CC Image courtesy of TokyoLunch on Flickr

The written word has been developed and refined so that text can be read at speed. In today's online world, with so much information and distraction, people don't actually read, instead they skim read.

Incredibly, the earliest examples of writing had no spaces between words, making reading an arduous and time consuming task. Spaces between words were eventually introduced, then punctuation, followed by paragraphs. People were suddenly able to "read quickly, silently and with greater comprehension" (Nicholas Carr, 'The Shallows').

Fast forward to today and most of our reading is done online, in an environment where our attention is dragged from one thing to another in quick succession. Facebook notifications, emails, adverts, tweets, the list goes on.

With our attention jumping around like this, we devote less time to reading online content. Instead, we want to identify the main ideas of an article as quickly as possible, so we skim read.

Make your blog post easy to skim read

As content creators, our minimum goal is for our articles to be read, but what we aim for  is for people to engage with our writing. One way to help achieve this, is for the article to be written in a way that makes it easy to skim read.

Use subheadings

Subheadings do two things that aid reading; they signpost what the content is and where the article is heading. Secondly, they break up the body of text into manageable chunks.

If you can glance down the page and get an idea of what the article is about, your subheadings are doing their job.

Write in short paragraphs

Writing in shorter, punchier paragraphs makes it much easier for the reader to skim.

One of the things we do when skim reading is look at the first few words of a new paragraph. Doing this helps us gauge the content of that paragraph and whether it is of interest.

The BBC website is very good at this. Their articles rarely have a paragraph containing more than one sentence.

Fig 1:- The shorter paragraphs on the left are easier to read

Bullet points

Bullet points are an excellent way of presenting a series of items, allowing the reader to quickly get a grasp of whatever it is you are trying to communicate.

For instance, you may have three reasons that support a point of view. Rather than incorporating them all within a paragraph, it may be easier for the reader if you listed them as bullet points:

• Reason number one
• The second reason
• Third reason

Conclusion

Reading online is fraught with distractions, which is why content creators need to ensure that articles are as easy to skim read as possible. As we have seen, this doesn't mean compromising on the quality of writing.

Once your article is finished, spend a few minutes reviewing it to make sure the above techniques are present. Your readers will thank you for it.

Broadcaster FX UK did just this with the second series of the hit show The Walking Dead.

The basic premise was to get viewers more engaged by 'gamifying' the show. Using the app, the viewer is able to play games such as how many zombies will be killed during the episode. Results can then be shared on social media sites.

Share your score on Facebook and Twitter

By using audio watermarking, the app automatically keeps in sync with the episode being watched, regardless of whether it is being viewed live or on catch-up. Clever stuff.

For a long time now, television broadcasters have been trying to integrate the online world with traditional television shows; normally by encouraging people to comment on a programme via Twitter.

However, with a little experimentation and investment, interesting things can happen; particularly now that the prevalence of tablets and smartphones have provided broadcasters with more avenues to explore - it seems FX UK have made a decent stab at it.

Have a read of the full story on the BBC website.

CC Image courtesy of West Midlands Police on Flickr

Probably the biggest impact social media has had is to create a connection with people, or organisations, who would previously have been perceived as remote and aloof.

Over the last few years, police forces throughout the country have taken to Twitter to inform, advise and ask the public for help.

West Midlands Police, my local force, have around 42,500 followers on Twitter. Glancing down their profile page, they have tweeted about recent arrests, asked for help identifying suspects and let people know that a busy motorway has reopened.

But as always, the line that separates what is helpful and informative to what is inappropriate and damaging is blurred; in some cases the line is subjective.

That line is being tested with two police officers having been disciplined for misusing Twitter.

Gordon Scobbie, the police spokesperson on social media, is keen that officers who make mistakes are not vilified, but are instead supported. Otherwise, there is a danger that the transparency and directness of a tool like Twitter would be in danger of losing it's potency due to officers being over cautious.

Scobbie says that "social media is a positive tool if used properly… People who make mistakes should be supported, otherwise we are in danger of looking out of touch and heavy-handed."

Scobbie goes onto suggest a way of creating an atmosphere that is condusive to a productive use of social media, without the fear of serious reprisals when a simple mistake is made.

"It is far better to encourage social media use within an organisation, have a proper strategy that makes it clear to people why you are doing this, the kind of things you want officers to be using Twitter for and the fact that you will support them if they make mistakes."

This is advice that all organisations can take on board. Create strategy, encourage employees to subscribe to it and reassure them that if mistakes are made, there will be support and dialogue.

The full story can be found on the Guardian website.

More and more people are looking online to find services, so it is vitally important that your business is visible. This is where Google+ Local can help.

Google+ Local page dedicated to your business

Google+ Local gives your business another way of standing out from your competitors.

It provides you with the opportunity to tell potential customers who you are, what you do and where they can find you. Photographs and videos can even be added.

