The constant evolution

The World Wide Web is constantly evolving as new technologies and trends arrive on the scene, which means that some rules that applied the previous year are no longer applicable in the current year, and vice versa. When we don’t acknowledge this, we resist change and, in the end, cause considerable damage to the effectiveness of our online presence.

That is why it is so important to stay alert and up-to-date with how the web is changing.

As a web designer, I find that I must constantly change my web design strategies in order to match or exceed the effectiveness of current design trends.

Unfortunately, this effort is often hampered by recurring myths – many of which are merely outdated rules – which some people believe about the web. It is understandable to have some misconceptions about the web as it exists today, since it is constantly changing.

However, in order to combat ignorance in favor of the advancement of effective visual communication on the web, I would like to devote this article to tackling one very common misconception: the relevance of… The Fold.

What is the Fold?

“The Fold” is a term used to describe the base of a webpage’s visible content as it appears the moment it loads on your screen. In other words, it is the boundary that separates immediately viewable content from content you must scroll down the page to view.

In order to visualize this concept as a literal fold, think of it as if you took a letter written on a piece of paper and folded the paper in half.

When you lay this folded letter down and attempt to read it, you will find that the second half of the letter, which is beneath the Fold, is no longer visible. The content is there, but you must perform an action in order to view it, such as unfolding or flipping over the paper.

The same is true for the Fold on the web. Only the content above the Fold is visible until you perform an action, such as scrolling, to view the content beneath.

The Fold Philosophy

When the World Wide Web was first conceived, there were few computer monitor resolutions other than what we would now call “diminutive,” and computer mice would not witness wide-scale inclusion of the scroll wheel for another decade. As a result, it was never guaranteed that visitors to a web page would make use of a browser’s scroll bar in order to scroll down a page to view all of a webpage’s content.

This meant that whatever was visible on the screen from the get-go needed to effectively keep the intended visitor’s interest. Everything of importance needed to be housed above the Fold so that visitors would be sure to see it right away. All other content of less importance was allowed to sit below the Fold in the “basement” of the page, where few people would ever be adventurous enough to find it.

Unfortunately, most of the content on a typical website is too valuable to place beneath the Fold. Thus, the “Fold Philosophy” of content stuffing began.

As a result of this philosophy, early web design structure was plagued by small, nearly unreadable type, busy / distracting structure and an obnoxious sense of content competing for attention. Clear visual communication was often abandoned or compromised for the sake of delivering a splash page that bombarded the viewer with information.

Over time, designers have attempted to stylize webpages to make content more visibly appealing, although the very nature of this bloated structure defied any sort of ease in visual communication. Paying homage to the “Fold Philosophy” ultimately applied a clamp press to website content, forcing it into a much tighter space than what good design requires.

Much the same way you or I might feel uncomfortable being crammed into an elevator with fifty other businessmen, crowded content becomes uncomfortable to view, no matter how you dress it up.

Is the Fold still relevant?

Having researched the design trends of 2011 and projected design trends for 2012, most every article I’ve come in contact with agrees that the fold is no longer relevant for website design considerations.

Many cutting-edge designers believe that it is a myth that people do not scroll down a page to see the majority of the content, and this is reflected in their designs. Here are just a few articles by designers that support this claim:

• http://www.viget.com/inspire/evolving-design-standards-the-fold/
• http://www.boxesandarrows.com/view/blasting-the-myth-of
• http://designfestival.com/the-fold-exists-but-does-it-matter/

So, what has changed that makes the Fold obsolete? There are two major factors to consider…

1 – Screen Resolution Diversification

Computer monitors have changed and advanced rapidly over the last decade, and, as a result, so have screen resolutions. While monitors from the previous decade were typically designed to accommodate 800 x 600 or 1024 x 768 pixel resolutions, modern day monitors now range from 800 x 600 to 2560 x 1600 pixel resolutions.

Does this affect the Fold? Drastically. A higher resolution screen means that more content on a page is visible at a time than what is visible on a lower resolution screen. As a result, the Fold shifts up or down, depending on the resolution.

Designing for any sort of average Fold location means that those with a higher-than-expected resolution screen will see more than what is intended at a time, with the opposite being true for those with a less-than-expected resolution screen. Therefore, the Fold’s actual location is, at best, arbitrary.

2 - Ease of Scrolling

The term “the Fold” was developed before the scroll wheel was invented and, therefore, the only way to scroll down a page was to use the clumsy scroll bar on the AOL browser.

Nowadays, there is sufficient evidence that people do, in fact, scroll and that as many as 22% will scroll all the way down to the bottom of a page before leaving a site.

