Of all the websites that you regularly visit, which one has the least information? Which one has no images, almost no text, and just two buttons?

Well even though Google tops the league of zero content home pages, their designers have started experimenting with a version that has even less stuff on it.

Here’s a screen grab of the ultra-minimalist look that Google is trying out:

Google is testing out what happens when they hide everything except for the logo and the search box.

Everything else that usually sits on the page, including the options to search for images; maps; videos; plus a sign in for a Google account; is hidden. Those features are restored if the cursor is moved, and then fade back to invisible if you don’t do anything else.

This isn’t the only ‘new’ version that Google is trying out. They are also testing varieties that include the ‘I feel lucky’ button and other bits and pieces on the page.

“We test hundreds of things everyday on the homepage and nothing should be read into it in terms of product change”, said a Google spokesman, playing the change down.

In the past, the Google homepage has followed a strict rule which demanded that no more than 28 words should be on the homepage. Even this has been broken recently with up to 30 words making an appearance.

This experimentation comes at time when the landing pages of other big Internet brands are trying to include more content, not less. But it is perhaps no coincidence that the world’s most successful Internet company is also the one which has the least content on their landing page.

At the end of the day Google’s number 1 aim is to get you to search for something, since it’s only when you do that that they start making money. Any content or information on the page that diverts the user from carrying out this task is potentially lost revenue for Google.

There is a take-away point here if you are building a website with WebEden.

It’s worth spending some time deciding what the point of your website is. Are you trying to sell something? Are you trying to get people to give you a call? Are you trying to make it easy for them to find information about an event?

If you run a B&B your main priority of having a website is to make more bookings. And that probably means that you want as many website visitors as possible to phone you, or send you their contact details so that you can phone them.

Therefore, make sure your phone number and the contact form is on as many pages as possible. Don’t take people down blind alleys – make sure that every journey they make across your website leaves them in a place where they can find your number or get in touch.

Have you tried changing your homepage to make it simpler, or less cluttered? What effect did that have? Leave us a comment below.

Earlier this year we talked about the Google Insights for Search tool. This can show you the trend for people searching with a particular keyword on Google, in all countries of the world. Google Insights for Search also lets you compare two or more search terms to see not only their trends, but which is the most popular. The data can stretch all the way back to 2004.

Google has now unveiled a new version of Google Insights which not only tells you about past trends of keywords, but predicts their future too. The intention of the tool is to give advice to advertisers about how much money to set aside for AdWords paid-search advertising, by predicting not only what people will search for, but how often too.

This means that the graphs produced by Google insights show search trends not only including past information but with future results too.

Google say they can do this by analysing past search query information. Google found that search query trends in more than half the most popular search terms are predictable from year to year.

There are some types of keywords, such as those in food and drink, travel and health, that are really easy to predict, tied as they are to particular sporting events and holidays. Other keywords, particularly those to do with social networks and other newly emerging topics, are more problematic

Google have also produced a new map which helps to visualise the way searches change as time goes by, in different regions. Google hopes that advertisers will use the tool to make better judgments about where to target their ads, and how much money to spend on paid search advertising.

For more information about Google insights, watch the Google video below.

Being about to predict when there are peaks and troughs in search volumes helps you make sure that your advertising is timed right. If you sell Valentines’ day cards, then it’s important to make sure you’re maximising your budget when people are actually buying cards, rather than just the day before Valentines day. Here’s an image from Google insights showing the search trend for Valentines day cards:

As you can see, you need to make sure your campaigns are in full flow on 11th February, to give yourself the best chance of maximising Valentines’ day card sales.

Google have admitted that it could not make perfect predictions about the future, but that they were continuing to work on more advanced forecasting models to ‘close the gap between reality and the future’.

Have a go with the new Google insights and let us know what you think.

You’ve got a great idea for a website. You use the WebEden website maker to put together the homepage and are really pleased with the results.

But how do you know that you’ve got the right design?

If you’ve got time, then you can ask a few colleagues what they think of the homepage. Others of you might show it to friends. People tell you what they think. But since you already know these people, what they say will be coloured by your relationship with them. Some of them might say they like it just to make you feel good. Others might give you good feedback on the design because you’ve already told them what the site is all about. In short, you get just a partial view of what a non-independent person thinks of your website.

