HTML vs PDF: Advantages

HTML vs PDF

The question about publishing a PDF document instead of HTML (web page text) comes up often with my clients. Simply publishing the PDF seems like an easy solution. Many industries do it, including the Fair and Festival industry. Whether the content is contest information, list of events or promtional flyers published as a PDF, HTML content is likely a better solution. 

So what are the advantages of HTML content?

Publishing information on a fair’s website in HTML format as opposed to providing it only in a PDF document has several advantages:

  1. Accessibility: HTML content is generally more accessible to users with disabilities. Screen readers and other assistive technologies can more easily interpret and interact with HTML content than PDF files.
  2. Search Engine Optimization (SEO): Search engines can index and understand HTML content more easily than PDF files. HTML content is more likely to appear in search engine results, helping more people find the contest information.
  3. Mobile Friendliness: HTML content can be responsive to different screen sizes and devices, whereas PDF files might not render well on small screens like mobile devices. HTML content improves user experience and makes the information more widely accessible.
  4. Load Time: HTML content usually loads faster than a PDF file, especially if the PDF is large. HTML content can make for a more pleasant browsing experience, especially for users on slower internet connections.
  5. Interactivity: HTML content can include interactive elements such as forms, buttons, and links to other pages. PDFs are generally static and offer different levels of engagement.
  6. Ease of Updates: Changes to HTML content can be made easily and quickly by updating the webpage. PDFs need to be edited, re-saved, and re-uploaded, which is more cumbersome.
  7. Embedding Multimedia: HTML allows for easily embedding videos, images, and other multimedia content. PDFs have limited support for such features, so the user experience may be enhanced through HTML.
  8. Analytics: With HTML, tracking user interaction and gathering data on how visitors engage with the content is more manageable. HTML content can help in making informed decisions to improve the user experience.
  9. Compatibility: While most modern devices can open PDF files, compatibility issues may still exist, especially with older devices or software. HTML content is generally more universally compatible.
  10. Cost and Resources: Creating well-designed PDFs might require specialized software and skills, whereas HTML content can often be created and maintained with more readily available tools and expertise.
  11. Localization and Internationalization: HTML content can be easily adapted and translated into different languages. HTML content can make the contest information more accessible to a global audience.
  12. Linking and Navigation: HTML allows for the creation of hyperlinks and easy navigation within the content. PDFs can include links, but the experience could be more seamless.

In conclusion, while PDFs might be suitable for downloadable content like brochures or flyers, using HTML for publishing contest information online offers better accessibility, flexibility, and user experience. It aligns more closely with modern web browsing dynamics and meets a broader audience’s needs.

Growing Your Online Presence More Important Than Ever

Growing Your Online Presence More Important Than Ever - WeGo.ca Website Developers

We are amidst uncertain and unprecedented times. There is one thing that is sure however: the need for your online presence. With the government expanding the constraint to limit face to face interactions, shoppers are rushing to the web for their everyday purchases. Buyers have not vanished; they are essentially in a different place. The organizations that win are the organizations that make sense of their online presence.

Ask yourself some questions.  Is your online presence ready so that your business can make it through this tough time?  Here are a few strategies of your online business you need to think about:

  • Website – is your website user friendly?  Is it easy to navigate?
  • Website Optimization – is your website SEO friendly?
  • Local Search Engine Optimization – can people near you find your products and services?
  • Social Media – do you have accounts on the major platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter? Are you posting weekly?
  • Blogging – are you constantly updating your content so consumers can find you?
  • Pay Per Click (PPC) – have you considered paying for visitor traffic?  Note: Google Ads produce, on average, $2.00 for every $1.00 spent.

It’s not necessary for you to employ all of these strategies.  However, WeGo.ca Website Developers’ specializes in all of these and is prepared to help you apply them to improve your online business.  We can also help you craft specific COVID-19 messaging and updates at it applies to your industry in Ontario, Canada.  Please contact us for a free consultation.

Minimalism is Leaving Design

Minimalism is Leaving Design

UX design becomes a more and more favourable way to develop elements the user interacts with. Graphic design is in a transitionary period. Likewise, with website design, everything in the visual arts world is getting increasingly dazzling. We see striking hues, exploratory creations, photomontages, serif fonts, metallics, and 3D designs. This is a significant departure from the flat, plain look of past trends.

Minimalism ruled for almost 10 years. Presently designers are moving into decadence and excess. Forget about usefulness. Ignore Helvetica and white space. Maximalism is an immediate response against minimalism. This style is portrayed by the resilience to defy the norms; clashing colours, hand-drawn designs, and complete silliness.