To learn more about these statistics, take a look at this blog post by UX Myths: http://uxmyths.com/post/654047943/myth-people-dont-scroll. Since the “Fold Philosophy” was developed when scrolling was much more difficult, it must be determined that the Fold is an outdated and irrelevant concept.

Ding dong, the Fold is dead…

So, with the Fold no longer a hindrance to good design practices, what can we expect to see in the imminent future of web design? Well, it’s good news / bad news time. Here are some things that disregarding the Fold allows:

• More vertical (and horizontal) white space – content will be able to breathe a bit easier, since we won’t have to scrunch everything together at the top. This alone should be enough to bring unparalleled joy to web users (and web designers)… But wait, there’s more!

• More room for typographical/visual expression – I have seen countless beautiful (and often award-winning) web designs that are accomplished solely because the fold was disregarded and larger imagery was allowed to occupy what fold-faithful websites consider “reserved space.”

• More flexible design – while past web design trends tended to box everything up into horizontal clusters, double – or even single – column designs are now acceptable. This inevitably leads to more and more flexibility options as content changes and shrinks/expands.

• Text can get *gasp* BIGGER! – Whereas small text sizes were required to fit relevant content above the Fold, bigger text is more plentiful in a Fold-free world. This means that websites will not only be more legible to a wider audience, but also more inviting and informative from a visual communications standpoint.

This is all very good news, so what could possibly be the bad news? Unfortunately for some, the elimination of the Fold has raised the bar as far as user expectation is concerned.

Several modern day websites still betray bondage to the “Fold Philosophy.” This is because news has not reached all ears – even among designers – that the Fold is a myth.

As a result, many spanking-new sites appear outdated right out of the box. In the coming years, more and more websites will be released from the cruel grasp of the Fold. It is important to realize this and to consider jumping on the bandwagon if you haven’t already.

A Word of Caution: Don’t throw the baby out with the bath water

The end of the Fold does not, in any way, signify an end to structural philosophy. In fact, the current best practices in structural hierarchy still get their cues from the old days when the Fold reigned supreme.

The order in which you put your content remains important, even though it no longer demands to be crammed up above an imaginary line. Place content in an order that makes sense, with a gradient spanning from most important content at the top to least important content at the bottom.

Above all, a visually appealing and informative header area at the top of a webpage is always advisable, since it acts as a hook to draw the viewer into the rest of the site. I believe the header of a page should typically be used for the sole purpose of:

1. establishing the brand
2. capturing interest, and
3. listing some primary keywords for SEO purposes

Once this interest is established, we can all agree from our own past experiences that our next move is to tap that scroll wheel a few degrees down to get to the meat and potatoes.

So, that’s todays update on current revolutionary web design trends. Have fun exploring these new, uncharted waters, and always remember to sail with caution!

Have any thoughts, comments or questions about this subject? Be sure to post them below!

Maria Ogneva, Head of Community at Yammer, and someone all the boys probably wanted to take to school dances, once described social media as…

“The largest cocktail party in the world, a room filled with people driven by one desire to communicate, share, digest and relate, while carrying on many independent conversations.”

Right now, higher education’s relationship with social media is more middle school dance than glamorous cocktail party. We’re awkwardly shuffling our feet on the dance floor, hoping the cool kids will notice us, occasionally trying too hard. But we’re getting there.

In the spirit of dorky eighth graders everywhere who grew up to become savvy higher ed communicators, here are some ideas to consider as we try to get the social media party going on the higher ed front.

1 – Forget about numbers and concentrate on making memories.

It’s easy to become obsessed with how many people “Like” your university’s Facebook Page or follow your Twitter account. Numbers make us feel like we’re in control, especially when our supervisors ask for evidence of why social media should be part of an integrated marketing plan.

But without interesting conversations, entertainment, ideas and feedback, numbers are basically a bunch of people silently standing around, waiting for you to make your move. Like wallflowers at an eighth grade dance who eventually leave, or worse yet, wish they had never come.

Don’t get hung up on numbers; instead, try to keep things interesting and memorable with great content, so everyone has a good time they want to talk about later with their friends.

2 – Don’t go overboard investing too much in something fleeting.

Like adolescence, social media changes in a heartbeat, shifting from one thing to the next, and you’ve got to move swiftly and skillfully to truly take advantage of it. One minute, hormones are raging for one social media site or feature, then it’s another.

Many a higher ed marketer has suffered heartbreak from planning an overly complicated social media communications campaign that was so-so in execution and response, or built around a great concept that became irrelevant because of the social media site suddenly changing its features.

Some of the coolest social media marketing ideas I’ve seen are simple, timely and common-sense awesome, like letting your alumni show their school spirit by giving them cool cover photos to use on their Facebook Timelines, or inviting your students to hashtag the campus on Twitter.

