Short URLs and Click Tracking on a Budget

We often have a need to provide a URL to someone and want to see if it gets used ... and if it's a public link then it'd be nice to see how often (and when) it has been used.

Sure, there are ways to do that but they can be a bit difficult and especially so if the URL doesn't belong to us (i.e. we can't access analytics / site statistics for the target URL).

There are URL shorteners out there that either work automatically (YouTube, Twitter etc use their own when you create content), or that you can use yourself (bit.ly, for example). In bit.ly's case you can also access some basic click-through information to see how popular your link has been at any given moment.

Google Analytics from our Link Shortener service (back-end reporting)

But, we all know and love Google Analytics because it's free and the analytical/graphing side of things are quite mature so you can create a complex set of analysis tools without the need to move to something like Google Analytics 360 (the insanely expensive, but equally insanely powerful Enterprise version of Google Analytics).

So we thought we'd fix the problem of bridging the gap between a URL shortener and Google Analytics.

And a couple of hours of internal "code challenge" later we have a brand new service that we are already using ourselves to create and track link usage throughout our own network of web properties.

It's called CI Link Us (https://cilnk.us) and you'll see that each of the URL's we have linked to in this blog post already run through the service - so we can see when someone has clicked a link.

Currently, we are only sending basic metrics to Google Analytics ... the shortened URL and the target URL ... and that's mostly all we need because Google Analytics will add the location info by way of the referring IP address and we can create drill-down reports based on time-of-day etc.

How did we do it ?

We actually used a server-side PHP script class to do the work for us ... so instead of Javascript in a user's browser talking to Google Analytics (which would be impossible because the shortener site immediately redirects to the target URL), we do that talking in the background (server to server) and flick the user to their desired URL.

Easy!

Want to try it ?

What's stopping you ?  .... Go for it.

Android Pay coming to Australia in 2016

On the back of the recent launch of the Apple Pay service in Australia (tied to American Express cards only), Google have announced that they have signed up ANZ, Westpac, IGNG Direct, Bendigo Bank, Bank SA, and a number of major Aussie retailers to their Android Pay service and will be launching it in Australia sometime in the first half of 2016.

The feature-set of the Android Pay service is almost identical to the Apple Pay service, in that it works with contactless payment systems already in place at many retail locations in the form of "PayPass" and other branded services ... as well as offering app developers the ability to integrate the service into their apps for fast in-app payment for real-world items such as T-shirts, hotel bookings, etc.

Android Pay will be able to store your Mastercard and Visa credit (and debit) cards. No word on whether bank-based American Express cards (or direct Amex cards) will work.

This is all good news for app publishers because it further cements the use of the mobile phone as a method of payment and thereby provides even more opportunities to make a grab for customers' wallets at points in time that are convenient to them.

Android Pay is hitting stores in Australia in the first half of 2016 (pic courtesy of Google/Android Pay)

If you have an app idea or would like to know more about what we do, give us a shout.

New iPhones Delivering to Brisbane Customers Today

As always happens when new major mobile devices are released, we're keenly awaiting the delivery of ours to add to our testing pool.

For anyone who has been living under a rock, Apple have today started shipping their latest iPhone handsets (iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus). Some 4 million units were pre-sold in the first 24 hours of the release last Friday, so there's clearly a massive appetite out there for these new toys.

Everybody is getting in on the act, including - of all places - Qantas who will let you buy an iPhone 6 (16GB) for 132,000 Frequent Flyer points.

Qantas Frequent Flyer Selling iPhones ?  Yup!

Yesterday, iOS 8 was released as an update to some existing users (iPhone 5 and 5S owners, for example) and aside from some lengthy installation times our clients have reported that they are impressed by the new features available in this latest update.

The shift from iOS 7 to iOS 8 isn't as massive as iOS 6 to iOS 7 last year, so far fewer broken apps are emerging than did a year ago at the last major release.

Some challenges will be had by existing app publishers (our clients) with the new devices because their screen sizes are new. We have yet to see how old apps perform on the new hardware, but our simulators show that older apps should be just fine for the most part.

Apple have a new suggested development method, which we have started implementing already. This new method allows for better scalability of the types of deliberately-designed apps in which Creative Intersection specialises.

If you are an app publisher with an existing app that needs updating to be compatible with iOS 8 or the new iPhone 6/6+ devices, give us a shout to set up an obligation-free appointment to discuss your needs.

(Update 9:58am - first iPhone 6 received by our office via TNT courier)
(Update 2: 22/9/14 9:20am - first iPhone 6 Plus received by our office ... 7 days ahead of estimate)

Apple Getting Fired up for iOS 8 and iPhone 6 Releases

All signs are pointing towards as big a launch of iOS 8 as had been predicted when we attended the World Wide Developer Conference (WWDC) back in June.

