Rich Evans - Click Here: Make the Internet Work for Your Business

Rich Evans

First published 2009 by Wrightbooks

an imprint of John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd

42 McDougall Street, Milton Qld 4064

Office also in Melbourne

Typeset in Berkeley LT 11.5pt/14.5pt

Rich Evans 2009

The moral rights of the author have been asserted

National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication data:

Author:Evans, Rich.

Title: Click Here / Rich Evans

ISBN: 9781742169491 (pbk.)

Notes: Includes index.

Subjects: Electronic commerce Australia.

Internet marketing.

Business enterprises Computer network.

Web sites Design.

Dewey Number: 658.800285

All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the Australian Copyright Act 1968 (for example, a fair dealing for the purposes of study, research, criticism or review), no part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, communicated or transmitted in any form or by any means without prior written permission. All inquiries should be made to the publisher at the address above.

Cover image Tumanyan / 2009 Used under license from Shutterstock.com

Printed in Australia by McPhersons Printing Group

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Disclaimer

The material in this publication is of the nature of general comment only, and does not represent professional advice. It is not intended to provide specific guidance for particular circumstances and it should not be relied on as the basis for any decision to take action or not take action on any matter which it covers. Readers should obtain professional advice where appropriate, before making any such decision. To the maximum extent permitted by law, the author and publisher disclaim all responsibility and liability to any person, arising directly or indirectly from any person taking or not taking action based upon the information in this publication.

Foreword

The internet is exploding in popularity, which makes this an important book. Every man and his dog is getting a website, but hardly anyone is building them right.

Every year, billions of dollars are being spent building new websites and much of it is wasted simply because business owners dont know whats really important in website design or what isnt. Thank goodness for Rich Evans, who has written a bulldust-free, easy-to-understand and simple-to-apply set of rules and ideas that will help anybody create an effective and lucrative website.

Rich Evans has spent 17 years in the online world (is the internet much older?) and has gained his rare form of online wisdom through trial and error, and, sometimes, through bitter experience. In this blunt yet entertaining book, he tells you much of what he knows about creating highly effective websites, so that you dont have to fork out hundreds of dollars to get one.

You may think that any web designer could tell you all this, but in actual fact, many would struggle. When it comes to web design, there are two predominant schools of thought. The first centres on pretty design, Flash graphics and fancy audio. The second is more concerned with maximising the number of people who visit your site, how long they stay and whether or not they return.

Rich Evans belongs very much in the second camp (although this book does include a lot of smart tips on how to make your site look nice, too) and so do I. Frankly, Im appalled by how many web design firms produce sites that are difficult to read, hard to navigate, dont sell much and are not optimised to improve search engine rankings. The result? Clients get a website that is nothing more than a digital brochure, which costs lots of money but rarely ever makes them any a case of the blind leading the blind, creating the bland.

The internet can do so much for your business, which makes your website too important to be put together in a shallow way. We are in desperate need of online educators such as Rich Evans to show people how things should be done must be done if we are to use the internet to its full potential that is, as the most effective communication medium ever invented.

Im confident that you will find Click Here not just a fascinating read, but also a powerful blueprint for all your online business and web development endeavours.

Siimon Reynolds

Co-founder of Photon Group, Australias largest marketing services company

About the author

Rich Evans has a career that spans more than 17 years in the design and marketing industries. He has spent the last 10 years running his own business REDD interactive which has built over 400 websites and assisted with numerous online startups. Rich has also personally designed branding for over 150 companies during his career.

Richs career has always involved both the technical and creative aspects of web design. Before the internet came around, he was involved in database publishing and dev-eloped complex programs for CD-ROM catalogues these being the precursor to the internet in terms of interface design. During the early years of the internet boom, Rich worked for a number of online agencies before the dotcom bust finally hit. Never one to see the glass half empty, he used this as an opportunity to establish his own business and has never looked back.

Over the last 10 years Rich has developed a reputation as a guru of customer-focused websites and has been referenced by best-selling business author Justin Herald as the only guy I will listen to. His unique approach to developing goal-driven online strategies, while maintaining a high level of design quality, is what led to the publication of this book, through which Rich hopes to assist business owners worldwide to make better use of their websites.

Rich is now a shareholder in many online-based businesses where he uses his creative skills to build a stronger company presence in the marketplace. His unique approach means that no matter how limited the budget is, any website hes involved in always looks world class.

Acknowledgements

I have dreamt of a moment such as this since I was a kid and wanted to grow up to be a rock star. Oh well author will do nicely!

Id like to thank my family who have lived the roller-coaster ride that is my life since the beginning you mean the world to me. Special thanks to my wife Kellie for supporting me no matter how outlandish my ideas may have seemed at times.

To my friend and mentor Justin Herald, thank you for push-ing me to go beyond where I thought was possible you have changed my life forever.

To the team at John Wiley & Sons: to Mary who was very encouraging with a new author and made the process so rewarding, and to Jana who makes me sound much smarter than I really am.

Lastly, to all the people I have had the pleasure of working with over the years who have taught me so much thank you.

Well, the music is playing, so lets get on with the show.