Batch Optimization with IrfanView

Yesterday I talked about load time and optimizing website images with IrfanView and you might of felt overwhelmed at the process of doing this for each and every image in your website. Fear not as there is a quick way to do this for many images at once.

Open your handy dandy IrfanView tool and under the File menu select Batch Conversion/Rename. In the dropdown labelled Look In choose the directory where your images are located. This should bring up a list of all of the images in that directory. Now highlight the images to optimize (use Shift and/or CTRL to select multiple images) and then hit the Add button on the left hand side. This will add all of your selected images into the box at the left. In the Output Directory box enter the path where you want your new optimized images to go.

For jpeg images click on the options button and then pick the quality. For gif images click on the advanced options button then enable change color depth and enter the number of colors. Note that you will need to do the jpegs and the gifs separately as all of the images you optimize at the same time will come out as the same image type.

Hit the Start button at the top left to get started with your optimization. Your images should now be optimized and they can be uploaded to your site.

How to Optimize Images

Im a big fan personally of the freeware programs Irfanview which does an excellent job of compressing .jpg and .gif images for the web. The Irfanview program can also crop images and resize and is easy to learn and download.

To optimize a jpeg image with IrfanView open the image and select File-->Save As. In the Save dialog there will be a small slider from 0-100, this is where you pick the quality for your .jpg file. Hit save to save the graphic with the new quality. Remember if you give it the same name you will overwrite your original so I highly recommend that you put it into a different folder so you can always revert back if needed. Irfanviews default quality is 80% but on most images you can get away with 70% and the image will still look great.

To optimize a gif image with IrfanView open the image and select Image-->Decrease Color Depth. Now enter in the number of colors and select Ok. The less colors you use the smaller the size of the image will be and the quicker it will load.

Its also important to note that sometimes changing an image from a jpeg to a gif can sometimes signifigantly reduce its size. Images that are photos with alot of colors and detail are usually better as jpeg and simpler images that are drawn with few colors are usually better as a gif.

To resize an image using IrfanView open the image and then select Image-->Resize/Resample. Enter your new size and hit ok. If you keep the preserve aspect ratio box checked the image will keep the right dimensions and wont get distorted.

Once you are done optimizing your images reupload them to your website and you should notice a signifigant decrease in the time it takes to load the pages.

So what do you do if you have thousands of images? This could take a lot of time right? Yes, it would but of course it is worth it however there is good news, you dont have to do the images one at a time. IrfanView offers a batch tool to optimize or resize many images at once. More on that later.

Netmechanic also offers an excellent utility called GifBot, available at http://www.netmechanic.com/GIFBot/optimize-graphic.htm that can optimize your images and it will show you all of the different versions etc upfront. My only complaint about the gifbot is that you can only see one image at a time over the web so for large sites or people with slow connections this could be a slow way to go about it.

Why Optimize your Images

The single greatest factor affecting loadtime on most sites is the images. While they look pretty they take time to load. So in order to lower the load time of your site the first thing to do is to try and reduce the number of images on your page(s).

Take a cold, objective look at your site. Try to view it through a visitor's eyes. Which graphics are necessary and which are superfluous? Can you manipulate the text with HTML (bold, italic, font face) as opposed to using a text graphic? Can a clickable image be replaced with a text link? Cutting expendable graphics can greatly speed page load time. Assess each graphic one-by-one to determine if it should stay or go; keep only those that are essential.

You will of course be left with the most important images and the next step is to reduce the size of the remaining images because smaller images load faster. After you've pared down your images to the essentials, it's time to reduce the size (byte-wise) of what remains. You can do this in two ways:

* Reduce image dimensions (Width x Height in pixels).
* "Optimize" the image.

