The 'How We Do It' Blog

Background:
The AABFJ (Australasian Accounting Business and Finance Journal) is a double blind peer reviewed academic journal published by the University of Wollongong. I was approached by the founding editor-in-chief, Dr Ciorstan Smark, to format and edit submitted papers in the early days after the original editor could no longer. I performed this role for two years.

Implementation:
The first step was to format the plain Word documents that were accepted for publication. These could have any combination of font, font size and margin applied, so these were the first items to be standardised — all pages and all papers to be published. To each I then added the AABFJ logo to the first page and applied styles to the title, headings, sub-headings, paragraphs and bullet lists:

And because this is a journal, additional formatted was needed, such as inclusion of keywords and formatting all citations and references to comply with the UOW Harvard referencing style.

The next step was to edit the content. This included the routine fixing of typographical and grammatical errors, of course. But English was not a first language for many authors, so sentences and paragraphs were also reworded and rearranged where appropriate for easier reading.

In Conclusion:
I’ll let Dr Smark’s testimonial speak here:

Kristi has now edited and prepared proofs for several issues of AABFJ (Australasian Accounting Business and Finance Journal). Kristi’s academic background and experience make her easy to work with from an academic journal’s point of view because she understands the conventions of academic publishing and writing.

Kristi has very good attention to detail and is always prompt and professional in her work which makes working with her a very pleasant experience.

Yours sincerely,

(signed)
Dr Ciorstan Smark
Editor in chief – AABFJ

If you have your own journal or magazine, whatever its audience, and need technical assistance with formatting and editing, by all means don’t hesitate to get in touch!

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Disclosure: Optimate Group Pty Ltd has an interest in The International Alpaca Reference Library.

Background:
A long-time client (Ian) rang out of the blue and asked if I’d like to set up an online library for alpaca breeders, and I said ’sure!’. Ian knew what he wanted, but was very happy to leave all the implementation to me — we have worked with each other for years and he trusted me implicitly to git ’er done. (This eventually evolved into a partnership: Ian’s contribution was to source all the articles and mine was to put everything together.)

Analysis:
The site was to be the definitive reference site (library) for all alpaca-related information and scientific research, and would rely on funds from sponsorships, donations, and running advertisements for ongoing maintenance.

Ian provided links to a plethora of alpaca-related articles and research papers via Word docs. I needed a way to collate those links in a way that was ordered and logical, as in a library, and which didn’t breach copyright or was plagiarism. These articles also needed to be found easily with a search function. Writing the software from scratch was possible, but was not a viable option owing to time and costs involved. And because this was a site for alpaca breeders, and this was around the time the Facebook–Cambridge Analytica data scandal was in the news, we thought it worth adding an online community/forum for the intended readership, which was guaranteed to protect people’s privacy.

The Approach:
The obvious and only choice for me was the excellent Content Management System (CMS) software, b2evolution. It took no time to install and within a day I had the basic structure fleshed out. This included a custom home page, two library sections, a page which recognised all supporters, a page which recognised all advertisers, and a forum. I also added a page advising how people could sponsor, donate, or otherwise advertise on the site, and linked that to an OpenCart ecommerce installation for taking payments online. (The lack of inbuilt ecommerce functionality is the only downside to b2evolution in my mind, but even that is now a promised feature on its way I hear!)

The software comes with a ‘manual’ interface, which made the collation of articles a breeze. I could create any number of categories and sub-categories, each of which then displayed a list of relevant articles or papers by title and a text snippet. Clicking on a title displayed more information again, such as the author, date of publication, name of publication, and a larger text snippet. A link to the full article or paper was provided for people to follow if interested.

b2evolution made it very easy to organise and display sponsors’ and others’ advertisements. The same ads were displayed together on the aforementioned sponsors and advertisers pages, further displayed by category within those dedicated pages, and were further again displayed individually in dedicated positions on all other pages. It was also a simple matter to have ads appear in a randomised order, which ensured all advertisers had an equal chance of being in the number one (or only) spot for any given page view.

In Conclusion:
Having access to the wonderful b2evolution CMS saved countless hours of time in development. Using that time to build the site, rather than its foundation. was far more productive and rewarding. Indeed, it took much much longer adding the content than setting up the site itself — and that site was a rather involved and sophisticated project in the grand scheme of things.

The only aspect b2evolution couldn’t handle was the ecommerce requirement, but that may soon be a problem of the past, and our go-to ecommerce software OpenCart more than adequately fills that role in the meantime. Apart than that, b2evolution readily handled every other need we could throw at it, with plenty of room left over for even more large-scale upsizing if required. For example, the forum never really took off despite our best efforts — Facebook probably won out in the end — but if it had, one idea we had was to offer regular/popular/informative posters their own blogging platform on the Library site. And we could do this for any number of guest bloggers without b2evolution breaking stride, it really is that powerful. I’ll be writing more about this software — you may have gathered by now that I am quite enamoured of it!

Please get in touch if you’d like a similar set up for your own needs. We can make it as simple or as sophisticated as you need from the outset, and the beauty of a powerful CMS like b2evolution is that the site can grow as you grow, without any compromise in performance, as this case study has shown. All support offered should you wish to maintain the site yourself, or we can do this on your behalf, whether fully or in part, in whichever way works best for you.

