WaratahWeb Blog

Business Catalyst V3 - take a look

Mon, 12 Mar 2012 04:41:00 GMT

This month saw the beta* release of Business Catalyst’s new user interface - Business Catalyst V3. In this version, you will see a significant change to the user interface that appears when you login to the admin area. The new interface lays the foundation for Adobe’s future enhancements to the product.

To see the new version login to the Admin area of your existing BC website and click on the “V3 Preview” button in the top right corner of the screen.

The new interface will continue to run alongside the old version for quite some time. If you switch to the new user interface, the system will remember the selection next time you login. However, you can still switch back to V2 by clicking on the button top right of the screen.

We’ve been using the new interface for the past few months and we’re very impressed by the clean, slick looking design. We’re confident you will find it to be intuitive and easy to use.

Take a look at Business Catalyst V3 and tell us what you think. If you need any training or advice on the new interface, please be sure to submit a request through our Help Desk and we’ll be in touch.

It’s great to see Business Catalyst moving forwards to ensure the product stays ahead of the competition. There are exciting times ahead with many more new features scheduled for release as part of Adobe’s long term development plan of the product.

We’ll keep you updated with progress on the V3 release. If you have any questions, be sure to contact our friendly team.

(*Beta means the first version of the software released for the purpose of evaluation – it’s still in development)

Sitelinks in Google Search Results

Thu, 29 Dec 2011 13:14:00 GMT

A few month's ago, Google announced on its Webmaster Central Blog they had improved the way in which sitelinks are displayed in search results. Sitelinks are the short hyperlinks that appear underneath a website's listing. They are displayed according to what Google thinks is most relevant to your search term and enable you to click directly to deeper pages on a website. You'll see sitelinks when you search for brand-related terms such as a company's name. For example, here are the sitelinks as they currently display when searching for "WaratahWeb" ...

As you can see, Google's new changes make sitelinks more organised and more visible - they apply only to organic search results (PPC Adwords ads are not affected) - and include part of the meta description, address of each page and short description.

It's worth checking your own company listing to see what Google is returning in sitelinks. If you want to control what's being displayed, make sure your page titles, addresses and meta descriptions are sharp, informative and make sense, not just to the search engines, but to humans as well.

You can also change the particular pages being displayed through Webmaster Tools.

Merry Xmas!

Thu, 29 Dec 2011 12:25:00 GMT

To our valued clients and associates, we'd like to wish you all Merry Xmas and Happy Holidays!

Our office will be closed from Monday 26th December 2011 through to Friday 6th January 2012 - we'll be back on board on Monday 9th January.

Thanks for all your support in 2011 - we look forward to working with you all again in the New Year, with loads of exciting things in the pipeline for Business Catalyst and WaratahWeb!

Stay safe!

New Payment Gateway Integration for European clients

Thu, 08 Sep 2011 13:19:00 GMT

We are happy to announce the addition of the Ogone payment gateway to Business Catalyst. Ogone is one of the leading European Payment Service Providers in Europe. Ogone is a "seamless" payment gateway that will allow customers to process one-off or recurring payments for the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and France.

For more information about the Ogone payment gateway, please visit: http://www.ogone.com/

Easy and Cost-effective Web Video

Sun, 26 Jun 2011 13:19:00 GMT

If you don't have the budget to get a website video produced by a professional, then Animoto might be an option for you. With Animoto, you can create simple yet professional looking video slideshows using static images or existing video clips. You can produce something in no time at all and easily add the final video to your website by copying and pasting a small snippet of code.

I managed to create a short 30 second video showcasing some of our sites in less than 10 minutes! And even then, I probably spent a little too long selecting the music track. See below.

Have fun :)

Create your own video slideshow at animoto.com.

4800 Websites Disappear! Could this happen to BC Sites?

Fri, 24 Jun 2011 10:45:00 GMT

By now you might have heard the devastating news about DistributeIT, a leading Australian domain & website host who fell victim to a malicious hacking, causing close to 5000 websites to be wiped off the Internet. My heart goes out to these businesses :(

So could this happen to sites hosted by Adobe Business Catalyst? Well, you can never say never, BUT the chances are extremely miniscule. Here's some information about Adobe's website hosting infrastructure and what you can do to further safeguard your data. I'll try not to get too technical, but this is one of those times when I need to include some techo terms.

