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  1. Nic’s Google Analytics Tip #2: Posted in Digital Strategy, Concocted by Mike Perk July 30, 2007 1 comment

    Tip_2

    Using visitor trends on your website can aid your other marketing efforts. Taking the above website visitor statistics it is evident that Tuesday is the day that your companys website is most popular. If you know this is the time of the week that people are interested in your products/services try to tie in marketing such as newsletter sends (email or snail mail) so they arrive on that Tuesday. Hopefully they will then be more willing to read that material. I appreciate there could be many more unknown variables but you may as well make the most of the information you do have.

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  2. Nic’s Google Analytics Tip #1: Posted in Digital Strategy, Concocted by Mike Perk July 30, 2007 No comments

    I am currently using and learning Google Analytics as part of my new job role and these tips are my way of sharing things I’m learning as I go along.

    Tip 1 before you start to use any statistical programme it is a good idea not to have your webpage www.yoursite.com as the default page on your own browser. Every time you open Internet Explorer or Firefox your site pops up and you are recorded as a visitor.

    Usually the first indication that employees have the site as their homepage is a very high bounce rate off the site. These additional visitors will skew your data, as employees are not representative of your web users.

    There is an option to exclude your IP address from the stats thereby Google Analytics will ignore your own visits to the site. However sometimes this wont work as you may have what is known as a dynamic IP with changing IP addresses. One option then available to you is to use the map overlay stats to find your town/suburb and then subtract all the local specific data from the total data. This can start to get very complicated and time consuming, and restrictive as Google at present does not allow all data to be cross-referenced to a location.

    Read Further

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  3. This week at World Wide Creative Posted in Digital Strategy, Concocted by Mike Perk July 29, 2007 No comments

    This week sees Sean, World Wide Creative’s newest member, join the WWC programming team. Welcome Sean! We’re looking forward to your skills complementing an ever-strengthening group of dynamos.

    We’re excited over a couple of projects:

    • Creme & Cacao is a new company in South Africa. Led by Frank Meijer, a Master Chef from Holland, the company has big plans for the South African catering industry. In the same way that things changed when Vida e Caffe aised the bar with coffee, no one is going to accept a second-rate cake after tasting one of Frank’s masterpieces!
    • We also start designing a website for a brand new hotel group that’s launching across Southern Africa. This company, led by a longstanding veteran of the international leisure industry, will introduce a new level of service and luxury across a handful of highly unique destinations across South Africa and its neighbours. Watch this space for updates.
    • In House Fashion, perveyor of 2 of Young Designer Emporium’s top brands, launches its new website on the 1st August – courtesy of WWC. Our team collaborated to create a innovative new strategy, including website, web gallery and social media platform. More news next week.

    That’s it for now. Look out for the impending new and improved look ‘n feel over the next few weeks on the Heavy Chef blog.

    - Fred

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  4. Heavy Chef Podcast and Presentation Notes Posted in Heavy Chef News, Videos, Concocted by Mike Perk July 26, 2007 No comments

    For those that were unable to attend the "Can a blog accelerate your profit" Heavy Chef session yesterday we promised to upload the presentation and make the podcast of the discussion available to all.

    To download the presentation in pdf format click this link: Download can_a_blog_accelerate_your_profit.pdf  and click this link: Download profitable_blogs_south_africa.m4a to download the accompanying podcast.

    We are totally new to the podcasting scene and my hope to edit the recording file in Garageband wasn’t realised. Therefore this first podcast is the entire Heavy Chef Session of 1 hour 27minutes. The downside for our SA users is it is about 40Mb in size. I will continue to try and chop up the audio and when I succeed will upload in smaller batches.

    - Perky

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  5. Heavy Chef Session July 2007 – Can a blog accelerate your profit? Posted in Heavy Chef News, Concocted by Mike Perk July 26, 2007 4 comments

    Blogging_south_africa

    A big thank you to all who attended last nights live Heavy Session from the World Wide Creative studio. Fred shared his thoughts and opened the debate on whether a blog can accelerate your profit, and was well received by all.

