Is Your Website Ready for Mobile Internet?

Unless you've been under a rock for the past year, you can't have failed to notice the dramatic rise in popularity of mobile devices capable of browsing the Internet. In particular Apple's iPhone, new Blackberry devices and a number of smart phones running Google's Android operating system are now all capable of surfing the net in a similar fashion to the way we do so on a desktop or laptop computer. The bad news is that many websites don't render properly on these devices and if your website is one of them, you could be losing potential business right now.

The main issues that affect these mobile devices is their ability to play video and Flash content on the web. This is due to an absence of the necessary plug-in or codec in the mobile's browser software. For instance, you may well have heard about the recent spat between Adobe and Apple regarding the lack of Flash support on the iPhone (this post from Steve Jobs and this newspaper advert from Adobe will give you a good idea of what's been going on). Add to this the recent release of the iPad and the iPhone4 and it soon becomes clear that the problem is only going to get bigger.

If you would like to know whether your website is mobile friendly or want to find out what you can do to ensure the best possible browsing experience for all your customers, please get in touch.

Asthma Relief Charity

JAH Web Development is proud to announce the launch of the Asthma Relief Charity website, developed by JAHWD.

The Asthma Relief Charity based in Swindon is a small charity established in 1997 that offers support to people with all types of breathing difficulties and donates nebulisers to hospitals, doctor's surgeries and other institutions or individuals who require them.

For more information about the services provided by Asthma Relief, please visit their website.

Bluefin Media

JAH Web Development is proud to announce the launch of the Bluefin Media website, developed by JAHWD.

Bluefin Media offer comprehensive services in video, animation, photography, web development and print & mail. The Bluefin Media website features custom-built Flash menus, a custom-built video control bar and a healthy dose of video & animated banners.

For more information about the services Bluefin Media can provide for your business, please visit their website.

Get Google Analytics Intelligent Reports Direct To Your Inbox

As the majority of our clients are already aware, keeping an eye on your Google Analytics is crucial when measuring the Return On Investment (ROI) for your marketing efforts. However, when we're very busy, remembering to login and check our data can be difficult.

Luckily, Google have introduced an alert mechanism so you can be notified by e-mail whenever anything of interest happens on your website. To setup these alerts, login to your Google Analytics account and follow the instructions below:

• Click 'View report' to view your statistics
• Click 'Intelligence' on the left hand menu
• Click 'Create a Custom Alert' on the right hand side
• Name your alert and tick the box 'Email me when this alert is triggered'
• Specify the type of alert you would like to be notified about...

For example, we have an alert setup over a weekly period that tells us when the number of visits increases by more than 50% compared to the previous week.

If you're struggling for ideas, click on 'Intelligence' in the grey box under 'My Customizations'. Now click on 'Alert Templates' - there you will find a list of useful alerts for which you can copy to your custom alerts, tweak and then setup e-mail notifications.

Did you know you can also receive scheduled updates to any of your Google Analytics reports via e-mail? For example, if you want to receive an up-to-date copy of your dashboard each week, just click on the 'Email' button in the grey bar at the very top of your dashboard, and then click on the 'Schedule' tab to configure your e-mail reporting.

We hope you find this information useful. If you have any trouble setting this up you could follow JAH Web Development on twitter and ask us a question there. Happy analysing!

Email Marketing

Email Marketing is a good way to keep in touch with your existing customers, help build a community around your business and encourage repeat sales.

If you have some exciting news or a new product/service that you want to share with your customers, you can't just rely on them to stop by your website every week and check for updates - you need to feed them the information directly, i.e. make them sit up and take notice! Email marketing is by far the easiest and most cost-effective way to do this.

JAH Web Development can design a branded e-mail template for your business and then allow you to login to our Email Marketing system and create your own newsletter/campaign, define your subscribers, and monitor who opens your e-mails and which links they click on.

Our Email Marketing service is a recent addition to the range of many services JAH Web Development can offer. If you would like to discuss the benefits of e-mail marketing further and the (very affordable) costs involved, please get in touch.

10 Methods to Boost Traffic to Your Website

1. Revise Your Content. Think about the keywords your customer may type in when looking for a website like yours and ensure these keywords feature regularly within your content (particularly in titles and sub-headings).
2. Add New Content. Search engines love websites with frequently updated content. Adding a blog to your website that you can post to yourself is by far the easiest way to achieve this. You can either setup your blog on a separate page, or integrate your blog's content into your existing site.
3. Google Maps. Did you know you can advertise your business for free on Google Maps? Visit Google's Local Business Centre to either add your business to their listings or update the existing listing they have for your business.
4. E-mail Marketing. Keep in touch with your existing customers by sending out a newsletter to let them know about new products or changes to your business. This will remind them that you still exist and may result in repeat business. It's important not to SPAM though - you should only send these to existing customers who have not opted out to receive this kind of marketing. It's also best not to send them too often (i.e. more than once a week) and make sure you have something worthwhile to say!
5. PPC Advertising. Setup sponsored links on search engines such as Google to drive targeted traffic to your website, and only pay when someone clicks on your advert!
6. Facebook Fan Pages. Did you know you can setup a page for your business on Facebook for free? People can then become a 'fan' of your business and will receive notifications when you post news/messages/photos on your wall.
7. Twitter. You may want to consider setting up a twitter account for your business too and inviting your customers to follow you. Be sure to post interesting tweets relevant to your business/industry and not simply pimp your services every 5 minutes!
8. Offline Advertising. It's important to remember there's more to marketing than the Internet! Make sure you plaster your website address wherever you can - on your business cards, leaflets, on the side of your vehicles, your business premises and any print advertising you do.
9. Word of Mouth. Ask your existing customers to recommend you to others and offer an incentive to reward those referrals that lead to new business.
10. Write a Testimonial for JAH Web Development. If you've used our services and are happy with the results, you can write a short testimonial for our website and we will link back to yours in return!

If you have any questions regarding anything above, or would like more detailed advice in a particular area, please get in touch.

Computer Based Training (CBT)

It's been a very busy January and a fantastic start to the new decade for JAH Web Development. There are a number of projects on the go at the moment and some very promising new ones on the horizon.

The main focus this month has been a new type of venture for JAH WD - a computer based training module. The program has been entirely built in Adobe Flash but rather than running on a web server it is automatically launched from a CD-ROM. The same program could have easily be adapted to run on a website if necessary, but in this case, due to the target market, a CD was deemed more appropriate.

The training module consists of a 3D introductory animation sequence, animated slides (powerpoint style) with an audio voiceover, and a number of interview-style videos.

The project has been a fantastic success and it looks like we will be building new modules for our client on a regular and ongoing basis.

If you are at all interested in Computer Based Training and would like to find out more about the services we can offer, please get in touch.