And the other factor to take into account is: how long did your friends look at your site before they let you know what they thought? The quite scary statistic is that if someone can’t work out what your webpage is all about in less than 5 seconds, the chances are they will leave. We’re all so used to having easily accessible information; if we’re made to work for it we’d rather turn our backs than persevere.

Leaving a site in just a few seconds is called ‘bouncing’, and even the best sites in the world have a bounce rate of around 25%. What’s worse is that a majority of websites have a bounce rate closer to 50%, and many others – even websites of some quite big companies – have a bounce rate of near 75%.

You can view bounce rates using Google analytics. Follow this link for a video tutorial on how to install Google analytics on your website.

Going back to the original problem, how do you get honest feedback about your homepage design, so you can minimise your bounce rate? That’s where a great new service called Fivesecondtest.com comes in.

With fivesecondtest.com, you can upload a screenshot of any page from your website. Once uploaded, your screen shot is randomly presented for 5 seconds to anonymous volunteers. These testers then write down what they can remember about your website having looked at it, and email their reactions back to you.

You can also test out the procedure for yourself, and also check as many designs as you like, before pushing the test out to the volunteers.

Getting this feedback is invaluable. If a majority of testers can’t tell you quickly what your design is all about, then you need to change it. On the flip side, if most of the testers can accurately tell you what your site means, then you could well be onto a winner.

And since this service operates on a volunteer basis, you can try giving your feedback to other people’s designs, by signing up as a tester. This may well help you improve your ability to design a page that appeals to people instantly.

Give your website the five second test and let us know whether you found it useful.

I hope that if you’re reading this you like building websites and you want to get more out of yours, and make it work a bit harder.

Research published last week by dotCommerce has revealed that many retailers in the UK are not making the most of their websites. They’re failing to use up to the minute tools, widgets and best practice on their sites. This means that they’re missing out on repeat visits, high value sales, and are spurning any brand loyalty their visitors may have.

The research looked at 20 of the UK’s largest high street retailers. Whilst most were found to have at least basic ecommerce functionality on their sites, many are missing out on the potential that Web 2.0 can bring them.

What do we mean by Web 2.0? It basically describes websites where the informational flow is not just company to customer, but goes the other way too, with customers contributing to and giving feedback on the website.

The sorts of things we’re talking about are blogs, videos, and user generated content such as reviews and comments. The 20 websites in the study also demonstrated little or no integration with other marketing tools such as email and social media sites.

The ones that score the highest were Marks and Spencer (82%) and John Lewis (78%). These were judged to have gone “beyond the basics” to deliver a rich website experience to visitors.

At the other end of the list were health and beauty retailers such as Virgin Vie At Home (62%), The Fragrance Shop (56%) and Avon (54%).

Most of the retailers simply placed their products on the page and allowed people to buy them. Just 45% had any kind of editorial on their sites. Only 10% had any kind of user comments or reviews. A mere 15% had a blog.

What they do get right is customer support: all scored high marks here.

dotCommerce Technical Director Simon Bird said: “With competition for every consumer pound at an all time high, it’s more important than ever for retailers to engage with visitors to their sites.

“It is also important to recognise the role that ecommerce sites can play in encouraging shoppers to sign-up for other marketing and promotional efforts, such as email marketing or loyalty schemes.

“This allows the retailer to begin building long-term relationships with consumers and maximising revenue from their existing base.”

What does this mean for you and your website? In short, it’s a huge opportunity. If the very wealthiest companies are failing to provide a great experience to their visitors, make sure you are using all the tools within WebEden to deliver them.

To start with, make sure your users have access to rich information about the product or service you’re trying to sell them. Don’t just place it on the page with a ‘buy now’ button.

In terms of Web 2.0, look at the option of adding social bookmarking features, forums, email to a friend, and of course a blog. Use the new membership features in order to allow people to become members of your website. Integrate your site with both Facebook and Twitter, and use your social networks to reach out to new people. All these things will transform your site from one that is just a shop front, into one with which visitors can have a real, rich relationship.

And make sure you get customer service right too. Make your phone number, email and contact details easily accessible. Make sure you respond to customers in a timely fashion.

And of course if you do get positive feedback and reviews, ask the people leaving those to do so on the sites that might influence other purchasers. You can read our previous post on getting good reviews.

