Google to Make Chrome OS its Crown Jewel https://t.co/UTYXokoS5T

Google to Make Chrome OS its Crown Jewel https://t.co/UTYXokoS5T

— Frank Smr (@SMRWD) June 12, 2016

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June 12, 2016 at 11:41AM
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The Top 3 Things Your Visitors Must Easily Find On Your Website

I am always preaching to my clients about website simplicity. Meaning in order to get your services across to your site visitors, the data must be presented in a clear fashion which simple design accomplishes best.

So when a new visitor lands on your site, what is the information they are for most?

1. The About/Services Section

What many call it the About section, I call the About and Services Section. Why? Well, I feel a good about section will tell not specifically about only the business, but about how their services and expertise in their field will help their customers.

A good about section will clearly display the services offered and how they can help a potential customer. It usually is the first section under the header and below the fold, although a newer trend is to keep the header smaller so the services section is showing above the fold which enables it to be seen upon landing on a site. doing this pulls the viewer down the page to see the section.

2. Testimonials/Reviews Section

Most of my clients never realize how important this section of their website is in our initial discussions. But if you use your own experiences when making a purchase online, think about how long it takes you to view the reviews of a product? In most sites, it is the 1st or 2nd highest viewed page on a site. People want to hear how others who have purchased the product or service liked it, and what their experiences were. I know I almost never purchase a product if it has more than 2 negative reviews. That’s powerful, free, advertising.

3. Contact Section

While it is obvious that every business needs to have a contact section, it is not always obvious of how important it is of how accessible it should be. While classic styled websites have always shown the contact section as its own page, it is now recommended that it have its own section on every page. This way a site visitor never has to look too far to be able to contact the site owner.

So take a look at your website and make sure these sections are built and designed to perform. They could be the difference between gaining a sale and losing a sale.

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2015 – The year that was for Cloud Accounting Software

Cloud Accounting Buzz

Throughout 2015 cloud accounting software suppliers continued to dazzle us with the delivery a plethora of new features and functions. We saw both new modules being delivered and the enhancement and extension of existing functionality. Some releases helped close the gap between one product and its competitors and others gave a product a competitive advantage over its rivals.

Interestingly a review of what was delivered by the different vendors identified several common features highlighting the importance of mobile apps and providing continuous improvement especially with regards to automation of non-value add and business-sensitive  activities. Features that I found across several products included:

• Refinement of the functionality associated with bank feed data.
• Delivery of mobile apps.
• Options to facilitate customer payment of invoices.
• Capturing of on-billable time and/or expenses.

In a world of continuous updates it can sometimes be difficult to focus on the bigger picture, to understand both how individual products…

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4 Common Bookkeeping Mistakes

Originally posted on The savvy bookkeeping blog:

You may have been doing your own business bookkeeping for many years, or maybe you are just starting a new business venture. Have a browse through these top 4 common bookkeeping mistakes and see if you recognise anything that you have been doing in your business.

1. Combining personal and business finance.
Don’t get too caught up in the early stages of starting a new business to overlook this one – it’s an important one! Even for sole traders, not separating your finances can cause serious headaches. Get a separate bank account organised and ensure all business income goes in here from day one.

2. Not reconciling bank accounts
Reconciling your business bank accounts is really one of the basic fundamentals of good business bookkeeping. Where I work it is done daily – that way any data entry errors are picked up whilst everything is easy to recollect. You may…

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Should Small Businesses Use Accounting Software?

As a small business owner, I get asked this question by many of my clients. My answer is almost always the same, yes!

“Why? Why should I pay yet another fee for a service I can do with a spreadsheet?”

 

Well, first off, a spreadsheet cannot do all the things that accounting software can do. With minimal input, accounting software calculates gains, losses, income, expenses, and your net income. No legwork for you other than inputting some figures and in most cases, just connecting your bank or Paypal account.

Accounting software can also be used to send invoices to get paid. The invoices can be customized so they look more professional. They accept all major credit cards or services like PayPal, Stripe, and others.

“Where are all my invoices stored?”

 

This is another great thing about accounting software, everything is stored securely in the cloud!

That means at anytime, anywhere, and on any device, you can access let’s say an invoice from last month, or last year even! It’s all there, and easily accessible to you.

 

“But isn’t this software expensive?”

 

I remember when I was starting out. I tried to do this myself. I always had issues with sending invoices and keeping track of them. It was also tedious to calculate me earnings, incoming payments, and outgoing payments.

But there are many companies offering free accounting software for very small companies.

One such platform is Wave. Wave has a paid or free plan. The free plan will work perfectly for small startups, and will enable you to grow within it. I have been using Wave, and it has made that part of owning my own business so easy. I use it to accept payments, send invoices, and keep track of incoming and outgoing payments. My clients find it easy to use and there is almost no data entry for me to perform, other than verifying incoming payments.

So whether or not you use a free or paid platform for your accounting, I would highly recommend using something. This software is made to make your life easy, and it does. If you’re serious about growing as a business, and looking professional, you need this type of software in your arsenal.

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Should Small Businesses Use Accounting Software?

As a small business owner, I get asked this question by many of my clients. My answer is almost always the same, yes!

