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SWeCS NEWSLETTER - 2 May 2005

In this issue...

- Want A Favicon For Your Website?
- This Fortnight's Question
- Conversion Rates For Websites
- Overture Is Now Yahoo
- Resources For Small Business

WANT A FAVICON FOR YOUR WEBSITE?

What's a favicon?

A favicon is an icon that some browsers display next to your website name or URL when someone bookmarks your site.

Some examples are, if you visit any of the following sites:

www.google.com.au
www.southwestecommerce.com
www.southwestlife.com.au

and add them to your Favourites, then next time you view your favourites, a small image or icon should be next to their name. This icon will also usually appear in the URL field too.

Please note, however, that some browsers, or versions of browsers, will not show Favicons. But when they do, it helps set your site apart from others.

Want a favicon for your website? We can create one for $30 (plus GST for Australian businesses). This is what you get:

• You must provide us with an image to insert. This is usually a copy of your logo, but can be any image. Remember though that the final product is very small, so it needs to be an image that will look OK when reduced in size.
  
  
• We will resize the image, and convert it to a Favicon format
  
  
• We will then either:
  - edit your home page so that the favicon icon starts to show when you bookmark it; or
  - provide you with the instructions to upload the changes yourself

If you'd like to get a favicon icon for your website, just email us at admin@southwestecommerce.com.

THIS FORTNIGHT'S QUESTION

This fortnight's question comes Steve:

"I referred someone to you, who recently signed up for one of your services. I've heard you pay commissions for referrals. How do I receive it?"

We have an affiliate program, but you need to be signed up before you make referrals in order to be eligible for commissions. This is because we provide you with a unique affiliate code so that our systems recognise when the referral has come from you.

To sign up as an affiliate, and to view our payout rates, visit www.southwestecommerce.com/affiliates.htm.

Got a question? Send it to us at admin@southwestecommerce.com and we'll do our best to answer it, as well as publish one every fortnight for everyone to see.

CONVERSION RATES FOR WEBSITES

We often get asked what is a good conversion rate when selling on the Internet.

This will vary widely according to the industry you are in. Some things are easier to sell on the Internet than others. It will of course also depend on other factors such as your level of competition, price, website layout, and much more.

However, studies have shown that across the board, the average level of conversion is around 1.8%. That is, that around 1.8% of visitors to a website will become a sale.

So this is something for you to compare to your own statistics and see how you're going. Anything much lower than that should prompt you to look at your site and see if there are any reasons why people may not be buying.

OVERTURE IS NOW YAHOO

We reported in one of our previous newsletters that Overture was changing it's name to Yahoo (it's owner). This has now happened, and all of the Overture brand is now being changed over to Yahoo.

Yahoo is one of the "big 3" search engines, and owns a number of other smaller engines such as Altavista, All The Web, and others.

RESOURCES FOR SMALL BUSINESS

Ecommerce Library

Browse through the SWeCS Ecommerce Library, full of FREE information about getting more out of the Internet. Sections include Web Site Development, Web Site Promotion & Internet Marketing, Online Commerce, Computer & Technical Issues, and Miscellaneous.

Newsletter Archives

The SWeCS Newsletter archives provides a wealth of FREE information on small business and the Internet. Browse through the main topics or search for your particular query.

SWeCS Affiliate Program

Start up another income stream, by earning commissions for each referral who signs up for one of our services.

Affiliate Directory

Browse through a list of reviewed Affiliate programs. Let us do the work of testing it out for you!

Do you know of a resource that should be added here? Email us and let us know. There is only one condition - it must be free.

OTHER EMAIL NEWSLETTERS

Here's some other email newsletters you might like:

www.southwestlife.com.au

www.dunsboroughbayvillageresort.com/news/newsindex.htm

www.west-oz.com/newsletter/newsletter.asp

http://derekstockley.com/newsletters/news-index.html