Earlier today, a number of changes were rolled out to the layout and some of the features of the iTunes Connect system (the online service developers and publishers use to submit and manage apps in the App Store). These were mentioned during WWDC and have finally arrived.

It's the first time in a couple of years that the iTunes Connect system has had any significant change made to it. Apple don't do such things lightly, and generally do so alongside of other functional changes.

For example, we can expect the new TestFlight Beta Testing Service to be managed through iTunes Connect.

This is the stuff that we nerds get excited about, but some consumers are already starting to queue up for the iPhone 6 even though the launch event isn't until 9th September and the likely release date of the device to Apple Stores is 18th September. You can watch the live stream of the launch event if you have nothing better to do at 3am (Brisbane time).

Here's what the interface looks like today:

Main Page of the New iTunes Connect (as at 5th September 2014)

An Example of an App Listing in the New iTunes Connect (as at 5th September 2014)

Creative Intersection develops apps for Android and iOS, with equal fervour and zeal. Give us a shout if you'd like us to apply our expertise to your idea.

WWDC Rumour: Apple iOS 8 Could Include Split-Screen Multitasking

The rumours are heating up as we close in on Apple's Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC) for 2014.

The latest rumour to surface is that the next update to the iPhone/iPad Operating System (iOS) will allow users to run multiple apps at once and even drag-and-drop content between those apps. This is a luxury that Microsoft Surface users have lorded over their iOS cousins for a long time.

Currently, iOS only allows certain types of apps to continue to perform limited work in the background when another app is on the screen (e.g. Playing music or checking GPS location data) - so this would be a quantum shift in multitasking on iOS devices and is likely to help greatly in the quest to bring tablets further into the business environment.

Creative Intersection's good friends at 9to5mac.com have more details.

..... and of course, we will bring you more details as we will have our own representative from our Brisbane production facility personally attending the WWDC Conference in early June.

New 3D Printing and Prototyping Service for Brisbane

We're excited and happy to announce that Creative Intersection has started offering a 3D Printing and Prototyping service to businesses, professionals and students in Brisbane and Southeast Queensland.

Our 3D printer has an accuracy of 200 microns (0.2mm) and uses ABS or PLA plastic to build up complex 3D models as large as 140mm cubed.

Example of 3-part model of the Google Android logo, printed and then assembled

This service is perfect for:

• Engineers and engineering students
• Inventors
• Hobbyists
• Lovers of custom novelty "stuff"
• Anyone looking to create a special one-off gift for someone
• Tinkerers who need that little doo-dad for the thingamabob that just broke
• Bakers (domestic and commercial) making custom cookie-cutters (there's even a Mac and PC program for that)

Some printed models, including our logo and a bust of one of our designers!

There are free apps available to take a series of pictures and effectively scan yourself (or a special friend) and create a 3D model of that person.

You can even download free files from places like Thingiverse, 123d (Autodesk), Cubehero, Youmagine, and others and then just send them to us for manufacturing.

Click here for more details about this exciting new 3D printing service.

In-App Purchases By Far Exceed Paid Apps

News just in last week from our friends at eMarketer: Free apps with in-app purchases account for nearly all non-advertising revenues.

In other words ... if your app is available only as a paid version you are most likely missing out on a very large proportion of the revenue that you could otherwise be earning.

We have known this for years, based on anecdotal evidence from our numerous clients - which is why our recommendation is often to release a free limited version which allows for the user to experience the main features of your app without risking being sold a lemon (after all, there are a lot of try-hard and me-too apps on the App Store - both Apple/iOS and Google/Android).


Interestingly, while the Google Play Store (Android apps) has been picking up quite a bit of market share, it's almost exclusively (98%) for apps that are free to download and which then offer in-app purchases. Apple users aren't far behind with 92% of revenue from the Apple App Store being from free apps with in-app purchases. For Apple, that's a 15% increase in 11 months and is creeping ever-closer to 100% for either platform.

The lesson here is to remember to think about how you're best going to earn back the development costs and like any business, it pays to understand your customers' spending habits.

If you have a great idea for an app for iPhone, iPad, or Android handsets and tablets and would like to discuss it with us confidentially to see if it can be done (and how best to position yourself to make a profit from it), give us a shout.

The Woz is Back in Town

Regular visitors to our blog may remember that we spent a couple of hours chatting with Steve "Woz" Wozniak - co-founder of Apple Inc - a little while back as a guest at one of our Peer Presentations.

Since then, honourary CI Staffer and winner of the inaugural "Creative Intersection Certificate of Awesomeness", Steve Wozniak has taken a shine to Australia - and Queensland in particular.


This visit sees him in town for a QUT Business Leaders Forum, but of course not one to pass up a good line-waiting, Woz was near the front of the line at Apple's Chermside store to get his hands on the iPhone 5.

