Firefox’s Best Kept Secret

By David Golding |  Print This Post

I’ll admit it: I love Safari. As with many Apple products, it’s just beautiful. I love the Aqua-fied buttons and forms in the main browser window and the sleek metallic look of the interface. With the advent of Firefox, well I have only been so-so in terms of my own personal use. Absolutely ecstatic about PC users adopting it over IE, though. (If you still use IE, goodness, I honestly don’t know what to say…) But as for me making the move over to Firefox, I guess I’ve been just a little slow. My final reason, the one I’ve stood by for so long, was an enhancement made back in the day with Safari Keywords and more recently with Sogudi. This feature became indispensable for me.

Well, I have now made the switch in great measure because of Firefox’s best-kept secret. Right under my nose it was built in all along, just like Safari Keywords and Sogudi.

Seaching is a beast

Searching the web is a beast, and not because of the accessibility. The web is plenty accessible. It’s having to navigate to a bunch of sites to make the searches. I’ve always wanted just one place where I could search them all. For example, if I wanted to search eBay, I’d have to go there, select the search field, type the query and click “Search.” And so on for Wikipedia, Google, Clusty, or whatever.

Firefox actually brings together the search power into the browser to search any of these sites right from the browser window. And I’m not talking about the search field in the upper-right corner.

No Mouse

What slows me down considerably is to have to use the mouse. Right now, if you want this capability in Firefox using the search field, you have to install the search plugin, select it, type in the field and hit return. Then it runs the search for you. This would be alright if it weren’t for the fact that you have to use your mouse at least once (usually more).

The best-kept secret requires no mouse use, which I find indispensable for my web surfing experience.

The Best-Kept Secret

I’m going to set up an automatic search function in Firefox using bookmarks to run queries through Wikipedia. Here’s what I mean. All I do is type “wiki” and then the query in the URL field, or location box, in the Firefox browser. It will run the search right there without me having to browse to the site, find the search field, and run the query. The beauty is, you can do this for any site. Here’s how.

Open up Firefox and browse to the site of your choice. In my example, I’ll show you how to set up Wikipedia. You’ll find the search box on the homepage of Wikipedia. Run any kind of query through it. I’m running “salad.” It runs the query as “http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salad”. So I copy the URL.

Now, in Firefox, go to the menu Bookmarks > Organize Bookmarks. Select “New Bookmark” and type in the name whatever you want (e.g. “Wikipedia”). In “Location,” paste the URL from Wikipedia. Now here’s the secret: replace “Salad” with %s. The URL should appear like so:

What the “%s” is telling Firefox is that it should replace that with the query.

Last step, pick any kind of keyword. In this case, type “wiki” in the “Keyword” field. You’re done. Go to the standard URL field and type in “wiki salad” and it will search Wikipedia for an entry about salad. Well, you can type “wiki” + space + query for any search string and it will pass that into Wikipedia for you.

This can be applied for any site. Just find out what the URL search string is, and plop that bad boy into the Firefox bookmark, replace the query piece with “%s” and assign a keyword and you’re in business. Here are some pre-configured ones for you:

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Site Diagnostics

By David Golding |  Print This Post

When you go to the doctor, you’ll notice a barrage of tests and questions to zero-in on what could be wrong. Just like the doctor trying to diagnose a problem, site technicians need to continually filter through the site in an effort to diagnose potential problems. In keeping with the analogy, doctors are experts with high levels of experience before they are even able to see a patient. They’ve had tests and have gone through intense certification procedures.

While medical science is, I believe, much more complicated than internet technology, and certainly can mean the difference between life and death, you ought not to turn your site check-up over to someone without some substantial levels of experience.

But there is a problem in all of this that only compounds the difficulty in finding certified experts: the internet is insanely volatile. By volatile I mean in constant change. Yesterday’s experts have become today’s has-beens. I read a PDF of an e-book that a friend emailed me. It was written in 2000, just before the big dot-bomb. I noticed serious flaws in the strategy that author recommended and thought how interesting it would be to pick up the article today and try it out. No doubt it would flop. But I’m positive it was a worthwhile technique… 6 years ago. Interesting that in 6 years serious internet experts have had to completely revamp their strategies.