Voice Command Search

smart speaker voice command search

Welcome to the up and coming age of SEO. Say hello to Siri, Alexa, and Cortana. The quick adoption of tech savvy speakers given way to new searching behavior, known as conversational search. Web search inquiries have gotten longer and casual, similar to natural dialog.

As a result of this behavior, we need to reconsider the manner in which we compose our content. Conversational search inquiries are normally offered as conversation starters, for example, “Where’s a close by café that serves bagels and tea?” and “Do they have chai?” These inquiries are exact and require precise answers. Therefore, we have by and by observed an ascent in our SEO customers, explicitly those searching for schema development to support voice search.

As reported by a 2018 BrightLocal study, smart speaker users generally operate their gadgets to perform local  business-related searches weekly. Over 50% of smart speaker users do this sort of voice command daily! Voice search optimization needs to be included in the ongoing tasks of search engine strategy. It must to be a piece of an inclusive on-Page or on-SERP optimization plan or Local Search strategy.

How to improve mail deliverability by avoiding role-based email addresses

improve mail deliverability by avoiding role-based email addresses.

What are role based email addresses and how does the system handle them?

Role-based email addresses (like admin@, help@, sales@, leads@) are email addresses that are not associated with a particular person, but rather with a company, department, position or group of recipients. They are not generally intended for personal use, as they typically include a distribution list of recipients.

What are challenges of role addresses?

Role-based addresses are typically company addresses defined by a job rather than a person and are often managed by several people. It is impossible to prove that everyone who will receive emails at these addresses has given their consent to receive them. Additionally, these types of addresses are associated with high bounce rates, high spam complaints, and spam traps.

Four Reasons NOT to Use “info@” as Your General Email Address

When creating a catch-all email address for your business, event or brand, experts recommend not using “info@,” or other similar innocuous email addresses. Besides lacking personality and being overly generalized, businesses make the common mistake of utilizing the info@yourdomain.com email address as the flagship point of contact for interaction through websites and marketing materials.

This is a mistake, as is using similar all-purpose email addresses such as:

  • contact@yourdomain.com
  • office@yourdomain.com
  • admin@yourdomain.com

In fact, below are a few challenges that you may run into if you are using an info@yourdomain.com email address. If you need alternate suggestions that will work better for you, your customers and your brand, WeGo can help. In the meantime, did you know that…

1. Info@ email addresses are not very friendly or personable.

You must think about your customer or the person you are communicating with. How do you think they feel sending an email to the very vague and mysterious “info?” Most people wonder if, or how often, the email address is monitored and if the person doing so will know how to help. Connecting with your customers and prospects is an important interaction that should feel personal. (Are you signing emails “Sincerely, Info?” Not likely.) Instead, you should ditch the info address for another more relevant personality that suits your brand. Also, there is nothing wrong with using a first name such as jennifer@yourdomain.com. If your company requires you to keep the ambiguous “info,” you might reply back from “[insert your company name] team.” It is still fairly anonymous but projects a warmer personality.

2. Some service websites don’t allow you to use info@ email addresses.

Facebook won’t allow you to register for personal pages or businesses pages with an email address that starts with info@. Role-based email addresses are becoming more frowned upon when creating accounts. Mailchimp, AWeber, Constant Contact and every other major email marketing service make it difficult to add role-based email addresses as subscribers.  These web service companies maintain a list of email addresses that will be blocked.

3. You’re more likely to be flagged as spam with an info@ email address.

That’s right, your important message or reply can be filtered into the abyss of junk mail. Generic email addresses such as info@, admin@, webmaster@ and similar ones can be perceived as spam, bots, or automated email addresses which can prevent your desired recipient from ever reading what you had to say. So if you want to have your message delivered, use something more relevant and engaging that is a better reflection on your brand or uses your personal name.

4. On the flip side, info@ email addresses are more easily targeted to receive spam.

Not only do you not want your emails to be flagged as spam, but by using the “info@” email address it could lead to you receiving lots of spam. Yes, you can become more eligible to receive spam email by utilizing info@yourdomain.com. That’s because the automated systems operated by big-time spammers attach “info” to valid domain names. Since many businesses use info@ email addresses, the spammers’ success rates are pretty good. If you are receiving large amounts of spam from a similar source, you can try black listing the IP address of the sender. You can see it in your email source code or include the IP address as something your website forms include upon submission.

Avoid Role-Based Email Addresses

If you want to increase your chance of successfully delivering your message, replace your role-based email address with a personal email address.  Each employee at your company should have their own personal email address @yourdomain.com.  If you have to keep role-based email accounts, use them as inbound shared mailboxes.  Deliver your message from a personal email account, it projects a warmer personality and won’t be blocked by spam filters.  Please contact me for more information or help on personalizing your email addresses.

