Serious Stuff | Aqua Vita

3.27.2013
Aqua Vita News, Serious Stuff

User-Friendly Websites: Rosenfeld Summit

Published by Jessica Cox under Aqua Vita News, Serious Stuff

Upgrading our skills! The heavy-weights of website design & usability from around the world will assemble as one at the “31 Awesomely Practical UX Tips Conference“. And we’ll have a front row seat.

We’ll be listening six of the smartest people in the UX industry sharing state-of-the art techniques. These insights will dramatically improve and strengthen our user interface designs. So everything we make, from eCommerce sites to mobile pages, will follow best practices.

5 Tips from Steve Krug

steve-krug Steve is a usability expert with decades of experience and author of the #1 selling UX book Don’t Make Me Think. In this presentation Steve will highlight and explain five tips that have had the most impact with his clients, such as, “Spend an hour each week doing usability testing of your competitors’ stuff with your whole team observing.”

6 tips from Whitney Queenbery

whitney-quesenbery Whitney is a user researcher, user experience practitioner, usability expert and author of Storytelling for User Experience. Her presentation will focus on content and how to make it better for everyone, reminding us of time-tested principles such as “recognition, not recall.”

3 Tips from Jeffrey Eisenberg

jeffrey-eisenberg Jeffrey has been an online marketing optimization expert for over 15 years, improving online conversion rates and persona-based accountable marketing for organizations in 26 countries. One tip he’ll explain is how “micro-copy is critical to conversion.”

7 Tips from Susan Weinschenk

susan-weinschenk Susan is the author of Neuro Web Design and a specialist in applying psychology to technology and the workplace. Her expertise results in uncommon wisdom, advising us that “most mental processing occurs unconsciously. If you design for the conscious mind only you are missing the boat.”

5 Tips from Aarron Walter

aarron-walter Aarron leads the User Experience Design team behind MailChimp, TinyLetter, and Mandrill, He is the author of a number of books, including Designing for Emotion. Aarron will explain how his team consistently delivers state-of-the-art work though a novel testing philosophy: “Use it while you design it.”

5 Tips from Luke Wroblewski

luke-wroblewski “LukeW” is an interaction design expert and author of Mobile First, Web Form Design, and Site-Seeing: A Visual Approach to Web Usability. Luke wields a special talent for combining his technology and design knowledge with inventive solutions, such as, “Employ just-in-time actions to reveal features only when needed.”

3.08.2013
Serious Stuff

Avoiding Domain Name Registry Scams

Published by Cindi Runyon under Serious Stuff

As the internet continues to grow as a marketing and sales tool for businesses, the number of internet scams and frauds also continues to rise.

Business owners often understand the importance of a good website and a great domain name.

Unfortunately, they may pay little attention to their domain expiration date until it’s too late.

SCAM ALERT: Domain Registry of America.

Through an invoice in the mail, your email, or a persistent phone call, this scammer gives you the impression that your domain name is up for renewal and about to expire.

Many businesses worry they will lose their domain name, and pay exorbitant fees to “save it,” becoming the unwitting victim of a scam.

If you received one of these letters from Domain Registry of America, please ignore it!

Do NOT complete the payment slip at the bottom or make any payments to this company. All they do is charge higher fees than your original domain registration, and transfer your domain account to their company instead.

What to watch for:

A letter, an email or a phone call stating that your domain name registration is about to expire and that you must pay a fee to keep it going.

Domain Registration Safety Tips:

Know who your domain name is registered with. This may be GoDaddy, Tucows, Network Solutions, Enom, Hover, NameCheap, Dreamhost, or something like that. Not sure? Check your domain registration here. Scroll down to see “DNS Information”. Still not sure? Ask your web/IT guy.

Put a date on your calendar to remind you when your domain expires, and make sure your billing information is up-to-date. An expired credit card can wreck your website if your domain billing expires.

Also, make sure your contact email is correct with your domain registration service. This email receives the real “your domain is up for renewal” notices. Make sure it’s up to date so you get those reminders.

Lost your domain registrar login info? Try resetting your password, or call customer service. They may ask for the last 6 digits of the card you signed up with, or other security information.

Have questions? Give us a call: 918.518.6576 or drop us a line. We can help you sort this web stuff out.

11.14.2012
Design Inspiration, Serious Stuff

Holiday Website Themes

Published by Jonathan Cox under Design Inspiration, Serious Stuff

Have you decorated your logo yet?

Everyone appreciates a well-loved website. And just like brick-and-mortar stores, websites and logos need a touch of festivity this time of year.

