With hundreds of thousands of professionally designed websites on the Internet it is important to make sure that your site stands out for the right reasons - sometimes it’s shocking to see the poor quality of some websites (and some of these are designed by ‘professionals’ too!). Don’t despair, there are a couple of things that you can watch out for to ensure that your site doesn’t wind up as an example of what not to do.

One: Flash introduction pages
Flash introductions can look nice and attractive since they include animated and interactive elements but, aesthetics aside, many users find them frustrating. Users don’t like to wait for an intro page to load in order to reach the content so if you are going to include such a page on your website, make sure there is a ‘skip intro’ button as well as a loading bar to show visitors how long they will have to wait.

The loading time of such a page depends on what is included on it. For example music and images increase the loading time significantly. Remember, in the online sphere no-one has time to wait. If your website can’t provide them with the information they need, fast, they will click back and find it somewhere else. In terms of SEO a pure flash page is a big no-no because many search engines cannot read flash files easily. For this reason, if you decide to make use of a flash intro, make sure your underlying content is indexable and includes meta tags with title tags and relevant keywords.

Two: A ghastly colour palette
Probably the first thing a visitor to your site will notice is its colour palette. This is why the colours you chose for your site’s template play a vital role in the success of your website. Colours have a significant psychological impact on visitors and it is important to keep in mind the different meanings associated with different colours. For example, white is associated with innocence and purity whereas red is associated with passion and danger. Your colour choices should be based on factors like the market you are targeting, your brand’s positioning and the type of services or products you are promoting. Keep in mind that too many colours might be distracting. It’s a good idea to use colour to highlight important elements on your pages like headings and links. Be consistent!

Three: Bad layout and navigation
Your visitors need to know exactly where they are on your website at all times and what you want them to do, therefore it is important to include clear and consistent calls to action. The website’s layout should be logical and at first glance define what the website is about. Also, make use of links within your website’s text to lead visitors deeper into your website. Remember, if you offer high quality content visitors will want to come back to your website.

Yesterday, Google announced their acquisition ofAdmobon theGoogle blog.

Admob, a dominant player in the mobile advertising arena, was founded in 2006 after Omar Hamoui couldn’t find ways to generate traffic to his mobile site. As a solution to this problem, the Admob platform was developed. Since then, Hamoui and his team have grown Admob into a thriving and innovative mobile advertising company. With this merger Google is aggressively entering the mobile advertising market and as a result of this acquisition Google will dominate the mobile advertising arena with approximately 30% - 40% of the market share.

According to Google mobile revenue is their fastest growing revenue stream. This can, in part, be attributed to the introduction of smart phones with advanced Internet browsers. Google states that their mobile search requests have increased more than five times over the past two years.

The partnership between Google and Admob will result in increased advertising in applications on smart phones such as the iPhone and others that run on Android. Within applications these ads are typically displayed as a banner at the top or bottom of the screen.

Admob’s publisher network is made up ofmore than 15 000 mobile websitesand applications and according to Admob they received 2.6-billion ad requests from iPhone and iPod Touch devices in September 2009, up from 130-million in September 2008. Even though Google has been displaying text ads on mobile search results it hasn’t had much success with mobile web display ads or in-app ads – until now.

Virgin Atlantic has released its first iPhone application aimed at nervous flyers. Based on and named after theFlying Without Fear coursethe app was developed in partnership withMental Workout, a company that specialises in designing software that helps people resolve stress issues. According to Virgin Atlantic the Flying Without Fear course has a 98% success rate, and has even helped celebrities like Whoopi Goldberg.

Through mobile technology the Flying Without Fear app, the first of its kind, will put anxious travellers at ease. The app features a personal introduction by Sir Richard Branson, a video explanation of the flight process from start to finish, an explanation of the aeroplane environment, frequently asked questions, relaxation exercises and a panic button for emergency breathing exercises.

According to Richard Branson, president of Virgin Atlantic, the app was designed to help people overcome the fear of the unfamiliar aircraft environment, the strange noises the plane makes and of losing control.

If you’re an anxious traveller, buy the app for your iPhone or iPod Touch from theiTunes App Storefor $4.99.

Google Maps launched in South Africa yesterday on its own domain (http://maps.google.co.za) and boasts enhanced features. The new version of Google Maps SA comprises detailed maps of cities like Cape Town, Johannesburg, Pretoria, Durban, Port Elizabeth and East London and is available through any web browser or on your mobile phone through Google’s mobile application.

The new version of Google Maps SA brings a number of marketing opportunities to businesses. Businesses can list details like their physical address, opening hours, phone numbers, logos and even a live web cam onGoogle Maps Local Business Centre free of charge. Once this data is updated, potential customers searching for the business will receive driving directions to the business’ location and there is also an option to print the directions. New overlay functions include a photo, wiki and webcam overlay. The webcam overlay allows users to view a live feed of an area and will come in handy to avoid traffic jams!

