Who has time to wander through a hard-to-navigate Web site to find a product, solution or service? Nobody I know. If that home page doesn’t have what I need or an easy way to find it, I’ll move on.

One study has shown that almost 75 percent of online shoppers do just that, no matter how attractive the price or service, if they can’t find what they need.

Companies and their site designers need to approach their site – before it goes live – as if they’re first-time visitors. They cannot assume or take anything for granted, including that visitors will automatically start on the home page.

Therefore, every page must have a corporate presence, with name, logo and toll-free number if applicable. Every page must have a navigation bar that starts with a home button and includes buttons linking to other pages. Every page should have a search button.

If visitors will be ordering goods, every product page should have a prominent link to the checkout page.

Each page must be logically organized and answer every question the shopper could possibly have about that product or service. With clothing, for example, it’s imperative to explain and/or illustrate fiber content, washing instructions, stock availability, size charts and options in color and size.

Product photographs, with zoom capabilities, are a necessity, and video is a must for product demonstrations.

Product reviews by professionals or satisfied buyers, whether displayed on the site or linked to on other sites, establish credibility and increase shoppers’ comfort level. That also can be boosted by prominently displaying the company guarantee and links to customer service.

The site must be well-written and well-maintained, with updated information and working links. Nothing destroys confidence in a company like a neglected Web site. Again, shoppers will simply move on to another site.

Sites should make it easy for shoppers to sign up for newsletters or other means of learning about exclusive specials or other events. This gives them a feeling of inclusiveness and reminds them to return to the site for future needs. However, it must be clear that they can easily opt out of the mailing list.

If site visitors are buying goods, the checkout page must include the following: shipping options and cost, turnaround time and accepted payment methods, plus the ability to revise the order easily and to generate a printer-friendly summary.

The Web site is the front door to that company – if shoppers can’t get in or don’t feel welcome and valued, they won’t come back.

Busy travelers stopping for layovers at airports often take time to check email from their phones or laptops. Each time they do so they potentially expose themselves to hackers who can gain access to private data. Many public wifi hotspots are not secure and leave unwary travelers unprotected against malicious attacks. There are a variety of ways you can secure your Internet connection and your browser to help thwart potential privacy invasions.

Iron Key sells its secured USB drive that encrypts the data you write to it, and most importantly, contains portable Firefox which runs on a secured session through Iron Key’s servers every time you use it; so it is like having an instant secured VPN to browse the web on, check your G mail, etc.

Iron Key is reviewed here.

These are not very expensive, and come in 1 GB ($79), 2 GB ($109), and 4GB ($149). Iron Key includes secured backup software too. However if you want a do-it-yourself solution, you can try one of these options:

One effective way to keep your browsing and email secure is to set up a secure connection at home and create a VPN on your laptop that you use for traveling; allowing yourself to securely VPN into your home network. Vendors that provide this service include gotomypc and webex pcnow; or you can set up a VPN on your own using instructions such as these.

A very important initial step in this process is to disable SSID broadcast in your broadband router settings (usually through an online dashboard that lets you change these settings for your account). Uncheck the box for this option as it is unnecessary for the router to broadcast its name information every few seconds. The Wifi signal will still work in your home with this option unchecked, and disabling it will make it that much harder for hackers to gain access to your data.

Additionally routing your Internet activity through secured servers such as offered by OpenDNS can help keep your network secure by allowing you to filter sites you select, and by blocking phishing sites. OpenDNS also offers reliability on their zero downtime network.

Today’s buzz concepts “engage the audience” and “create conversations” can present a challenge to some companies who are unsure how to involve their customers in defining their brand. Dove’s Campaign for Real Beauty meets that challenge by affirming that beauty is not what Madison Avenue tells women that it is. Dove’s definition of “Real Beauty” includes every woman regardless of her height, weight or figure.

Dove’s Campaign for Real Beauty starts with a seemingly easy premise: Reach out to the widest possible audience with a proposition that speaks to their concerns. Self-esteem building for all women was the key message, with Dove selecting 6 women from all walks of life to embrace the variety of ways beauty can be represented. Beauty industry stereotypes are criticized as harmful to a woman’s well-being. Dove’s multi-channel campaign spans the media spectrum including videos, public transportation signage, town hall meetings, panel discussions and online forums. At each point the “Real Beauty” message resonates to all women. Dove expanded the campaign to reach out to pre-teen and teen girls; making the message of esteem building a universal campaign theme.

The key to the Dove campaign’s success was that Dove reached out to the widest possible audience. They created an atmosphere of inclusiveness, which by its very definition, encourages participants to share and identify with the “real beauty” concept. Through this initiative, using Dove products becomes part of an overall experience that simultaneously brings attention to the Dove brand and to the idea of real beauty, that’s inclusive for all women. The Dove initiative continues to build momentum with its own website, campaignforrealbeauty.com, and focuses on multiple engagement opportunities on and offline to encourage self-esteem in women of all ages, body types and walks of life.