    I’m still a little sore as the most I have managed to attract to one of my sessions is 8 people. Last night saw 17 representatives from a variety of businesses enjoying Fred, the wine and Nicola’s spicy roasted nuts (not necessarily in that order). I like to think the fact Fred can pull in a larger crowd than me has more to do with the buzz around social media and blogging in South Africa at the moment, than it does his personal popularity. But having said that he does have more friends than me on Facebook.

    The short session looked at the growth of blogging and how businesses have benefited. A special thanks must go to Karin from Wood You Like in the UK who shared her successful blogging experiences with everyone via the wonders of Skype and a good internet connection. It was a bit freaky to have a computer propped up next to us with Karin joining in from the other side of the world, but it was an excellent experience.

    The session threw up even more questions than we could answer in the time so we think we will be running another session pretty soon on the same topic, so don’t miss out.

    The presentation slides and notes will be posted early next week. And once I have got the hang of using Garageband to create my podcast that will be available for download as well. So those who missed the evening can still listen to Fred’s dulcet tones.

    In the meantime I leave you with some pics, including the effervescent David Duarte explaining Social Aggregators.

    Blog_cape_town

    Blog_south_africa

    - Perky

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  6. Google Analytics Introduction Posted in Digital Strategy, Concocted by Mike Perk July 26, 2007 No comments

    To monitor your website and internet marketing strategy, an Analytics program is a must. As Mike always quotes  – Amazon.com never make a change on their website unless it can be proven by statistics that the change is needed.

    If your company is paying for a website each month, it is essential that you have some kind of site statistics on your site. For example Google Analytics, which is free!

    Over the next few posts I will be giving a few tips on how you can use some of the features and data to highlight any problem areas on your website.

    Back in May WWC ran a Heavy Chef Session on Google Analytics, you will find instructions & a quick guide on how to set analytics up for your website here.

    One of my jobs at World Wide Creative is to prepare monthly analytics reports for some of our clients. I have to say this is the time of the month that I most look forward to; it is fascinating to see how visitors are finding/using your site, and how suggestions that you made last month have increased the profitability of their site.

    - Nicola

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  7. This week at World Wide Creative Posted in Digital Strategy, Heavy Chef News, Concocted by Mike Perk July 23, 2007 10 comments

    Another rocking week at World Wide Creative.

    We are looking for a kick-ass, award winning web designer to join our kick-ass, award winning team in Cape Town. Here are some details:
    Salary: R12k
    Hours: 9-5 (or thereabouts)
    Skills: Fireworks, Dreamweaver, Photoshop, preferably some Flash thrown in as well but not essential
    Perks: Mike and Nicola
    Requirements: Good understanding of layout of information, able to interpret a brand strategy into a killer layout, conceptually strong.
    Email me if you think you’re up to it.

    What’s happening this week:

    • The Heavy Chef Session is playing to a full house this month. We’re excited because we’re going to play our hand at podcasting for the first time. Better late than never…!
    • We’re working on getting some sites live, most notably the Young Designer’s Emporium supplier In House Fashion. Watch for announcement next week.
    • Quotes, quotes and more quotes.
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  8. Why not to use Flash? Posted in Website Design, Concocted by Mike Perk July 23, 2007 7 comments

    Before I start, I am going to clearly state that in certain circumstances Flash sites can be great, they are often visually amazing and an ease to navigate.

    One major problem with Flash is what do you do when Flash is not installed? You may scoff and say well everyone eventually will have it because when they come across a site that needs Flash they will install it.  Unfortunately I am one of those people that will not install, why should I waste my time? JUST SHOW ME THE SITE.