Reducing the dimensions of an image isn't always a viable option. The layout of your page may depend on a particular image being a specific size (the way the page appears, though, is of course relative to screen resolution). If you can safely shrink your image dimensions, do so, and then optimize. If you cannot change the dimensions of the images, optimize only. "Optimizing" an image means reducing the file size of the image. This is accomplished primarily by removing extraneous colors from the image. For example, a GIF saved at 256 colors can usually be reduced to 128, 64, or 32 colors - sometimes even less - without compromising image quality. This can *drastically* reduce the file size of an image which, in turn, (often) shaves seconds off load time. A JPEG saved at 100% quality can usually be reduced to 50-90% quality without compromising image quality and will load in less then half the time.

Remember to never use your webpage to resize images on the fly. If you upload an image thats 500x500 pixels and then only display it on your website as a 100x100 pixel image you are making the user wait unnecessarily for detail they dont need. Even though the webpage is displaying it in the small size the user still must download the entire large image before they are able to view it . Try optimizing that image to the right size before uploading it and you will notice a huge difference in load time and the size of the image. Recently I found one site that took 250 seconds to load. The site had a row of Visa, Mastercard, Discover and American Express labels that were about 50pixels each in size on the screen. When I ran it through the html toolbox I found that each of those images were uploaded and were larger then my screen size and they were being resized inside the webpage. Once we resized the actual image files the page took 30 seconds to load. As you can image as a result of this the merchants sales increased greatly because the site loaded faster for everyone.

Once you've pruned the extra images and optimized the "keepers", upload your lighter page. Remember to always keep an a copy of your original graphics before optimizing them. There is nothing worse then picking the wrong size or optimization and not being able to go back.

Determining Load Time

So now that you know load time is important how do you find out what your sites load time is? Netmechanic offers a subscription to a service you can get for your website that tells you this and they also offer a free 1-time tool as well at http://www.netmechanic.com/products/HTML_Toolbox_FreeSample.shtml

All you have to do is enter your website address in the box and hit Test Now. Give Netmechanic a minute or so to process your information and then your reports are ready. Click on the detailed load time report and Netmechanic will tell you not only how long it takes to load but also which images, etc are taking the longest. They highlight the worst offenders in red. And for each image Netmechanic also tells you how long that image takes and if you click on the image it will show you different optimized versions of the image and how they will look. Im sure you will be amazed at how much less time it will take to load a jpeg that was saved at 90% quality versus 100% quality.

Remember some people still have 28.8 modems, and while that number is coming down if you want to make your site accessible to everyone you should keep the load time as small as possible.

Why loadtime is important

What is load time and why you should pay attention

Load time can be loosely defined as the amount of time between when a user requests to go to your site and when they actually see the content.

Slow sites drive visitors away. It's that simple. 26% of online users rate slow load times as the most frustrating factor in using the web. $4.35 billion in e-commerce sales have been lost each year due to user frustration related to slow downloads. In fact 48% of users report that they gave up trying to purchase an item online because the web pages took too long to load. Generally 8 seconds is the maximum amount of time that a web user will wait for a page to load. Consistently websites with load times above this had higher bailout rates than those with faster load times.

Know your audience

There are billions of internet users out there. Some have slow connections and some have very fast connections. So how do you know which one you are targetting? Look at your site, do you target younger families, or sell technology products? If so, chances are your target audience has high speed connections. On the other hand if you sell prescription drugs, or glasses your target audience is probably older and most likely has slower internet connections. For the technology site packing it with graphics and a cool design will probably not deter sales. But doing so on the prescription drug site may lead to many frustrated users who leave the site before it ever fully loads. Always pick a design that suits the lowest common denominator.

Why put your business on the web

Customers are looking for you online, Will they find you, or your competitor?

Once reserved for the high-tech computer crowd, Now, E-mail and Web Sites are as essential to any business as Fax Machines & Yellow Pages

• Why Should You be on The Internet?
• 48% of all North American homes have computers
• Nearly 110 million people are on the Internet
• Each month the Internet population grows by 15%
  

Internet user profile

• 45% are professionals
• 22% are graduate students
• 14% are undergraduate students
• 92% use for personal use
• 67% use for business
  

Top Ten Reasons to Have a Web Site
1. Increase Market Exposure

Establishing a presence on the World Wide Web exposes your business to a larger consumer market. With a Web Site, your business can tap into larger markets for no more expense.