Adobe Business Catalyst's data centres have a highly fault-tolerant server configuration. Traffic to the web servers is managed by a redundant pair of hardware 'load balancers' - this means that in the event of a server failure, traffic is immediately and transparently distributed to other servers in the pool. For database servers, there is instant fail-over to a mirror server for each database. Site assets such as images, scripts, etc are stored on a NAS (Network Attached Storage) device which is essentially a separate hard disk with fault-tolerant disk configuration and redundant control units.

In case of malfunction, firewalls and other network hardware are also installed in redundant pairs for immediate fail-over. The data centers are also connected to the Internet through multiple links from different Internet service providers and this provides added reliability.

Adobe Business Catalyst also perform regular full backups of the servers. However, it is important to note that data recovery cannot be initiated for individual file backups, in other words, to restore a single web page that you might have deleted accidentally. The backups are intended to perform 'full recovery' of the servers in the event of a hardware or software failure only.

What YOU can do to further safeguard your data...

At an individual site level, we recommend you retain a copy of your site's files and data locally. This includes:

- Your website pages, images and templates
- Your customer records
- Your Web App records (if you are using this functionality on BC)

Unfortunately, there isn't a magic button you can click inside your BC admin area to perform a backup of your site, however, you do have the following options available:

1) You can use FTP software to copy your web pages, templates, and layouts as often as you see fit. There are plenty of free FTP tools available and many are very easy to use.

Here's a couple you can try:

Windows: Coffee Cup http://www.coffeecup.com/free-ftp/
Mac: Classic FTP http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/internet_utilities/classicftpformac.html

There are more listed in the following BC knowledgebase article, as well as information on how to connect to your site using FTP software: http://kb.worldsecuresystems.com/153/bc_153.html

2) You can use BC's built-in Customer Report Generator which allows you to export all customer related information at your convenience. In the admin area of the site go to ...

Reports > Create a Customer Report and follow the wizard steps.
OR
Customers > Customers and click Export at the bottom of the screen.

3) For those sites using BC's Web App functionality (for example, you have a database to handle Job postings, Property listings etc) you can also export a copy of your Web App database at any time, go to ...

Modules > Web Apps > Manage Web Apps.
Click on the Web App to open and click "Download Entire Web App Item List".

4) For those customers with very complex sites, there is another option to maintain a replica using BC's Notifications and Web Services API's. This involves additional programming to build the bridge between your site and another database, so please contact WaratahWeb to discuss.

In the pipeline ...

To further assist, a comprehensive site backup and transfer tool – where you can download the BC site into an archive and be able to upload it again as a whole complete BC site – is currently in development by Adobe BC. We haven't been given an ETA for this as yet, but we'll certainly keep you posted.

I hope the above information is helpful and if you need any assistance, be sure to contact us.

Sydney Morning Herald article: 4800 Aussie Sites Evaporate After Hack
http://www.smh.com.au/technology/security/4800-aussie-sites-evaporate-after-hack-20110621-1gd1h.html

BC sites migrated to a brand new data centre

Sun, 17 Apr 2011 13:48:00 GMT

One of the great things about having a Business Catalyst website is knowing that you're in good hands. As a hosted solution, you don't have to worry about upgrading servers or installing the latest update for your Content Management software... this is all taken care of by Adobe. This is one of the main reasons why we chose to partner with Adobe Business Catalyst and build websites on this powerful platform.

When a business has to manage these things themselves in order to keep their website up and running, it can become a headache. Sites built with open-source software might be free ... but don't be fooled! Unless you have a great team to support you, it can also be a nightmare to manage the technology and get the support you need, when you need it.

Recently, Adobe migrated all Business Catalyst websites hosted in the UK and Australia to their new state-of-the-art data centres based in Ultimo, Sydney and Dublin, Ireland. Whilst there was a small amount of downtime in the early hours on a Sunday morning during which time the sites were being copied across to the servers, there was little else the client had to worry about. The migration was planned and executed without any fuss and client's had their sites back up and running in no time at all. In fact, most clients' were completely oblivious to the whole process. And quite frankly, that's how it should be with no disruption to their day to day business.

