100 for “xxxx xxxx”. Couple of weeks later, top 50.
Couple of weeks later, top 20. After that it gets more difficult to estimate. “
Me 2 weeks and 1 day later: Today the site is number 50 for “xxxx xxxx”.
I’m not saying I’m a genius…….but I’m pretty sure that’s what you’d be saying???!!
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Yep, this is an email exchange when arrogance knows no bounds!!
Say it with me.....Show Pony
Cheers
Brendon
If you’re looking at ways to make your web site content more accessible to people, Google has developed a pretty easy way to translate your content into different languages.
In a very simple 3 part process, you select:
- Language your site is in
- What specific language/or all languages you want your page content translated to
- Copy and paste a bit of code into your site
You then get a neat little drop down on your site where people can translate the content.
Simple, easy and …….well, I’m not sure if it’s accurate, but I reckon it’s better than my terrible French!
I just added the tool in the left hand column of this site (down the bottom) – took me 30 seconds in total.
Get all the info here.
Cheers
Brendon
Tomorrow I head off into the wild, wild wilderness that is magnificent Tasmania, Australia.
I fly into Hobart tomorrow morning before flying back out again on Sunday morning to a place called Melaleuca.
A light plane will be dropping my 2 sons and I, and my brother-in-law, at the very start of what’s called the South Coast Track.
The walk is one of the last great wilderness walks and will take anywhere between 5-10 days to complete.
I won’t be contactable for that time and will then be spending another week in Hobart taking it easy and enjoying a quiet beer at my brother’s 50th birthday party on the 23rd.
The Lads Are In Charge!
All of this means that Mel and the guys in the office (Anthony and Toby) are in charge!
Job # 1 when Brendon leaves - Party Time!
And Mel will be leaving for Hobart next Thursday, so then the lads are here and things will (probably) be going wild!
Assuming I survive, I’ll be back around at the end of January.
In the meantime, if you have any worries, questions, jobs, etc then please give the lads a yell on 07 5535 1967 and they’ll take great care of you.
Cheers and bye for now.
Brendon
Originally Published: Dec 7, 2009 – Lots of comments lately, so thought we’d bump it back up top.
Here on the Gold Coast, Australia surf life saving clubs are a big part of the local life.
Kids join at a young age and learn surf swimming skills and progress through to being sully fledged surf life savers, patrolling the beaches in the summer to help swimmers who get into trouble.
There are clubs every few kilometres along this part of the Coast.
These clubs have loads of competitions on a very regular basis – swimming, board races, surf boat races and more.
Prizemoney is offered to professional competitors and the best can make a nice living at these competitions.
It’s a highly competitive sport.
One of the local clubs – Currumbin Surf Life Saving Club – recently won an Australian surf boat race title.
That was good.
The Bad News – Steroids Test Positive
The bad news was that one of the crewman rowing the boat was found to be a drug cheat: Peter Atkins was banned for two years for returning a positive doping test to the steroid Stanozolol.
Here’s where I reckon it gets interesting.
The Club President pays the usual lip service to the issue: “We are working hard to try and build a strong culture within the club and our focus will not change due to (the doping incident),” he said.
Then Atkins comes out in an open letter and denies knowing the substance was on the list of banned stuff.
He goes on to say “I specifically acknowledge the Currumbin Barbarians surf boat crew who have achieved their success based on hard work and determination.”
Ummm, no they didn’t Peter.
They achieved their results partly based on you using substances you shouldn’t have been using.
Will The Title be Stripped From Them
Currumbin SLSC are waiting to see if the title will be stripped from them because of Peter using the banned steroid.
Fellas, here’s a quick heads up on what you should have done as your course of action – but first we’ll look at the facts.
1. Your surf boat crew won the Australian championship
2. One of the crew was found to be using banned steroids and outed as a drug cheat.
All the denials, all the claims of confusion, all the cries of “I didn’t know” don’t matter.
# 1 and 2 are the only relevant facts.
The Currumbin SLSC Club President’s response should have been:
“We are working hard to try and build a strong culture within the club and our focus will not change due to (the doping incident).
In recognition that one of the crew was found to be using a banned substance we, of course, forfeit the title and would ask the governing body to present it to the winning crew.
We have erased all mention of the win from our Honour Board and apologise that our Club has bought the sport into disrepute.”
Crisis Management 101
- Acknowledge the issue.
- Take steps to make things right.
You won a title with the help of a banned substance.
Don’t even think of keeping that title.
Why are you even waiting to see if the title should be taking from you?
Of bloody course it shouldn’t be – you should have already given it back.
Cheers
Brendon
Anthony and I spent the past couple of days with one of our clients who is a smart operator.
Not so much that he’s smart – he’s English after all (and yes Big Dave, I’m sure you will read this! And yes, he does look like the photo on the right.). It’s just that he thinks differently.
This guy has just taken over a business and he wants the current web site redeveloped.
The Web Site Isn’t An Expense
He doesn’t see his web site as an expense at all. That’s the last thing he sees it as.
He sees it as an asset that will do a range of things:
- provide a better service for his customers
- enable him to reduce costs
- generate income via upsells
A Solutions Focus
The web site development isn’t a matter of us putting together a pretty design after a 1 hour chat.
The web site development is about talking to him and his key management to identify opportunities.
