We believe in testing all our clients websites in the major browsers in use today, as of Jan 2012 our list includes:
Windows: Internet Explorer 7 to 9, Firefox 4 to 9, Safari 4 & 5, Chrome 17+
Mac: Safari 4 & 5, Firefox 4 to 9, Chrome 17+
Mobile: iPhone, iPad (iOS 3+)
To speed up testing and development, we use a number of online browser testing services we thought we’d share, in order of brilliance.
Litmus
These guys do an awesome job of email and website previews (even if they are limited to static images of each website so you can’t scroll around or test Javascript like slideshows etc).
We have been using this UK based outfit for years and heartily recommend them:
We’ve only just discovered this service which lets you browse any website using actual browsers, not emulators, so far so good, and we’ll likely signup for their professional account at $19 per month (unlimited testing).
An older service which lets you take a screenshot using just one IE browser at a time, since using Litmus I have to admit we don’t use this anymore. It can be quite slow, but is free and still useful if you can’t afford to pay for a one-off testing session:
Seems like everyone is on Facebook these days, so we’ve decided to make it so much easier to share your website updates on your Facebook Page.
If, like us, you have a Website, a Facebook Page and a Twitter account it can be a nightmare to keep all three updated, with our new ‘Share on Facebook / Twitter’ feature its a simple 3 step process:
1. Add new information on your website:
2. ‘Share on Facebook’
3. Review what’s about to be shared (above)
..and edit as you please, then press Save, and its instantly sent to your Facebook Page:
A lovely new feature, give us a shout if you want to upgrade…
Not only can you now see what your customers are searching for, right in the CMS Admin and on the public website as Top Weekly Searches, these searches also become new, highly focussed pages in Google and other search engines for the search terms.
E.g. a search on Ask A Naturopath for ‘tea tree‘ shows a range of treatments for blackheads, candida and others.
Here’s a little video we made explaining how it work:
Looking over some of our client eNewsletter stats we were surprised to find iOS (iPhone, iPad etc) now easily is the 2nd most used email platform for our clients:
Luckily iOS devices are easy to design for, and seem to replicate much of Apple Mail’s features so eNewsletter still end up looking great.
Now would be a good time to start thinking about designing more fluid, mobile friendly eNewsletters that take full advantage of the iPad and iPhone interface. Or even a mobile-specific enewsletter layout, which is sent at the same time (using CSS code) as the full-version.
We offer all of our clients access to world-class eNewsletter software, if you are wondering why you should be using eNewsletters in the first place, here are some great reasons.
Benefits of using email marketing include:
It works - Based on research conducted by the Direct Marketing Association, email marketing is predicted to return an incredible $43.62 for every dollar spent on it in 2009, more than 6 times the return from print catalogs.
It’s cost effective - There are no printing costs and you can get your message delivered for several cents per recipient. Once a template is setup you can use it again and again with new copy, without extra design costs.
It’s immediate - Email generates an immediate response, the majority of your recipients will see your message in the first 24-48 hours (see sample graph below).
It’s relevant - Email makes it easy to segment your subscribers using a variety of criteria like demographics and past campaign behaviour (such as clicking a certain link). Ensure your message goes to the individuals most likely to be interested in your offer.
It’s completely measureable - More than any other form of marketing, email can provide actionable data on the results it generates. Keep track of who opened your email and when, what topics they were interested in, who forwarded it on to a friend, how many sales were generated and much more.
This month we are all about eNewsletters, not only do we have a swag of new features for you to try out, also more and more of our 75+ clients are finding out how cost-effective using eNewsletters are.
New eNewsletter Features
Worldview
Shows each and every subscriber on a world map as they open your eNewsletters, complete with name, email and if they opened, clicked or shared via Facebook or Twitter.
Social sharing to your email subscribe forms
Rally your people to spread the word about your site launch or product by integrating social media ‘likes’ and ‘shares’ in your eNewsletterts. Ask us how.