These ideas are easy to execute, don’t break the bank and last just long enough for people to jump on board and use them before the Next Big Thing happens, and everyone falls in love with something else.

3 – Don’t censor … redirect the conversation.

Remember the overly anxious teachers who patrolled the middle school dance floor, sometimes yanking someone off to the side for misbehaving? Don’t be that teacher on your university’s social media site.

If you have someone who is doing something stupid or saying negative, critical or untrue things about your institution online, the best thing you can do is redirect the conversation, not censor it. Sometimes that means acknowledging a mistake and providing helpful resources and assistance, if the problem is clearly the university’s responsibility.

Sometimes that means ignoring someone who is misinformed and on a mission to attack your institution in a strange, ego-driven way. Sometimes that means sharing your Facebook Page’s policy for content and reminding people what’s okay and what’s not.

Ideally, it means having one of your constituents — a student, a parent, a loyal alum — chime in on your behalf and share their experiences. As Maria says, it’s a conversation.

4 – In the end, integrated marketing is what counts.

I think most higher ed communicators can agree that social media opens the door to amazing creativity and is here to stay. But its shiny new toy status has faded, and it needs room and resources to grow up and be taken seriously.

It can’t be treated like a surefire gimmick or something your intern does. It should be part of a bigger picture, where its messaging and content resonate and are reiterated by a university’s print, advertising and website efforts.

Put your Facebook Page username in your email signature and in your press release “boiler plate.” Get your media relations person to start using Twitter, where some of the most successful story pitches are happening for higher education.

Share a URL to a well-written feature story from your alumni magazine on your Facebook Page, preferably through a bitly link you can measure. Think about all your outlets–print, digital, in-person pitch sessions with reporters and regents–and use them to your advantage.

How else can Higher Ed effectively use social media? Share your thoughts in the comment area below.

When she isn’t blocking out memories of school dances or using them to create what she hopes are witty analogies, Becca Ramspott is a writer and social media specialist at Frostburg State University. In her spare time, she does freelance writing and consulting, travels like crazy and takes pictures of interesting stuff. Connect with her on her blog and Twitter.

With smartphone adoption creeping closer to 50%, more and more people are able to view mobile videos on their phone.  YouTube (as well as other services like Vimeo and Brightcove) make it very easy to upload a video that’s compatible with most smartphones.

For example, videos uploaded to YouTube are by default mobile-ready.  You can even use the same URL from your desktop browser.  YouTube will detect for a mobile browser and redirect the viewer to the appropriate format.

Use SMS to engage your target audience

Here are three ways mobile video can help to connect with your target audience at a trade show or conference, to market to them in an interesting way, or a give them a reason to frequent your physical location.

In all three the mobile video link would be contained in the auto-response text message. You are also actively building a list for future conversation.

1. At your event have people text-in to see a quick video of what it took to put the event together behind-the-scenes.
2. In your traditional media (especially radio, print, and outdoor) have your audience text-in to see a video of your product in-action or an interview with a recent customer.
3. Create an ongoing video contest for people at your location.  Have your visitors shoot video of what they did there, a story they can tell, or something creative.  Pick one video to be the current favorite and have all other visitors text-in to watch (this is especially effective if they’re standing in line).

Then use SMS to keep the conversation going

Don’t just text them once. In the first three examples you are also actively building a text message marketing list (opt-in of course). Here are three ways mobile video can help you further communicate your new SMS marketing subscriber database:

1. The next time you’re promoting an event last-minute, link your subscribers to a video that shows them all the fun everyone had at the last event, and why they should change their plans and attend.
2. If you’re a nonprofit looking for support or donations there’s no doubt video will tell your story and stir emotions better than text alone.
3. Text messaging is a great way to announce breaking news, but mobile video can help provide more information at a time when the audience is most interested.

3 things to keep in mind with Mobile Video via SMS

When sending mobile video via text message, make sure to…

1. Use a URL shortener (like bit.ly) to save characters and track the click-throughs.
2. Keep the video length to less than 30 seconds.  You never know how much time your audience has to watch what you send, and if you lose them there’s a good chance they won’t come back to the message later.
3. Avoid complex soundtracks that use music and voiceover.  If they don’t have headphones on you’ll be relying on the phone’s built-in speaker, which is never great.  If you’re going to use music with a voiceover keep the music as soft as possible.

Did we miss anything?  Have you tried sending mobile video over text message before?  What were the results like?

I’m doing a Webinar in 2 weeks with Jon-Mikel Bailey on this and more tips on Mobile. Sign up here.