Some organizations who have not yet taken the Web 2.0 plunge worry they will “lose control” if their site visitors offer opinions, reviews or complaints. Granted social networking is not for everyone, but some companies are intentionally creating themed social networks that will help them better understand their customers’ needs.

The Word of Mouth Marketing Association (WOMMA.org) recently reported that Del Monte used customer input from its online pet owner community, I Love My Dog, to help create a new dog treat product. The Wall Street Journal reported the full story that discusses how Del Monte purposely created their 400 member community consisting of hand picked dog owners who could help them with product feedback.

If you’re looking for new ways to dialogue with your customers, consider creating a branded social network site using applications such as KickApps, Ning, or CrowdVine. Some groups use these apps for short-term events such as conferences. Or you can start a brand new social network and ask your customers to help you create your next hit product! Need more information? Download this PDF 9 Steps To A Successful Online Community or view these YouTube videos on CrowdVine’s conference networking and social networking applications.

Some email marketers might be surprised to find that their actions (or inactions) might get them classified as spammers. Vigilance and perseverance can help keep your email address off of block lists and ensure that you can get your messages to your target audience.

One important action you can take is to attend to unsubscribes quickly. If you get unsubscribe requests for newsletters or email campaigns, ensure that the email addresses are removed from your list immediately. People do get annoyed if they unsubscribe from a list only to find that they still receive messages from you. Keeping your databases and lists up to date can help reduce spam complaints against you.

Post an anti-spam policy on your site. List what you are doing to reduce spam related to your marketing activities. Show your site visitors that you genuinely are concerned that they receive only the messages they want and that you take spam issues very seriously.

Another way to protect yourself from being labeled a spammer is to not reuse your email lists for multiple campaigns. If a customer signs up for one newsletter, and you send several unrelated newsletters and messages to that address, this may be perceived as spam by users. Allow users to manually select the messages they want to receive. Providing clear ways to opt in and out and easy ways to unsubscribe can help you keep spam complaints down.

Unsubscribes Are Good For You? That’s the title of a blog post by Justin Premick at AWeber Communications. He makes the good point that an “unsubscriber” used to be interested in your messages, and they have changed their mind for a reason. By inquiring on your unsubscribe page the reason for the unsubscribe, you may glean useful data to help you improve your email marketing messages.

So you’ve launched a new website, or maybe you are looking at your current site and are wondering how you can improve it. There is a very inexpensive way to upgrade your website and increase conversions. Learn how to write compelling calls to action. Here is a very good list of example calls to action that you can study to get an idea of how to write persuasive statements. People do like to be directed on “what to do next.” They also are willing to exchange their contact information for something of value. The something of value does not have to be a physical product. You can offer your knowledge on a subject in exchange for a visitor’s email address.

You could write a few short articles or even a detailed white paper or two to offer to site visitors. Use persuasive calls to action to elicit a response and make a clear, valuable offer. For example, if you sell furniture polish, you could write this call to action: “Get free tips on how to remove scratches from wood furniture.” You can link this call to action to a contact form, letting the visitor know that their email address will not be sold or spammed, and that you will send their list of tips immediately. Give the user a chance to opt in for more marketing messages, such as email newsletters or special offers.

It all starts with making an offer. If you direct site visitors to what you want them to do (make a purchase, download a demo, request a free trial) you will be on your way to improving your conversion rate.

The Pew Internet & American Life Project recently reported that “48% of Internet users said they had visited a video-sharing site such as YouTube.” This data represents an increase over December 2006 statistics that showed 33% of Internet users had visited such sites. Online video certainly appeals to Internet users, and according to the Pew Research Center, women are the fastest growing online video viewing audience.

The proliferation of video online provides a way for some groups to produce how-to and informational videos, such as this one concerning myths about the common cold. Other groups use online videos to promote a particular viewpoint, such as storewars.org’s humorous Grocery Store Wars video, which features animated fruits and vegetables playing the familiar Luke, Darth Vader, Obi Wan, Chewbacca and Han Solo characters. The premise of the video is to inform consumers that pesticides used by non-organic farmers harm the air and water, and create a health hazard for the food supply. The video represents the viewpoint of the Organic Trade Association, which claims that organic food is healthier and more nutritious.

Even though online videos are popular and can often be entertaining, investigating their claims for truthfulness can be important. For example, one can examine facts about the benefits of pesticides such as keeping restaurants, hotels and malls free of insects and rodents, or preventing the spread of bacteria, including Staphylococcus.

The ubiquitousness of broadband makes online videos easy to enjoy. Many videos are mere entertainment while others contain marketing messages. Taking a moment to dig a bit deeper beyond what is presented on the screen can help viewers get a more balanced viewpoint. All of this said, I really appreciate the creativity of video creators who can take a boring subject and make it interesting. Why even cardboard can be entertaining on YouTube: Behold the folding cardboard chair!