New Templates
You can now also choose from 37 pre-designed email templates, which we then customise with your logo and content (text & images), or have us custom-design your own email template.
This changes lots of small things when editing your eNewsletters, such as live preview as you type, no more annoying popup box when pasting text, more images per template and lots more.
Did you know we have an online eNewsletter Manual?
In case you didn’t know, or haven’t been there recently our online manual has plenty of advice and guides on creating eNewsletters, sending, reports and subscribers:
Why do people hack into websites? Well according to Web Hacking Incident Database (WHID), in the second half of 2010 the top reasons for hacking were:
website downtime 33%
defacements of websites 15%
leakage of information 13%
Not upgrading security of open-source software can lead to serious hacking, the Evolved CMS is NOT open-source, some common hacks we’ve witnessed include:
1. Pornographic Content (website defacing)
The hacker inserts pornographic material on the website, usually in blog comments (also called comment spam) linking it to their own website in an attempt to lure visitors away. They may also setup redirects to their own website, so visitors are automatically sent to their own website.
2. Illegal Back Links (search engine optimisation)
Hackers insert links to their own websites on as many pages as they can, often hiding them with Javascript or CSS so they are undetectable to visitors, however Google and other search engines then count these links as ‘votes’ for the hacker’s website, boosting their position in the search engines. This may also lead to the hacked-website being black-listed by search engines.
3. Political / Fun Hacks (website defacing / mischief)
Illegal political groups or simply kids may hack into websites as a test of skill and post anti-government statements / images or just their pseudonyms as proof of their hacking skill.
Potentially the worst kind of hack is when someone gains access to the Administration area and can steal usernames, emails and passwords for all customers, email subscribers etc.
NOTE: The Evolved CMS has never been successfully hacked into.
Open Source software is freely available to download, edit and use as you please. Many website companies use popular, cheap open source CMS platforms such as WordPress and Joomla for their clients.
Closed or proprietary software is custom-build to ensure quality, security and ease of upgrades for the future.
Open Source
Great for simple blogs and personal websites, built and maintained by a large community of software enthusiasts.
Pros
free, including free plugins
easy to setup for programmers
many web developers are familiar with the code / programming
Cons
easily hacked into, weekly security upgrades needed (partly due to the number of programmers who know how to use it)
can be overly technical and difficult to use (tries to be everything to everyone)
costly to maintain, upgrades require expert assistance, plugins often do not work with latest security upgrades
For businesses we believe open source software is too insecure, costly to maintain and difficult to keep up with the constant upgrades required. As it is maintained for free, there is little incentive or accountability to fix issues as they arise, especially for the free plugins which are required to customise the website to suit a clients needs.
Proprietary Software
Flexible, customised software which is professionally maintained and held accountable by Evolved Websites.
Pros
flexible, we custom-build each feature required, making it fast & tailed just to your project
stable & easy to use, tried-and-tested over 8 years with real businesses to produce a simple, fool-proof website
secure, only Evolved Websites and our team know the website code used, preventing hacking attempts
support, we have a vested interest in keeping your site up and running, offering exceptional customer support for over 12 years to 100+ clients
Cons
costs more than open source initially, however no maintenance costs as any bugs are fixed free of charge
longer setup as each feature is custom-built for speed and security
Evolved CMS is owned by Evolved Websites, however the entire public website and all design files belong to the client, we also offer a severance clause for peace of mind:
“Severance, in the case of Evolved Websites not being able to provide reasonable support and future upgrades to the website (at market prices), the entire website including design, content, hosting, Evolved CMS Admin and all related materials will be returned to the Client, who may contract another web developer to work on the website.”
By building a closed (not open source) website, Evolved Websites significantly reduces the risk, and success, of our website being hacked into and exploited.
It works - Based on research conducted by the Direct Marketing Association, email marketing is predicted to return an incredible $43.62 for every dollar spent on it in 2009, more than 6 times the return from print catalogs.
