Rich Works

By Anderson Phillips

 The issue of website usability has garnered much attention today. In fact, there have been laws and legal moves against website developers who wouldn’t take into consideration the wide range of people who will be viewing their websites.

The issue of usability has been founded on the context that there are a lot of people who are disabled or impaired in some way. In America alone, there are 1 out of 5 people who are disabled in one way or another.

The Internet has provided us with ways to communicate, interact, exchange information and do business. It is a pertinent tool in providing much needed avenues for accessing these things especially for people who are disabled. This is why usability has been a pressing issue in terms of website development.

Frames and website usability

One of the ways which can increase the usability of a website is the proper use of frames. Frames basically segment the browser into different portion and each portion is independent from the others. There are two major schools of thought when it comes to the use of frames: one that says frames should not be used and one that says that there are advantages to using frames in website development.

This article tries to give guidance on the use of frames in website development. The ultimate aim of website development is to make it easier for more people to use the website, whether with the use of frames or without them.

Why not use frames?

There are a lot of negative thoughts when it comes to the use of frames in websites. Here are some of them:

Printing

There have been much complaints about printing web pages that are framed. Internet browsers seem to select the frame to be sent to the printer randomly. The user cannot usually print the frame that he wants because the computer selects the frame which is the focal point of the webpage.

Downloading

Many newbies in the field of website development employs frames to be able to cut the downloading time of their websites. This can only be achieved if the right ways of presenting the content are achieved. Other contents such as style sheets, images and scripts are recommended to be cached.

Linking

Using frames which contains third-party information can raise issues of infringement of copyrights and trademarks.

Bookmarks

Visitors usually cannot mark the particular frame that he wants when using framed websites. The basic structure of frames deviates from the normal structure of unification of the “website.” This can cause problems in bookmarking.

Search engines

Search engines encounter problems when indexing framed sites. This is a result of the frames paradox. The “spiders” of the search engines are drawn to what developers refer to as black hole pages.

Over-all usability

Surfers may become confused with the structuring of a website which uses frames. The provision of multiple scrollbars will definitely add to the problem. If a designer hides the scrollbars, the contents of the website may become inaccessible.

Advantages in Using Frames

There are also some key advantages in using frames. Many people are still lured to use frames in their websites and listed below are some of the explanations why they are inclined to do so:

Ease in designing

One of the key features of the usage of frames in websites is that it makes the job easier for the developer. When a developer employs frames, he is relieved of the task of putting the logos and navigation menu on every single page that he will develop. Frames can contain these information and need not to be copied every time a user clicks another page of the site.

Flexibility

Frames provide a surfer several mini-browsers which he can view all at the same time. This allows for more flexibility in terms of getting more work done or getting more information for a single viewing of the webpage.

Quicker downloads

With the use of frames, different site contents need not be downloaded every time a click is made. This makes downloading much easier because contents that should be re-downloaded need not be downloaded because they are contained in a different frame.

These are just some of the features and perceived disadvantages of the use of frames. They can be used as long as the developer knows how to fully maximize the potential of frames without making them a problem for the surfers.

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New Directions in Email Marketing

By Anderson Phillips

 Email has become one of the most popular channels of marketing in the world. Advertisers are attracted to email marketing because it provides them to communicate directly with users and it is way cheaper and faster compared to direct mail advertising. In order to save money, more and more businesses are resorting to email marketing because it has the ability to acquire customers and maintain relationships with them.

According to GartnerG2, a research service from Gartner Inc., consumers will be more yielding in accepting mail containing advertisements as they get increasingly adept in using email, building trust and familiarity with advertisers. The company’s projection for advertising revenue for 2005 totals to about $1.5 billion.

One of the numerous advantages of email marketing is that within days of its establishment, results can already be seen and necessary actions can already be decided upon. The entire cycle of an email campaign is indeed very much shorter than direct mail marketing campaigns.

Advertisers can utilize email strategies that are personalized and combine or align them with their traditional mail marketing plans in order for them to realize campaign goals. Permission email marketing, or opt-in email marketing is a way of advertising where the recipient of an email containing an advertisement has given permission to receive it. It is an effective method, since in theory, the person who is about to receive the email is anticipating the advertisement, and therefore, he or she will not simply delete it and will take the time to read the ad.

There are several challenges faced by email marketing in the present. More and more people are getting victimized by spamming. To offset this problem, the use of filtering and blocking software has proliferated immensely. If this goes on, the use of protective programs can be a standard in the future.

With the rate that the situation is going, the strategies that will be used in email marketing in the near future will be concentrated on making it entirely safe and legal.

