Where You Download From Matters

Software download sites are a dime a dozen. As a software publisher we want our programs available on download sites to make them as easy to find as possible, but people should know that all download sites are not created equal. It has become an increasingly common trend for download sites to wrap their own extras around the products that you download. These extras could offer you other applications to try, or install toolbars to create revenue for the site.

Some software download sites have been more open about if they are including anything else with a download than others. For example CNET, one of the largest download sites, has posted information about their download.com installer which has met mixed reviews.^{(1) (2) (3)}

CNET is has been a bit more up front about what they are adding than some providers. However, as a whole this trend has caused a great deal of confusion for users. NCH offers an toolbar in our standard installers which is optional, but if a download site installs a toolbar of their own and then a user opts out of the toolbar NCH has offered there is an incorrect perception that the opt-out decision was ignored.

With Google controlling 90% of worldwide search traffic,⁽⁴⁾ they are in a position make difference and in the interest of computer users they have been updating their software principles. The changes going into effect in February are designed to address some of the problems related to toolbar, but especially with some rules only applying to advertisers it is still important for users to realize that where you get your software from matters. Going directly to the source and downloading program like WavePad audio editor and VideoPad video editor from NCH Software directly will ensure you won't get any unwanted extras from the third party download site.

Localization Efforts Pay Off in NCH International Offerings

It has been about a year and a half since NCH Software put in place a localization initiative in order to offer our most popular software applications in French, German, Japanese and Spanish. The challenges have been many but we now provide numerous applications, including WavePad Sound Editor, VideoPad Video Editor, Prism Video Converter, and several more, in the 4 languages mentioned. Working in cooperation with NCH developers, the localization specialists at NCH translate the general user interface (GUI), test functionality for country-specific appropriateness, suggest changes to implement to better adapt NCH applications to non-English speaking markets. They also translate a significant number of web-based material to make sure that French, German, Japanese or Spanish-speaking Internet users can find relevant information, download and purchase products securely in their own languages.

Bucking the current trend of outsourcing translation and localization and relying instead on "in-house" linguists allows NCH to leverage a valuable internal product knowledge and capitalize on direct interdepartmental relationships to produce more accurate translations, faster.

Please click on the language of your choice to find out more about NCH Software's localized software applications.

• Fran�ais
  
• Deutsch
  
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• Espa�ol

Hitting the Software Nail on the Head

How many shirts do you need to try on before you find one you want to buy? How many cars do take for a test drive when shopping for a new car? And how many pieces of software do you download and try before you find one to solve your problem? Results from a study of software vendors show only about 1 sale is made for every hundred trials that are downloaded, which is a remarkably low number when you think how many programs people must end up trying or how often they just give up without finding what they want. In the blog post Why Hammers Sell Better Than Your Software, Bob Walsh concludes that the reason there are so many people walking away is that it is simply too hard to figure out how to use the program and they give up.

His suggestion to software companies is something that NCH has been striving for for years - make users immediately comfortable with your applications. Simplify things: provide quick start guides and tutorials or screenscasts to help get the user get through the first few minutes of uncertainty when they don't know what to do with the software they have just downloaded. We have long focused on the first three minutes of a user's experience when using our software, trying to remove as many road blocks as possible so that you can start using the program immediately. Our range of video tutorials and documentation resources helps those who prefer to see how it all works before they dive in. We are doing our best to make sure that when you download our software you will find that the shoe fits and you don't need to worry about breaking it in.

Software-Buying Decisions

This article on Organic Search Driving Software-Buying Decisions caught my eye since I have a continuing interest in Software Buying Trends. Some of the key findings from the research done by iPrsopect in their study on the effects of organic search, paid search and online display advertising were:

• 37% increased likelihood of visiting a website
  
• 30% increased likelihood of purchasing a software product
  
• 14% lift in brand recall with exposures to both organic and paid search results
  
• No change was seen in brand favorability based on organic results
  

Familiarity with a brand name has long been looked as important when making purchasing decisions. People tend to select things they are more familiar with, associating familiarity with reliability, so I have to agree that it is interesting that increased exposure didn't seem to have any impact on brand favorability. For a closer look at the research and findings see the full report on iProspect,Real Branding Implications of Digital Media - an SEM, SEO, & Online Display Advertising Study .