This post if a follow-up/ response to The Lost Benefits of Handling Serious Errors post.
Whenever a problem is corrected in a software product, I assess whether a new release is necessary.
If a release is necessary, how many people will benefit? When I'm talking about benefit here, I really mean "How many people will come across the error and be inconvenienced enough to report the problem to me?"
There's no easy way to make this assessment. Things I consider are:-
1. How long was the software package in circulation before the error was spotted?
2. How serious is the error?
3. How close is the next planned upgrade?
If a package has been in the field/ in use for quite a while, I am likely to only make a new release to the customer reporting the problem. Too many releases can be off-putting for people.
One thing I do is "push" releases. I email all registered customers to tell them a new release is available for download. I don't wait for them to check for updates.
by ML
Thursday, 12 June 2008
Tuesday, 10 June 2008
Ideas for Security Website
The ideas for the site sound plausible. Give it a go and see how it looks.
Make sure you include enough text for the search engines to pick up and also use good alt text on the cartoon images.
by ML
Make sure you include enough text for the search engines to pick up and also use good alt text on the cartoon images.
by ML
New ideas for my MS Access Security Site.
OK, these are my latest ideas.
I'm thinking about having (as you suggest) maybe two columns on the page, on the left with a cartoon of a guy surrounded by books, with a manager stood waiting for him to finish. The guy looks stressed, maybe furious typing at the computer. The text would read you'll need to read X which will take you 30 minutes. You'll have to learn read the ms access manual.
Then on the left lots of white space, with a button to buy the program which a cartoon of happy workers and manager relaxing.
I guess I don't want to get too technical, that was a comment from my old site. But I guess I will have to say something otherwise I'll not be able to show how difficult it is and why my program is worth it.
by JM
I'm thinking about having (as you suggest) maybe two columns on the page, on the left with a cartoon of a guy surrounded by books, with a manager stood waiting for him to finish. The guy looks stressed, maybe furious typing at the computer. The text would read you'll need to read X which will take you 30 minutes. You'll have to learn read the ms access manual.
Then on the left lots of white space, with a button to buy the program which a cartoon of happy workers and manager relaxing.
I guess I don't want to get too technical, that was a comment from my old site. But I guess I will have to say something otherwise I'll not be able to show how difficult it is and why my program is worth it.
by JM
Future of this blog - First Thoughts
I agree the blog is becoming a useful resource.
I think the idea of allowing other authors to advertise releases is also a good idea.
My initial preference would be to accept articles for posting in the New Software Releases category. We then review the posts before making the post ourselves.
By default I think the only links we allow in the posts should be to the product's page on softtester.
However, I'd also like it if in some way authors were encouraged to link to the blog in exchange for something, e.g. the possibility of a link from their release post back to their site as well as to a softtester page.
Making linking back into Softtester pages from release posts will help ranking/ SERPS of Softtester product pages and the authors themselves. Linking back to the blog helps the blog.
by ML
I think the idea of allowing other authors to advertise releases is also a good idea.
My initial preference would be to accept articles for posting in the New Software Releases category. We then review the posts before making the post ourselves.
By default I think the only links we allow in the posts should be to the product's page on softtester.
However, I'd also like it if in some way authors were encouraged to link to the blog in exchange for something, e.g. the possibility of a link from their release post back to their site as well as to a softtester page.
Making linking back into Softtester pages from release posts will help ranking/ SERPS of Softtester product pages and the authors themselves. Linking back to the blog helps the blog.
by ML
Monday, 9 June 2008
Ideas for Website Copy about Security
If you are short of ideas on approaches to writing a page that sells a product look at competitor sites. Search on Google for competitor sites using your chosen keywords and see how they approach the task of selling their products.
From a quick scan, there don't seem to be many competing products for sale but there are a lot of sites listing rather complicated manual processes. Perhaps one way to write part of the page would be to summarise the somewhat complicated manual process and then say - why bother, just use our software and make your life easier.
by ML
From a quick scan, there don't seem to be many competing products for sale but there are a lot of sites listing rather complicated manual processes. Perhaps one way to write part of the page would be to summarise the somewhat complicated manual process and then say - why bother, just use our software and make your life easier.
by ML
Ideas for an MS Access Security Selling page w/ keyword heavy domain?
Since I've discovered I've made a mistake with my first attempt at trying to create a selling page for my keyword heavy domain, I'm finding difficult to come up with a story / selling content for the page.