GartnerG2 recommends the following measures for advertisers to maximize their campaigns:

1. Advanced personalization should be utilized to communicate with customers

2. Permit present and prospective customers to give feedback. Make sure to acknowledge and utilize them

3. Send no more than two emails per customer, three for business audiences

4. Use email addresses that are collected only through opt-in means when sending emails

Other strategies should be implemented by advertisers to gear up for the future:

1. Details should be provided for the lists

When subscription links are accessed, they lead into a page where users can see details on the kind of communication they will receive from advertisers. Instructions on what to do with the information should also be included.

2. Use double-opt in subscriptions

Double opt-ins protect people who did not sign-up to a particular kind of subscriptions by alerting them if someone tries to send them unsolicited email

3. Install security for mailing lists

At least, lists should be password-protected. If possible, store lists somewhere that is not connected to the network. This will reduce the risk of getting hackers and viruses in the lists.

4. Avoid co-registrations

A lot of marketers are making use of co-registration to boost up their lists, but what they do not know is that it is a very dangerous endeavor. Co-registrations offer users with forms from different web sites that offer to provide communications through email coming from various merchants that are related to different fields of interest. What users don not know is that co-registering increases the chances of getting spam mail with the ones that they are actually supposed to receive.

5. Avoid using red flag words

words like discount, free, special, bonus, are often used by marketers for their mails. Mail containing too many of these words can put an advertiser’s message to spam folders. Advertisers can test if their mail can get past the spam filters by creating an account in Yahoo, for instance, then try sending mail to an intended address, and check which folder they will end up.

It requires a little more effort for these strategies to implement, but it will surely be worth it in the end. Advertisers need only to select the strategy that is most appropriate for their businesses, and it will definitely bring immense improvement to their database of mailing lists.

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Develop A Website For Your Business To Make You Rich

An Overview of Email Marketing Software

By Anderson Phillips

 Email marketing software is a tool that is utilized for managing and tracking top-of-the-line email marketing campaigns. These kinds of campaigns use databases where email messages are targeted and customized according to the personal preferences of individual recipients. The tools handle promotions of the small-scale to high-scaled marketing campaigns.

What are the features of email marketing software?

They handle a wide variety of tasks that allows marketers to measure the results of the campaigns. Email marketing software enables them to target and communicate with audiences in an easy way. They can make target recipient lists that are sophisticated and accurate, using a wide range of demographic date as a basis. Text and HTML messages can be created, and they can be previewed before being delivered. The software also has the ability to monitor each click-through and opened mail messages that are sent to users. Graphical reports regarding the progress of the campaign is generated.

Advanced software has these following features:

-Flags invalid email addresses and duplicates. It also flags unsubscribed accounts forever so that marketers will not add them up again accidentally on their lists.

-Contacts are arranged into separate groups. This will allow marketers to segment the mailing lists. The contact lists can be added with a fair amount of information such as name, address and contact numbers.

-Provides a wide variety of email templates for HTML to make the messages look more attractive and professional.

-Enables the personalization of emails by adding the first and last name of the recipient in the subject line or the main body of the message.

-Ability to deliver thousands of messages in seconds.

What are the techniques in using email marketing software?

Email marketing has a great potential to be the most effective marketing technique around if it is used correctly. The three main techniques are:

1. Special offers

They are classic techniques in direct marketing that turns out well when converted to email. To make sure that they are effective, recipients must be offered something that is of real value. These offers must be something that is substantial to the user. Marketers are advised not to offer discounts that are lower than the profits, and time limits should be established.

2. Invitations

Sending invitations to events such as conferences and seminars can be an effective strategy. In dispensing invitations, the number of times that emails are sent is a very vital factor, if done correctly, it can dramatically increase the number of attendees. The quantity of recipients that will register can double up if users can click through from an email to the web page where online registration or an RSVP is permitted. To lessen the number of people who have no plans to show up in the event, emailed reminders can be sent to those who have already registered.

3. Keeping in touch

The purpose of sending newsletters to users is not to get an immediate response, but more on simply keeping or maintaining contact. Newsletter content range from tips to photographs of a certain event. The point of sending newsletters is to establish a significant connection with the users by providing them with information that is not present somewhere else. Originality is very essential to the success of this particular technique, for it reflects the individuality of the company to the user, and differentiates it from the competition.

In line with utilizing the software, there are two important rules that must be followed in order to achieve marketing goals.

1. Send only meaningful content to persons that requested them

Do not attempt to send users extra content that is totally unrelated to their preferred information in hopes of them availing the other service. This method will only lessen the value of the relationship between marketer and subscriber. It is perfectly alright to send a subscriber a monthly newsletter that promotes other services, but always stay within the requested information.

2. Maintain consistency on the frequency of sending the messages

The frequency of sending messages will depend on the type of the business and the interest level of subscribers. The important thing to remember is that once businesses have found the right frequency delivery, they should stick to it.

Following the above recommendations will enable marketers in the usage of their email marketing software. Just remember to select carefully the wide variety of tools that are available in the market, then watch profits skyrocket.

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