Winterizing your online image can keep you looking updated, fresh and plumb cheery this holiday season!

Okay, we get that you love your logo the way it is, right? But don’t be a Scrooge! Tweaking here and there seasonally, when it makes sense, can get even more mileage out of it.

Besides, this is the time of year to be jolly! Adding a dusting of snow here and some Christmas lights there shows you’re sharing joy in your online community.

If you care enough to make tiny changes just to brighten someone’s day, well, you’re certain to take care of them as a customer.

So be of good cheer and shine your holiday spirit for all to see! Start thinking of what you can do to winterize your logo today.

Here are some tiny touches you can add this season: Stars, Snow, Evergreens, Ornaments, Rudolph’s Nose, Steaming Mug, Smoking Chimney, Stockings, Wrapped Gifts, Bows, Icicles.

When a customer or visitor comes to your page and sees a winterized logo, it might just change them from a Grinch to an elf!

Need help adding any of these to your logo? We’re always ready to serve!
Call 918.518.6576 or Connect with us online.

10.30.2012
Serious Stuff

Brookside By Day & Nordaggios – Congratulations

Published by Cindi Runyon under Serious Stuff

Recently, two of our favorite clients were featured in Tulsa People articles. Nordaggio’s Coffee was highlighted in Coffee Shops while Brookside By Day was mentioned by Breakfast Club.

Nordaggio’s website is the perfect example of a client who just needed an outlet to display the depth of their crafting success.

The images and videos on Nordaggio’s site will make your mouth plead for a cup of their coffee perfection.

Designing for our clients involves much communication, care and creativity. Each website is crafted so that the passion for what they do shines through on every page. Brookside By Day’s website shows exactly what we mean.

Each little piece comes right from the restaurant. We matched the colors and styles of their actual walls, chalkboard, and picture frames, even the green chair rail at the top of the site comes right from their sign.

Questions about restaurant website design? Get in touch! 918.518.6576

10.19.2012
Serious Stuff

Building Your Email List Without Spam

Published by Michelle Pierce under Serious Stuff

Since email newsletters are one of the services we offer, inevitably, people ask us about best practices for building their email list.

Unfortunately, sometimes people get confused about “best practices” and “how do I get my newsletter numbers up super-high, because everybody knows bigger lists are better, right?”

Right?

Allow me to share a personal story.

I checked my personal email a few weeks ago and noticed a message from a name that seemed vaguely familiar, but wasn’t one I recognized immediately. Turns out it was a newsletter advertising a new book being released by an author I’d never heard of.

Confused, I scanned the newsletter and realized it was sent from Mailchimp, which is the service we use and encourage our clients to use. Because of this, I knew there had to be a list description SOMEWHERE in the email that would tell me why I was getting this newsletter. (Maybe I had signed up for this and just forgotten about it. It’s happened before.)

(What’s a “list description?” Reputable email newsletter services usually require a list description before you can start sending out emails.

They usually look like this: “You signed up for the free coupon on our website” or “You checked the ‘newsletter’ box on the comment card at our restaurant” or “You signed up for email at the lunch seminar.” This lets people know you are not a dirty spammer. Anyway. Back to our regularly scheduled post.)

Sure enough, I found the description: “You are receiving this email because someone believes you should read this novel.”

O.o

Just in case you’re wondering, that’s not a list description. That is a one-way ticket to me reporting you to Mailchimp for spamming.

I am sure the sender didn’t think they were doing anything wrong. (I am a firm believer in Hanlon’s Razor: Do not attribute to malice that which can be explained by stupidity.) But that doesn’t change the fact that I didn’t sign up for that newsletter and I didn’t want that newsletter. It annoyed me.

Just for the record: annoyed people do not buy from you.

This is a case of Unwitting Newsletter Douchebaggery, a phenomenon Sarah over at Smart Bitches goes into with great detail. (She also talks about how to report newsletter abuse to the various email service providers.)

Author Courtney Milan published a companion post the same day, talking about the error of numerosity. Her advice doesn’t just apply to authors, but to anybody who uses a newsletter as a marketing tool.

Don’t add people to your list willy-nilly. Don’t be one of those companies that auto-checks an “add me to your newsletter” button on every single contact form.

Don’t put someone on your list just because you got their business card, or because you emailed them once, or because they sent you a condolence letter when your cat died.

Your email list numbers might go up, but the important metrics—your opens and clickthrough rates—will not.

Bigger lists don’t always equal bigger sales. Sometimes they just equal bigger headaches or bigger spam reports.

And that’s no fun for anyone.