To find out more about our new Maintenance Agreements, click here and we’ll have your website safe, sound and secure in now time!

Perceivable:

• Provide text alternatives for any non-text content so that it can be changed into other forms people need, such as large print, braille, speech, symbols or simpler language.
• Provide alternatives for time-based media.
• Create content that can be presented in different ways (for example simpler layout) without losing information or structure.
• Make it easier for users to see and hear content including separating foreground from background.

Operable:

• Make all functionality available from a keyboard.
• Provide users enough time to read and use content.
• Do not design content in a way that is known to cause seizures.
• Provide ways to help users navigate, find content, and determine where they are.

Understandable

• Make text content readable and understandable.
• Make Web pages appear and operate in predictable ways.
• Help users avoid and correct mistakes.

Robust

• Maximise compatibility with current and future user agents, including assistive technologies.

For more information on how to ensure your website meets requirements visit http://www.hreoc.gov.au/disability_rights/standards/WWW_3/www_3.html#wcag

One in five Australians has a disability, and the proportion is growing.

The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities asserts the right of people with a disability to participate fully and independently in all aspects of society, including the internet and access to information

The Australian Human Rights Commission have given clear guidelines for implementing WCAG 2.0 in Australia – all existing non-government websites and web content should comply with WCAG 2.0 to a minimum level of AA conformance by December 31 2013.
In December 2006 the United Nations adopted the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Australia was one of the first signatories to the Convention, and it subsequently ratified it in July 2008.
While the Australian Government has primary responsibility for meeting Australia’s obligations under the Convention, all sections of society, including industry, educational institutions, and community organisations, must play an active role in upholding the rights established by the Convention. Accordingly, any failure to provide full access to the web and other internet-based technologies for people with a disability may be seen as a violation of human rights.

Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0 (WCAG 2.0) is a set of guidelines focussing on various technologies associated with the design or use of the web.

In June 2010, the Australian Government released its Web Accessibility National Transition Strategy (NTS), which sets out a strategy and workplan for transitioning to WCAG 2.0 over a four-year period. The Strategy is available at http://www.finance.gov.au/publications/wcag-2-implementation/index.html.

For example a real estate company may be listed on www.realestate.com.au. When someone clicks on the company logo or the web address they will go to the website of the real estate company. That would be an inbound link for that company and it helps Google sit up and take notice that this site is worth looking at as someone has “recommended” this site.

Some great ways to create inbound links include:

• Submit your site to search engines
• Submit your site to link directories
• Submit articles to other websites
• Submit press releases
• Create one-way backlinks from other websites
• Submit your site to social bookmarking sites
• Add your site to social networking sites
• Get one-way links from authority sites
• Build communities on social networking sites
• Submit videos
• Add comments to other people’s Blogs
• Add comments to Forums

Of course, the team at insilico^TM are always able to help you with increasing your search engine rankings.

Research has shown that users will leave a site if images/photos fail to load within 4 seconds.

A best practice for speeding up your website loading time is to optimise images. Optimising images refers to making the image size smaller while keeping the quality of it good.

Some benefits of image optimisation include faster web page loading times and saving storage and bandwidth space with your hosting.

There are many products out there than can help optimise your images but we have recently found a great free online tool called Smush.it

For information on how to use Smush.it, check out our forum post by clicking here.

Many companies build a website and then wait for it to be found. This is the same as opening an office and hoping that the phone will start ringing and potential clients will just start walking in the door. You may have the phone ring with the occasional wrong number or the odd sticky beak will pop into your office to find out who the new person on the block is.

For your traditional bricks and mortar business, you need to get out there and talk to people face to face, do letter drops, take out ads in papers, hold a booth at an expo, join industry related organisations. The same is necessary for getting your website noticed.

1. Intuitive design and navigation

   Your design might be visually stimulating but if a visitor can’t access important information or get to your webshop easily, you will lose the customer. Your main menu should have sub-sections and provide information in a logical manner. If you make a customer work for information, you will lose them.

2. Visitor friendly

   Visitors get impatient when faced with too much text, or when too much information is pushed their way. Your website is not the place to do hard selling, try to be more simple and direct with your content. Be professional in your approach and give you audience the chance to believe in you – you are not a desperate salesman.

3. Search Engine friendly

   Without the proper tools in place your website is almost invisible to search engines. Not only in terms of finding your own business on the net, but also with associated keywords. insilico™ Search Engine Optimisation program generated results to ensure that your website shows up on all major search engines.

4. Useful content

   As important as website design is, your content is what keeps your readers on your site. The majority of browsers look for straightforward information and if they can’t find it on your site, it can do more harm than good. If your content is of an excellent quality word will spread on the internet, along with links back to your site. You don’t need to be an expert at writing but no-one knows your business like you do, so try to make thoughts as clear as possible.

5. Reliable

   There may be many other businesses who sell the same services as you on the net. To stand out from the crowd you need to come across as reliable and trustworthy and knowledgeable about your industry. Link to white papers and case studies and if you have actively done some PR, put your press releases and articles on the website as well.

   Customer testimonials are a great tool for coming across as reliable and you will be able to link to their site as well. By constantly adding fresh content you show your customers that you are staying abreast of industry movements and you give them a reason to come back.

6. Inviting

   The main function of a corporate website is to collect leads that could be converted into prospects. The best way of doing this is to collect contact information from your visitors. You can do this through newsletter subscriptions, competitions, promotions, premium content for members or with free give-aways. Once you have enough names on your database, you can start an email marketing campaign.

7. Interactive

   The internet owes its success to interactivity and customers have control in their hands. For this reason, you have to engage them when they visit your website. Interactivity doesn’t mean adding fancy presentations but giving the reader a chance to participate.

   Polls, quizzes and promotional offers are just some of the ways to get visitors to interact with your website. The internet is evolving and because of high connection speeds you can explore with new techniques.

   How does your website measure up?

Australian customers consume more online media that anything else when researching and searching for local businesses (Source: Google/Nielsens 2009).

Search has become the preferred media to help customers connect with local businesses. 58% of consumers make use of search to find, research and locate local businesses, while only 21% call on directories (Source: Google/Nielsens 2009).

One-third of people aged under 29 never use the printed version of the Yellow Pages (Source: www.theaustralian.news.com.au).

Most customers will use Search and online maps to find contact details even if that information is included in other advertising. When asked the question “what resources do you use to find the contact details/address of these businesses?” the results were:

(Source: Google/Nielsens 2009)

Google also displays ads in response to search queries. But with ads, Google scans the keywords that you’ve chosen to represent your business. When a user searches for keywords you’ve selected for your ads, your ads can appear next to the search results.

Ads on Google search results pages are available on a cost-per-click (CPC) basis. This means that you’re charged only when somebody clicks on your ad and visits your website. Google also offers pricing on a cost-per-1000 impressions (CPM) basis for site-targeted campaigns.

AdWords ads are displayed along with search results when someone searches Google using one of your keywords. Ads appear under ‘Sponsored links’ in the side column of a search page, and may also appear in additional positions above the free search results. That way, you’ll be advertising to an audience that’s already interested in your business. You can also choose to display your ads on Display Network sites in the growing.

And, you can choose the exact Display Network placements where you’d like your ad to appear, or you can let contextual targeting match your keywords to content.
You can choose from a variety of ad formats, including text, image, and video ads, and easily track your ad performance using the reports available in your account.