7 Ways to Turn Visitors into Customers

Web users are impatient, ruthless and fickle creatures. It’s estimated that over 50% of visitors to your site will get bored and click away. Here are some quick ways to remedy that figure and turn more visitors into customers…

1. Cut your Copy by Half

Your homepage has 10 seconds to capture that user. Urgent measures are required. If users are uncomfortable reading on-screen text, the amount of copy needs cutting. This doesn’t mean you can cut-and-paste your full catalogue onto the website and hope it works. Web copy requires brutal editing – aim for about 50% of what you’d write for printed brochures.

2. Subheadings

Subheadings are also useful for exactly the same reason. Bear in mind that a user is scanning the page for content, so try to make the keywords stand out however you can.

3. Avoid Clichés and Word Litter

Paragraphs should be short and contain one key idea each, to facilitate scanning. And avoid word litter – fluffy phrases like ‘we pride ourselves on high levels of customer satisfaction’ will send that badger next-door.

4. Use a Slogan

Stating your company’s purpose in a clear manner – in other words, providing a slogan for dummies – is vital on a website. If users can’t work out why Google has sent them to your site, they won’t stay. Your slogan needn’t be clever – a simple statement summarising your products is perfect, especially if your company name doesn’t speak for itself.

5. Lure your Users In

Card and Pirolli (1999) described how good websites create a strong ‘information scent’. In other words, provide simple navigation and an obvious trail from one page to the next. Use interesting information as bait to make sure your readers end up where you want them.

6. Give Great Content

Web experts all over the world emphasise the importance of features. Be they reviews, entertaining or factual articles, features will be picked up on search engines and will send new users to your site. Convert readers to customers by placing product links within and beneath the feature.

7. Added Incentives

Users are worth leaving treats out for. Update the home page with new links and features. Invite users to sign up for an e-newsletter, clearly stating that you will not pass their details around.

And make your site a bit different. Have some fun features, competitions or games, especially around occasions like Easter and Bank Holidays.

Want a Clean LCD Screen?

Your easiest choice is one of those LCD cleaning solutions they sell in places where they sell computers. But they’re expensive, and why bother when you can make your own solution for next to nothing?

What you’ll need:

• Distilled water (available at your supermarket; tap water leaves streaks and minerals).
• White vinegar (you may substitute isopropyl alcohol; either way, make sure these substances are diluted before they come near your screen).
• A clean, soft cloth (never use any kind of paper product).
• A spray bottle.

Directions:

1. In the spray bottle, mix the distilled water and alcohol/vinegar, in a 1:1 ratio.
2. Turn off the LCD display.
3. Spray the mixture onto the cloth, never directly onto the screen.
4. Wipe gently – oh, so gently – from top to bottom. Do it horizontally, too, if you think that leaves a cleaner result.
5. Let the screen dry before turning it back on.

Hands Off!

Fingers leave dirt and oil smudges that must be cleaned off. Also, every time you touch the screen you risk doing damage to those tiny creatures inside that hold the colored flashlights. Keep your fingers to yourself.

Is your Hard Disk dead ? Wanna Save it?

Your Hard Disk seems dead. It's not responding anymore. You hear a few "biz biz" when you're trying to boot from it and then it stops and you can't access it.

You try everything, and I mean everything because I know you... You even knock it, you even rock it because you remember having read that it might help. And that's true, the damned thing is just stucked in there. You well may succeed, but maybe not. You lost everything, and a hard disk.

Stop crying. The thing is dead, so why don't you open it ? You have nothing to loose. Get a screwdriver and have a peek inside. Don't touch the plates, don't touch anything. Plug it. Try to boot, from it or from another one or from a floppy, doesn't matter.

Observe. As you start up, the arm moves a bit (biz biz) but then it stops. Push on it a bit. The head will now go all the way to the inner part of the plates. That's the " biz biz biz biz biz biz biz biz biz biz biz " you're familiar with. If not, cut the power off and put it back on ; try something, you'll get lucky.

Save your data on another disk.