Have a look at the Google+ Local page for the National Sea Life Centre in Birmingham.

Fig 1:- example of Google+ Local page

What a Google+ Local page can include:

• Detailed information on your product or service
• Coupons customers can print out and use
• Live updates on daily or weekly specials
• Customer reviews
• Photos of your business
• Business hours
• Service areas (which geographic area you serve)
• What products and services you sell
• How to find parking
• Anything else that helps explain your business

All of this information helps to add credibility to your business, reassuring potential customers that you are a reputable company.

Greater visibility in search results

Most importantly of all, your Google+ Local page will be listed in Google Search and Google Maps results, making it more likely that your business will be seen by people who are trying to find your services.

Google Search

Searching for 'sea life birmingham' results in a prominent 'National Sea Life Centre' panel appearing in the right column of the search results (see fig. 2 below).

The panel creates a fantastic first impression, telling the user who the business is, where they are based, contact details and even displaying a photograph.

Fig. 2: - panel on Google search results page

Google Maps

When searching for 'aquarium birmingham' on Google Maps, the Sea Life Centre stands out thanks to their Google+ Local listing.

Information on the attraction is displayed in the left column and in the information bubble above the marker (see fig. 3 below).

Click on the  'more info' link within the bubble and you are directed to the Google+ Local page.

Fig. 3:- Google+ Local on Google Maps

Summary

As local search becomes more popular it is crucial that your business can be found. But being found is only the first step - users also want to be informed.

With the ability to display a variety of information, Google+ Local increases online visibility, whilst creating the best possible impression of your business.

Useful Links

• 2012 Local Search Usage Study

Website analytics are great; so much data and so much to be learnt. But quite often there is so much information that it can be hard to see the wood from the trees. Search Engine Watch provide ten segmentation tips that will provide you with greater insight into how your website is being used, and but more importantly, how it can be improved.

Watch how a bad ecommerce customer experience would be like if replicated in the real world

Brilliantly funny video by Google illustrating how important it is to make the online purchasing process as easy as possible. We've all had these experiences, just make sure your ecommerce site is friendlier.

When migrating a site it is crucial to maintain traffic levels and ensure search engine rankings are not adversely affected. No stress there then! Thankfully, Aidan Beanland provides a checklist of do's and don'ts (link via Ask Kalena).

Firefox operating system for smartphones - screen shots

Check out these screen shots of the new Firefox operating system for Smartphones. Looks nice and clean. Could this challenge the Android and iOS duopoly?

But for people with disabilities the experience can be very frustrating and even ostracising.

What is web accessibility?

The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) - an international organisation working to develop web standards - describes web accessibility in the following terms:

"Web accessibility means that people with disabilities can use the Web… [so that ] people with disabilities can perceive, understand, navigate, and interact with the Web, and that they can contribute to the Web."

Why is it important your website is accessible?

According to the Office for Disability Issues there are "over ten million people with a limiting long term illness, impairment or disability in Great Britain". Not an insignificant number.

There are two key reasons why you should make your website as accessible as possible:

1. In the UK it is law for a website owner to make reasonable steps to make their website accessible.
   The Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) states that every website owner is obliged to try and ensure their website is accessible to people with disabilities; the blind, deaf and those with motor disabilities.
2. Ensure your potential audience is as large as possible.
   Imagine someone walking up to your shop front, trying to open the door, but finding that it's locked. But through the glass they can see other people happily shopping inside. Not only would this be very frustrating for a potential customer, it also damages the perception of your brand.
   Your website has a potentially huge audience, so make sure it is accessible to as many of those visitors as possible.

How your website can be made more accessible

• Design your website with enough colour contrast.
• Make sure your website works with screen readers.
• Enable a user to navigate your site without using the keyboard.
• Describe what is contained within an image by using alternative text.
• Link form labels with the corresponding form field.

Conclusion

A belief that one is a valued member of society derives partly from a feeling of inclusiveness. In the digital age, inclusiveness means being able to surf the web with as few barriers as possible.

This is reflected in UN's Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities which states that countries need to "...identify and eliminate obstacles and barriers and ensure that persons with disabilities can access their environment, transportation, public facilities and services, and information and communications technologies."

Attitudes are changing. Can you afford to turn away customers and risk the reputation of your brand?

Useful links

• Check My Colours - Colour contrast checker
• W3C - Introduction to Web Accessibility
• Guiding principles of the UN Convention on disabilities

ACF is able to work with any field types, from wysiwyg through to date pickers, but one of the most useful is the 'Relationship' field type.

The relationship field type can be used in many different ways, but to give you an idea of it's capabilities I'm going to show you how ACF can be used to control feature boxes on landing pages. You should end up with something similiar to this (see Fig. 1).