Here are 12 to-dos that will help you succeed with your online marketing (in a somewhat particular order)…

1 – Critique your site

We’re always looking to improve ourselves – lose weight, eat healthier, make more money, etc. The best way to achieve these goals is to first identify our bad habits through honest self-examination.

Your site should have goals too – get more traffic, convert more traffic into leads, etc. In order to achieve these goals you will first need to critique your site and identify those “bad habits”.

Make an honest and objective appraisal of the quality of your site’s design, structure, content, calls to action, etc. You will need to look at your site statistics (Google Analytics) to see which pages are popular and which sections of the site need some love.

Think of this as the equivalent to sending your site to a shrink for some deep analysis. Sometimes you might be too biased to make an objective assessment. If so, consider bringing in a consultant.

Or you could ask a handful of clients to critique your site. If you ask clients, make it easy for them. Put together a survey they can fill out online within a few minutes, and make sure you ask them what would make the site better for them. Either way prepare to be surprised by the results.

2 – Develop a keyword list

Some will argue that this is the first thing you must do before engaging in any sort of online marketing. Be that as it may, it is simply important that you DO have a list.

As you engage in any online marketing activities – blogging, social media marketing, email marketing, white papers, video, eBooks, etc – you will want to have a list of targeted words and phrases that are important to you AND your clients. They are important in the sense that these are the words and phrases your clients use to find you in an online search.

There are a few ways to go about developing this list. You will again want to take a look at your site statistics to see what words visitors to your site are using to find you. You will also want to do some searches on those words and see what the competition is doing. I am over-simplifying a bit of course.

There are many resources out there to help you with this process. For the purposes of this article, I will leave you with some suggested resources…

1. Outspoken Media
2. SEOMoz
3. Search Engine Land
4. Search Engine People
5. Google

3 – Eliminate bad content

Hopefully as you review your site and your site statistics in order to develop a keyword list, you will realize that some of your content has got to go. Maybe it’s a page that gets no traffic because it’s out of date, poorly promoted or just plain wrong. Instead of putting “lipstick on a pig,” try a radical approach… get rid of it.

Bloat used to be OK. For some search engine professionals (who shall remain nameless), it was part of a content strategy. Not anymore.

It is much more effective to think about all content as it relates to the intended user. If it serves them no purpose or – worse yet – confuses or misinforms them, get rid of it. Pretty simple.

4 – Rewrite old content

Of course not all of your old content is completely useless. There could be old blog posts, white papers, case studies, etc that still hold some relevance. Instead of eliminating them simply because they’re old, why not try and re-imagine them (h/t to Content Rules).

Take a fresh look at old content. Perhaps try rewriting it or leave the original content and add to it. Think about a news story online. Sometimes news sites will leave the original story for context and then offer updates below.

Again, consider the user. What is the best way to rework this old content in a way to better serve a client?

5 – Develop a content strategy

If you haven’t read Content Rules by Ann Handley and CC Chapman, do so, soon. In this book you will find a very easy to follow overview of content marketing. In online marketing, content is king and content marketing is the king’s horse.

On today’s internet the companies that offer valuable information to users where they are seeking it are the clear winners. If you are a sought after resource online, you will get leads and your site will get traffic.

Content marketing is how this is done. You write blog posts that empower the user. You shoot video that educates and entertains. You create presentations and host webinars that inform. And you do these things through your channels – your website, your blog, your social media channels, etc.

But before you do any of this, you want to have a strategy. Once you have looked through your existing site (and ripped it apart) and identified the needs of your target audience, you’ll be able to better identify what content you need to create and where you should post and promote that content so it’s easy to find.

Some other resources that will help you with your content marketing efforts are these incredibly useful blogs…

1. Marketing Profs
2. Junta 42 and Content Marketing Institute
3. Copyblogger

6 – Update your design

Yes, design still matters. If you think design doesn’t matter, you must dress in the same gray clothes, drive the same gray car and all the walls in your house must be a shade of off-white. Let’s face it, we judge things on some level based on their looks.

If your site looks old and tired, you look old and tired. If your site looks out of touch, you look out of touch. And if your site is boring and uninspired… well, you get the picture. Try sprucing things up a bit. Maybe it just needs a little curb appeal. Maybe it needs an extreme makeover.

Either way, I am willing to bet there is always something you can do to improve the look and thereby improve the user experience of the site.

7 – Start blogging

Blogs are no longer just for bloggers. You don’t have to have aspirations of becoming the next Perez Hilton to be effective at blogging. You just need to know the needs of your target audience and write about it.

You are sitting on a mound of expert information that you need to share. Don’t believe me? Read this post about business blogging.

