It's interesting to think about what makes your customers bail on you at the last minute. They've come 90% of the way by putting items in the shopping cart or filling out the majority of a contact form. But before they commit they've  gotten cold feet and jumped ship. One theory points to the unscrupulous troll of fear. There is the fear of wasting money, fear of mockery, and the fear of looking stupid. While I agree that fear does play a role, especially the fear of the unknown, I think there are more reasons behind customers lack of follow through. Failure to Convey What's In It for ...

Americans are soaking up screen time like never before.  Although TV usage is up slightly, it is online and mobile video that are growing the fastest. According to Nielsen's Three Screen report, online video usage is up 13% from a year ago. Also this week Mashable reported that a whopping 20 hours of online video are uploaded to YouTube each minute! Mobile video usage alone has increased 52% from last year. What does all of this mean for your business? The numbers paint a pretty clear picture. Your customers love and crave video not just for entertainment , but also for informational ...

Here at Effect we've been doing quite a bit of inward looking and thoughtful contemplation about who we are as an organization and where we want to go.  So when a trusted friend in the industry recently asked us, "what are you passionate about?" it really got me thinking. Having a passion for what you do and for helping others succeed is a non-negotiable value for everyone on our team. We are specialists in our own areas but collectively we are exuberant about: Holistic Approach: We believe that in order to be truly successful on the Web you need to take a holistic approach.  That ...

We're an obsessive bunch. As marketers and Web developers we dream of hoards of qualified traffic visiting our Web sites.  We get hyped up over Web analytics reports and incessantly want to improve how well our site is performing. While that in itself isn't a bad thing, it's time to shift our energy toward exploring the large number of content delivery options that exist. Web sites and blog are obvious choices for delivering your content but there are many other tools that when incorporated into a comprehensive strategy, can rapidly multiple the number of eyeballs that are viewing your ...

The change in media consumption combined with a down economy have shifted the power further away from sellers and thrust more into the hands of the buyers. Consumers and decision makers have more voltage than ever before. Smart marketers are well aware of this fundamental shift and have and will continue adapting their strategic efforts to reflect this. Louis Gray, an innovative thinker, created the 10 Rules for Today's Consumers in a recent post on his blog. I've taken Louis' 10 Rules and applied them to how your customers may feel about your Web site or online presence. 1. We Want ...

Most web developers have deep hatred for Microsoft's beloved Internet Explorer (IE), and for good reason.  IE is doggishly slow, foolishly unsecure, and just plain lacking in terms of extensions and apps. It also requires extra time in testing and development time to ensure sites render properly in the fickle browser. But it's not just web developers that are opting out of IE. Research show that consumers are also turning to more reliable browser alternatives. According to Mashable's post about the death of IE, "In 2004, Microsoft’s Internet Explorer (IE) had over 90 percent of the ...

Lately I have been seeing a lot of Web design companies that offer one or two pieces of the Web design puzzle. Perhaps they do Web design and dabble in video. Or maybe they just offer SEO services. That approach doesn't work for me. I am a firm believer that the most successful Web sites use a holistic approach. Maximizing your presence on the Web takes more than just throwing up an eye-catching site. It takes experience and creativity to develop a strategy that can cohesively blend together all the aspects of a successful Web presence: web design, usability, search engine optimization, ...

Getting traffic to your Web site ranks high up on all online marketers priority lists. The more traffic coming to your site the more sales opportunities you have. But simply driving traffic to your site isn't enough. Traffic means nothing unless it's benefiting your sales. This is why it's very important to be able to drive QUALIFIED visitors to your site. What Makes a Visitor Qualified A qualified visitor is one that is more likely to purchase or make a decision than a regular visitor. What makes them qualified is that they are actively searching for your product or service. For example if ...