Fig. 1: - feature boxes on landing page

Step 1: create a custom post type for your feature boxes

1. Use this tool to create a custom post type for your feature boxes.
2. Make sure you call the custom post 'Features' then paste the generated code into your functions.php.
3. Refresh the WordPress dashboard and you should see 'Features' appear in the navigation.
4. Click on it and create four new features with a title, paragraph of text and a feature image for each.

Step 2: associate the 'Feature' posts with the landing page

Fig. 2: settings for 'Features' Advanced Custom Field

1. Download and install the ACF plugin.
2. Go to the ACG settings page (called 'Custom Fields').
3. Create a new ACF by clicking on the 'Add new' button (see Fig. 2).
1. Field label: give the ACF a name, in this instance I've used 'Features'.
2. Field name: will automatically populate with 'features'
3. Field type: select 'Relationship'.
4. Post type: select the type of post you want to associate. In this case it is the custom post type we created called 'features'.
5. Leave all the other fields as their default setting.
6. Save the field.
4. We now need to assign the ACF to a page in the administration area (see Fig. 3).
1. Within the 'Location' panel select which page you want the ACF to appear.
2. As you can see I am using a page template called 'Services Landing'.
5. Save the ACF by clicking 'Update'

Fig. 3: associate ACF with page

Step 3: select the features we want to appear on our landing page

1. Within the WordPress administration, navigate to the page where you want the features to appear.
1. Ensure the page is using the same template that was specified in the ACF (see step 6.B), in my case it is 'Services Landing'.
2. You should see the ACG panel you created beneath the wysiwyg. In the left column of this panel there will be the feature posts you created (see Fig. 4).
3. Simply click the features that you want to use.
4. The selected features will appear in the right column. You are also able to re-order them by clicking and dragging.

Fig. 4: relationship field type in administration area

Step 4: display the ACF in your template

Paste the below code into your WordPress template:

<?php foreach(get_field('features') as $post_object): ?>
<article>
<?php echo get_the_post_thumbnail($post_object->ID); ?>
<h1><?php echo get_the_title($post_object->ID); ?></h1>
<p><?php print $post_object->post_content; ?></p>
</article>
<?php endforeach; ?>

The above code will loop through the feature boxes that you selected in step 3. All that is left is for you to write the CSS.

Conclusion

We really have only scratched the surface of what Advanced Custom Fields is capable of. To find out more have a look at the tutorials available on the ACF website.

Useful links

• Advanced Custom Fields (ACF) website
• ACF field types
• ACF code examples
• Tutorials for ACF

Lets have a look at how you can avoid making the same mistakes with your website.

Measuring people's behaviour can help your business

John Watson began his career as a behavioural psychologist before becoming a very successful advertising executive.

Watson believed that psychology should only be based upon observable data. His 'Little Albert' experiments being particularly famous, if ethically dubious.

His faith in measurable data had a huge impact on the advertising and marketing industry.

Starting at the bottom of the rung, Watson worked at Macy's selling coffee to the public where he observed what customers were buying. He discovered that the products placed near the till would sell at briskly; that customers would buy on 'impulse'.

Acting on this new information helped Macy's sell more coffee and propelled Watson up the ladder of the advertising world.

So you can blame John Watson for the rows of chocolate bars strategically placed by the till, but he also demonstrated how observing the behaviour of customers can dramatically improve sales.

Don't assume to know your website users

John Watson did not assume to know how his customers behaved. Instead he observed their behaviour and then acted on the findings.

It is all to easy for website owners to make assumptions about their business. Here are some common ones:

• Assuming to know how users behave on a website
• Having an opinion of what users want from a website
• Believing the website is effective with little or no evidence

The assumptions you make may be correct, but they could also be very wrong.

Four simple steps to help inform your decisions

Step 1: Define website objectives

Helps to focus you on the key goals of the business whilst providing you with some benchmarks to measure how the website is performing.

For example, your objective might be to increase the number of subscribers to your mailing list or perhaps you would like to increase sales of a certain product.

These objectives should be reflected in the design of the website.

Step 2: Install analytical tool on your website

Analytical tools provide a business with crucial information about their website; from basic statistics like the numbers of visitors through to communicating where users are falling out of a conversion process.

There are lots of analytical tools available with one of the most popular being Google Analytics, but make sure that the objectives you have identified can be measured.

Step 3: Regularly measure website performance

Use the data from your analytics tool to measure whether your objectives are being met.

Step 4: Take action!

Be prepared to take action to improve performance.

Have there been more subscribers this month? If not, can the page layout be changed to encourage more people to sign-ups? Perhaps the wording around the sign-up form could be tweaked?

Conclusion

Improving the performance of your website begins by refusing to make decisions on assumptions, and instead base them on facts.

So set those objectives and get measuring.

A solution for the tactile response that's missing from touch screen devices. Looks exciting.

The cost of a Saul Bass logo? £2m.

Actually, there was a lot more to it than a simple logo. Here's an article about the work in involved in re-branding Continental Airlines.