    This is where my frustrations began:

    Over the weekend I was browsing the search engines  trying to find Wine farms in the Cape to visit. Via Google I was taken to www.spier.co.za and was presented with the following:

    Spier_intro

    I decided I was going to break the deadlock and install the thing how hard could it be? Well lets put it this way my computer is still Flashless. I expected it to be easy, just a push of the click here button a little wait , then the site would appear. Unfortunately you are taken to the Adobe Webpage and from here on I was lost. I consider myself to be quite computer literate, so what on earth will the average web user do?

    I also came across another site www.riverisland.com. on my web travels this week, with the same problem.

    River_intro

    If a non-flash visitor enters one of these sites from a Google search, they are going to click straight back to Google and click on the next Website i.e. your competitor ,who will provide them with what they need. I would love to know the stats on the bounce rates, maybe they can prove me wrong.

    I am sure the actual number of web users with Flash is quite high, so I suppose these sites are willing to loose a small percentage of visitors.

    Whilst Im on my little rant I have 2 more reasons why I personally do not like Flash sites.

    1. When Im in South Africa they can take an eternity to load, as I watch the loader slowly move across the page, I sit anxiously aware that at the same time my bandwidth for the month is slowly being gobbled up.

    2. How many people actually wait for an introduction page to load? I know I go straight to the skip intro button. I always feel my time is being wasted, this also goes for splash pages. I read a great analogy comparing these pages to the 45 minutes of commercials before a cinema movie (and we all now how annoying these are).  It is thought that a user should be able to convert in no more than 5 clicks through your site  – therefore with intro pages and splash pages you have already wasted one of these clicks.

    At World Wide Creative we provide profitable websites, and we often do not recommend Flash for web marketing reasons. This blog post is well worth the read if you are unconvinced
    http://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.com/2007/07/best-uses-of-flash.html
    This is actually written by Google itself recommending that Flash may not be the best route.

    - Nicola

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  9. Google Clicks Posted in Search Engine Optimisation, Concocted by Mike Perk July 23, 2007 No comments

    Whilst browsing the web using Google last night, I realised that being a member of a web marketing company was affecting the way I use Google.

    Searching the listings for SEO and the latest web marketing news I noticed that instinctively I was typing in the URLS into my address bar rather than clicking on the links. Thinking back to my earlier searches that day – It appears I have a new habit, but why? I suppose in the back of my mind, I know that for every click to a site (which may be somehow linked to my competition) will be gaining in its Google Power.

    So when researching your competition using search engines, it is a good tip not to click on the link, but to actually type the URL manually, as every little helps.

    - Nicola

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  10. Join the World Wide Creative team for a day of golf Posted in Heavy Chef News, Concocted by Mike Perk July 22, 2007 No comments

    Awcgolfday

    One of the social investment projects we are involved in is the long-serving Autism Western Cape.

    Anyone who has autism in their family, or who knows someone with Autistic Spectrum Disorder, understands what a tragic and debilitating affliction it is – as much for the family as for the individual. It is a trying and testing challenge that needs all the support available. This kind of support is not freely available in South Africa. Even in the UK, autism is not fully understood by the general public.

    The resources we do have in SA are stretched to the limit and need as much assistance as possible. And so, in the name of winning, all round, Id like to invite anyone whos interested to partake in the Autism Western Cape annual golf day. Click here to contact Gerhard and book your place. Its only R2000 for a 4-ball. World Wide Creative will be there in full force, so youre welcome to join us.

    And, yes, its tax deductable, and youll get to meet famous people, and probably end up in the newspaper. 

    So, what are you waiting for?

    (Click here to find out more about autism.)

    - Fred

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  11. Apologies Posted in Branding Online, Digital Strategy, Online Advertising, Concocted by Mike Perk July 18, 2007 No comments

    90mins_mandela

    Quick apologies for not being able to make the Nomadic Marketing Dinner this evening. Thought I would share with you some of the experience of where I went instead (Africa XI vs. Rest of the World XI). Couldn’t miss the opportunity to see Pele:-)

       

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  12. This week at World Wide Creative Posted in Branding Online, Digital Strategy, Website Design, Concocted by Mike Perk July 16, 2007 No comments

    Busy, busy, busy.