In an attempt to enrich users’ map viewing experience, the My Maps feature will allow users to highlight their favourite locations and share them with others. Stephen Newton, Country Manager for Google SA said: ”Our goal with Maps is to make information with a geographical dimension available to everyone and to allow users to update the maps and develop on top of them.”

Kenya was the first African country to receive their own Google Maps Internet domain and South African second. In total there are about 30 countries globally with their own Google Maps domain. In preparation for 2010 Google Maps has committed to have the Street View function operational in time for the FIFA World Cup. At present five South African cities are being photographed using special cameras mounted on Toyota Prius vehicles and a few of them have been spotted by Twitter users in Cape Town. Other services aimed at international tourists include walking directions and transport data which will help visitors plan their holiday.

Last week Friday Facebook quietly implemented certain changes to the way information is displayed on users’ homepages in an attempt to make it easier to find information.

By using a special algorithm the new Facebook homepage displays more relevant posts. The more likes, comments or interactions a post has within your network, the more likely it is to appear in your Newsfeed. This means that posts receiving the most attention within your network will be displayed in the Newsfeed of your network and will engage more users in the conversation. Peter Deng, a Facebook product manager said “If the content has comments or ‘likes’ by 10 of your mutual friends, it’s something that is important to you.”

Certain old features that have been brought back on request of users include notifications for when friends are tagged in photos, when friends become fans of pages or join groups and when they add a friend. “Nothing is going away,” Deng said, “we are just moving things around.”

Facebook have removed the Highlights tab on the right hand side and created separate tabs for the Newsfeed and real-time events in a Live Feed. Next to the Live Feed is a counter keeping track of the number of unread posts in your Live Feed. The space freed up by the removal of the Highlights tab will be used to display events like birthdays more prominently.

There has been some negative feedback, but I suppose you can’t please everyone. Over half a million people have joined the group ‘Change Facebook Back To Normal.’ What do you think of the changes?

Nokia, the world’s largest cellphone manufacturer, filed a claim with the Delaware Federal District Court against Apple alleging the company has infringed ten patents owned by Nokia. The patents relate to crucial processes in the running of a smart phone like wireless data applications, speech coding, security and encryption.

In a press release Nokia stated it has invested over £40-billion in research and development over the last 20 years and claims Apple has infringed its intellectual property rights since the launch of the iPhone’s in 2007.

According to Ikkia Rahnasto, the Vice President of Legal and Intellectual Property at Nokia “the basic principle in the mobile industry is that those companies who contribute in technology development to establish standards create intellectual property, which others then need to compensate for.” Nokia stated it has entered into license agreement with 40 other mobile phone manufactures regarding these patents.

The litigation can continue for years, but if Nokia wins its case Apple will have to pay Nokia a percentage every time an iPhone is sold. Even though Nokia is still the market leader it has lost market share since iPhone entered the market. Could this be an attempt by Nokia to kill its smaller yet highly successful competitor?

Google, who hardly ever advertises, launched its ‘Gone Google’ advertising campaign in August across six countries. The campaign utilises billboards (specifically on major US high ways) that show different messages about Google Apps on a daily basis for a month.

“It is the first and very highly visible integrated ad campaign that we have run,” says Dave Armstrong, the Head of Marketing for Google Enterprise for Europe, Middle East and Africa.

The target of the advertising campaign is - you’ve guessed it - Microsoft Office. Kicking up the rivalry a gear, Google is creating awareness through this campaign of the number of companies that are using Google Apps on a daily basis.

Google promises no more ‘mailbox is full’ error messages or the constant need to back up data, if you switch to Google Apps your day-to-day business activities will be simplified by shared documents, calendars and email.

Google Apps comprises Google Mail, Google Maps, Google Docs and Google Earth and in an attempt to create a viral effect for the campaign Google urged current apps users to tweet their ‘Gone Google’ story with the #gonegoogle hash tag. Judging by the number of #gonegoogle tweets it seems as if there are thousands of loyal Google Apps users out there. Google also created a GoogleAtWork Twitter account as well as a website specifically for this campaign.

According to Google about 3 000 organisations are signing up on a daily basis to try out Google Apps. In June Google reported 1.75 million Google Apps business users and with the latest stats revealing that the number has grown to 2 million – it seems as if the campaign has worked!

The digital divide is steadily being bridged by cell phones. According to Rick Joubert, founding chairman of the South African Mobile Marketing Association, South Africa has more than 10 million unique mobile Internet users per month, compared to just over 5 million unique desktop Internet users per month. It is interesting to note that less than 30% of mobile Internet users have easy access to desktop Internet.

