I love looking into how to optimize websites and products to twist and turn to find out what really works or not. Sometimes though I believe that it is difficult to see the optimization opportunities in pages that are already really good. Therefore I wanted to share my analysis of the Spotify webpage which is already a great site, however I believe it can become even better. I do not work for Spotify but I’ve been using there service for many years so I have some ideas on what their business goals are.

1. The landing page

The first time you visit the Spotify website you are meet with this landing page encouraging you to download the application and get started with the product. The call to action is very clear here. I would however test 3 different things on this page.

• First of all I would try to change the color of the download Spotify button to draw even more attention to it.
• I would also consider moving the Facebook face pile a little higher up on the page, simply because at least on my screen it is under the fold and the power of community is extreme.
• I would also add a picture of a mobile version (the app) of the client as I find that many nowadays won’t start using a service if it does not have a mobile version.

Finally I would create an alternative landing page were the only option is to sign up for the 30-day free trial offered on the next page. And the put cohort tracking on people signing up on the two different landing pages to see which are the best customers. If you have slightly less conversions on this page, but more premium users it might be worth it.

2. Installation page

When you have pressed the download Spotify button you arrive to a page explaining the installation process. I would like to see the exit rate on this page because I find it quite blurry.

• I would try to put the ‘Go Mobile’ suggestion higher up on the page and make that the core message. Simply because you will still have the guide in above the fold and it is really this that you want to have as a call to action.
• I would also try to highlight that it is a guide by making the numbers more in focus, step 1, 2, 3.. Perhaps also put the titles above the pictures.

3. The 30-day free trial page

From the installation page and I assume a few other pages you find this ‘offering page’ where you can get at 30 day free trial. This page has all the right assets; the call to action button, the offer and the short list of the benefits. It also have easy access to the terms of the offering. I do however, think we increase conversions with a few tweaks.

• I’m surprised by how the page title is blending in to the background making it difficult to read. So that is the first thing I would start testing.
• I would also try putting the ‘checklist’ under a more bonus offering name like ‘benefits’ and then but in on two rows between the title and the call to action button in the hero. (Where it currently says ‘millions of tracks on your mobile phone’. Though I would make sure to keep the current background color of the check list.
• I would also try changing the background color of the hero to see if the impression of it changes.

4. The front page

The ‘normal’ first page, the one you come till when it is not your first time at the site (or what measure they use for the landing page) is  currently used to advertise new functionality, I do however see some alternative use for it.

Where is the call-to-action?
I have been a Spotify user for quite some time now and I’m still surprised that there is not a a ‘download’ button on the front page. I’ve changed/rebooted my computers a few times and every time I have to look for it. I think it would increase both customers satisfaction and conversion rates to have it more visual here. For example, but two call to actions to the right of the hero, one call to action ‘Try Spotify Premium for 30 days” & ‘Upgrade now’ and one which is ‘Download’.

Sell the apps
Currently Spotify is working to have people start using the spotify apps which is the latest feature in the application. To get more engagement I would try to put a more social or engaging ad. Perhaps, choose an app and make it featured or add the face pile to the functionality so show people that their friends are using the application. I think both would be more inviting. Currently you are informed about the functionality, not the benefits.

‘What is Spotify?’ or ‘How does it work?’

As I have no insight in the customer service situation on Spotify there might be a reason for the ‘What is spotify’ page and the content on that page. But in my mind even though it might not be the title of the page it should at least answer the question on ‘how does it work’. Because in my experience that and ‘what is the difference between spotify and x’ which I’m asked most often by non-swedes who just heard about the service.

5. The mobile page

While the Spotify service is absolutely magic to use on the phone their website is not as a rewarding experience. Basically what they have is a landing page giving you two options, download the client or go to the normal webpage. The normal page does of course scales to fit the screen but it is not mobile adapted. I believe there are many benefits by making their website mobile friendly, especially for all of those who want to read up about the service after hearing about it from a friend. (Have you ever done this while meeting someone? you hear, you google, you join or forget)

Thus an easy couple of improvements would be:

• Adding the ‘arguments’ for downloading spotify on the top of the page to make it a landing page for downloads and change the button to ‘download’ instead of ‘get’.
• Creating an alternative page with a trial sign up suggestion just like for the landing page.
• Create a mobile adapted version with the ‘why & how’ and link it just like the other pages on the current website.
• A forth idea could be to have ‘send me info/a reminder to my email’ so I remember to look at it later

Summary

Though I’ve made the suggestions for the Spotify website I believe that there are a few key components that we all should try to test and analyze on our website.