Good onya Woz ... nice to have you back ... and great to see that your jetlag finally worked in your favour :-)

The Waiting Woz ... Picture courtesy of TechCrunch

A Day In The Life of Creative Intersection (timelapse)

We thought you might get a kick out of seeing our team working - in timelapse - on a major project rollout earlier this month.

As most of our regular clients know, we use a collaborative, cross-disciplinary approach where programmers flick work to designers and testers - and vice-versa.

This provides us with a robust and efficient way of creating and maintaining development projects of all sizes and in virtually all realms - including Web applications & Web-enabled services, iPhone/iPad, Android, Windows Mobile and standalone Mac/PC applications.

The clip can be viewed in full High Definition (1080p) so you can soak up all the timelapse goodness.

The board in the background shows the tasks needed to be completed for the project, and who is working on each task at the time.

iPad and iPhone Development ... Protect Your Ideas!

We get numerous inquiries from people all over Australia with their idea for the "next big thing" to hit the iPad or iPhone (and other platforms, of course) .... and for the most part they all have the same one question before we can even start talking:

"How can I protect my idea from being stolen by a development company ?"

Easy! We have Non-Disclosure Agreements (an NDA - a simple 4-page legal document) that, when signed by both parties (you and us), means that anything we discuss can be confidential and cannot be divulged to anyone else.

Our NDA's, in fact, are bi-directional ... meaning that we are also protected so we can openly throw ideas out there based on our extensive experience and know that those ideas are safe too.

All of our employees are also covered by Confidentiality Agreements with us - and this protection extends via the NDA to you.

Unlike some of the "top" iPad/iPhone Developers in Australia (Yeah - you know who you are!), we don't outsource overseas, so we have much tighter legal control over Intellectual Property (IP) that comes through our hands.

If your development company doesn't immediately offer an NDA, BEWARE! We have all heard stories of ideas suddenly turning up elsewhere after seemingly innocent discussions.

Don't let that happen to your next big idea.

Creative Intersection presenting at AAPM e-Health Professional Development Day

Through our partnership with the Australian Association of Practice Managers (AAPM), we have been invited to present at the e-Health Professional Development Day on 19th June, 2010 in Melbourne.

Creative Intersection's Managing Director, Ian Exaudi, will be presenting on the topic of "Website Design for your Healthcare Practice".

As with just about every industry, there are some golden rules that can help make a success of launching a website - including content management systems, general marketing efforts, Search Engine Optimisation, and just "good old" web design.

If you are a practice manager or an administration professional in the any of the medical fields, contact AAPM to sign up for the Professional Development day via the link above.

iPad and iPhone Application Development Services

An endless world of possibilities presents itself when "game changing" devices like the Apple iPad are released to the public.

There are many thousands of commercial (and free) applications available through the iPad and iPhone App Store ... from GPS navigation and business presentation applications to fishing games and a virtual box of chocolates.

Endless opportunities exist for the right idea to be brought into life and on to an iPad or iPhone screen.

... and ... businesses can create their own limited-release applications for internal use without having to go through the effort of seeking approval through the App Store.

Just imagine - your property inspectors, sales force, or consultants can work while they are in the field and push the results of their work directly into a live database for storage, sharing, and processing.

At Creative Intersection, database-driven, online-enabled websites and applications have been our bread-and-butter for nearly 10 years now - and the iPad and iPhone are exciting new platforms to deliver exactly this sort of "Web 2.0" functionality.

We have recently purchased two iPad WiFi + 3G devices to use as test and demonstration machines for our iPad development work, and have already started working on cutting-edge ideas under our ongoing AusIndustry-approved Research & Development program.

Call us to arrange a meeting to discuss how our team of designers and developers can build your next iPad and iPhone application.

Environmentally-Friendly Website Hosting

Having a website is a necessity for just about every small business.

It needs to be engaging, well-designed, succinct, and always-available for potential customers to visit.

The availability of a website (the "uptime") is related to the quality of the hosting provider ... you know ... those weird little guys who sit in dark grey rooms with lots of large monitors looking at the flow of data among computers, routers, and servers around the world.

It's a cool picture, for sure, but in the real world web hosting is provided by companies - both big and small - who own "servers" and other infrastructure, and who on-sell this capacity to customers who do not want to own the infrastructure. It doesn't have to be "flash", but it does have to be robust and reliable.

Creative Intersection has been a website hosting provider for many years now, and have recently begun offering a special type of hosting solution that is "Carbon Neutral" in the form of our GreenServe.com.au Eco-friendly hosting product.

Have a look at this recent case study published on the "Dynamic Small Business Network" website.

http://www.dsbn.com.au/articles/case_studies/Dishing-Up-a-Serve-of-Green.asp

If your business needs high-quality, reliable website hosting (with or without being carbon neutral), contact Creative Intersection web design and hosting services by clicking the link or pick up the phone and call 1300 853 868.