    Mike and I are preparing for an all-out siege of new projects. We are still on the lookout for new members to our burgeoning team so if anyone out there thinks they have what it takes, please send us your C.V’s.

    As for activity, this week sees some exciting snippets:

    Catch you at the Heavy Chef Session podcast!

    - Fred

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  13. Focusing on the buying process Posted in Digital Strategy, Concocted by Mike Perk July 15, 2007 3 comments

    Fred and I have been talking a lot about our marketing strategy for World Wide Creative lately and as such have been planning changes to our Website, The Heavy Chef Project, Advertising and the usual marketing mix. The problem I sometimes have with marketing is the focus it places on selling rather than the buying process. Or should I rather say; the problem I have when I do marketing.



    The web has changed dramatically over the last couple of years and the idea of “if they see me they will buy” just doesn’t ring true. The consumer no longer responds to the TV ad by rushing out and purchasing the latest product – in fact they haven’t done that for quite a while now. They are information gatherers, a tribe that absorbs thousands of messages a day, sifts through them sub-consiously and retains what is applicable to them. Each one is an individual, each one choosing to retain that message for a different reason to the next. How then is it possible to put up a sign with a picture of your product and a snappy line that say “we make your dreams come true” going to work?



    We have to understand each and every one of our potential buyers and more importantly the process they take to buy our product or service. We need to ensure we are part of that information gathering process so that when they are at the point of saying: “Yep I’m ready to buy now” our product/service is in front of them. To do this we need to intricately understand the route they take, the alley ways and paths they go down, whilst subtly persuading them along the way.



    This is much easier said than done as it requires an extreme amount of planning. If we are designing and implementing a web strategy for a client, it is almost impossible to persuade them that 2/3 months worth of analysis, research, brain storming and getting into the minds of their users is required before we can even tell them how there website/blog/web marketing is going to work. The reason being is one still views the web from an “old” marketing perspective: If I place an ad in a paper people will buy my product – if I put up a website people buy my stuff.


    I am really looking forward to the next couple of years and seeing how the growth of Web 2.0 changes the way businesses not only think about the web but marketing as a whole.

    - Perky

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  14. Why the obsession with optimising for search engines Posted in Search Engine Optimisation, Concocted by Mike Perk July 11, 2007 2 comments

    Why is it we are obsessed with optimising our websites for the search engines? All of us can get carried away with the desire to generate more traffic. We figure that if our site currently gets 100 people a day and we make 1 sale, then getting 200 people per day will double our turnover.



    Why aren’t we obsessed with optimising the landing pages on the site for conversions? It can be easier and quicker to do and can bring far greater results. Increase that 1% conversion rate to 2% by identifying the different personas that visit your site and catering for their motivational needs so they take the required call to action. And you’ve doubled your turnover without the cost of an SEO campaign. If any of our readers have got examples of sites that are truly conversion focused why not share them with us. Comment below giving us the URL, your target persona(s) and the desired call to action. We want to see some example of some good profitable websites – especially some South African ones.


    Anyone wanting a good read on the subject get yourselves “Waiting for Your Cat to Bark” by the Eisenburg brothers.

    - Perky

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  15. Clients achieving success online Posted in Digital Strategy, Concocted by Mike Perk July 10, 2007 No comments

    Maserati’s Reinhart Schwendinger has scored a scoop in last weekend’s Cape Argus. We salute you Reinhart for successfully hogging the media spotlight once again! (Click on the pic to see it fullscreen.)

    Weekend_argus_07_july_2007_cropped_

    Verity, the South African singer/songwriter, continues to amaze us with her unflappable desire to achieve her goals. Through the website we created, Verity has sold over 1300 CDs of an album that does not exist. Find out more at www.iamverity.com.

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  16. July Heavy Chef Session: Can a Blog Accelerate Your Profit?’ Posted in Heavy Chef News, Concocted by Mike Perk July 9, 2007 No comments

    Albert Einstein once said Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving.