Have you given your web visitors a better experience than our high street competitors? Leave us a comment below.

WebEden is today (hopefully) catapulting itself into the world of Social Media, Social Networking, and Web 2.0. Whilst we’ve talked before about how to best make use of Social Media such as Facebook and Twitter to promote your site, with our latest update we’re trying to put your WebEden site at the heart of your Social Networking activities.

What are we talking about?

Want to know how to grow your website with more members and advocates? How to interact, manage and develop a better relationship with your visitors? Want to create members-only/client-only pages or sections? Want to post information or updates from your website to Facebook/Twitter? Build a collaborative website with edit rights for different people?

Well then, the membership release is what you’ve been waiting for! After many months of development it has finally arrived, jam packed with new features and a lot of improvement. Read on for more detail…

This release sees a whole new membership section with a number of improvements to make it easier for site owners to attract, manage and communicate with their members.

In particular, the main areas of improvement are:

a) to make it easier to invite members to join;
b) to ensure members become members of the site only and no longer have to create a SiteMaker account;
c) to replace ‘SiteMaker’ branding in the join process with the site owner’s own look and feel;
d) to allow site owners to create site administrators;
e) to make managing page permissions easier; and finally,
f) to enable integration with some Facebook and Twitter services.

More detail on these features is provided below. While there are over 100 new FAQs in the Help section covering the various new features, we will aslo be publishing some specific articles over the coming weeks. These will highlight more of what’s new, what’s improved and how you can make the most of it.

Getting new members

It’s now possible to invite new members using your Windows Live or Gmail address books. Alternatively, you can also just copy and paste a list of emails addresses if you want to transfer them from an offline address book. The content of the invite email can also be customised by you. As a site owner, it is now possible to create a member yourself, while in edit mode. Previously, the site owner would have to ask the new member to come to his or her site and create an account before being able to assign any access/edit rights.

Site Level Membership

Previously visitors to a WebEden site who wanted to join as a member were required to complete a two-stage sign up process: firstly, they had to create a SiteMaker account; secondly, they then had to join the site. Now, all new sites will be built with Site Level Membership, which means that visitors join the site in a one step process. It also means that the members are free to choose a username that is unique to that site alone. Previously, usernames had to be unique across all usernames for all members of the sites built by the partner.

Sites built before the launch will be able to upgrade their site to site level membership, therefore getting access to all the new features provided under site level membership. However, this is not mandatory and in fact some sites use the WebEden wide membership so that they can run a number of sites with shared logins.

The join up process now involves setting up a join page which contains a new customisable login/join widget where the site owner can create a branded experience explaining the benefits of joining their site. Previously, the join process took place in a SiteMaker editor style popup window Emails from the site now refer to the site’s name and come from the site email address. Previously, some account emails were from the SiteMaker Team and mentioned SiteMaker.

Site Admin

A new role of Site Administrator has been created. A site admin has access to all the toolbar functions, but any information regarding the site owner, such as billing details, are not accessible. This feature is particularly useful for website resellers.

Managing members and page permissions

It is now possible to set up permissions for multiple pages at once. The interface on the settings panel has been improved to make it much simpler to understand what permissions have been given to individual members as well as each group.

You can now create groups and drag and drop members into those groups from a single panel. Site owners can now view and update members’ email addresses and send them an email that allows the member to reset their password (as long as the site is using site level membership)

Integration with Facebook and Twitter

It is now possible to allow visitors to become a member of your site using their Facebook login credentials, therefore making it easier for users to register as they won’t have to create another username and password.

You can also link your site with your Facebook account enabling you to post notes and updates on your wall about your website so that your friend network on Facebook can hear about your site or be updated with any changes.

It is also possible to send updates to an associated Twitter account to communicate with your twitter followers about your site.

NB. If you have your own domain name you’ll have to get a Facebook Application key to use the Facebook features. You can do this in the new ‘People’ section on the ‘Settings’ tab and we’ll talk you through the process. It’s quite simple.

And that as they say is that. It’s taken a while for us to get our heads around it all, but we’re sure you’ll get to grips with it much faster. Let us know what you think and we hope you enjoy the new tools!

To give you a helping hand we’ve put together a video tutorial that shows you how to add members to your website.

