5 Reasons Nigerian Business Should Go Online

I will make this post entry really short and straight to the point.

1. You can't just erect a sign board in front of your office.
2. You can't just paste stickers or posters anywhere.
3. No illegal fees or charges from LASAA (Lagos State Signage & Advert Agency)
4. Wider audience reach (which should translate to business)
5. It's really cheaper to have a website and makes you really focus on what really matters to improve your business.

What do you think?

Social Media Strategy in Nigeria

When I visit websites I see a lot and see same mistake again and again especially with Social Media Strategy and Search Engine optimization (SEO). I do not claim to know everything about Search Engine Optimization (SEO) but I believe it's meant to be included in website development but most often it's not until the site is already existing and the client wants a magical touch from the SEO consultant.

Also because the search engine changes there algorithm regularly there Is a  lot of misconception out there and the consultant yesterday's winning formula is no longer fashionable today. Sometimes  clients want me to optimize their site for more search engine traffic for a badly designed site. My response is usually you need a new site not only SEO strategy. It's not the how much traffic you drive to a site but I just will not work and soon the professional will become a liar.  Well, it's not that that site is not redeemable but an SEO consultant cannot rewrite history. Your site is your face to the world and if your site looks designed by an amateur,  that is what prospects will view your services even if you are actually do your job well. To be honest with yourself, open up your site side by side with your competitor and be honest with yourself: Will you buy from your site? If No, you should be speaking to me. It doesn't matter how much you optimize your site if it dos not create the right impression, you don’t get business. These days that people simply Google your name and business before they make you calls for business. You can't leave them to chance.

Usability

Your site needs to be well designed and usable an not confusing , what is the point of bringing people to the site and then get frustrated and leave?  I'll rather have a one page site than to have numerous pages clicking back and forth. I often seen site where pdf, images and swf flash are used as substitute for text in a webpage source code. This is not a good idea, hile it will work for great presentations but iy's completely ignored by search engines, so my rule is: flash is for humans while text is for search engines  not text in images, pdf or flash.

Keywords Density

If you want to download the company's brochure click here meaning they put emphasis on the phrase click here this is confusing to searches and as such they don’t index them in fact if you Google search "click here" it does not point to your site. A better approach is click to download xyz product highlighting the sentence and referencing the page description. I just thought I should share this.

How to stay safe online

From seeing several Analytics tools, I notice that the Google Chrome is the most preferred browser by users (maybe because of design or security) The Chrome was built to enable users have optimal browsing experience online while taking security seriously. You probably may be using the browser but it's your duty to stay safe online. These are some things you should know about your browser.

Checkout their help page for more details.

How to deal with someone that ask too much questions

What ever your work is you will have to work with people. You may work in a corporate organization or simply work form home, you will at one point or the other experience some people who ask a lot of questions. I learnt this from feedbacks and questions from my Tech related radio show "Tech 360" on City105.1 in Lagos. The requests come from all sorts, through Facebook, Twitter, emails and even phone calls at times when you really need to concentrate.  It could initialy be fun helping people out, but as time progresses and the number increase you can barely cope. 

In fact some will refuse to think because "Mr Fix" it is here.  Am going to share with you how to handle them. One is to simply encourage them in a polite to way to "Google it" another way is to classify the questions and set up a frequently asked questions (FAQs) an answer them as detail as you can (A Google site is a fantastic tool) then schedule an auto responder to your incoming e-mail explaining where you may not personally respond to every request and simply refer them to the FAQ.  Also you need  to have work tools like phones, tablet e.t.c to enable you work more efficiently like answering the same question once and documenting your reply so you don’t have to round tripping  again and again.  This way you can work less do more and have a great life. 

How Do you Permanently delete files from your Computer?

When you finish with a file or document, how do you get rid of it do you just hit the delete key and believe the document is gone forever?

I see this habit common a lot in Lagos especially with non technical workers.

Actually pressing only the delete key sends your file or doc to the recycle bin, the implication of this action is that if an unauthorized person gets control of your computer he/she can access the details of the files. Meaning its actually deposited in the bin should you change your mind later.  To permanently remove a file or doc from your computer and your sure you will not need it again press the shift and the delete key together a dialogue box prompts you to confirm your action then choose yes. With that, the file is out of your system. In other words in a typical office, pressing only the delete key throws the doc into the dust bin while pressing shift + delete key together is shredding the doc.

Let me know what you think.

http://www.abiodunthorpe.com.ng