Lets get started with these today:

1. Placement and color of call to actions buttons
2. Wording on call to actions and titles
3. How to use lists to validate decisions

What would you add too this? Or is there some thing you do not believe in? Please share in a comment.

While I still have it fresh in memory I thought I would write down some learnings from SXSWi. Bare in mind though that I had read very little about the event itself before I got there and basically all I knew was that it was the heart of interactive everything in the world.

General

1. Plan time to stand in the badge pickup line
   If the badge pick up is coordinated in the same time as this year I would plan at least 2,5h of standing in line. Meaning that don’t plan a quick pick up right before a session you really want to attend. I was in line for 1:43:46. Also there is a goodie bag to pick up after you picked up a bag, it contains a paper guide of the event with bus lines etc. Awesome if your not from around and have 3g. If so, you probably only need the app.
2. Don’t expect a lot of shopping opportunities
   Most people, myself included, was surprised by the limited shopping opportunities in the city. As the beginning of this event was very rainy this made it almost impossible to find an umbrella. Though sun-glasses and — was probably the best give away that companies had.

Sessions

1. Sessions are grouped by categories and each location host a category
   This was something that I was not aware of, but apparently each location host a category of session. So from what I’ve heard the intercontinental hotel hosted marketing sessions. Those who like to follow a category could there for stay in the same location for the whole conference instead of running on and off the shuttles.
2. Plan what sessions to attend & be on time for those you assume will be popular 
   Before arriving to the event I hadn’t realized just how much there is to do and how many opportunities and categories there are. Thus the planning part I had not planned for. (Irony!) However after standing in line for almost 2 hours I was quite planned out. I recommend that you pick 2-3 sessions at each start hour to know what to do if some of them fills up. I do how ever recommend to not plan all hours because there are things going on 24/7 and even geeks need sleep.
3. Sessions are labeled with a difficulty level
   Since I only used the app I almost missed out on this completely as it was not included. But all sessions are labels beginner, intermediate or advanced which could be useful to know especially if you are choosing between a few. I believe this was info was in the printed folder.
4. Topic vs speaker
   I also realized like many times before that it was many times more inspiring to listen to a well known speaker than it was to listen to an interesting topic. Thus if there is a speaker you don’t know before, be sure to read up on the objectives.
5. Try something new
   One of my favorite sessions during the event was by a NewYorker cartoonist who shared his knowledge about staying creative at all times. Super inspiring but for me off topic. I will do more of that next year.

Equipment

1. I recommend tablet + extra keyboard or very light laptop
   So I tend to go to the extreme with ‘equipment’ obviously this happened at this event as well. But having done this once I recommend just brining an tablet (read iPad) with what ever extra keyboard you have or a macbook air because it is annoying carrying around a heavy laptop (I have a macbook pro). Most of what you do is typing and tweeting anyway.
2. SLR / Digital or phone camera?
   I brought by Canon 60d to the Austin but did not take it in to the city until the event was over. It was simply to heavy to be dragging around and there are not enough beauty to take GOOD pictures on anyway. People might scream when I say this but I preferred my iPhone camera for this event. However, I do know that there were a few photo sessions and meet ups so if you think you will use it, bring it. I won’t next year. If you have a bad phone camera though i recommend a smaller camera since there are a lot of moments you want to remember.
3. Charger & WIFI
   The event locations have all WIFI and tons of places to charge your everything. Sometimes though time is limited so you could make use of a back up charger.

Stay & transport

1. Stay close to the area
   I recommend paying that extra amount to stay close to the event. Simply because there is so much going on and many times I would have loved to go back for a quick PN or to drop of some stuff in-between night and day actives. I did one or both  most days.
2. Don’t count on public transport and TAXI can be tricky
   My host was completely chocked when he learned that I took the bus the first day. He had never done that since he moved to austin. And I understand because I think it only happened once that it was on time. Taking a cab/taxi could also be tricky if you live fairly close to the city as he drivers don’t want short trips.

Parties

1. I prefered the unofficial parties
   Now this statement is a bit biased as I attended mostly unofficial parties, but the official once were a bit more stiff. Hang out with people and see what they are up to, or take a stroll around the city and see where it seems to be happening. I liked most areas except east 6th.
2. Rsvp? Maybe.
   Many want you to RSVP to the events before. We did this at a few, but at least on the once we went to, we were not required to. Look it up in advanced though if there is something you don’t want to miss.