Or, simply look back through your email inbox, notepad, sales materials, presentation materials, etc. You talk to your clients everyday (members and volunteers are clients too if you live in that world).

Be the same expert in a blog that you are everyday in the real world. You will benefit from an SEO standpoint because of the useful keyword rich content you’re adding to your site. You will position yourself as an authority in your field. And you will steadily be “out there” talking about what it is that you do.

8 – Embrace social media

As you engage in a content marketing strategy, you will quickly realize that blogging, video, online presentations and the like NEED social media. You also need social media. Why? This is where your clients are. Yes, they are, trust me. The numbers do not lie.

That said, there are going to be some differences from group to group as to where they prefer to spend their time. So, take a little time and look around. They may be on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, or in lots of different places. As an example, let’s use LinkedIn…

Are your clients spending time in LinkedIn discussion groups? Yes? Share your blog posts with them, along with posts from other experts you think would be of value to them.  Most importantly, engage them. Talk to them and have meaningful discussions.

Read this very short yet powerful post from Seth Godin to see what I mean here - One option is to struggle to be heard whenever you’re in the room…

9 – Develop an editorial calendar

Are you overwhelmed yet? Don’t be. These are tasks that can be easily integrated into your marketing and communications workflow (there really is no other choice). The key to success is to map this all out.

This can be done using what’s called an Editorial Calendar. Here is a post from Jason Keath in Content Marketing Institute that really lays this out nicely… How to Put Together an Editorial Calendar for Content Marketing

Mapping out your content marketing efforts in advance will allow you to see the bigger picture. It will also help you to set deadlines. If you commit to content marketing for your organization but make no written outline of the what’s and when’s, you will fail.

If you treat this like a regularly scheduled task that is just as important as say paying the rent, you will see results.

10 – Read

There is so much content out there. Go and find it, devour it and report back. There are books of course. Personally, I love my Kindle and it is loaded with books on marketing, social media, web design, etc. But, I also subscribe to a bunch of blogs and I check my Google Reader everyday.

I guarantee you that there is at least one blog out there that is filled with great information about your industry. Chances are there is more than one. The key is to find them and set some time aside each day or week to read the posts that catch your eye. And then report back to your followers, subscribers, etc on what you’ve read.

Reading is fundamental. It’s fundamental to your continued success. It keeps you in the game with a fresh perspective on what it is that you do. Start by setting some Google Alerts using the keywords from your list (see above). This way, you are guaranteed delivery of content related to those terms. You will have to sort through some junk, but you will eventually find some sources of great reading material and, therefore, wonderful inspiration.

You will want to subscribe to the usual suspects that show up in your alerts – the blogs and sites you go to time and again.

11 – Take the keys from the intern

I’m not sure when and why it became acceptable to give all online marketing tasks to your intern or part-time summer help. I like interns, I think they serve a great purpose. We even hired one full-time.

But, do you think they really should be the ones managing your brand and your online reputation? If you task them with managing your social media or your blog or your email newsletter, that’s exactly what’s happening.

Take control. At the very least monitor what the intern is doing. But even then, you really want to be much more involved than that. This is the front line. This is where the meaningful connections are made. I would not leave this up to the intern.

12 – Be a resource

We’ve been saying this since day one, literally. Our very first article (before we and everyone else had a blog) was titled “Turn Your Website into a Resource”. It’s still true today. As I’ve said already in this list, you are already an expert, be that expert online.

But don’t just be the expert that tells everyone what to do. Be the expert that everyone looks to for guidance, for the best information and for thought leadership. Do that by creating your online expert persona. Being a resource means you share anything that your readers, followers and fans would find useful, regardless of the source.

If you’re even the slightest bit successful right now, chances are you are doing this already. It’s just time to fine-tune your efforts to get the maximum return from your online marketing efforts. If you are struggling to find business, maybe it’s because you’re not “out there” enough.

13 – Prepare for the zombie invasion

Just in case, I added a 13th tip. It’s actually quite apropos. The Center for Disease Control or CDC has prepared an online communications effort aimed at protecting the population from a possible zombie invasion.

This is a great example of using content marketing, and a sense of humor, to deliver what is actually important information to the general public. This campaign was launched this year and has been an amazing success. Plus, it is quite fun.

I hope you got something from this list. If you are doing any or all of this already, good for you! Keep it up! If not, what are you waiting for??? This is the new norm! It’s time to embrace online marketing, content marketing and social media because its not going anywhere and more importantly, it works!

Did I miss anything? Let me know in the comments below…

Why Do a Social Media Audit?

If you’ve been using social media for work for more than a year, it’s likely it has become engrained in your daily routine. It is also likely that the way you use social media has changed as you meet more people and build relationships through these channels. While these changes are often positive, you need to make sure they are inline with your original goals. Conversely, you need to make sure your original goals are still appropriate for your business as it stands today.

