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Online Signatures – Here’s to Hoping Companies Catch Up
A lot of companies ask for a document to be faxed to them with your signature on it. Some of these companies will not accept an email with an electronic signature on it. This makes no sense today and these companies are seriously behind the learning curve.
First, what is a fax? From Wikipedia
Fax (short for facsimile), sometimes called telecopying, is the telephonic transmission of scanned printed material (both text and images), normally to a telephone number connected to a printer or other output device. The original document is scanned with a fax machine (or a telecopier), which processes the contents (text or images) as a single fixed graphic image, converting it into a bitmap, and then transmitting it through the telephone system. The receiving fax machine reconverts the coded image, printing a paper copy Before digital technology became widespread, for many decades, the scanned data was transmitted as analog.
However, now it is simply converted into a digital representation of the document, then sent over a phone line, then printed out as a document.
Now, what is an email? Again, from Wikipedia
Electronic mail, commonly known as email or e-mail, is a method of exchanging digital messages from an author to one or more recipients.
So, both email and faxes are transmitted digitally over a phone line. Both can be printed once they are received. Hmm.
So, even if you sign a fax with a real pen, it ends up being a digital image of that signature when you send the fax.
What is an electronic signature? From Wikipedia again.
An electronic signature, or e-signature, is any electronic means that indicates either that a person adopts the contents of an electronic message, or more broadly that the person who claims to have written a message is the one who wrote it (and that the message received is the one that was sent). By comparison, a signature is a stylized script associated with a person. In commerce and the law, a signature on a document is an indication that the person adopts the intentions recorded in the document. Both are comparable to a seal.
Increasingly, encrypted digital signature are used in e-commerce and in regulatory filings as digital signatures are more secure than a simple generic electronic signature. The concept itself is not new, with common law jurisdictions having recognized telegraph signatures as far back as the mid-19th century and faxed signatures since the 1980s.
In many countries, including the United States, the European Union and Australia, electronic signatures (when recognised under the law of each jurisdiction) have the same legal consequences as the more traditional forms of executing of documents.
What is a digital signature? You guessed it, Wikipedia again
A digital signature or digital signature scheme is a mathematical scheme for demonstrating the authenticity of a digital message or document. A valid digital signature gives a recipient reason to believe that the message was created by a known sender, and that it was not altered in transit. Digital signatures are commonly used for software distribution, financial transactions, and in other cases where it is important to detect forgery or tampering.
A digital signature is a secure cryptographic signature that is verified through a trusted third party source. An electronic signature is a simple signature in digital form.
So, a company’s insistence on a fax instead of an email with an digital signature is unreasonable and unnecessary. It was unnecessary before the fax was even invented. Imagine that. There is no legal reason it needs to be a fax instead of an email with a digital or even an electronic signature. There is no rational reason why an email is not as good as a fax.
Is your company so outdated that it does not accept digital or electronic signatures? Do you have a compelling reason why you need a fax instead?
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What do People Find Most Useful at Your Local Business Website?
The numbers here come from Andrew Shafer of Inc. Magazine in a section titled “The sections of a local business’s website that customers find valuable.” Let’s take a look at what his numbers tell us.
LIST OF PRICES topped the list with 65% saying it was important to them.
I have to agree. So many websites are built with what seems like an irrational fear that if they list their prices, people won’t call or visit them. If this is the case, then you need to rethink your business plan. People do not want to waste time researching or calling you for a price. In some businesses, there is no way to list the prices. (Contractors and others who must see a job to bid it). In that case, that should be explained clearly in place of adding your prices.
Even many of those websites who do list their prices are built in such a way that the user has a hard time finding them. Why do so many basically “hide” the buy now button? Make your site easy to navigate and be proud of your prices. If you are not proud of your prices, maybe you should change them. Don’t assume everyone does price comparisons. If they find you first and you have made it easy to purchase, then customers find it convenient and may not compare prices at all.
LIST OF SERVICES was second with 55% saying it was important to them.