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Disclosure: Optimate Group Pty Ltd has a financial interest in The Jujube Tree Nursery.

Background:
The Jujube Tree Nursery is an online nursery specialising in the jujube tree. The history is here. This particular site was built to replace another site on another domain. We chose to use the b2evolution Content Management System (CMS) to build the site for several reasons I’ll cover in future posts, but primarily for its excellent blogging engine.

With the site built, and now being indexed by search engines, it was time to add that blog to further rank the site.

Analysis:
The tree appeals to exotic fruit tree enthusiasts, and enquirers often asked for information on how to grow and care for them. People who enjoy exotic plants are typically also well-read self-learners with deeper horticultural interests in general. The blog’s purpose was to not only answer growth and care questions, but to delve deeper on related topics such as soil science, plant nutrients, and botany that could also be of interest. I also planned to draw on my background in biochemistry and soil microbiology to explain more fully topics that were often glossed over or mentioned briefly in the ‘mainstream’ garden genre.

A weekly posting schedule was decided upon. This both enabled more content to be published more quickly, as well as provided more content for search engines to index more quickly.

The Approach:
This was going to be a very broad and deep section of the site, but ultimately this was a site that sold jujube trees, so some basic information on the species was a natural starting point. The first few posts covered some history and basic information on both the tree and the fruit, followed by planting, potting and climate information. By then the trees were entering dormancy and that became a good reason to focus more on subjects like soil science, which could help people better understand and prepare their own soil over autumn and winter prior to winter deliveries of bare-rooted stock. Posts have mostly been seasonally-driven since.

In Conclusion:
The blog was added in February 2019 and has since grown into a comprehensive resource for more than just jujube trees, and which attracts a sizeable readership. Some readers are semi-regular commenters, while others have made contact privately. Most are anonymous but the server logs attest to their numbers. I must admit that this blog has also become a very rewarding intellectual output for me personally, and some people have told me how evident that passion is, which is just amazing feedback to have!

Please get in touch if you’d like your own blog set up. We can install and set everything up to your requirements, and can suggest categories and topics that would be of interest to your readers. We can additionally do the research and writing on your behalf, or simply format and post on your behalf if you’d rather send your own writing via Word documents or emails.

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Disclosure: Optimate Group Pty Ltd has a financial interest in The Jujube Tree Nursery.

Background:
The Jujube Tree Nursery is an online nursery specialising in the jujube tree. The history is here. This particular site was built to replace a previous site under a different domain. The previous site has been around since 2011, was well-known to search engines, and had been ranking well for particular searches, but a new domain was needed to reflect the change in business direction.

The Problem to Solve:
We didn’t want the old site to remain live, and had completely new content for the new site. But if we terminated the old site we would lose years of search engine indexing, and it would be as if that site had never existed. Similarly, creating a new site for the new domain would require time for it and its new content to become known to search engines. We needed the reputation of the old site to be transferred to the new site, and quickly.

The Solution:
We run our own web hosting company, and with our hosting knowledge set up what are known as 301 redirections from addresses on the old domain to ones on the new domain. In simpler terms, these are instructions that tell search engines the first domain is no longer active, and to follow the redirections to the new domain to begin indexing that.

In Conclusion:
The new site was found — and indexed — very quickly. The new site was live late November 2018, and took its first order within a week. The nest step was to add a blog, and the case study of that is the subject of the next post.

Would you like help moving an existing site, and making the move as seamless and streamlined as possible? Please don’t hesitate to get in touch if so!

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Disclosure: Optimate Group Pty Ltd has a financial interest in Australian Botanical Art.

Background:
Australian Botanical Art is an ecommerce web site that was developed in partnership with artist (and relation) Maurice Hayler in 2012. With nothing but search engine optimisation, the site was selling consistently three months after the launch date.

The site had been upgraded several times since with software releases, and a blogging engine was part of a more recent upgrade. This was an ideal opportunity to expand on the search engine optimisation and promote the prints further.

Analysis:
Purchasers of the prints have interests in three broad areas: art, Australian flora, and home décor. Blog content can be created that caters to those interests.

The Approach:
Three blog categories were created: The Stories Behind the Flowers, Botanical Bits, and Art, Prints and Framing.

The first category is dedicated to Maurice’s charming narratives on how he found the subjects for his artwork. These posts are not only authentic accounts that add character and backstory to the prints, but which also link to related articles that further share his adventures with readers. Each post additionally links to the prints should a reader wish to purchase them.

The other two categories are less personable but more practical, in that they offer information a reader could apply in their own life. Examples include a post explaining scientific (binomial) names, and a post on the importance of acid-free framing.

In Conclusion:
Adding a blog to the site proved a rewarding intellectual output, and there is potential for the site to grow beyond an ecommerce site. More posts on more subjects still need to be written, but the diverse interests the site caters to means there’s no shortage of material in the forseeable future!

Please get in touch if you’d like help identifying blog topics for your own website. We can even write the content on your behalf if so desired.

