Presentations:
Workshops and Speaking Engagements

Speaking Engagements

Speaking engagements usually involve presentations lasting between fifteen minutes and one hour. They can be done with or without audiovisual equipment. Speaking engagements are usually fairly non-technical in nature, and can be tailored specifically to your group.

Workshops

Workshops are interactive presentations and require participation from the audience. Workshops last more than one hour, and are usually done with audiovisual equipment. Workshops can be more technical and offer more specific information than speaking engagements. We always take the time to answer questions from the audience. Before a workshop, we need to know the number and type of registrants in order to customize the topic and provide sufficient handouts and materials.

Topics

Topics can range from short information sessions, to detailed technical web site topics, to discussing more general business topics relating to web sites. All sessions will include some specific information about Back2Front - none will be a Back2Front sales pitch.

The 10 Biggest Web Design Mistakes: and how to avoid them

Web design is not about looking good it's about getting business results. Do you need; Leads? Sign-ups? Sales? To save printing costs? To direct customers to your store? A correctly designed web site provides the best chance of success. But make any of the most common mistakes covered in this workshop and you will not get the best return on your investment. We examine what is good web design and why, and we will provide solid actionable instructions to avoiding the most common mistakes. This is a technical topic intended for people who either already have a web site or are seriously thinking of getting one. This workshop focuses on business web sites and is packed with information. We can deliver this as a presentation or a workshop, but it is most effective using audio-visual equipment to demonstrate visually the concepts involved.
60min Speech, or 1 – 2 hour Workshop. AV optional.

Search Engine Optimization: Demystified

There is more misinformation and confusion surrounding this than any other web site topic. In this session we take a look at search engines: "who" they are, what they are, how they work, and what they want. We also examine the role of search engine optimization companies and how they try to outwit the search engines. Then we discuss how a web site owner can best navigate between the two to get the best results for the least amount of time, effort, and money.
30 – 60min Speech, or 1 – 2 hour Workshop. AV optional.

Your Home Page: How to make your most important page COUNT.

The first page of your site is the most important-both for human visitors and for search engines. It is also the page where the most mistakes are made! We examine why this page is so important, how to get it right, and how to avoid the most common mistakes.
30 – 60min Speech, or 1 – 2 hour Workshop. AV equipment required.

Selling on line

E-commerce is a popular term these days, but many people do not really understand what it means-both in a technical sense and how it will affect the way they do business. This topic takes a look at the many technical options available for selling on line, and what selling on line may mean for your business. Part cautionary tale, part encouragement, attendees will be armed with the information they need to decide if selling on line is right for them.
30 – 60min Speech, or 1 – 2 hour Workshop. AV optional.

Developing your content: Writing for the web

Writing for the web is not the same as writing for other media. The style, formatting and organization are all treated differently on the web. All of these elements are equally important, yet often done poorly. Using the writing guidelines set out in this session (and the services of an excellent proof reader) will ensure success. 30 – 40min Speech, or 1 hour Workshop. AV optional. Hard copy handouts are used.

Web site statistics: what do all those numbers really mean?

Do you know how well your web site is doing? Do you know how many people visit your web site? Do you know how to compare your statistics with those reported by other web site owners? We will examine how the numbers are recorded, which ones are useful, and how to interpret them. We will also look at how other companies report, and what questions to ask so that you can compare apple to apples. You'll learn what actions (if any) you should take based on the statistics you are achieving.
30 – 40min Speech, or 1 hour Workshop. AV optional. Hard copy handouts are used.

Is Your Web Site a Navigational Nightmare?

At Back2Front we like to say, "If you need a site map you have done it wrong!" And it's no joke. How many times have you heard the claim, "Our web site is easy to navigate"? Navigation is a big deal because most web sites larger than a few pages are not easy to navigate. In this session, we explore why this element of web design is often done so poorly, and how to design effective navigation for your web site.
1 – 2 hour Workshop. AV equipment required.

How to get a web site and avoid the most commonly encountered problems from the start.

Will you build your web site yourself? Hire a Designer? Contract a web site company? This topic explores your web site options and how to choose the one that's right for you. Each option has pros and cons. We'll discuss the hidden cost of doing it yourself, how to ensure that your web site will be managed properly on an on-going basis, how to tell if a web site company is a good fit, how to get the most for your money, and how to avoid the most commonly encountered problems.
30 – 40min Speech. No AV equipment required.

Your Competition: and how to make it irrelevant

This is a general business topic that uses the web industry as an example of high levels of competition. Back2Front's trials, tribulations, and eventual success demonstrate how your company can successfully compete-or better yet make your competition irrelevant.
20 – 40min Speech. No AV equipment required.