Websites 4 Small Business Newsletter
15 October 2006

Web Trends Affecting Your Business
by Jim Daniels

Trend #1-: The Popup Blockers Are Winning.

This is probably a good thing. Popups really got out of hand. You 
know, those annoying pop windows that appear over and over when 
you're browsing the web? They are indeed going away, albeit slowly.

Why? Well many ISP's are now offering free popup blockers which 
effectively neutralize these windows. Even google has a popup 
blocker built into their google toolbar.

This is good news for most folks, but bad news for many marketers 
-- because popups, when used responsibly, were an effective way to 
grow an opt-in list. But let's face it, the technology was abused 
at many sites.

All these readily available popup blockers and the near-death of 
the popup, necessitate a change in strategies for many established 
web marketers. I myself used "popunders" at my 
Make-A-Living-Online.com site and until recently my popunders were 
responsible for generating 90% of my opt-in subscribers.

But my stats this year showed that it was time for a change. In 
fact, my popup url's were popping up some 40% less often than they 
did just a year ago.

The simple change I made has been quite successful. I now offer my 
newsletter via a "regular" signup form that is visible on my Make A 
Living Online home page. If you're not already doing this, I 
suggest you do the same.

If you still like using popups, consider doing what I do. I use a 
single popunder as a "backup" to attract potential subscribers when 
visitors leave my site.

This recent shift in my strategy resulted in tripling the number of 
new subscriber signups I receive, from an average of 40 daily, back 
up to 125 daily.

Again, any marketers out there who are still relying on popups and 
popunders only, had better shift gears and get their subscribe 
forms on their home page.

Trend #2-: Email Delivery Rates Are Near an All-Time Low!

While we're on the subject of opt-in email, here's a another 
telling stat... According to Time Magazine, between 40-70% of all 
email is getting killed (Sp@m Filtered) before anyone has a chance 
to read it.

Well that's great news, right? Considering that 40% of all email is 
sp@m! But it's not good news if you are a legitimate newsletter 
publisher.

That's because up to 27% of all permission-based email never makes 
it to the recipient's inbox.

Sure, something has to be done about the still-growing glut of 
sp@m. Heck, I get thousands of junk emails a day now. But solutions 
that block requested email messages are hurting many legitimate 
businesses.

So what can you do as a web business owner?

Consider using tools that help you get your email through. Tools 
such as the new one I've begun using -- e-Filtrate. The first time 
I used it I discovered that I was on three black-lists - and I'm 
not a sp@mmer! I also use it to examine and reword my emails before 
sending, and my delivery rates are on the way back up

Sure, e-Filtrate's not a solution to the problem itself, but it is 
a way to take back some level of control. And any edge you can get 
in online business is worth it. At the very least I suggest you go 
there and pick up the 21-tip report on how to get your 
legitimate email messages through the sp@m filters.

Trend #3-: Monitors Are Getting Sharper.

Is your website ready for this change that is already in full 
swing? Do you even know what your site looks like from different 
monitors?

Here are the stats showing how screen sizes of my 
make-a-living-online.com visitors have changed over the past 18 
months...

February 2003 (sample of 2,000 visitors):
1. 800 x 600 pixels: 52%
2. 1024 x 768 pixels 36%
3. 1280 x 1024 pixels: 4%
4. 640 x 480 pixels: 3%
5. 1152 x 864 pixels: 2%
6. 1600 x 1200 pixels: 1%
7. Other Resolutions: 2%

September 2004 (sample of 30,000 visitors):
1. 1024 x 768 pixels 50%
2. 800 x 600 pixels: 38%
3. 1280 x 1024 pixels: 5%
4. 1152 x 864 pixels: 3%
5. 1600 x 1200 pixels: 1%
6. 640 x 480 pixels: 1%
7. Other Resolutions: 2%

Visitors to your site would likely resemble this sampling as well.

Just four short years ago, 640 x 480 pixel resolution was leading 
the pack. But the old 15" crt monitors seem to have been relegated 
to the junk pile. Just 1% of my visitors now use them.

Even 800 x 600 resolution, leader of the pack 18 months ago, is now 
in second place and falling. The lower cost of flat-screen monitor 
technology, with their sharper resolution is the reason.

If you have not seen your site with higher resolutions, you may be 
surprised at what it looks like. I suggest you take time to view 
your website with different resolutions right now. Here's how...

Windows users:
Click the Start button,
Select Settings,
Select Control Panel,
Double-click on Display,
Click the Settings tab at the top (note the original resolution)
Drag the screen area bar to the desired resolution.

MAC users:
Click the colored apple in the top left,
Choose Control Panels,
Choose Monitor and Sound, Note original resolution,
On resolution, use the drop down selector to set your resolution.

Remember, all your sites need to appear professional from at least 
these two resolutions which some 88% of visitors are using these days...

1. 1024 x 768 pixels 50%
2. 800 x 600 pixels: 38%

Okay, that's it for today. I hope you've discovered something 
revealing about your website marketing campaign.

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About The Author

Article by Jim Daniels of Make-A-Living-Online.com. If you've ever 
wondered if you could earn a living from the web, read Jim's site - 
it' shows you the step-by-step process.

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