Create Pages That Engage Visitors Quickly

You only have seconds to impress a Visitor to your website.

Average first-time visitors make decisions about a website after only two-tenths of a second, according to Entrepreneur.com. After another 2.6 seconds, they will concentrate enough to reinforce that initial judgment. If a website doesn’t impress readers immediately, it can lose them in the blink of an eye.

Use these strategies to attract and retain readers: Reinforce the site’s main goal Your website can achieve many things, but it should still have one primary goal, whether it’s selling products and services, educating customers, establishing the company’s credentials or generating leads.

Every picture, every bit of text, every link and every button should support the primary goal. If your site’s mission is to capture leads, then each page should include devices to gather visitor information, whether it’s a “Contact Us” call to action or a sign-up form for an e-newsletter.

Keep text short and to the point Remember, you have less than three seconds to capture a visitor’s attention and compel them to explore further. Don’t discourage them with long paragraphs. Use clear, concise text that states what you offer, and make clear what you want the visitor to do – make a purchase, sign up for a demo, subscribe to a newsletter. Make calls to action visible, placing buttons such as “Request a Quote” near the top of the page.

Google Plus for Your Business

google_plus_logo

Google is well known for its search engine. Google also provides a social networking site called Google Plus. Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn are all the typical social networking tools that businesses expect you to use. Is your business using Google Plus? Did you know that Google Plus was the second most used social networking platform in 2013, the first being Facebook. With Google slowly taking over the world. Here are some Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) and answers on how to use Google Plus for your business.

Q: What is Google Plus?

A: Like all the other social networking sites out there, Google Plus allows you to share content that appears in your home feed. For this to occur people need to follow you or add you into their circle, in which this will allow for the content to be featured on the home feed. This can be anything from blog content to images to videos. This is relevant in B2B businesses as this is another way you can promote your website’s content. This is can enable you to see any leads that are looking at your content and website.

Q: How do I use it?

A: Google Plus is easy to set up, and all you need is a Gmail account as this will allow you to set up your Google Plus account instantly. Upload your blog content and make sure this is updated regularly, just like any other social networking site. It enables you to create circles which can range from work to family. This means that the content you are sharing your circles will be able to see.

Q: What does it allow me to do?

A: Social networking services all work in different ways. Twitter allows you to re-tweet. Facebook and LinkedIn allow you to “like”. The Google Plus feature is similar to the like feature you see on Facebook and LinkedIn. However Google Plus differs from this as it features something called +1. You can also add the +1 button on the posts on your website which means that people can share your content on their Google Plus page. Additionally people can comment on your posts which encourages more interaction with people.

Q:Should I be using it?

A: It’s free, easy to set up and the second most used social networking site. Therefore yes you should be using it. Not only does it showcase that your using a wide variety of social networking sites but it also gives more people a reason to share your content. Therefore this will enable your content to rank higher and will drive traffic to your website.

Thinking About Content

8 Steps to Content Curation

As we start 2014, here are some valuable tips and links to get you thinking about managing and improving your content.

Corporate blogging and blog marketing guide

Blogs, short for web logs, are online platforms to create specific types of content, share them and interact with others around those content objects, known as blog posts. They have a number of common features such as comment possibilities, trackbacks and a technology called RSS. The activation of all these characteristics is not a necessity. Business blogs or corporate blogs should focus on non-promotional and regularly updated content entries (posts). – See more at: http://www.contentmarketingexperience.com/

What is the best blogging frequency?

When you start a corporate blog, you create expectations among your target audiences. This also applies to the frequency of your blog posts, along with many other elements. If you have been blogging on a regular basis for a while and then dramatically lower frequency or even stop, it’s hard to create a valuable ongoing and progressive interaction with your target audiences and the communities shaping around your blog and content. Setting these expectations at the beginning is important.  – See more at: http://www.contentmarketingexperience.com/

Content curation: overview, benefits, goals and tools

One of the hot topics in content marketing is content curation. It can play a role in achieving various content marketing – and other – goals, depending on how, where and why you use it.  – See more at: http://www.contentmarketingexperience.com/

At the start of my presentation last week to the delegates of the OAAS, I mentioned some marketing publisher sources. These are great resources for information about marketing in the web industry. Here are a few of the web marketing and technology sites that I visit on a daily basis. I find them useful, hopefully you will too!

 

clickz logo

 

emarketer logo

 

itworld

 

marketingmag logo

 

marketingprofs logo

 

zdnet logo

 

itbusiness logo

 

They are a great source of marketing intel. Some of the sites require a membership for the premium content. They all offer some type of free daily content on the subject of marketing for the web. Most of these marketing sources offer newsreader subscription services as well.