"Why? Why should I pay yet another fee for a service I can do with a spreadsheet?"

Well, first off, a spreadsheet cannot do all the things that accounting software can do.  With minimal input, accounting software calculates gains, losses, income, expenses, and your net income. No legwork for you other than inputting some figures and in most cases, just connecting your bank account.

Accounting software can also be used to send invoices to get paid. The invoices can be customized so they look more professional. They accept all major credit cards or services like PayPal, Stripe, and others. They often do all the credit card processing for you (for a small fee). 

Another important feature, is that this software will show you your earnings. It collects all your financial data and categorizes it according to your pre-determined settings. Available to you in your main dashboard is your total income, your total expenses, and your total net income. It's nice to see how much your making hopefully!

The analytics part is also useful. Often pie charts will show where your money is going and coming. This kind of data will help you see where maybe you could save a little, and what percentage of your money is being spent on those particular expenses.

"Where are all my invoices stored?"

This is another great thing about accounting software, everything is stored securely in the cloud!

That means at anytime, anywhere, and on any device, you can access  an invoice or client info from last month, or last year even! It's all there, and easily accessible to you. This can be extremely helpful when you are not in your office or home, and need to access information.

Tax time coming? You can get detailed printouts for your accountant so he knows exactly where every penny is so he can get you the most back on your return.

"But isn't this software expensive?"

I remember when I was starting out. I tried to do this myself. I always had issues with sending invoices and keeping track of them. It was also tedious to calculate my earnings, incoming payments, and outgoing payments.

But there are many companies offering free accounting software for very small companies. 

One such platform is Wave. Wave has a paid or free plan. The free plan will work perfectly for small startups, and will enable you to grow within it. I have been using Wave, and it has made that part of owning my own business so easy. I use it to accept payments, send invoices, and keep track of incoming  and outgoing payments. My clients find it easy to use and there is almost no data entry for me to perform, other than verifying incoming payments.

So whether or not you use a free or paid platform for your accounting, I would highly recommend using something. This software is made to make your life easy, and it does. If you're serious about growing as a business, and looking professional, you need this type of software in your arsenal.

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What Can A Web Designer Do That I Can’t?

A short article about why you may want to think about hiring a professional website designer.

 

So what’s the difference between a professional web designer and me?

 

Corrections and Fixes

 

One of the first things is that a  web designer will always know how to correct any problem that may incur.  For ex. recently I had a client whose site was apparently hacked. Google had sent me a notification and was going to start flagging the site if nothing was fixed. After reviewing the site, I found that it was not the site, but his domain name that was hacked. So I corrected the problem and everything was fine. 

This was a problem that could have caused real damage for my client. But if he didn’t have me, as his designer under retainer, he would have never been able to solve this on his own and could have had his site flagged.

Could you have fixed this?

Designing with SEO in Mind

 

Having a nice looking site is fine, but if it is not SEO friendly, the design could work against you.

Proper heading tags, bolds, font sizes, image tags, and original content, all play a role in good SEO basics. The quality and quantity of links, and layout of containers and images, could also hurt or help you.

 

UI/UX

 

UI = User Interface

UX = User Experience

 

 The user interface (UI) comprises the screen menus and icons, keyboard shortcuts, mouse and gesture movements, command language and online help, as well as physical buttons, dials and levers. Also included are all input devices, such as a mouse, keyboard, touchscreen, remote control and game controller.

Usability is also a part of the UI. By definition,  it is a quality attribute of the UI, covering whether the system is easy to learn, efficient to use, pleasant, and so forth.

 

If your site does not offer a nice UI, the visitor will bounce quickly, and you will lose a potential customer. Web designers know how to design incorporating a nice UI.

 

User experience is simply, how you feel about every interaction you have with what’s in front of you in the moment you’re using it.

There are many different aspects that influence user experience. A web designer will know how to achieve a favorable UX.

Layout

 

There are certain guidelines for website layouts. The parameters the structure must fit in, accessibility, functionality, visual aspects, and source code validation are a few.  Professional web designers know these topics and incorporate them into their design.  Without these, the website will not function properly across all formats, and also will not offer a good UI/UX for the visitor.

 

Testing

 

After the site is completed, there is a certain amount of testing before publishing the site. The site must be tested for functionality and responsiveness. It is tested for SEO optimization. It is also tested across different platforms, operating systems, browsers, and devices. These tests will show any issues that can easily be corrected by a professional.

Summary 

 

These are only a few things that a professional designer is responsible for and works with on a daily basis.

 

So if you are reading this and are thinking about designing a site yourself, you should ask yourself a few questions:

 

– Did I know what all this terminology means?

– If I do know, did I know how much it all affected web design? 

– Am I able to incorporate these topics into a design while still making it look and feel like I wanted to?

– Is the platform I am using capable of letting me incorporate these practices?

 

As your website will represent you, and your business, and can be one of the most important marketing tools you own, shouldn’t it look and function like a professionally designed site?

If you answer yes to 1 or more of these questions, you should really consider hiring a professional web designer. In the long run, you will have a professionally designed site, that looks and functions correctly. You will also be able to concentrate on your work, rather than concentrating on learning to design for yourself.

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