The migration to the new data centres has given our client's vastly improved performance and reliability. Pages load super fast which improves the browsing experience for site visitors.

In the next few month's, Adobe will also migrate all BC sites hosted in the USA to a new data centre and we're confident it will happen without any glitches, just as the Aussie and UK migrations have done.

On a side note...

Did you know that improving page load speeds can improve your search engine rankings? Why? Because faster loading pages means your visitors will hang around longer on your site and in Google's eyes that means your content must be more relevant to them. When pages load slowly on a site, a visitor will rarely stick around to wait and see what you have on offer if they are just surfing. Keep that in mind.

New website for Votwo UK

Sun, 17 Apr 2011 13:14:00 GMT

Votwo is one of our UK clients. They provide coaching, sports science services and challenging outdoor events for anyone wanting to test themselves and improve their performance.

The site was given a major overhaul and the new design shows a dramatic improvement in the site's visual appeal and overall layout. Not only that, but the functionality on Business Catalyst allows the company to easily manage and showcase their events and various coaching sessions.

A Web App was built to display and dynamically update Event listings and banners on the site and the Bookings module was customised for the Coaching sessions. Their site has been integrated with a seamless payment gateway (SagePay) allowing customers to pay for the coaching sessions online.

The email marketing functionality on Business Catalyst is also being put to good use on this site and WaratahWeb created an email marketing template to match their unique site design.

Be sure to check out the Votwo site, and if you're based in the UK and feeling adventurous I highly recommend you attend one of their events.

New website for Offshore Unlimited

Sun, 17 Apr 2011 12:51:00 GMT

WaratahWeb is proud to announce the launch of a new website for Offshore Unlimited. Based in Hobart, Offshore Unlimited services its clients needs in Australian waters with its modern fleet of offshore support vessels. They operate from the ports servicing Australia's oil and gas industry.

Appealing to their target market, their site has an appropriate oceanic theme. It utilises Business Catalyst's Web App functionality to allow the team at Offshore Unlimited to easily add new vessels which dynamically update on their web pages. They are also pleased to have more control over the site's content with the content management features.

Take a look at their site in action - visit OffshoreUnlimited.com.au

Our new office

Sun, 17 Apr 2011 14:00:00 GMT

We are very excited to announce that WaratahWeb recently relocated from a home-based office to a serviced office building in the Sutherland Shire. We're now proud tenants at the "SSHED", which stands for the Sutherland Shire Hub for Economic Development. An initiative of the Sutherland Shire Council, the facilities at the SSHED are state-of-the-art and it's wonderful to be a part of it. We've enjoyed meeting the other businesses who have grown since moving into the SSHED and we look forward to a bright future for WaratahWeb.

Be sure to give us a call and arrange to pop-in for a coffee - we'd be happy to show you around our lovely building.

Online Business Tip: Websites Don't Run Themselves

Tue, 03 Aug 2010 13:15:00 GMT

There's a common misconception among many solo entrepreneurs and small businesses that creating a website replaces customer service. Although websites do help customers find information they need about your product or service, you still need real people working behind your website if you want to succeed online.

The Adobe Business Catalyst system is a great platform for your online business, being an all-in-one feature rich system with many integrated tools to run a successful online business ... BUT no matter how sophisticated the technology might be, the website won't run itself! It's the personal touches and quick responses to your customers that make a website work and turn visitors into customers.

The standard acceptable time to return a business email is said to be between 24 and 72 hours. Take any longer than that and you have most likely lost the customer. If you don't have the human resources to return emails or phone calls to customers in this timeframe then you might want to rethink your online marketing strategy. And even though the Business Catalyst platform allows you to setup several automated responses, you can't depend on those to answer specific questions from customers. They are still looking for that human touch, even through a computer monitor :)

Your website content needs links

Tue, 03 Aug 2010 13:02:00 GMT

When clients' send us their website content, we often find it's written with a print mindset. Web content is different from print content. The fundamental difference is that Web content can have multiple links, whereas print content is linear.