And here’s one that shows you how to send membership invitations.

And finally, here’s how to send updates to Facebook and Twitter.

All users can now publish a Google sitemap. For details on how to check for the sitemap, read on…

Google Sitemap is a technique whereby you can quickly update any search engine spiders visiting your website. You can tell them where all the pages on your website are, whether they have been updated, and how important they are. This is done by uploading a small file onto your website that is just for the spiders to read.

The WebEden website maker system automatically generates an XML file which search engines will index when ever they visit your site. We automatically publish all pages visible in the menu and withhold those that are hidden.

If you wish hidden pages to be published you will need to visit the hidden page, click on “Edit” and then go to “Page Settings”. You can then select the check box for “Include this page in my Site Map”.

To see your site map, you only need to add “/sitemap.xml” to the end of your website address (or URL) in the web browser address bar e.g. www.mysitename.com/sitemap.xml

If you see the message: “This XML file does not appear to have any style information associated with it. The document tree is shown below”, don’t panic! This is being generated by the browser (most likely Firefox) and relates to ‘how’ the information is being displayed in your browser and does not affect what the search engines ’see’.

What happens if I see the message “URL restricted by robots.txt “

In short, don’t panic! What we’ve done is to stop the web crawlers (spiders) reading your website’s application directories and throwing up ‘errors’. However, since we have blocked these directories you will probably see a report from Google that says: “URL restricted by robots.txt ” and listing a series of ‘…/_app/…’ directories.

Don’t worry. Google themselves recognise that some directories can be restricted for a logical reasons, so the spiders then simply continue crawling your site for valid content and links.

Just to reiterate, seeing a ‘restricted’ message is not a cause for alarm and this will not affect your site being indexed or impact your page rankings.

If you’re interested, check out your Sitemap now and leave us a comment below

Google verify is an advanced webmaster tool that is now integrated into the WebEden website making system. We’ve released this following much hard work and thanks to lots of requests from you, the user.

Google Verify is an important way to let Google know about your website. It helps Google to find all the content on your website, and allows you to quickly update them when your website changes. If you use Google verify it also means that you get access to information that Google holds about your website. Once you know what they know about your website, you can take steps to change and improve that information. The ultimate goal, as ever, is to improve your position in the Search Engine Results page; and also to improve users experience on your website.

All users can now use Google Verify with their WebEden websites.

To add Google Verify to your site, please just follow the simple instructions below:

1.    Log in to your website
2.    Select “Admin” on the toolbar
3.    Visit the “Site Information” tab
4.    Click on the “Sign up for Google Webmaster Tools” button
5.    On the bottom of the Webmaster Tools panel click “Get your Google ID”
6.    Google should open in a new window and ask you to sign in
7.    You’ll be taken to the Google “Dashboard”
8.    Add your website address in blank field and click “Add Site”
9.    Look for the “Next step” box and select, “Verify Site”
10.    Go to the “Verification Method” drop down and select “Add a meta tag”
11.    Copy the code string e.g.: <meta name=”verify-v1″ content=”UqbdIVXyU8m8PIvMSJLj+W6bf5Sa4An1CZcxazTgafs=” />
12.    Return to your website and paste the code string into the blank field in the “Webmaster Tools” panel
13.    Click “OK”
14.    Click “OK” on “Admin” panel
15.    Your site will now have the Google Verification code added to the HTML

N.B. The code string given above (<meta name=”verify-v1″ content=”UqbdIVXyU8m8PIvMSJLj+W6bf5Sa4An1CZcxazTgafs=” />) is an example, please do not use this, it won’t work! You must register with Google and request your own

If you’re an advanced website builder, or you’re trying to become one, then try out Google Verify and see what it can show you. Leave us a comment and let us know how you get on.

Bit of an unusual post for the blog this one, but we’ve had a few enquiries so we thought we’d make it easier for all of you.

What’s happening?

In short, we have a small bug in the Sitemaker system which sometimes results in your website menu disappearing. This is called a ‘bad save’. If this happens don’t worry: your menu hasn’t disappeared, it has just been placed off the visual part of the website.

What do I do to get my menu back?