At the next restart, maybe you'll have to help it again, maybe not. It depends on how lucky you are.

4G or Fourth Generation

4G or Fourth Generation is future technology for mobile and wireless comunications. It will be the successor for the 3Rd Generation (3G) network technology. Currently 3G networks are under deployement. Approximatly 4G deployments are expected to be seen around 2010 to 2015.

The basic voice was the driver for second-generation mobile and has been a considerable success. Currently , video and TV services are driving forward third generation (3G) deployment. And in the future, low cost, high speed data will drive forward the fourth generation (4G) as short-range communication emerges. Service and application ubiquity, with a high degree of personalization and synchronization between various user appliances, will be another driver. At the same time, it is probable that the radio access network will evolve from a centralized architecture to a distributed one.

The evolution from 3G to 4G will be driven by services that offer better quality (e.g. multimedia, video and sound) thanks to greater bandwidth, more sophistication in the association of a large quantity of information, and improved personalization. Convergence with other network (enterprise, fixed) services will come about through the high session data rate. It will require an always-on connection and a revenue model based on a fixed monthly fee. The impact on network capacity is expected to be significant. Machine-to-machine transmission will involve two basic equipment types: sensors (which measure parameters) and tags (which are generally read/write equipment).

It is expected that users will require high data rates, similar to those on fixed networks, for data and streaming applications. Mobile terminal usage (laptops, Personal digital assistants, handhelds) is expected to grow rapidly as they become more user friendly. Fluid high quality video and network reactivity are important user requirements. Key infrastructure design requirements include: fast response, high session rate, high capacity, low user charges, rapid return on investment for operators, investment that is in line with the growth in demand, and simple autonomous terminals. The infrastructure will be much more distributed than in current deployments, facilitating the introduction of a new source of local traffic: machine-to-machine.

Key 4G technologies:

• Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM)

• Software Defined Radio (SDR)

• Multiple-input multiple-output ( MIMO )

Initially DoCoMo planned to introduce 4G services around 2010. Recently DoCoMo announced plans to introduce 4G services from 2006, i.e. four years earlier than previously planned. NTT DoCoMo, Inc. announced that high-speed packet transmission with 1 Gbps data rate in the downlink was achieved successfully in a laboratory experiment using fourth-generation (4G) mobile communication radio access equipments.

The key enablers for the 4G are:

• Sufficient spectrum, with associated sharing mechanisms.

• Coverage with two technologies: parent (2G, 3G, WiMAX) for real-time delivery, and discontinuous pico cell for high data rate delivery.

• Caching technology in the network and terminals.

• OFDM and MIMO.

• IP mobility.

• Multi-technology distributed architecture.

• Fixed-mobile convergence (for indoor service).

• Network selection mechanisms.

How To Clear Your Memory Without Restarting

If you run a windows computer you’ll know like many others than after a while your system will in doubt start running slow. Most people will restart their computer to remove and idle processes. But if there’s a simpler way, why restart every time windows decides it doesn’t like you today?

1. Right click on an empty spot on your desktop and select New - Shortcut.
2. Type %windir%\system32\rundll32.exe advapi32.dll,ProcessIdleTasks in the box.
3. Click Next.
4. Give your shortcut a nice name like “Clear Memory”.
5. Click Finish and you’re done.

Now whenever your computer starts running slow click this shortcut to clear out your memory and get your computer running at a normal pace again.

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3D laser ‘virtual keyboard’ to hit the market

SEOUL, Korea (AVING) -- Celluon(www.celluon.com) expects to launch its virtual laser keyboard ‘CL850’ in Korea market in early-September, which offers similar input environment with existing keyboards.

The CL850 is portable input device adopting the company’s sensor module which recognizes locations and movements of fingers and transmits the inputs recognized by the sensor to user’s device. As a successor of CL800BT, it adopted Bluetooth and USB connectivity with which you can connect the virtual keyboard to your desktop pc and other mobile devices such as laptop and PMP.

Suggested price is expected to be between 100,000(KRW) and 200,000(KRW).