What is a Social Media Audit?

A social media audit takes an objective look at your current social media efforts to uncover what is working and what may not be. When performing an audit, I like to look at the following areas:

1. Reputation/Sentiment: How are you viewed by others online? Do you have a positive, neutral or negative image?
2. Content: What types of content are you posting? Is it all your original content? All curated?
3. Hub Usage: Do you have a blog and how effectively is it being used?
4. Spoke Usage: Are you using your social networks effectively?
5. Engagement: Are you interacting with your target audience or are you talking at them?
6. Promotion: Are you effectively promoting your social media initiative?
7. Measurement: How are you measuring your success? Are the findings inline with your original goals?

Where are my social media efforts making an impact?

I find that an audit is most useful if the person performing it takes a look at everything from the perspective of the target audience. Point of view is very important to an audit, so all public-facing accounts should be disclosed to the person performing the audit.

When should I do an audit?

Ideally, you should do an audit yearly when you perform your other communications audit. This may not be realistic for your organization, but, at the very least, you should have one completed every few years. If you have been engaging in social media for more than a year, now may be the time to do a check-up.

Who should do the Social Media Audit?

An audit really should be performed by an objective 3rd party. If you are not able to hire someone to perform an audit, maybe you can find someone in your network that has a similar job and would be able to provide an objective viewpoint. Also the person completing the audit should be familiar with creating social media strategies for business and not just comfortable using the tools.

I will leave you with a final thought and that is to not take the audit too personally. The audit is to designed to make sure you are still focusing on your goals and to see what is working and what is not. Your time and other resources are important, so it makes sense that you are spending them on things that are helping you grow your business.

What are your biggest concerns with social media this year? Let me know in the comments below…

“Our goal is simple: to give people the most relevant answers to their queries as quickly as possible. This requires constant tuning of our algorithms, as new content—both good and bad—comes online all the time.” - Google Webmaster Blog, from the Panda Announcement

In an effort to eliminate spam and irrelevant search results, Google has spent the past year making major updates as well as minor tweaks to their search algorithm (code-named Panda). Basically, Google is working to improve the user experience of the people using their search tool by eliminating the junk from the listings.

We are often asked about different “tricks” for showing up higher in the search results. Our clients are inundated with conflicting information about the best ways to rank in Google. But, look back at what Google says about its own updates…

“…give people the most relevant answers to their queries as quickly as possible.”

What’s the secret? Produce a quality website that offers quality information, correctly and effectively. Think about the user and stop trying to game the system. Instead focus on the user experience. What does the user want or need? How will they find it and what will they do with it once they have?

Instead of trying to implement SEO tactics trying to fool the search engines into listing your site higher than your competition, focus on writing useful content that is rich with keywords. This means your site has a content strategy focusing on targeting a specific user with information they want.

And when you’ve produced this content, share it. Use your social channels and affiliates to promote and share this content with your target audience. These social signals and back-links to your site will help Google’s spiders find your content and rank it appropriately.

I am not saying that all SEO consists of tricks. It is important to optimize a site for search engine visibility (H1 tags, page titles, meta descriptions, ALT attributes) and make sure you are creating links back to that site. Just keep in mind that if something seems too easy or a little shady, there might be something to that.

The problem with tactics is that they rely on the idea that you know something Google doesn’t. You can try and fool Google by using duplicate content, useless landing pages outside of your site, keyword stuffing, and other “black hat” tactics. But do you really want to go toe to toe with Google? You will lose.

Isn’t it better to focus on delivering value to those that matter most, your clients? Isn’t it a better strategy to be a resource for clients, potential clients and referral sources? Of course it is. And judging by the way things are going with Panda this is going to matter more and more in the future.

So, our advice? Stop gaming the system. The only proven SEO “tactic” is hard work, research and providing value to the targeted user.

Do you agree? Let us know your thoughts on SEO tactics.

Like this article? Why not share it? See the share options in the bar below…

Small business have consistently scored themselves  high in customer service in the  Network Solutions’ Small Business Success Index. Yet these small business owners are very sensitive to negative reviews and I can see them becoming anguished. My advice to my small business friends is to remember that in the service business a 100% satisfied customer service is a goal to work towards but not always achievable.

Don’t get defensive and stress over negative reviews. You should view it as a step to help you with your business. Look for the take away from the reviewers message.

Reviewers :

Your best reviewers are your existing customers who will make the best effort to give the business owner the feedback directly – using either a face-to-face (f2f) conversation or the phone or email. If your business uses comment cards or sends out customer satisfaction surveys, these customers may give you their feedback.