1. From your control panel click the ‘design’ menu. Then click ‘Menu’. You’ll then get a dialogue box that looks like this:

2. Click on the ‘Reposition and Scale’ button. You then get another dialogue box that looks like this:

Can you see how the ‘X’ value in this box has been set at -17654? What’s happening is that your menu has been placed 17,654 pixels off the left hand side of your website.

To get it back, just change the ‘x’ value to ‘20’. Boom – your menu is back!

You can now move the menu around as normal.

This bug will be fixed with the next update of our website builder system.

In the last tutorial we looked at how to buy a domain name using webeden.co.uk. You’ve probably bought a domain name so it can replace the yourname.webeden.co.uk website address that we gave you. This tutorial - pointing your domain name - will show you how to do just that.

Its as easy as that! How did you get on?

Back in September we had the exciting launch of our domain name registration service. As you probably know, all websites built using the webeden.co.uk system are automatically given a sub-domain of webeden.co.uk. Something like yourname.webeden.co.uk.

Before September, if you wanted to personalise your webeden.co.uk website with your own domain name, we sent you off to buy one from a domain name registrar. You then had to register your domain, and either point it or forward it to you webeden.co.uk website.

In September our domain name registration service launched, which meant that you could now register a domain name with Webeden.co.uk and automatically set it up with your webeden.co.uk website. In actual fact we gave your a free domain name with our Standard website builder packages, and upwards.

Since then, thousands of you have taken advantage of our domain name service. Which is great of course! But we’re wondering how many of you are getting the full benefit of what you get with your domain name? One of the great things about webeden.co.uk domain names is that they come with free email services for up to 5 people!

This means you can use the domain name you registered with Webeden.co.uk to send and receive email for free. So you can be you@yourdomain.co.uk rather than you@hotmail.com or you@yahoo.co.uk.

And what’s better, is that we enable you to do this for up to 5 people. So you can give away personalised email addresses to the other people involved with your website, or anyone else you choose. That might be colleagues or employees, friends, or family.

The best thing about using your free email service on your own domain is that it is entirely personalised and unique to you. You’re no longer one of the homogenous millions who are using the well known free email services, but you stand out from the crowd with your email address. By the way, its entirely free to use too!

And of course if you’re running a business, it makes it really easy for any customers or suppliers to remember your email address – its just you@yourdomain.co.uk, which of course is exactly the same domain name that you’re using for your website address.

If you’ve already registered your domain name elsewhere and want to take advantage of our free email service, you just need to transfer-in the domain to webeden.co.uk. Just go to our domain names page, type in your domain name and press ‘transfer’. You will also need to log into the control panel of the domain registrar where your domain is currently registered and change the IPSTAG to GANDI.

If you haven’t yet got a domain, then register a domain name now. Just click on the ‘domains’ tab and type in the domain name that you’d like to buy. You’ll then be able to use it as the web address of your webeden.co.uk website, and of course use it for the free email services.

The free email service can be set up and used via Webmail (where you access the email service through your webeden.co.uk control panel, similar to hotmail). This means you can send or receive your personal email from literally any computer connected to the Internet. In order to set up and access your webmail just go to webeden.co.uk, click on the domain name page, click ‘manage domains’ and you will see a list of your domains, along with a link to ‘set up and access your email’.

Or you can use a desktop client such as Outlook or Outlook express to send and receive email from your desktop. This is referred to as POP email. Here are all the details you need when setting up a new email account using your webeden domain name:

POP/IMAP Account
Server name : mail.gandi.net
Port : leave the default setting (110 for POP, 143 for IMAP, 995 for POP SSL, or 993 for IMAP SSL).
TLS or SSL : Yes
Username : your full e-mail address (including @yourdomain.tld)
Password : provide the password you had defined when creating your e-mail account

SMTP Account
Name server : mail.gandi.net
Port : 25, 465 (with SSL) or 587 (try one or the other)
TLS or SSL : yes
SMTP Authentication : yes, using the same settings as for the POP / IMAP account

For advanced users: each mailbox can have an unlimited number of names that go to the same mailbox, often called ‘aliases’. You can also set up email forwarding to another email address such as a hotmail or gmail account.

If all this makes sense to you, then start taking advantage of the free email service with your domain name. If you’d like any further help or advice, or just want to let us know how you’re using your free domain and free email services, then leave us a comment below.