The Easy Way To Accept Credit Cards on Your Website

Accepting Credit Cards on your website can make life easier for your existing customers, and may even bring you more customers you didn't already have ...

One of the simplest ways of converting potential customers to ACTUAL customers can be to offer several methods of payment for your products and services.

For instance, some customers may prefer to pay by cash or cheque on receipt of an invoice whilst others (especially small businesses) may prefer to smooth out their cashflow by paying for your product or service with their corporate or personal credit card.

If your venture is based online or if you usually accept credit cards payments in your shop using an EFTPOS (Electronic Funds Transfer at Point Of Sale) system (the Australian term for a card-swipe machine connected to your bank), then you may prefer establishing an Online Credit Card Merchant account with your bank in conjunction with a Payment Gateway (which is either provided by your bank or a third-party supplier). Costs can be quite reasonable even for small volume sales (usually $100-$500 per month PLUS a percentage and/or flag-fall charge per transaction).

If you are a more "traditional" business, like ourselves, who usually invoice for your services and just want to add an extra method of payment for those customers who are looking to smooth out their cashflow by paying for invoices with their credit card, you can opt for a simple solution that involves no monthly costs at all.

Paypal, for example, can be set up to accept a credit card payment without the need to set up a merchant facility with a bank. The only charges for you, as the merchant, is a per-transaction fee (around $0.30 AUD) and a small percentage of the overall transaction amount (1.1% to 2.4%, dependent on your monthly sales). Note that these charges may vary as they are set by Paypal.

Other options include accepting credit card details via email or stored in a database (from an online form the customer fills in), and then processing the payment using your credit card terminal in your shop. It should be noted, however that this method is fraught with danger and only the most foolhardy web developer will offer you such a solution (please note that we won't build such a system for you, even if you ask us nicely!).

Whichever way you choose to go with accepting credit card payments online, remember that there are some quite strict rules involved with transmitting and storing credit card details (see PCI DSS) - so choosing a professions, secure option is always preferable. Massive fines and bans may apply for transmitting and storing credit card details in ways that are not secure.

Of course, you can also add a shopping cart or other functionality to your payment system to create a full online sales opportunity. Click here for a little more information.

Can I Use Twitter in My Business ?

So, you have a business (and hopefully even a website for that business). You have heard about the social networking Wunderkind called "Twitter", and that it's reaching hundreds of millions of people every day - currently sending out more than 50 million tweets per day.

But, how can you use Twitter to help your business ?

As with most things, the meteoric rise and media coverage that Twitter has received in the last couple of years does not automatically mean that putting your message out via Twitter ("Tweeting" it) will make you a huge success. On the contrary, the immense number of messages rolling through Twitter - like the Internet itself in many ways - can mean that your message gets lost among the noise of all the other chatter.

One way, however, that Twitter can help a local business such as yours in a very real way is by helping you create stronger relationships with your potential and existing customers. You may not always be able to find new customers via Twitter and other social networking media (it's possible, just not "automatic") ... but consider this:

You run a retail clothing shop, let's call it "MyShop Rocks!", which attracts regular foot traffic and a loyal following of (probably younger) customers who would jump at the chance to grab a bargain. You can encourage those customers to "follow" you on Twitter on your "MyShop Rocks! Specials" feed (Feeds can look a little like this).

Every few days or weeks you can post specials to your Twitter feed. Your most loyal followers (customers) may get notified wherever they are (via their mobile, browser, or whichever device they use) that you have a special offer available THIS AFTERNOON ONLY.

The secret, as it is with most marketing, is to create a call-to-action that compels your customer to act immediately. Making your special available THIS AFTERNOON ONLY is a great way to do that.

The other secret, as you probably guessed from earlier, is that you can't rely on Twitter to bring customers to you. It can, but it's much more likely that you will have to bring your own loyal following along for the ride.

And, of course, one way to do that is to promote your website and Twitter feed in-store (and on your business cards, flyers, etc). You might also consider having your Twitter feed displayed prominently on your website to prompt users to "follow" you.

As an example, we have our own Twitter feed on our Creative Intersection homepage.

Creative Intersection provides consultancy and other services to help design and build your website and other online "bits" as well as branding (logos etc), marketing materials design, and even video production. ... and we would love the opportunity to work with you!

Google Maps Becoming More Important to Businesses

This story shows quite a trend in the importance of your local business being listed in directories and on the Google Maps Business Listings ... and it also shows you that integrity in business is important both online and offline.

A New Zealand (ex-) florist has hijacked her competitors' Google Maps listings in an effort to bring more business to her own door. No-one seems able or willing to quantify her success or otherwise - but she got caught so didn't work very well for her in the long run.

Read the full story here.