I have been reading about how Word 2007 makes it easy to create professional looking documents. I am intrigued because I am sitting here using Word 2002 on my laptop, and I even still use Word 97 on my old NEC mini laptop, which I appreciate because I can carry the NEC anywhere and use Word, then beam Word documents to my laptop later. I’m thinking I should upgrade after seeing how handy this new Word 2007 looks. Here are some of the features the new Word has to offer:

The layout of Word 2007 offers an intuitive interface that brings many hidden features to the surface. Instead of the familiar file, edit, view, insert, etc. drop down menus, Word 2007 provides a new tool called the Ribbon which puts document creation tools at your fingertips. In older versions of Word many features such as headings and styles were harder to access. In this Word 2007 screenshot you can see the improved tab-based interface. In the screenshot you can see the “write” tab offers font, paragraph, headings and styles options within easy reach. The Galleries section of the Ribbon (which looks like small squares or windows containing relevant document formatting tools) allows the user to select tools that they want so they can create documents faster.

When you have created your document you can press the Office button at the top left and choose to save, print, or publish the document (in addition to other options); with the publish selection offering an option to create a blog post from the current document.

I have tried almost every word processing program out there, and often use Google Docs and Open Office. However with all the new features in Word 2007, I may have to try this newest iteration from Microsoft.

I’d love to hear from experienced Word 2007 users out there who can give me more reasons on why I should upgrade to Word 2007. Is it really as intuitive as it appears? Do you like using it? Which word processing program do you prefer? Talk about your experiences in the comments section below.

Did you ever wonder what successful business leaders read? A new study by Ipsos says that business leaders are hungry for quality information. America’s business elite (average demographic for these business leaders is a 51 year old male, earning $408,000 per year, with a personal net worth of $1.7 million) continues to rely on newspapers and magazines for information. Today’s business leaders looking for good information are creating custom mixes of print, broadcast and online media to get fresh business insights.

BusinessWeek is one publication that has spent over 18 months redesigning its site and magazine to meet the needs of today’s busy decision makers. They’ve reinvented their approach to mix the best parts of traditional media with blog quotes and items and quality outside sources. For example, in the magazine (and online) you’ll find a new “The Business Week” section. It offers several pages of one or two paragraph digestable chunks, contained in boxes for easy scanning.

While the Ipsos study indicates that the business elite is spending more time reading business information on the Web than in the past, books still hold a significant place in their decision making processes. Harriet Rubin’s NYT article “C.E.O. Libraries Reveal Keys to Success,” reveals that successful business people indulge their love for books - and business books often aren’t included in these private libaries. Venture capitalist Michael Moritz, of Google, Paypal, Yahoo! and YouTube IPO fame, says: “I rarely read business books…” Sidney Harman, founder of Harman Industries, a $3 billion producer of sound systems, says of his library: “My books have helped me develop a way of thinking critically in business and in golf — a fabulous metaphor for the most interesting stuff in life. My library is full of things I might go back to.”

So while the buzz is all about Web 2.0, the movers and shakers are collecting books and reading Shakespeare, The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam and Machiavelli’s The Prince. Ms. Rubin’s article mentions a book seller who marks trends by noting books that business leaders buy; a fascinating way to track what matters to the business elite.

If you want a fast way to search locally or globally, try the new Yahoo! Search with Search Assist. Search Assist offers suggestions to help you focus your search, and the ability to “Explore Concepts” which lets you drill down for even more ways to streamline your results.

Let’s take an example: Searching “Denver movie times” on the new Yahoo! yields the standard SERPs page, and a collapsible and expandable window (see small arrow to the bottom left of the search box area) that includes the following:

Suggestions:

· esquire denver movie times

· mayan theater denver movie times

· denver movie times mayan

· denver movie times theaters

· amc denver movie times

· continental theater denver movie time

· downtown denver movie times

· denver movie times amc

· denver movie times hostel

To the right of the suggestion box you see “Explore Concepts: denver movie times +”:

* movie theaters denver colorado
* showtimes fort collins
* denver post cinemas
* moviefone denver area

* denver co genre
* tickets 1hr 30min
* dvds 1hr 45min
* drama comedy

Search Assist can be turned off and Yahoo! has built it so it only turns on when it thinks that the user is having trouble formulating a query. The Suggestions and “Explore Concepts” panes allow for fast drill down and suggest queries that users might not have thought of.

Yahoo! says in its Yahoo! Search Blog that they have purposely aligned the search box to the left of the SERPs page to aid users in finding results fast, and they have made it easy to get a dedicated video search page for any topic by following this query format, where you search a phrase, and a particular video site, for example: “movie trailers” site:truveo.com

Whether you’re looking for a local movie or want to find the best rate on a hotel in Paris, Yahoo! with Search Assist can help you, in their words: “Go from ‘to do’ to done.”