If your customers are not satisfied with their experience, they may not feel comfortable addressing it with the business themselves. They will seek out places where they can post their experience or they may just talk to colleagues and friends about their experience with you.

It is important for your business to provide them an easy way to give you their feedback especially if they are not satisfied. This is your opportunity to address it, make changes if necessary and also retain the customer’s business.

Review Sites :

The sites to pay close attention to are the ones that get the best traffic and deal with your business vertical. Some examples :

• Yelp for restaurants (of course yelp has many more verticals )
• TripAdvisor for travel related business
• Angie’s List (this is a review site you have to join for a fee)
• Amazon – I look at reviews for products here even if I am not buying from here. The product pages come up high on search results.

You may find this article A Review of Review Sites on kk.org interesting listing a few other review sites for other subjects. Check if the review site is full of negative reviews about all the businesses listed, research and weigh your options. One way of doing this is to check the rankings of the website on Alexa.com or other sites. Look to see if the comments are getting responses.

Points to consider when studying reviews of your business:

1. Look for the take away, is there a symptom that is common to all the reviewers?
2. Respond to the reviewer to seek more feedback if necessary
3. Make the follow-up personal with a phone number or email address that can help you get more details
4. If the review is a rant and there are no specifics, you may be tempted to ignore the review rightfully. Remember your response to that review will be looked at by all your prospective customers so it is important to respond.

As a rule of thumb, when I look at reviews personally before buying products I read the negative reviews as well. If the product gets 7 positive to 3 negative I am fine with that. I am also thankful for all the folks on sites like Amazon, Yelp and Trip Advisor who take the trouble to write detailed reviews of products for others. I have had many great experiences following the advise given on Trip Advisor.

For an example of a reviewers dilemma see the reviews of the Residence Inn Hershey Park PA on Google Places and on Trip Advisor. It is clear to me that I should follow the Trip Advisor reviews and Marriott should pay more attention to the Trip Advisor reviews as well as they seem to be doing.

What is your strategy for reviewing reviewers? Do you monitor reviews of your business?

Shashi Bellamkonda : Social Media Swami, Network Solutions

Shashi Bellamkonda is the Director Social Media for Network Solutions a company that provides domain names and online tools for small business customers and an adjunct professor at Georgetown University and serves as a member of the Marketing Advisory Board of SCORE . The employees gave him the title of “Social Media Swami” Shashi  has  contributed  to the Washington Business Journal, American Express OPEN forum, SmallBiZtrends  and other tech blogs like Smallbiztechnology.com and Techcocktail.

Recognized as one of the Top 100 Tech Titans by the Washingtonian magazine in 2009 & 2011 and awarded the honor of being in The 100 Small Business Influencer 2011 Champion List by Small Business Trends and Smallbiztechnology.com. Featured as a speaker at national and regional small business, communications and marketing at conferences such as Digital East 2010, SXSW, IABC, PRSA, and Affiliate Summit.

But, I was reminded of something at the SocialFresh conference, during the mobile marketing sessions. Though user experience on mobile is VERY important, it’s often overlooked. The presenters talked about what works and what doesn’t. Let’s discuss…

“User experience” is an industry term that refers to the quality of the experience the user has while visiting your mobile site. So, how is quality defined?

A quality mobile experience means the following needs to happen:

1. The mobile page loads quickly.
2. The page offers 2-3 clear choices specific to why the user is there.
3. The design and layout is mobile-friendly.

There is a big difference between a mobile user and a desktop user. A desktop user has a chair, a mouse, and large screens. A mobile user is on the go, has thumbs and small screens.

A mobile user will often be taken to a standard website. And while the mobile browsers will render a standard site OK, remember that this isn’t the optimal user experience for mobile. But before you rush out and build a mobile-friendly website, consider the following…

• Do your stats support it? Check your web stats and see how many users are accessing your site on a mobile device. The new version of Google Analytics has some great ways to measure this.
• What information would a mobile user need? Not everything on your website may be necessary. Consider this and develop your mobile site accordingly. Keep it simple, offering only what they need at that moment.

But, back to quality. So, let’s assume you have done your research and your users do need a mobile version of your site. What does a quality mobile site look like? Let’s break our definition of quality down a bit…

Load Time

A mobile friendly site should be developed using the latest standards for HTML and CSS, minimizing what the browser actually needs to do to load the page. In other words, keep it simple.

The design needs to be clean and minimal. Photos should be optimized. Graphics should be clean and necessary. You want to utilize what’s called “responsive design.”  Smashing Magazine has a great article and definition for Responsive Design…

Responsive Web design is the approach that suggests that design and development should respond to the user’s behavior and environment based on screen size, platform and orientation. The practice consists of a mix of flexible grids and layouts, images and an intelligent use of CSS media queries.