    The marketing world is not too different to Einstein’s bike analogy, and World Wide Creatives aim is to keep moving forward with web marketing strategy. The South African market is undergoing an impressive surge in internet awareness, and subsequently we have experienced a lively increase in enquiries about making websites more profitable. World Wide Creatives approach is two-fold:

    1. Get relevant visitors to websites
    2. Convert visitors into customers

    One way to get relevant visitors is via the social media phenomenon. One of our own social media projects, Ideate, recently reached a record 6000 page views in one day! It’s only right then, that our next Heavy Chef Session is going to be all about blogging and Web 2.0. We will examine how to utilise the tools of social media in your web marketing strategy.

    July Heavy Chef Session: ‘Can a Blog Accelerate Your Profit?’
    July’s Session is all about Social Media, Blogs and Building Your Brand Web 2.0-style
    Date: 25th July; 5pm – 6:30pm
    Venue: The World Wide Creative studio in Sea Point, Cape Town

    You are hereby invited to attend, so contact us pronto to make a booking. Please click here to book the July Session (R950 for non-WWC clients). The sessions are free for World Wide Creative clients, but seats are limited and we are on a first come, first serve basis only. However, we will be podcasting the sessions from now on and they will be made available on the Heavy Chef blog.

    For our UK clients who have been missing out on the live sessions, we are planning our August workshop to be in the UK. We welcome your suggestions and feedback on any topics you would like to be covered in these sessions.

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  17. This week at World Wide Creative Posted in Digital Strategy, Website Design, Website Usability, Concocted by Mike Perk July 9, 2007 No comments

    This week is a busy one for the team. These are exciting times for us, and we are looking for some new talent to join the team at World Wide Creative. We are currently looking for the following positions:

    Studio Manager: must have experience managing a creative studio.
    Client Service / Sales: must have experience in an agency environment, must have marketing background.

    Projects this week:

    • We begin the design and development of the website for a new hotel group being launched here in South Africa.
    • Our team has nabbed the account for one of the country’s top golf estates (more to follow). We will be responsible for the design and development of the estate’s website, intranet and communication systems.
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  18. An trip down Apple’s memory lane Posted in Digital Strategy, Concocted by Mike Perk July 3, 2007 No comments

    I saw this first on Apple ambassador Guy Kawasaki’s blog first – a trip down Apple’s memory lane. It’s a timeline of their products from the first Apple 1 more than 30 years ago. Amazing – I remember learning to design on the Macintosh LC (1996) at the Technikon Graphic Design School.

    Click here to view the graph. – via this blog

    Apple_evolution

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  19. Freelancer’s worst nightmare Posted in Website Design, Website Usability, Concocted by Mike Perk July 3, 2007 No comments

    Paul points me to this website, with which he felt a certain kinship. World Wide Creative regularly uses freelancers to assist in projects (Paul used to be one before we employed him), and I laughed when I read this. It could have been me talking…

    Ff6_revisions

    Click here to see more of these.

    - Fred

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  20. This week at World Wide Creative Posted in Heavy Chef News, Concocted by Mike Perk July 3, 2007 No comments

    We are excited as the new month sets in. Our Heavy Chef Newsletter goes out tomorrow*, which always gets some great feedback – and also announces the upcoming Heavy Chef Session in Cape Town at the end of July. For our UK clients missing out, never fear, Mike is going to be swinging by in August / September to conduct a session then.

    We are busy with the following projects:

    • Finishing up the Cape Nature website – yeeha!
    • Rocketseed banners for Co-ordination Crew
    • A blog design for Cerebra for their client, Toyota
    • Finalising a kickass website for Shonaquip
    • Starting another kickass website for NH3, an engineering company in Cape Town
    • Getting cracking on a website for production house, 2Productions along with DZ3.

    *Not on our mailing list? Email me and I will add you to our database.

    - Fred

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