2. Competition

The competition is already online and they are attracting your potential clients. A business with a well crafted and promoted Web Site can compete more equally with firms of all sizes and various advertising budgets.

3. Cost Effectiveness

Web marketing is, by far, less expensive than traditional advertising mediums. You can alter or add information on a Web Site almost immediately, and do not have to wait until the following year or the next months' issue to make changes to your ad. A Web Site can save you money in numerous areas such as printing documents, press releases, brochures, catalogs and faxes. Your company's paper consumption will decrease and you can spend more money on the more important things. You'll also save money on communications costs such as faxing documents or long distance phone calling since the communication can be done within your Web Site.

4. Corporate Image

Simply including your web address in your current advertising, on your business cards and brochures and other communications can help boost your corporate image. People will see that you are on top of things in today's business world and will take a look at your site when given the opportunity.

5. Measurable Results

Through tracking your web site visitor information, you can collect valuable customer data such as determining how and why your visitors found you and determine which advertising approaches are working for you. You can apply this proven information to your other forms of media advertising with less risk and a higher rate of success.

6. Credibility

In the information age, "The Net" is the fastest growing sector. Having a Web Site is more a matter of "when" than "if." Having a World Wide Web Presence lends the necessary credibility to any business doing commerce in the nineties and into the next millennium. A Web Site is becoming as increasingly necessary as the Fax Machine and Business Phone.

7. Immediate Information

Even when your office is closed, your site is "OPEN." Information can be available 24 hours a day, to your potential clients. If they can get the information from you, when they want it, their search was a success. People want information as quickly as possible. By providing them with it immediately, you will satisfy a need and position yourself as the expert in your given field.

8. Generate Sales

The ultimate function of any business is to generate sales. The purpose of marketing in any form is to generate interest, draw a response, and to ultimately make a sale. The Internet is a proven method of doing just that. Products and services can be located, researched and contracted or purchased directly online. In today's time conscious society, the faster a need can be satisfied, the better chance your business has of receiving the sale. The World Wide Web, puts your company in front of those customers that are in search of your exact product or service when they are ready to buy.

9. Interactive

Potential clients can find and request information on your Web Site and get answers in a timely manner related to their specific needs. A simple fill in form can address the most common concerns of your visitors as well as provide a paperless message outlining their specific need.

10. Networking Opportunities

With a Web Presence, you can expose your business to other business professionals related to your field to create new business relationships. With this networking opportunity, you can be exposed to new ideas for your business.

How do I get search engines to list my website?

So you’ve set up your store, you're ready to sell your items but you don’t have a whole lot of visitors or maybe you don’t have any visitors. The single most valuable method of getting visitors to your site is through search engines. Not only can search engines give you the most traffic they also bring highly targeted leads, people who actually want your product or service and are actively searching for it. Unfortunately getting listed in search engines is not an easy task. There are millions of other websites vying for the same visitors, so how do you win those visitors.

Meta Tags

Specify keywords and description text for each and every page. Each page should be optimized for up to 2-3 keywords that are relevant to your site. It takes a great deal of time and patience to choose appropriate keywords and set them up for each and every page but these words are very important to your sites search engine listings.

Page Content

The text on each page is very important to your search engine listings. The keywords you are optimizing each page for should be weaved throughout the page and formed into actual content that will benefit your visitors. Use the keywords in links, in different forms and in heading and image names. Be careful not to overdue it. Each search engine has different limits on search engine density and if they think you are spamming their engine you could be banned forever from their listings.

Choosing Keywords

One of the most important things to do before submitting your site to search engines is to make sure you have chosen good keywords. Keywords should be very specific. General keywords are much more difficult to get listed under and will not bring the targeted traffic you desire. Not only should you choose specific keywords but also you can use a keyword selection tool such as Wordtracker to help you choose keywords that have a higher Kei. Kei is a measure of a keywords competition versus number of searches performed. Keywords with a higher Kei are more beneficial to optimize pages for.