Feel free to comment with more tips and I will be sure to add them, or if you have your own list I can link to that.

My current job calls for a lot of research with the objective of gathering information. There are many ways to do this, but one extension that I use in my Google Chrome browsers have proven to be particularly useful.

The extension is called Similar Pages, and as told by the name of it, it suggests pages which are similar to the one you are visiting. I use this by fining some good pages on the subject I’m interested in on Google, and then I see what suggestions I get on Similar Pages and find new interesting sites that way.

It also shows small previews of the pages that it suggests, so I can get an idea of what they look like. You can also install the extension Sites Preview if you want picture previews in your search results as well.

The only thing missing from Similar Pages it the option to decide what type of pages that I want suggested; for example, websites, newspapers or blogs.  As Google is the producers of the extension I’m sure that this could easily be added.

Lately, Twitter scams have become a big problem. Twitter scams are for example tweets containing links to sites that have viruses etc. Not only have normal internet users been fooled by these scams but also some of the pro-users have become victims.

This issue has developed along with the increased use of URL shortening services, such as bit.ly and tr.im

A while ago Bit.ly announced that they are making an effort to prevent this, since they are the default link shortening service for twitter.

To you avoid clicking on shorted links or checked, I recommend that you use a web browser add-on/extension that automatically shows the “real” link instead of the shorter version. This way you see the correct Url for the site that the link is taking you to, and it is easier to determine whether it is a site that you trust or not.

For those of you, who just occasionally click on shortened links, I recommend that you check the links at websites who lengthen links, such as LongUrl.com.

Here follow a list of plug-in for Firefox  and Chrome, that will help you avoid the scams by using Long Urls:

Chrome
ChromeMUSE – Shorten and expand URLs with different shortening service providers.
Explode – Expand shortened URLs (e.g. TinyURL) with LongURL
Bit.ly – (shorten, share, and track your links (only bit.ly))

Firefox

LongURL Mobile Expander 2.0.0
Long URL Please 0.4.1 (Article about this addon)

Internet Explorer

Since I do not use IE, I have not tried any IE extension that solves this problem. Unfortunately search did not help me either, so my tips to those of you who use internet explorer are to use one of the universal services that does the same thing.

Check your URLs no matter what browser you use

In case you do not want to use any of these plug-ins you could always use LongUrl.com which is a universal way to show were the short links are taking you. It will take more time to check the links this was as you have to enter the website. But that might be time you’re willing to offer as you do not want the links to be leading you to the wrong place.

General Online Safety

Internet gives us a lot of opportunities and makes things easier, you can save both time and money with the internet. But as it develops faster than many out there has time to follow, I encourage you to stay updated on the news threats that emerge for you as internet develops, and hope that you encourage your friends and families to do the same.

A while ago I wrote about the pros and cons of online studies. Now, if you have made the decision to study online there are a few other things that I want to put on your message board. This time I will write about online collaboration, as it is not too obvious for everyone how to be a good team player in an online environment.

Sometimes you might know someone from the online class that you are taking and you might even have the opportunity to collaborate up with this person. However, usually this is not the case. Usually you have never met, never spoken and probably do not have the opportunity to meet offline as there is too many miles between you.

Thus going in to the collaboration you have do not know your teammates and you are working in an environment that is not optimal for sharing correct emotions. So what do you do? Here are some suggestions that will help your online group collaboration.

1. Introduce yourself and get to know your group. It is a lot easier working in the team when you know a little bit about the people you are working with. Their background might be useful for the assignment or the other way around maybe, a person you are working with has limited computer skill and might need some guidance on this. Knowledge about the skills of your team might help you plan your time during the assignment.

2.Take the time to learn about each other’s schedules. Online students tend to have a lot more going on alongside of their studies, such as work, extra classes, a big family etc. Therefore it is extra important to make sure that you understand what times and study methods that your group members have. Some might study mostly on weekends, while others do it during the day on the week. Knowing this is essential to do a group assignment where everyone does their part.

3.Plan your work before you begin. Planning is important for all assignments but when you study online it is even more important that you set dates and divide the tasks. As I mentioned before online students tend to have more commitments. Thus, working with set deadlines and assigned tasks is even more important. Especially important is it to plan time to review each other’s contributions to the assignments. Both because as you do not discuss things as frequently as in IRL group work and thus do not get as much feedback, but also since it is important that you learn all parts of the project as it is part of the class.

