Monthly Archives: May 2012

Bite the bullet – take a team photo

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Bite the bullet - take a team photoAs kiwis we can be a bit shy about having our photos put on our websites.

 

The benefit however is that new clients can get a nice personal feel for who your team are, and some idea of who they may meet.

 

1 Get the team together for a group shot.
Choose a neutral background preferably in natural light (outside on an overcast not too sunny day may be good).
Have a good laugh and get someone to take a lot of digital photos. Hopefully there will be one you can use!

 

2 Upload the photo to a Meet The Team page on the website.

If you are a bit more adventurous and the team are willing, you might consider taking individual profile shots and putting these on the website, along with role description and contact details. This can be really handy content for larger organisations such as accountants, lawyers or website providers!

 

Before you ask… Surefire Design recently had staff profile pictures taken by a photographer. We had a great time, and you should start seeing them appear on our website and print materials as the year progresses.

 

 

Google, Smart Phones and Tablets

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Google, Smart Phones and TabletsWhy have I put these three in the same title you ask?
The answer is that if you own a website you should understand the relationship between them.

 

Tablets have been around for a very long time. Touch screen technology has been around for a very long time. The two never took off together in the market until Apple launched their insanely successful iPad and iPad 2. There are a multitude of me-too products being released, with Android or Windows Mobile operating systems on them. So far none have made much of a dent.

 

As mobile Internet speeds got quicker, and chips got smaller, smart phones became possible. Rather than phones, these are literally little Internet enabled computers, with speeds and capacities seen in laptops not long ago. Again lead into the market by the iconic Apple iPhone. The difference with smart phones to iPads is that other manufacturers came on board quickly with their own handsets, with the largest number of smart phones running the now dominant Android operating system.

 

Brands and competition aside, there are big ramifications for website owners. From my own experience, these gadgets redefine how I consume content. I’m not big on entering large amounts of content through them yet, but I now read more emails on a touch device than my laptop, check the weather, find routes and get turn by turn in the car, and constantly check on social media such as facebook. Of more interest is the fact I find most of my accommodation through my phone. I use an app to scan barcodes on items I want to price check. Last week my wife and I watched a how-to on breast feeding, on YouTube on the phone.

 

But of most significance of all, I search for places on the phone and tablet.

 

In comes Google. With so many people consuming Internet content on mobile devices, and Google’s dominance in search and mapping, you simply can’t ignore-

 

1) Google places listings for your business and

 

2) Search engine optimising your website , especially for your local geographical area. Think about dotting your city or even local suburb names into your website content.