Do Research

Search engines are constantly changing their algorithms and there are thousands of websites that go into great detail about how to get listed and what to do. Don’t just read one article ready many different articles to get a variety of ideas and different points of view. The optimization process is never ending, you should always be trying new things and monitoring your results. We recommend AgentWebRanking, which will enable you to run reports of your current rankings and track your progress over time.

Get Reciprocal Links

Search engines are increasingly placing more value on the number of links pointing to your website. Reciprocal links are links from other websites to your site. Search engines see these links as votes for your site. The more popular the site is that links to you the more votes it is seen as. To find reciprocal link partners contact websites that sell products or services that are complimentary to yours but do not compete and ask them to put a link to your site and you will do the same. You should also search for directory sites and seek placement in those directories.

What is Affiliate Marketing

In a nutshell, Affiliate Marketing is a referral-based marketing strategy (also called "revenue sharing"), in which Merchants pay Affiliates commissions for referring business to the Merchant's website.

Merchants do not pay for advertising with their Affiliates until a sale or visit occurs. They only pay a small commission to referring Affiliates for resulting sales. Or an even smaller commisions for purely visit based.

Since the referring website (the "Affiliate") has a direct incentive to send customers to the merchant, they tend to market their Merchant's products or services more aggressively than would a prepaid CPM advertiser. In fact, affiliates are becoming well known & well respected for their effective marketing ability.

The technology we offer that facilitates an affiliate marketing strategy, the storebuilder, automates this process for both the Merchants and their Affiliates.

An example:

A webmaster signs up as a new affiliate with a merchant using the storebuilder, gets his affiliate login ID and default banner code. He then logs in to his affiliate administration page, and sees that his account has no activity yet.... (keyword: yet).... he gets a banner or text link to promote the site with and he is off.

Getting traffic to your site

In addition to search engines there are many other methods of site promotion that you can use to get your site noticed. It’s a good idea to diversify your marketing campaign so that you don’t rely to heavily on a single method of marketing.

Search Engines

Search engines account for almost 90% of all traffic sent to sites and can be a great method of getting visitors but unless you know how search engines it work it can be very difficult to get listed. Also search engines sometimes take a while to find your site and as such its sometimes a good idea to try other marketing methods in the meantime.

Get Listed in Directories

There are many directories of links that focus on a particular topic or service. Search for directories that focus on your area of expertise and contact the webmaster and ask them to add your link. Some will request that you add a link to them first.

Exchange Links

Contact the owners of other sites that are complimentary to yours and ask them to link to your site in exchange for you to link to their site. These links not only generate traffic but will help out your search engine rankings as well.

Pay Per Click Search Engines

Pay per click search engines like Overture and Google Adwords are a good way to get initial traffic to your website. Search engines can take months to list your site in their normal search engine results but these pay per click engines will list your site immediately.

Free Giveaways

Everyone wants something free and having a free giveaway is a great way to get visitors to your site. Tell visitors that if they make a purchase they will be entered into a free drawing. Giving away free advice in a newsletter is a great way to get new subscribers.

Create a Newsletter

Newsletters are a great way to stay in constant contact with previous customers. Some visitors need to hear from you up to 2-3 times before they will actually buy anything. Make sure your newsletter has original and useful content or your subscribers will not stick around long.

Include your site URL in all emails

Include your URL in all correspondence both online and offline. This will ensure that your current customers and friends who don’t know about your store will find out.

Write Articles

Newsletter publishers are always looking for original content to publish. By sending out informative content you are assured on getting at least a few links back to your site. And in addition you might get many potential customers who will see you as an expert in your field.

Forums

Offer to help out people in forums and include a link to your site in any responses given. Not only will this boost your popularity it will also make you a trusted resource in your field. The more free advice you are able to give, the more a customer will trust you.

Affiliate Program

Affiliates are independent marketers who are only paid for performance. Affiliates will link to your site, which will boost your link popularity, and they will also send you highly targeted leads. The best thing about an affiliate program is that unlike other forms of advertising you only have to pay an affiliate when an actual sale is made. This pay per sale form of advertising is very effective. In general a very small percentage of your affiliates will be good sources of revenue. Make sure you take care of these affiliates.