The reason for mobile Internet’s popularity is predominantly its accessibility and affordability. Mobile web browsers, such as Opera Mini, have made it possible for users to view a compressed version of websites on their cell phones, and most new handsets are sold with Opera Mini preloaded. This means faster Internet access and less data usage for mobile users, saving users time and money.

MXit reports over 14 million registered users and Vodacom’s Please Call Me messages reach on average 23 million unique South African users across all cellular networks on a monthly basis (source: RickJoubert.com). More and more cell phones with touch screens are being introduced, and an increasing number of handsets come standard with dedicated Internet push buttons. Most South Africans access social network websites like Facebook.com via mobile Internet, as they are either blocked from social networking at work, or don’t have Internet access at home.

From April 2008 until April 2009, the number of South African mobile page views increased by 173.2%, and the number of unique mobile Internet users grew by 68.9%, according to Opera.com.

The top ten mobile websites accessed by South Africans are (April 2009):

1. facebook.com
2. google.com
3. wikipedia.org
4. yahoo.com
5. my.opera.com
6. zamob.com
7. gmail.com
8. gamejump.com
9. waptrick.com
10. peperonity.com

*Measured by the number of unique users

Source: Opera.com

It was announced recently that cellular providers will cut prices in the near future and consumers will effectively pay ‘cost price’ for cellular services, which includes Internet usage. What does this mean for businesses? Most importantly, they will need to ensure that their websites are compatible with mobile browsers and easy to navigate with a cell phone. Whilst mobile website usability still requires much development, South African mobile Internet browsing is going to continue to grow, especially if the proposed price cuts take effect.

Nowadays, everything is instant. Think about it: instant messages, instant coffee, instant food. Add the Internet to this mix, and you’ll find that most of us have an ‘I want it NOW’ mindset. Information is easily accessible online, and if you can’t find it here, you will definitely find it there. How often do you search for a key-phrase on Google, open pages that seem relevant, and then close them just as quickly until you find just one that provides the information you were looking for?

Finding information is what the Internet is primarily used for. With billions of website competing against each other for attention, how can your website a) attract visitors, and b) make sure they stay on your site, by finding what they are looking for easily?

Certainly, one way to ensure quality traffic is through search engine optimisation (SEO), but SEO alone is not enough. A website has to be developed well in order to ensure a rewarding browsing experience for visitors, and good SEO results for the site.

When developing a website, the most important thing to remember is: don’t make your users think. Tell them what you want them to do (i.e. “book here” or “request brochure”), and make sure your call-to-action buttons are clearly visible.

Keep in mind that Internet users rarely read content – they are more likely to scan through a page until they find what they are looking for. Aim to make content clear and easy to read by bolding key-phrases and including links to relevant pages within your own website containing more information.

An additional key factor is a clear and simple navigation system. Let your users know where they are on the website by using <H> (heading) tags and highlighting the particular page in the navigation pane. A good idea is to include a search box on your website. Tracking what users are searching for could give you an indication of what is missing on your website, or what information is not easily findable. It will also reveal what sort of information visitors would like to see. What you think might be quite logical to find on the website might not be as easy for your visitors to source. Consider testing the website on real users (even friends!), or make use of Google Analytics, which is a free tool that can help identify problem areas on your website.

Lastly, title and meta tags on each page are vital. Title tags will not be seen by your visitors, but they contain keywords related to each page on your website and describe the page’s content to search engine spiders. Meta tags are used by search engines as a search result description for your website, and hence play a big role in attracting visitors to your site

Good website development and design might not be the prettiest things to implement, but easy navigation, combined with high-quality content amongst other things, will ensure return visitors and higher ROI.

Facebook introduced a status tagging function on the 14th of September competing more directly with Twitter. Since Facebook acquired Friendfeed they have been competing with Twitter more aggressively in certain areas. Recently Facebook added real-time search to its functionality providing Facebook users with the option of searching through results of photos, videos, notes, links, groups and pages from the past 30 days related to their search query.

Unlike the Twitter “@” function you don’t have to remember the name of the person you want to tag as Facebook auto-suggest names in a drop-down box. The status tagging is not limited to only friends and can also be used to tag groups, pages or events. At this stage the status tagging functionality only works in your status updates and not when commenting on a friend’s status. According to Facebook they ‘might’ consider adding the tagging functionality to other areas of Facebook.

To tag someone, enter the “@” symbol and type the name of the friend, page, group or event you want to tag. The “@” symbol will disappear and the tagged name will remain with a link to the actual page you are tagging. When you are tagged you will receive a notification and a post will appear on your wall linking back to the original page where you were tagged along with an option to remove the tag like Facebook photos.