4.Consider making one in the group “last checker.” One of the most difficult parts of working online is that s you divide the tasks and write them individually without meeting is that you do not have the same group feeling. Thus there might be a lot of “I think” in the work, depending on the subject. Thus for some assignment is could be good to cut give one group member the last say on this. That is having just one person focusing on keeping the same “voice” during the whole assignment, who checks both grammatical, style, and word choice. Giving you the change to hand in a uniform document.

5. Consider sharing offline contact details. If someone doesn’t do their part it is important to decide if you can let that person take credit for the work or not. I have experienced cases where people have tried to excuses their lack of participation because they were sick, and the reason why did not contact us was because they did not have the energy to log on to the computer. Since it can be difficult rejecting this excuse, make sure that it cannot happen. Exchange phone numbers so you can call each other in case of sickness, a computer crash or whatever it might be.

I’m sure there are many smaller tips that would also help you a lot, but these basic thing have made online collaboration a lot easier for me.

Have you studied online? Do you have any tips to add to the list?

For further reading I recommend:
9 Great Document Collaboration Tools for Teams

I was recently at a small Christmas market arranged by the Swedish Church in Belgium. The market takes place in small house in the city, and they are creative when it comes to how to use the space. During the weekend, around 2000 people visit the market, which truly shows how Swedes like to celebrate Christmas time. They sell glögg, saffron bread and of course have a café where you can fika.

A few days after the event, one of the arrangers asked me what I thought about the event and the marketing of it. My spontaneous response was to mention that I liked that it was so Swedish and then I instantly went to suggesting improvements. The man who asked me was very happy for my suggestions as I presented them in a constructive way, and asked if I would be around to help contributing the planning of next year’s market.

But, even though I had a positive reaction to my suggestions, I really began thinking about the fact that even though I liked the market I had more to say about what could have been done better than what was actually good. As I’m usually a very positive person it took me by surprise that this was my spontaneous answer. Have years of university studies made me so “good” a giving constructive criticism that this now is how I encounter situations and questions like this? Or is it just human nature? Either way, can I change this behavior?

The reason why I am asking is that even though it is good to get constructive criticism, sometimes people really do not want it if they have not asked for it. So, is it actually good to start giving it away?

If you are new at a company you can get a head by sharing your ideas and show that you are creative, but if you do it too much people might begin to feel that you are not a team player since you do not fit in to the routine that the team have built for years. Could it be the same way with a review of an event etc, by focusing too much on different improvements, will the arranger just think that you where not the “target visitor” as the event in general did not appeal to you and therefore not consider you suggestions? I guess you won’t be as directly affected in the second scenario but maybe in the long run.

Let’s say that you attend an event and is later asked about your opinions. If you try first to complement the things, you liked about the event and then only make one or two constructive comments. There is a big change that the arranger will consider your suggestions and event ask you for more. Because the arranger will first consider you as a targeted visitor as you appealed to the event in general, and thus be open for a suggested improvement. He or she might even ask you for more of your opinions.

In the future, the event arranger might even remember your thoughtful suggestion and positive attitude, that he or she, might suggest you to share your ideas with someone else, and all of a sudden your opinion is valued. This would probably not have happened if you had shared all your ideas, even if they were presented in a good way.

Thus, my lesson from this is to try to stay positive when I leave the schoolbooks. There are far too many complaints in the world. What do you think? What is you spontaneous reaction in this scenario? Do you think it pays off to focus on the positive side of things?

In a city where everything seems to be happening behind closed doors for special invited only. I was excited to find out that a new Music WebTV channel was launching to bloggers, or at least presenting what they are doing. Of course I signed up for the event, looking forward to see what this organization was all about.

However, when I got there earlier today, I did not only find out that the event had been cancelled, or actually postponed, a change that was not public until after I had paid them a visit. But they also told me that the event was not supposed to be public, I wonder where they will find bloggers that is not public?

When I left, my first thought was that I was quite embarrassed; I thought I must have misunderstood something. So after I came home I took another look at the invitation:

“Moodio.TV // Bloggers event // 09/11/09 – 18h30 – Brussels
Moodio.TV, the Belgian music webTV ! Invites you to their launching.
It will be held in our offices on Monday 9 November. During the evening, we will present our project and our new tools to promote artists. Our team will be at your disposal for any question and you will be able to visit our premises. We will conclude with an informal drink and snacks.”

However, after reading this, I think is the new TV channel that have some interesting things to figure out. First of all, do they know what bloggers is, as they invite bloggers but tell me that the event is not supposed to be public? Second, if they do change the date of the event. Why did they not send an email to the people who signed up?

