This is what a few people have Tweeted during small business conferences/summits/events this week. These caught my eye. It’s always good to keep abreast of what events are going on, even if you’re not attending…

(This compilation was done easily using Storify, check it out if you haven’t already)

Did you attend any of these events? Let us know what you learned!

I’ve thrown together a comparison of free vs. custom websites. Of course most website designers will steer you towards a custom website. But this may not be feasible for everyone. And I wouldn’t recommend it if it exceeds your budget. But it definitely has its advantages as you can see below. The things that make free websites so attractive also make a business look very unprofessional and can dampen sales. Have I missed any comparison line items?

How many Twitter followers do you have? How many Facebook fans? Most people have a good idea of their online social popularity. But can you describe how these followers are interacting with your website or blog? How many are actually visiting you and converting to customers?

Track Marketing Campaigns Using the UTM Tag

Google Analytics, free web tracking software, allows you to attach little codes to your links so that you can track just about anything. You can track campaign performance through email newsletter clicks, tweets, banner ads, affiliate programs, pay-per-click, and even offline campaigns. This will help you see which marketing efforts are the most effective and to better target your future campaigns.

You can use Google’s UTM Tag Builder to accomplish this, but I prefer UTM.to because it uses easy, down-to-earth language. You type in your link URL and your campaign details. Little pop-up bubbles tell you how to fill out the short form, and alert you when you’ve messed up the format. You can also get a long or short version of the new tagged-up URL.

Let me know how this works for you.

I’m not a fan of calling companies on the phone for customer service. I’m not a fan of the phone in general. Between the automated phone system labyrinths (“Press or say what you would like … Did I hear that correctly?”) and being given the 3rd degree (“What’s you mother’s birth date? What’s the name of your elementary school?”), I’d rather interface over the net. Now, I know some companies do Live Chat better than others (*coughs* … Comcast you’re slow, and you stink). But you have to admit there’s appeal to being able to respond clearly and thoughtfully without getting cut off, and not having to repeat yourself ten times (“A-as in apple, N-as in nancy…..”). In addition, you can have multiple windows open on your computer and do some multi-tasking while you’re waiting for the operator. So that’s why I think some service and product oriented companies should offer live chat as an option.

I recently installed and tested Comm100′s free live chat software on my website. You register for free and simply install the code for the live chat link on your site. I chose the one you see above. Besides Live Chat, Comm100 also offers Email marketing, Web-based ticket support software, forum software, and other features which are all integrated. Once you register, you go directly to the dashboard, where you can personalize your customer’s experience. You can choose from a variety of Live Chat buttons and a myriad of options for the pre-, during, and post- chat session. There is a rating feature so you can rate the operator’s performance during the session. You can also monitor the chat times and lengths, landing pages, operators, and more.

At first glance, the dashboard is simple. But the more you click around, there is a sophisticated back end which makes this software very powerful, capable, and functional. It has reporting, canned messages, automatic invites, and other settings to make your live chat offering professional and satisfying to your customers. And the extensive, easy-to-navigate Help Desk answers many questions to help you set up a customized application for your business.

I’d recommend you try this web application. It has many more features than that of other free solutions out there that I’ve tried. Check it out for yourself here, it’s quick and easy.

Have you tried this software? What has been your experience?

What about Live Chat? Love or hate it?

So everyone’s heard — Consumer Reports says that the new iPhone is badly designed causing weak signals and dropped calls. As a left-handed person, I was shocked that lefties were told they were holding the phone wrong. Jobs cleaned it up soon after, but here is a good example of poor usability. This blunder cost Apple a decrease in stock price, bad PR and some annoyed customers. The negative media attention seems to have outweighed the phone’s many good features.

RANT: Web sites and interfaces in general should clearly and easily draw people to where they want to go. Offer people too many choices, and they can’t make a decision.

Perfect case in point: Even though I love my HTC Droid Eris, there are little annoying things about the interface. Sometimes I wonder if the programmers and designers ever tried to use the phone. Let’s say you want to use the GPS feature and get directions to go to a destination. In the menu there are three feasible options — Navigator, Navigation, and Maps. Now the first two choices seem more likely, but already I’m annoyed that the phone is making me feel stupid for not knowing the difference between Navigation and Navigator. By the way you can get text directions through the Maps option. Choosing Navigation, you also get text directions, but voice turn-by-turn directions are only through Navigator.

Then if you’d like to change your Home screen, would you choose Setup or Settings? Only a tech savvy person would know to choose Settings. Setup would be for when you are first setting up your phone. Then why is it a menu option next to Settings?

The clock feature is also exasperating. How do you edit the city shown on the clock? You don’t. You must create a new clock for a new city and then delete the old one.

The list goes on and on. With each new phone I am forced to learn new things that aren’t even in the manual. I had to Google a couple of things, thank goodness the phone has internet access. Anyway, the point is, test your applications, interfaces, web sites please. Don’t be lazy, cater to the users. They will thank you in the end.

Does your business cater to young people?

Do children primarily use your website?

Have you tested your website‘s usability on your target market… children?

Children and toddlers, even, are using the internet on a regular basis. A website that targets these young people will need special design considerations, but it will also present challenges in user experience. What this means is that young kids have special needs and challenges that need to be taken into consideration when designing a website for them. These include:

Eye-hand coordination

Non-readers or new readers

Ability to click mouse buttons

Ability to use keyboard

You may want to consider:

Having audio or video instructions

Not placing important navigation below the fold

Not using complicated functionality when simplicity will do

Not recreating standard design conventions, this could be confusing

Check out an article in UX Matters that Heather Nam recently published entitled Designing User Experiences for Children. She lists a useful list of suggested design conventions when designing for children.

What is a Competitive Analysis?

I often recommend a competitive analysis to small business owners who are looking to design or redesign their websites. You generally identify several or many industry competitors, and based on quantitative and qualitative analysis, I prepare a summary of findings and recommendations for the website. A competitive analysis will help you see what your competition is doing right and what they’re doing wrong, and how you can do things better. You also save yourself time by not reinventing the wheel, while at the same time adapting and innovating features and functionality.

How Would My Website Benefit from a Competitive Analysis?

• Get an edge over your competition’s website
• Find the best way to format your website
• Get a conversation going about possibilities
• Think of new ways to present information
• Think of new things to include
• Help decide the best approach for a visual style
• Compare usability and set a benchmark for improvement

Get your competitive analysis now. Contact Mindspring Design.

A client asked for a scrolling bookshelf. The client requested custom graphics on the shelf, informative popups, and links clicking through to each product. And the client wanted it to be easy to add or remove products to the shelf. Could I do it? Yep. If you’d like your own custom shelf, call me.

But if you want a FREE scrolling bookshelf, Shelfari can give you one of your very own. I created a quickie shelf on their website‘s widget creator and this is what I came up with (it takes several seconds to load):

Not too shabby, huh? Click on a book and you go to the Shelfari site, then you can go to Amazon.com to purchase. Shelfari even allows you to input your Amazon affiliate id while creating the bookshelf. There are also a few different shelf color choices. Try it out, it’s fun!