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IE 8 Web Slices Explained

IE 8 has a cool new feature that some websites can and should use, it is called a web slice. In essence a web slice is a small section of your page that you update either manually with HTML or dynamically with a script and allow a reader to subscribe to that snippet. 

Our web slice page.
Our web slice page.

By subscribing to this special snippet, readers can see any new entries you add to your web slice section in their browser instantly when you add to or update them.

Here is an example on one of my own pages. On the right of the content you will see a gray box that says “MWS New QL Template Features”. If you mouse over this box and have IE 8, a green icon will show to the top left of the content. Additionally, take a quick look in the browser bar and you will see a new green web slice icon has also been illuminated. If you mouse over the slice box in the content you can choose to subscribe to this snippet. IE will place a link to this snippet over just above the tabs on your browser pages.

Once you have subscribed, anytime I change this section on my site, add a new link, a new photo, etc. your browser link will show the new updated content. You can view the content on demand. If you ever want to remove this code snippet. Just right click the item above the tabs and select delete.

I have to say I spent a few hours learning how to set up and style the snippet initially to make it look good. Here is a great tutorial on how to make the code that I used at CODE Magazine. The code is pretty straight forward. What took time was to figure out how to style the snippet that showed in IE.

I found the first div tag controls the font color, size, and background. If you do not style this first div tag IE will pick up your own website body tag background and coloring which in some cases can be a problem. Testing and tweaking to style it properly may take a bit of time using trial and error, but once you get it, you will be able to quickly add the same syntax to other pages or web slices on your website.

How would a website use web slices?

Well, the possibilities are endless! Some sites may choose to show current coupon codes, showcase new features, highlight new products, introduce specials or other timely information. You don’t need to programmatically insert information. Once your “shell” is styled and set up to your liking you can embed this on any page and just change the content using regular HTML.

Take a look at my web slice page, subscribe to it, and see what you think.

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PayPal Versus Google AdWords

I wanted to bring to your attention some issues in using PayPal and tracking conversions on sales on Google AdWords in this issue.

Right now with PayPal, if the user selects to purchase with their PayPal account they will be automatically be redirected back to your selected landing page in which you have embedded your Google AdWords conversion tracking code. However, if the customer selects to pay by credit card (not the one tied to their PayPal account), they will no longer be automatically redirected to your landing page accruing a conversion. For this type of user, your buyer must now click an orange button to return to your website on their order confirmation page.

If they perform this action, they will go to your landing page and a Google AdWords conversion will be recorded. If they choose not to click the orange button to return to your site, the sale is recorded, but a conversion for Google AdWords is not recorded. This is a very big problem for any client who is using PayPal and then marketing these services on Google AdWords and really needs to know conversion statistics.

As a Professional Google AdWords Account Manager I will not be recommending that clients use PayPal if they are promoting their items on AdWords unless they are using a third party PayPal Web Pro integrated shopping cart. As an account manager, the recording of conversions is one of our biggest tools to understanding if the advertising spend on AdWords is an investment or an expense.

So what can you do if this is a problem for you?

1. In your PayPal settings you can force all users to use either their PayPal account or set one up. This means they will be redirected at the completion of the order to your conversion tracking landing page.

2. You can move to a different credit card processing program – I use Sage Payment for my online credit card transactions. Although PayPal makes it very easy to do online transactions, the issues in regards to accurate conversion tracking may force you to use an alternative service. 

3. You may even want to test, for two weeks or so, forcing customers to use their PayPal account for transactions online and see if you receive complaints. The reality is that most people who do buy online at some point have set up a PayPal account, but for some reason may not want to use it. If tracking a conversion is crucial to your business, you may need to force them to use their PayPal account to shop on your site.

It is easy to change this one setting (forced use of the buyers PayPal account) in your PayPal account settings and easy to undo as well. If you choose not to do this, you and your AdWords account manager simply need to be aware that some sales simply will not be recorded as AdWords conversions. If that is the case, AdWords conversions and overall sales should be evaluated together when reviewing the success of an AdWords program. The big draw back to all of this is that your statistical data on which keywords convert for you and which do not will not be accurate.