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Disclosure: Optimate Group Pty Ltd has a financial interest in Australian Botanical Art.

Background:
Australian Botanical Art is an ecommerce web site that was developed in partnership with artist (and relation) Maurice Hayler in 2012. This brand-new site at the time had no social media behind it (and still doesn’t), was completely unknown, and needed to rank in search engines if people were to find it.

Analysis:
The prints are truly beautiful, and Maurice’s art appeals strongly to people who appreciate the unique beauty of Australian flora. Each print displays both the common name and scientific name of the subject flower, which further increases appeal to those with a botanical background or interest. (Purchasers have included botanists and overseas tourists seeking a reminder of their Australian wildflower experiences.)

Such people tend to be very well-read and self-learners. It made sense to cater to such an audience, and this became the focus of our search engine optimisation work.

The Approach:
Each product on the site is a print of an Australian flower, known by both a common name (eg Ashby’s Banksia) and a scientific name (eg Banskia ashbyi). Each product thus has a title that incorporates both names and a unique web page address (known as a unique search engine-friendly url) that also includes both names. Each product’s description further includes detailed botanical information, such as the family, genus and species to which it belongs, and the meanings of these. (Please see here for an example as to how this was done.)

Botanically-minded people are likely to search for any combination of these details, and do, as evidenced by the server logs.

And a scientific background ensured attention to detail when naming species correctly — there are strict rules — which was absolutely essential if wishing to appeal to botanically-minded people!

In Conclusion:
The site was launched in mid April 2012, and through nothing but this search engine optimisation, was selling consistently three months later. It possibly could have been selling earlier with a social media presence, but to be honest social media just isn’t our thing and we can’t get into it. (We also find it an incredible time-suck!)

We really do prefer to spend the time researching, writing, and building a web presence the slower more conventional way — but that’s just us and there is no reason why this slower approach can’t be done in conjunction with an active social media campaign done by others for faster results. Social media is great for interaction with an existing audience, while slower methods such as search engine optimisation is great for attracting new customers, that may then choose to join your social media audience.

Please do get in touch if you need help with your own search engine optimisation. We can also help with any tech writing that would advance this if so desired.

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Disclosure: Optimate Group Pty Ltd has a financial interest in Australian Botanical Art.

Background:
Australian Botanical Art is an ecommerce web site that was developed in partnership with artist (and relation) Maurice Hayler in 2012. With nothing but search engine optimisation, the site was selling consistently three months after the launch date.

The site originally offered a range of 35 individual prints, six diptych sets, and three triptych sets. Each of these were available in three different standard frame sizes (5″ × 7″, 8″ × 10″, and A4). Ordering was simply a matter of choosing the prints of interest, and the size required. The price changed in real-time depending on the size chosen.

Shortly thereafter we introduced the option of buying the same prints pre-matted and on acid-free backing ready to frame, in two standard frame sizes (5″ × 7″ with 8″ × 10″ mat and backing, and A4 with 12″ × 16″ mat and backing) and one non-standard size (8″ × 10″ with 12″ × 14″ mat and backing).

Suddenly ordering became more ‘messy’, as the customer not only had to choose a size, but whether to purchase with or without a mat and backing, and with the price changing in real-time on-screen depending on the choices.

The Problem to Solve:
The site continues to rank well to this day, but was becoming harder to navigate and less easy to use with an increased product range and purchasing options. The site would become harder again to navigate with the introduction of another five diptychs and the planned introduction of another two sizes with mat options.

It was vital that the site become more streamlined before these new items were added.

The Solution:
The site had always been organised by print, with size and mat listed as options. A Banksia print, for example, would display with a choice of three size options and whether supplied as a flat sheet or with a mat and backing. That was six possible combinations, for one item, on one page!

So I considered breaking the site into two, with a ‘Flat Prints’ section and a ‘Prints with Mat’ section. This left size as the only option to choose from when on a product page, and was an attempt to return to how the site was originally. But this still didn’t feel right. A customer, on seeing the home page, still had to decide which section to explore first, and would have to go back and change the order completely if they changed their mind. They may not even know those options existed should they land on a different page via a search engine result.

Then I realised that each print (and diptych and triptych) could be its own section! I knew straight away that that was the approach to take.

Implementation:
The solution was simple, but implementing it took three weeks of solid work — not in one block but spread over several months to fit around existing clients’ projects of higher priority. (This was our own site and thus took second-fiddle.)

This effort was well-worth it! The home page now lists an image of each print, diptych and triptych on one easy to scroll through page. A customer can now click on a flower of interest, without first having to decide if they want a flat print or one with mat and backing. Once they have selected a flower, they are immediately presented with some botanical information about that flower, followed by images of all size and mat options in one spot. All sizes and prices are visible from the outset, without having to select an option for these to update in real time. There is also a link to a size guide page for more information should it be needed.

In Conclusion:
The site is far more appealing and intuitive to navigate. The five new diptychs were added seamlessly, and everything is now in place for when we are ready to add the two new sizes.

Please get in touch if you’d like your own ecommerce site assessed. We won’t offer fluff on whatever the latest trends and fads in web design are, but offer sound advice on the far more practical aspects of user experience .

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