Offline Marketing

Not all of your potential customers will be online. You can market offline by including your URL in stationary and business cards. Place ads in newspapers, trade publications, send out postcards and fliers and get involved locally by becoming a guest speaker at events.

Research, research and more research

So what do you do once you have your great idea? Many people are in such a rush to get started that they dont stop to think. Are there others already doing this or who have tried? If so what can you do better then those companies? If no one is doing it now but its been tried in the past how can you do it better to succeed? If you cant answer these questions now how will you answer them later after youve invested your time and money. Its important to find out as much as you can now while its still easy to back out. The farther you get down the path to implementing your idea and the more money you have put into it the less likely you will be to heed good advice that may point to the fact that this isnt really such a good idea. Do as much research online as you can by reading what experts have to say and participating in forums. If your idea is something you can sell you can view what that product is selling for on ebay and how much demand there is. You can even make your own ebay post to see what price you can get for your item and if its going to sell well. Remember that your ability to sell will be directly related to supply versus demand.

How to come up with that golden idea

How many business people were lucky and stumbled into the rght location at the right time? Probably the majority of people who are successfull had at least some luck play a part in that success but choosing the right type of business and having the right timing will help out in many ways. Many years back if you made a website that was it, you were big. Now there are billions of webpages out there and distinguishing yourself from the crowd is no easy task. Unfortunately many people still think oh if I just put up a webstore people will show up. Unless you are incredibly lucky that probably isnt going to happen. As an ecommerce hosting provider I see businesses shut down everyday and the number one reason is that they never got a single sale. When you talk to these owners and ask them how they marketed the website most never did a single thing. They opened up a website that was just like everyone else and then they hoped people would come. Their first mistake was not having anything to distinguish themselves, the second mistake was not marketing their idea and the third would be not having a great idea. Its always easier to follow the pack then to come up with your own idea. Going down a brand new road is much harder but the rewards are so much greater.

To find your original idea look at your own life. What could you do to make it better what is missing? What problems could you solve for yourself? More then likely if you have a problem there are other people who have the exact same problem.

The commute down the stairs

Why is it that everyone I talk to says, I could never work from home, I would go crazy? Isnt it a sad day in society when work is your only form of personal interaction. I hear this statement literally everyday from at least one person. Its amazing to me how many people believe this is true. Personally Ive never missed a day of work yet and Ive been working at home for over 4 years. I talk to customers everyday, my employees and of course other business owners. There is never any traffic on my commute to work, I simply walk down the stairs and around the corner and sit down in my office. Think how free and clear our roads would be if no one had to drive to work? Of course that will never happen but its a nice idea. And in regards to having no one to talk to that is of course not true. Because I have my own business I have time to enjoy other things in life. I can meet a friend for lunch. I play in a womens volleyball league and my favorite pastime is paragliding. The feeling of flying through the air with nothing but a parachute over your head and the wind in your face is sadly something that most people will never experience. I for one am hooked. And Ive never met a nicer group of people. In fact from a business standpoint, Ive gotten some of my best ideas from other business owners who were also pilots.

Anyone can start a business

In todays world of infinite free information ANYONE can start a business. There is so much information online that you can literally find anything you need. Im amazed each day by the number of people who come onto my companies live support service to ask basic questions that they could easily find online. I think our schools have failed us as students by not teaching us how to find the information we need. Isnt it more important to know how to find the information you need rather then memorizing information? The web is a wealth of information and if you know where to look you can find the information you need.

Like millions of other Americans I run my business from my home. This is my second business, the first one did not succeed but along the way in the first business I learned valuable lessons and even came up with the idea that eventually led to the now successfull Easystorecreator.com. You cannot be afraid to try, the experience and knowledge gained from an unsuccessfull venture can lead to other excellent ideas for new businesses. If you arent sure if the new business will work or not keep your current job and work on the new business on weekends and at night. Initially if you keep your costs low you can take as long as you need to develop the business and learn along the way as you go.