Linking is a very important part of your Web page content - it's the call to action.

Your web page links might include things such as:

You can find out more here
Contact us for more information
Buy now and get 20% off!
Sign-up today and download our free ebook ...
Subscribe to our newsletter for the latest product updates

If your web pages haven't got these call to actions, then start adding them in! One of the great things about having an Adobe Business Catalyst website is that you can easily edit your web page content - so you have no excuse.

Happy linking!

Welcome to our shiny new website

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 11:47:00 GMT

Well here it is... finally!! WaratahWeb's new website with a brand new design, video and plenty more information for our visitors. Be sure to check out our new Business Catalyst Features section, and also our FAQs -- we have lots more to add to this section over the coming weeks. In addition, we're currently working on the Customer Zone which we hope to release early in the new year.

We hope you like the new site. If there's anything you'd like to comment on, be sure to send us an email.

Breaking News - Adobe buys Business Catalyst

Sun, 01 Nov 2009 04:56:00 GMT

Well, not exactly ... as you may be aware, Bloomkit has always been WaratahWeb's branding for the Business Catalyst solution that we develop websites on, but our headline is not far from the truth. On August 29th, Adobe acquired Business Catalyst!!

For more than 25 years, Adobe has revolutionised the way the world engages with ideas and information. They are a BIG player in the web industry with products like Dreamweaver, Photoshop, Flash and Illustrator to name a few. Business Catalyst will complement their existing tools and services for the web and strengthen their software as a service (SaaS) offering.

So what does it mean for WaratahWeb and our customers you might ask?

For our customers, we don't anticipate any interruptions to the service. The system will continue to run at full steam, business as usual. The entire management team at Business Catalyst (BC) will remain intact and continue to manage and grow the system with the support of the wider Adobe organisation.

For WaratahWeb, we've made the decision to transition from the Bloomkit brand, instead we'll call it what it is ... Business Catalyst. It makes more sense to stick with this brand, and with Adobe's backing, it is sure to become more well-known in the marketplace in the very near future. WaratahWeb will be known as an Adobe Business Catalyst Partner.

The only change you will see in the coming weeks is the "rebranding" of the website administration console. The Bloomkit system will operate exactly as before, but workflow notifications, the admin console and the login screen will include the WaratahWeb/Business Catalyst branding.

So as far as we're concerned ... the best just got better! As for the future, Adobe will continue to deliver improvements, new features, and more for the BC platform. We know one thing is for sure, there are a lot of exciting initiatives in the pipeline - we'll keep you posted on those!

If you have any questions, please be sure to contact us.

You Don't Need A Domain Name You Need Two

Sun, 24 May 2009 04:39:00 GMT

Let me explain:

A domain name is very different to a company name. Although you should have as close to your company name (or its abbreviation) as you can get, there is another audience you need to think about – the search engines. A domain name is a very good ingredient to help your site rank highly in your most important keyword or keyphrase.

So let's say your business is a restaurant called Zoe's Italian Restaurant in the Sydney CBD and the keywords most of your market are searching are: italian restaurant sydney. Having the domain name: zoesitalianrestaurantsydney.com.au might work ok for the search engines, but it is too much of a mouthful to tell your customers on the phone and much too long for your business cards.

You can point any number of domains to a website as 'aliases' of the main domain, so why not have two? In this case, register zoes.com.au or zoesitalian.com.au or zoessydney.com.au and the generic search domain: italianrestaurantsydney.com.au and if that domain is already taken, try spacing the words with hyphens: italian-restaurant-sydney.com.au. You can also try and get the .net.au domain as an alternative too.

When you set up your website (or your webmaster does), submit your search engine friendly domain to directories and search engines and give your human friendly name out in business cards, on the phone, in advertisements etc, and use it for your email.

Don't worry about your business name not coming up in searches, there is far less competition for your unique business name than for your industry, so the copy on your website should ensure it is placed highly in the results page.

If you're not sure what the best keyword phrase is for your business (the one that is searched the most), ask your webmaster, or the person who is doing your Search Engine Optimisation. That subject alone would take a whole article to cover.

Mike Barker
Internet Business Consultant
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