Once again, this goes to making your website easy to understand and easy to navigate. Those pretty, flashy headers you like, make sure they convey the right message to your visitors. You have about 8 seconds to let them know they are in the right place for what they just searched for and that graphic at the top of your website can let them know that. That’s what it’s there for, not just to make your site pretty.
CONTACT INFORMATION came in 3rd with 43% saying it was important to them.
Not to be repetitive, but this also goes to making your website easy to navigate. Your phone number should be across the top of every page in a big, bold way that is hard to miss if your business takes calls. The link to your contact form should not only be in your top or side navigation. Place that link somewhere in your content on every page in the body of text as a call-to-action. Your phone number can be in more than one place as well.
PHYSICAL ADDRESS was 4th with 42% and DRIVING DIRECTIONS was 5th with 24% saying it was important to them.
Wow. If it was easy to navigate your website, they could find this with no problem. Make sure you add Google Maps or Bing Maps in your website so your potential customers don’t have to search for you. If it is included in your site, they can just hit print. If they have to search for you themselves, they are leaving your site to do so and people are easily distracted. Maybe they never do end up searching for directions to your business because they saw something else to click on.
CUSTOMER TESTIMONIALS was 6th with 17%saying it was important to them.
I’m actually surprised that many like testimonials. So many testimonials are “made up” these days, I wouldn’t have thought it was that relevant. However, we do always add them if they are real testimonials from actual clients. Don’t use fake testimonials. Someday, someone will find out and your reputation is ruined. Don’t stick them all on a “testimonials” page either. Use these quotes within the body of text on your pages where appropriate or add a different one on each page of your website in the sidebar. Make the testimonial relevant to what you are offering on that page when possible. Testimonials will have more impact that way.
15% said PHOTOGRAPHS OF THE BUSINESS was important to them.
This should be a no-brainer. You want them to be able to recognize your business when they are trying to find it while driving. Also, an old study I read years ago, said that people who have seen a menu of a restaurant they have never been to were 3 times more likely to try that new restaurant. What that means is when people get a glimpse of what to expect, they are more likely to visit.
That’s also why pictures of your products, before and after photos of your services and listing your prices on your website are so important. The more information you give them, the more likely a new customer will try your business out.
LINKS TO THE COMPANY’S SOCIAL MEDIA PROFILES was important to just 5% who took this survey.
Expect that number to rise. If you target a younger crowd, under 30 let’s say, that number would be much higher. So make sure you give them the ability to like you on FaceBook, follow you on Twitter and LinkedIn and that they can plus you in Google+ at least.
I’m not sure if these were the only answers they could give to the survey or if it was a write your own answer kind of thing. So I wonder how important they would have thought the design of the website was or that the written content is clear and easy to understand. Where would you place design and content on this list in order of importance?
If you need help making your website easier to navigate, need help with design, layout or content, call us at 512-322-9566 for a free consultation.
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New TLD Applications Make ICANN 382 Million In Profit
A list of new TLDs, (Top Level Domains), that have been applied for and who is applying for them has been published, (You can download the PDF below). Don’t expect any of these to become the next .com and don’t expect that all of them will be approved. ICANN requires an application fee of $185,000 for each TLD you apply for. So the applicants are serious about getting their new TLD.
ICANN Logo (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
ICANN’s application fee is exorbitant and anti-competitive to small to medium size business owners who can’t put that amount up to get into the domain name registration business, especially since the fee is non-refundable whether they approve your application or not. They have promised refunds in the past and failed to refund people’s money.
Their own mission statement states their purpose is to “foster” competition. They are a California Nonprofit organization and the laws there state that if a nonprofit fails to adhere to their mission statement, the directors can be held liable. However, don’t look for that to happen anytime soon since ICANN has the US Commerce Department in their pocket.
They’ve made more than 352 million dollars on application fees. That’s ICANN’s new business model rather than “Ensuring the Stability of the Internet” and “Fostering Competition” as their mission statement says their purpose is.
For some more info on who is applying for new TLDs, see Computer World’s Blog here or download the PDF file here for the full list.
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