February 2005 News
February 10 2005
The response in numbers on the page counters clearly said that the theme pages were a success so I continued to modify all the pages. I also created a duplicate of all the pages in Cards From Ogden Point that allows creation of basic cards with nothing to complete except the message and the addresses. I made the simple cards the default on entering the site, and created indexes for the "Simple Cards" and the "Options Cards" and set them up so that users can choose their preferred style and/or flip back and forth at any point. I also cleaned up the "Slow Connections Index" and added links to all the pages that will load more easily on slower internet connections and/or older and slower computers.
I continued the creation of more user friendly pages so that the only pages that combine the selection of pictures and the card creation process are the four pages on the backup server -- which doesn't lend itself to the number of individual HTML (Web) pages required for the separate create and select functions. The 10 original pages are converted as well so the whole site uses the "new" format.
And all of that just in time for Valentines Day.
Click here for the "Simple Pages" index.
Click here for the "Options Pages" index.
Click here for the "Slow Connections" index.
February 4 2005
Hello everyone;
This quick update falls close on the heels of the January newsletter.
When I created the ACDSee Photo Albums and posted them on my web site, the improvement was very evident. I had always wondered what people viewing the pages thought. My only measure of the effectiveness of the pages were the "Hit Counters" on the various pages. Frankly the counts were not very high.
I had always felt that the viewing options that I had to offer were part of the reason people came to my sites and didn't stay long. I did get good feedback about the quality of the pictures from guest book entries and other email. I didn't get much feedback about the operation of the site itself.
After putting together the "Albums" I sent a "Card From Ogden Point" announcement about them to everyone in my address book and everyone that had signed my guest book. The response was immediate and positive. I received good feedback about the viewing process for the first time, and the "Hit Counters" showed that people were visiting and staying.
That resolved the lack of numbers in visitors to http://www.ronmclean.bc.ca
You can test the effectiveness of my albums creation here:
Click here for an album of my most recent pictures.
The other thing my counters were saying was that people were finding Cards From Ogden Point. They just didn't stay long there either. I received feedback that the pages had to much introductory information and instructions and that creating a card was almost overwhelming amongst all the other stuff. That combined with the large diversity of pictures on each page was too much for some potential site users. I received specific feedback that my index page (which was really a home page, not an index page) was confusing enough that people weren't sure how to find the card pages. The counters confirmed that assessment. A large percentage of the visits to the site started with the Welcome Page and ended with the index page.
I began by making "Theme Pages" so that the visitor could select a page and have a good idea what to expect for pictures on the creation pages. I minimized the text on these pages and set them up so that when you enter the page you are right into the card creation process.
Then I separated the text information from the card creation links on the index by creating an information page and by making the index page more graphical with thumbnail pictures rather than text links to entice people to the card creation pages.
Those efforts succeeded. The people who found their way to the welcome page and the index page are also going to the card pages. The counters are recording more card page visits in a couple of days that the previous month had seen. There are almost no counts that come through the Welcome Page to the Index Page without also viewing a card creation page or two. Those visits to the card creation pages have also increased the number of counts on the send and receive pages.
You can join those counts and check out these pages here:
Click Here for the welcome page.
Click here for the index page.
The response in numbers on the page counters clearly said that the theme pages were a success so I continued to modify all the pages. I also created a duplicate of all the pages in Cards From Ogden Point that allows creation of basic cards with nothing to complete except the message and the addresses. I made the simple cards the default on entering the site, and created indexes for the "Simple Cards" and the "Options Cards" and set them up so that users can choose their preferred style and/or flip back and forth at any point. I also cleaned up the "Slow Connections Index" and added links to all the pages that will load more easily on slower internet connections and/or older and slower computers.
I continued the creation of more user friendly pages so that the only pages that combine the selection of pictures and the card creation process are the four pages on the backup server -- which doesn't lend itself to the number of individual HTML (Web) pages required for the separate create and select functions. The 10 original pages are converted as well so the whole site uses the "new" format.
And all of that just in time for Valentines Day.
Click here for the "Simple Pages" index.
Click here for the "Options Pages" index.
Click here for the "Slow Connections" index.
February 4 2005
Hello everyone;
This quick update falls close on the heels of the January newsletter.
When I created the ACDSee Photo Albums and posted them on my web site, the improvement was very evident. I had always wondered what people viewing the pages thought. My only measure of the effectiveness of the pages were the "Hit Counters" on the various pages. Frankly the counts were not very high.
I had always felt that the viewing options that I had to offer were part of the reason people came to my sites and didn't stay long. I did get good feedback about the quality of the pictures from guest book entries and other email. I didn't get much feedback about the operation of the site itself.
After putting together the "Albums" I sent a "Card From Ogden Point" announcement about them to everyone in my address book and everyone that had signed my guest book. The response was immediate and positive. I received good feedback about the viewing process for the first time, and the "Hit Counters" showed that people were visiting and staying.
That resolved the lack of numbers in visitors to http://www.ronmclean.bc.ca
You can test the effectiveness of my albums creation here:
Click here for an album of my most recent pictures.
The other thing my counters were saying was that people were finding Cards From Ogden Point. They just didn't stay long there either. I received feedback that the pages had to much introductory information and instructions and that creating a card was almost overwhelming amongst all the other stuff. That combined with the large diversity of pictures on each page was too much for some potential site users. I received specific feedback that my index page (which was really a home page, not an index page) was confusing enough that people weren't sure how to find the card pages. The counters confirmed that assessment. A large percentage of the visits to the site started with the Welcome Page and ended with the index page.
I began by making "Theme Pages" so that the visitor could select a page and have a good idea what to expect for pictures on the creation pages. I minimized the text on these pages and set them up so that when you enter the page you are right into the card creation process.
Then I separated the text information from the card creation links on the index by creating an information page and by making the index page more graphical with thumbnail pictures rather than text links to entice people to the card creation pages.
Those efforts succeeded. The people who found their way to the welcome page and the index page are also going to the card pages. The counters are recording more card page visits in a couple of days that the previous month had seen. There are almost no counts that come through the Welcome Page to the Index Page without also viewing a card creation page or two. Those visits to the card creation pages have also increased the number of counts on the send and receive pages.
You can join those counts and check out these pages here:
Click Here for the welcome page.
Click here for the index page.
posted by ...ron... | 3:44 PM
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