I wish these work arounds were not needed, as the redirect issue has not been an issue before, but for some reason PayPal has decided to make these important changes in the order confirmation page that impact conversion tracking forcing us to look for alternatives to their service.

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Totally Off Topic For a Change – I’m Going to Russia!

My Mom is taking me on a trip to Moscow and St. Petersburg via a small cruise ship on several Russian rivers. The trip is almost 14 days long. We’re going in the mid summer season of 2010. Who knew that you had to get a Visa to go to Russia? I personally think that in today’s world of global travel getting a Visa is simply a $200+ tax to go visit their country. I personally don’t know of too many other countries that require a Visa, but I’m sure that there are some.

I casually asked our travel agent about shots and was directed to the CDC website where I am glad I have started a year out as I have to get Hepatitis A (2 shot series), Hepatitis B (2 shot series), Tetanus, Typhoid, and a booster on Mumps, Measles, Rubella, and Polio. Good grief! I got three shots this past week and both of my arms are so sore that you’d better not brush up against me or I will have to literally howl in pain. You’d have thought that I was going to the ends of the Earth to have this shot list, but I am visiting small villages in Russia and the CDC says that if so, you need these extra immunity protections.

I feel like maybe I should be learning some kind of conversational Russian. Who wants to go as the “Ugly American”? I have experienced, by traveling abroad widely, that if you make an honest effort to speak in the native language that your experience and interaction with others is much more special and meaningful. So, I will have to start checking my library for Russian language tapes. I don’t think I will be able to learn the alphabet so I am just focusing on knowing how to say some important phrases. At least that’s a start!

My husband and I are taking our whole family to Paris, France and then to Brussels, Belgium this summer as well and so I am working hard to brush up my French as I had been a fluent speaker. I had lived for a year with a French speaking family in Brussels my senior year in high school with the AFS foreign exchange program. Maybe I will be able to use French in Russia as well.

If you have any tips on traveling to Russia or where a family of six should stay in Paris, take just a moment and click comments below and give me your tips. I would be most grateful!

Next week I am off to the San Francisco area to watch my husband get his MBA degree from the Navy Post Graduate School in Monterey, California. We’re turning our trip into a mini-vacation with my Mom watching the kids for a week. I’ll be back in full force the week of the 28th, but please come back and visit our blog next week as I have already written and scheduled some great content pieces to keep you entertained and educated.

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The Power of Facebook

This just happened to me last week and I wanted to share the situation as an illustration of how Facebook can bring you business.

I worked with a client several years ago. Recently we connected on Facebook. We really did not have much interaction, but we were Facebook Friends. I noticed the other day that he had posted on his wall that he was having a very serious health issue and was worried. I posted a note on his wall in support and as I am a Christian I offered to pray for his need and family. I followed the progress of his situation closely and actively prayed as he went through his testing and diagnosis. Everything turned out fine fortunately for him and that was a blessing for both of us.

By sharing his need, he had a well spring of concerned friends on Facebook rise up to help pray for his need and offer emotional support. This was a wonderful blessing to both him and to his friends who read the messages of support from his Facebook community.

What happened through our online exchange afterward though proves the real power of connecting and sharing using Facebook.

In my specific case this previous client, due to our recent interaction then referred another colleague to me for services and then approached me to do more work for his own website and book project. Now, I did not post to his Facebook wall to get business, but to express a heartfelt concern for him, but when people connect, they sometimes like to do business together. This is the power of Facebook. Facebook provides an environment to share, to connect, to help. In doing so you can sometimes reap the rewards of a connection with increased business opportunities.

If you are not showing the “real” you on Facebook, now’s the time to drop your “corporate mask” and stretch yourself. People want to connect with the you on Facebook give it a try and  you may find out as I have, that Facebook can definitely bring you business.