So how do you determine a good diagnostician for your site? You know, I suppose you just have to see their track record. Trust the numbers. Do your best to find out which sites they have worked on to improve ranking and exposure and traffic. If they have little to report, they’re likely hiding failed attempts.

Here’s a list you can work with when trying to diagnose problems yourself, an “at-home check up” if you will.

Checklist For Diagnosing Problems

1. Site Navigation Is Easy and Bug-Free. Click around the site. Test every link. Make sure that to get from any point to any other point the user isn’t interrupted at all by bugs built into the site inadvertently. Try out different browsers like Internet Explorer, Firefox, Opera, and Safari (on the Mac) to see if there are any bugs related to just one browser.

2. The Main Point of Each Page, Including the Home Page, Is Straightforward and Easily Understood. In graphic design, we live by the “1.6-second Rule.” Studies have shown that most designs are consumed with an initial 1.6-second review. Gestalt theory is grounded in how the brain perceives everything in one whole before is processes all the parts, and over the years, has proven one of the most revolutionary concepts in graphic design and architecture. If the brain finds any value to any portion of the design after the 1.6-second review, it will concentrate more fully. Otherwise it considers what it has seen as noise and rejects the initial review. So try to write your site around this rule. If you need more than 2 seconds to know what the page is about, you will probably have more visitors reject the page altogether.

3. Your Site’s Ranking Suddenly Drops More Than One to Three Positions. It’s quite normal to see some fluctuation in your site’s rankings. But if one day you were ranked no. 5 and the next no. 25, then most likely the search engine updated its index and your site didn’t agree with it too well. Go find an expert who can isolate what took place and repair the damage so you can be back and running in your normal ranking.

Aside from these three items on your checklist, there could be many more. But the point is, look for ways to keep your site running at its optimum strength. And like your doctor says, come in for a regular check up.

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Internet Marketing Is Just Marketing, Part II

By David Golding |  Print This Post

I have mentioned before that I believe that internet marketing should not be considered as its own complete marketing strategy. When putting together an internet marketing strategy, too many assume that the elements of that strategy only involve the internet. No, there is no internet marketing or e-marketing. When taking a look at your site and everything that goes into it, view it from an overall marketing strategy basis.

I have gotten strange looks for this position from others in the past. I guess there are a lot of search engine optimization experts who have only studied the search engine’s way of doing things. Or tech wizards who only look at the GUI or the technical aspects of getting a site up and running. In the end, though, it all comes back to the marketing strategy and the company’s offering to the web. Those in the top marketing positions, though, hold to what it is I’m saying.

Michael Porter wrote back in 2001 about the dot-com bust and what the internet has to offer in marketing terms. It’s amazing to me that 5 years later, all those SEO gurus still don’t catch on.

To quote Porter:
“Many of the pioneers of Internet business, both dot coms and established companies, have competed in ways that violate nearly every precept of good strategy. Rather than focus on profits, they have sought to maximize revenue and market share at all costs, pursuing customers indiscriminately through discounting, giveaways, promotions, channel incentives, and heavy advertising. Rather than concentrate on delivering real value that earns an attractive price from customers, they have pursued indirect revenues from sources such as advertising and click through fees from Internet commerce partners. Rather than make trade-offs, they have rushed to offer every conceivable product, service, or type of information. Rather than tailor the value chain in a unique way, they have aped the activities of rivals. Rather than build and maintain control over proprietary assets and marketing channels, they have entered into a rash of partnerships and outsourcing relationships, further eroding their own distinctiveness. While it is true that some companies have avoided these mistakes, they are exceptions to the rule.”

My sentiments exactly… and I’m no Harvard Business School professor.

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