- It’s about discussing how his current business processes work so we can identify ways to make the flow easier for everyone.
- It’s about finding solutions to his problems (and his problems are the exact same problems of every single business – make more profit).
It’s Not About The Cost
The web site development has almost nothing to do with cost.
It’s all about the value the site provides.
Cheers
Brendon
A reader contacted me yesterday to ask for a Free Report from my Free Info & White Papers section of this web site.
Seems as though the link to the Free Report was broken. Once I got over the shock of having made a mistake (took me a while) I found the file and sent it through to him, then I fixed up the broken link.
Lessons From 2004 Still Hold True
The Free report this guy asked for is called “10 secrets of successful web sites”.
It’s a report I wrote back in 2004 on what I saw as the keys to a successful site.
Bearing in mind the report is almost 6 years old, everything is still pretty much spot on – which means I’m a prophet, as well as being smart and very, very attractive. And funny. Don’t forget funny.
The only real change I’d make is to recommend Google Analytics for your web site statistics program and to say that large file sizes don’t matter so much in this day and age of fast connections.
So if you’re wondering what makes a successful web site, my Free Report (no registration required) could give you a few ideas.
Cheers
Brendon
Maybe it’s a bit of both.
One of our clients (Ozzie Off-Road) builds great quality camper trailers and caravans at a reasonable price.
Kerry is the owner and very proud of his wonderful reputation for building brilliant stuff.
But Kerry is very annoyed at the moment because he has a competitor who looks to be trying to mislead people into thinking his business is Ozzie Off-Road.
Is Someone Misleading At The Moment?
Well, decide for yourself.
At the moment (11.41. am on Thursday 10 December 2009) if you go to Google and search for “Ozzie Off Road” this is what you’ll see.
Is this a misleading ad?
The very first result is an ad with the heading “Ozzie Off Road”.
- It’s an ad placed by a NSW based camper trailer company
- It’s an ad that leads to their web site.
To bid on the exact phrase “Ozzie Off Road” and then show your ad to people with the heading “Ozzie Off Road” could be seen to be trying real hard to mislead people.
Remember, this is purposely and deliberately done through a paid “sponsored link” to try to make you, wrongly, believe that you are contacting the company of your choice.
Is This Fair?
Does this seem to be morally fair and open? I’ll leave you to judge that.
If that’s how they do business, fine, but here’s what Kerry has done so far:
- Contacted the company concerned to let them know he’s aware of what they are doing,
- Alerted his customers that, despite this other company advertising on his business name and showing ads that make it look like they’re Ozzie off-Road, they’re not.
- Lodged a complaint with Google to see if misleading advertising is an accepted part of advertising on Google AdWords. You’d hope not (seems like they do a bit fighting scams).
- Lodged a complaint with the NSW Office of Fair Trading.
Is It Right?
But when a competitor tries to mislead people into confusing their business with Ozzie Off-Road, to benefit from the hard work and great products he builds, that doesn’t seem right to me.
What do you think – is this sort of advertising okay?
Is it all fair in love and war?
Cheers
Brendon
My son Jack (AKA Golden Boy) was recently a finalist in a major community awards here in Australia.
The winners were announced for each of the 4 categories at a formal cocktail party in Brisbane, complete with tons of food, drink and music.
It was a beautifully organised evening with nothing left to chance.
Let The Writing Begin
After the Awards Jack did something he always does.
He sat down and started writing.
- The Chairman of the Awards,
- the Operations Manager who organised everything,
- the presenting politician and
- every other Finalist
were all sent a Thank You/Congratulations letter from Jack.
Letters & Chocolates
Earlier this week Jack was awarded an RSL Youth Development Fund grant (worth over $5,000) to travel to New York next year and do some charity work.
3 people at Jack’s local RSL (Returned Services League) helped with his application.
Those 3 people today received a sincere thank you letter from Jack, along with a box of chocolates.
He also wrote a Thank You letter to the President of the RSL who awarded the grant.
Over 500 Handwritten Cards
After Jack completed his across Australia bike ride, he wrote a letter to every single supporter who helped him.
That was from his major sponsor to the Fahan School girls in Hobart who volunteered at a fundraising Cocktail Party to anyone who gave a donation.
500 handwritten cards with every single one having a personal message.
What You Don’t Write Letters For
- You don’t write letters to get more business.
- You don’t send cards to aid your personal branding.
- You don’t give a thank you gift because you want something in return.
You do all that stuff because it’s just good manners.
Sure, all those other things – like the personal branding, like the more business, like the increased opportunities – will come to you, but don’t write those letters because of those things.
Write them because it’s simply the right thing to do.
Bloody Simple Stuff That No-One Seems To Do
This stuff is bloody simple stuff.
But, like a lot of things these days, not many people seem to teach them.
When I wrote the Web Design Business Kit I included what I see as basic business manners aspects like writing letter.
It was only later that I realised that people don’t know to take care of the little things and they don’t know that these little things can be very, very important.
Here’s My Top 3 List Of Little Things To Do
- Use your manners – send thank you notes
- Presentation matters – stop buy crappy clothes and splash out on decent stuff
- Support those who support you – be a customer of your clients if at all possible
And of course, the best thing you can do for your business (whether it’s a web development business or not) is have the good sense to buy The Web Design Business Kit for yourself or a loved one for Christmas.
Cheers!
Brendon