Looking at their website I thought that this company has some interesting things going on, but if they want to get there they really need to start making a better first impression. I mean the man who meet me when I got there did not even introduce himself, and I left feeling embarrassed so clearly he was not keen on making an apologize. Sure maybe it was an honest mistake, but if it is, do not go in and change the date of the event right after I have left.

I am sure this is not the first time a launch gets postponed after the invitation have gone out. So for all of you who might get in this situation, here is are few tips:

1. Make sure to inform all people about the change of date.
2. If you have set up an event invite make sure to change that at the same time that you send out the emails about the change. Proofread so you have changed the date on all places in the invitation.
3. Have someone present at the time and place for cancelled event to greet and explain for people who might not have got the message about the changes. Make sure that they leave wanting to come back.
4. Send a special invite to those who signed up for the first date, so that they feel more encouraged to make plans to attend again.
5. Only change the event once, in this case third chances!
6. Put on a great first event, you only got one chance to make a first impression, and if you have changed the date, this is really your second chance.

I hope that someone will learn from another one’s mistake, and good luck Moodio, I think that your company idea has potential.

Ok, so honestly this post was supposed to be about why we tweet but instead it turned into a lesson in making your tweets the most desirable to read.

Jason Pullock asked his followers this question today and I responding saying “To share some of the interesting stuff that I find and to get access information and knowledge that other share with me, you?”Which is true, but how much do we really read other stuff?

I have been going true the stats for the links that I have been sharing over the last couple of days. The results varied a bit depending on the subject and how the tweets was written, but I had only between 3-34 click per link, which is very low considering that I have over 1,800 followers. So why is that?

Well first of all we have to consider that not everyone checks their twitter every day, and most of us see far from all the twitters that the people we follow put up each day. This means that only a small portion of the people following me actually saw the tweets when they came up. Still the number is very small.

If others use twitter in the same way as me, this is how they go about it. You log onto twitter and begin by checking the wall and what people are saying. While scanning trough the current tweets you choose one maybe two tweets with links that you want to follow and click on them. Anything else that might be on that wall you forget instantly and go on to checking replies, DMs and send a tweet yourself.

Knowing this, how do you write tweets that matter? That other people will actually read? There is not only one way, but now when you know what you are trying to do, here are a few tips.

1. Tweets with links to lists are always popular “ten ways to..” etc.
2. If you are referring to a blog or article with a title that is boring or does not describe the post well, don´t use it in your tweet, come up with something yourself instead.
3. Somewhere in the tweet tell people what you are linking to [video] etc.
4. Do not only post title and link <- add why they should read it or why you read it!

There are other a lot of other tips on how you increase your followers and stuff, but I didn´t want to share that, instead I hope that you think more about how you can impact your current followers.

That is why I tweet: to make an impression by sharing stuff that can affect people or teach people something and I read tweets in hope to get the same in return.

Remember – Quality before quantity!

What do you think? Any Tips that you want to add to the list?

In May this year I left my job, which I first started as an intern, to go back to school and finish up my degree. During my last few months at my job as a marketing specialist I really put a focus on social media and started this blog, got into the twittering and multiple other social media sites. After I left it feels like the whole social media world has speeded up and I am not following the developments as fast as I used to.

Because of this I know that I need a plan to be able to stay in contact with what I want to do while I’m not doing it. I wanted to share some of the things I do to make sure to stay current.

1. Make sure to stay update with the developments. I use google reader and follow a few dozen blog writing about marketing, social media and Internet etc. Many of these might publish the same stories, but that hopefully mean that they will cover what I cannot miss.
   Google reader: http://www.google.com/reader/
   
2. Set up an activity plan for yourself. It is so easy to postpone things when you are doing it for yourself and not for someone else, which is why it can be good to have a plan to keep track of your progress. Make sure to put a note of what days you might have to skip some activities to make sure it doesn’t become a habit.
   This list from Chris Brogan is a good example: http://www.chrisbrogan.com/19-presence-management-chores-you-could-do-every-day/

3. Publish your own view on what is going on. Everyone does not need to have a blog but when I will go to my next job interview after I’m finished with school it will be a lot easier to say that I know social media if I can actually prove it. But especially when you are not currently in the field it can be difficult to find things to write about. Therefore try to read what’s going on and give the news your own angle, if you have trouble finding one, talk to your friends about the news and discuss it, I’m sure multiple angles will turn up.

I hope that this give you an idea to what you can do. I see this working in a lot of other fields that what I do, and especially in this economic downturn it is important to not fall behind when you get laid off.