Obviously convincing people that they need to have security with a domain name which use security isn't going to convince people. So what could I use instead...
An idea has been proposed that its better than spending time on those long MS Security documents, learning how to do it yourself.
Maybe the story doesn't have to have a single point, could be a combination of saved costs, saved man power and increased competitiveness. But how to put this into a story. Hmmm...
I do like the idea of having some cartoon pictures in there though.
Erm....
Makes it easy.
Hmmm difficult....
by JM
Obviously convincing people that they need to have security with a domain name which use security isn't going to convince people. So what could I use instead...
An idea has been proposed that its better than spending time on those long MS Security documents, learning how to do it yourself.
Maybe the story doesn't have to have a single point, could be a combination of saved costs, saved man power and increased competitiveness. But how to put this into a story. Hmmm...
I do like the idea of having some cartoon pictures in there though.
Erm....
Makes it easy.
Hmmm difficult....
by JM
Sunday, 8 June 2008
Response to Mistakes in SEO
The task of optimising a website to get good rankings in search results is not easy or quick. There is no single magic trick that will guarantee frequent visitors to a site and convert large percentages of visitors into customers. You shouldn't worry too much about making mistakes but instead think of refinements - probably on a continuous basis.
There are at least 4 factors in selling a product online:-
None of the points are particularly easy to solve and you won't be able to "fix" any of them in a single hit. You shouldn't rely on one, main search term reinforced by a domain name.
Long-tail search terms are very important. For example, on my main website the search terms are invoicing software, invoice software and billing software. I've done research and found that these are the main search terms in the US and UK for my type of product. However, these search terms account for only 15% of my visitors. The rest of my visitors come from long tail terms that may only be mentioned once in the whole website. I don't always deliberately put long tails into the text, I just write text, e.g. in the Support page or the Release History page that simply gives a good variety of words and phrases.
Due to the way search engines work, the people who find your website will already be interested in your product, or at least in the problem your product helps with. My feeling is that your website should then describe the benefits your specific product offers, i.e. why using your product will make handling security easier, quicker and cheaper for users. Be specific, e.g. if there is a lengthy manual process for enabling security then describe how your product is a better alternative.
The other thing to remember is that Google Pagerank isn't everything. Pagerank doesn't guarantee a page gets visitors. Monitor your web stats and see if any changes produce a rise in the number of visitors. Make refinements and see what effect they have.
The other thing to consider is whether you should rely entirely on search engines to get customers. Are there alternative methods of advertising your software? Some sites directly sell software to programmers or have programmers as target customers, e.g. www.codeproject.com or www.componentsource.com. Could you use sites like these in some way to advertise your software?
by ML
There are at least 4 factors in selling a product online:-
- Having a product that has a market in the first place.
- Determining what people search for (on Google, Yahoo etc.) when looking for such a product.
- Making sure your website is a good match for the most frequent search terms - plus long tail terms.
- Making your website convince customers to buy your product
None of the points are particularly easy to solve and you won't be able to "fix" any of them in a single hit. You shouldn't rely on one, main search term reinforced by a domain name.
Long-tail search terms are very important. For example, on my main website the search terms are invoicing software, invoice software and billing software. I've done research and found that these are the main search terms in the US and UK for my type of product. However, these search terms account for only 15% of my visitors. The rest of my visitors come from long tail terms that may only be mentioned once in the whole website. I don't always deliberately put long tails into the text, I just write text, e.g. in the Support page or the Release History page that simply gives a good variety of words and phrases.
Due to the way search engines work, the people who find your website will already be interested in your product, or at least in the problem your product helps with. My feeling is that your website should then describe the benefits your specific product offers, i.e. why using your product will make handling security easier, quicker and cheaper for users. Be specific, e.g. if there is a lengthy manual process for enabling security then describe how your product is a better alternative.
The other thing to remember is that Google Pagerank isn't everything. Pagerank doesn't guarantee a page gets visitors. Monitor your web stats and see if any changes produce a rise in the number of visitors. Make refinements and see what effect they have.
The other thing to consider is whether you should rely entirely on search engines to get customers. Are there alternative methods of advertising your software? Some sites directly sell software to programmers or have programmers as target customers, e.g. www.codeproject.com or www.componentsource.com. Could you use sites like these in some way to advertise your software?
by ML
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