Your designer/developer should know what they’re doing.  Mobile is the new Wild West. Make sure your designer/developer knows how to build your site to work with all major mobile devices and browsers. It’s no longer as simple as knowing what version of IE your clients use.

Navigation

Navigation, which is the linking structure of a website, is dealt with much differently on a mobile site than on a standard website. The buttons need to be easy for the user to click (touch), and the choices need to be minimal and relevant.

When a user gets to your mobile landing page, they need to see the main choices you want them to make right away. These choices need to relate to the reason they are at your site in the first place.

If the user scanned a QR code, or used an SMS shortcode to get to your mobile page, their decision to do this needs to be validated immediately. They should get to this page and know right away what to do.

For example, if you have a booth at a trade show, you might consider using SMS to improve your marketing efforts while at the show. So, you have a message on your booth that says “text info to 12345 to get more information about XYX product”.

The users sends this text and receives one back with a link and maybe a short message like…

“thanks for your interest. Here is a link to the spec sheets and some video clips for this product – www.link.com.”

When they click this and end up on your mobile landing page, what do you think they are expecting to see? Yup, a link to the spec sheet and a link to videos. Do you need a bunch of links to other things there? No.

Design and Layout

Designing for mobile is much different than designing for the web. You’re dealing with thumbs. And if you’ve ever navigated a site on your smart phone, you know how frustrating bad navigation can be.

The minimum area required for an optimal mobile link is 44 pixels by 44 pixels. This is what that looks like…

That is about the average area that a thumb needs to effectively select a link. If your links are very small and crowded together, the user will have a hard time hitting the right link and become very frustrated. This is bad user experience.

Give your links room to breathe. Make sure that the user can easily select the link they want. This will require smart design and layout, using color and spatial arrangements to offer the user the easiest navigational structure possible.

The text should be easy to read. Remember, this is a small device; you need to keep in mind that reading here is even more difficult than on a standard website. You want your content to be minimal and your fonts to be large and easy to read.

Responsive design really factors in here. Your code can go a long way to ensuring that the cross-platform user experience is optimal. In other words, an iPhone 4 user will have a similar user experience to an Android 3.0 user and so forth.

As with any marketing and communication efforts, research, planning, defined goals, and testing are required. Don’t rush to build a mobile site just because there are a bunch of mobile phones. Take your time and build a mobile experience that supports your marketing goals.

What are some good and bad experiences you’ve had with mobile sites? Let me know in the comments below.

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Smartphone apps? A mobile website? QR codes?

While these may be the first thoughts that pop into your head, they may not be the best first steps in mobile marketing.

What’s about good old fashioned text messaging? You know, that technology I’m guessing you probably used at least within the last 60 minutes.

Why start with text messaging?

Here are three good reasons:

1. Cost-effectiveness

It’s not news that in many marketing departments these days money isn’t always easy to come by. Coming up with the budget for a mobile app, on one platform let alone two, is not always easy.

Creating a mobile website, depending on size, scope, and content management system, is not cheap either. Text messaging marketing can be extremely budget friendly, especially if you’re already printing signs for something or running traditional media.  Just revise the creative to add a “text-in for this or that” call-to-action and you’ve just started a mobile marketing campaign.

Best of all, almost all SMS marketing providers charge based on the number of messages or subscribers in your database. The cost starts small and when it increases that means your campaign is working!

2. Biggest Audience

When marketing dollars are tight everyone likes to see “good numbers” at the end of the campaign. Because text messaging is available on essentially every phone and used by just about everybody (over 70% of adults), you’ll have the best opportunity to reach the most people and build the largest opt-in database.

Every other mobile marketing technology has an inherit “audience-limiter”. Mobile websites; must have an HTML-capable phone.  Apps; must have a smartphone. QR codes; must have a smartphone and a QR reader installed. The more things your audience needs to participate, the smaller the numbers get. Start with the biggest audience and then target the more technology capable groups later.

3. It will “launch” the other ones

At the end of any text message marketing campaign there will be a database of mobile phone numbers (the people who texted-in). Launching a mobile app or website? Send out a text and tell them.

They’ve already had one mobile interaction with you so there’s a good chance they would be open to another. Instead of counting on the app store or mobile searches to drive traffic you can generate that initial burst of activity on your own. Think about it, it’s a lot easier to drive traffic to a new website when you already have a big email list of people who would be interested.

Ok, so you agree text messaging might be a good place to start mobile marketing.

But where do you start with text messaging?

Helpful ideas continue to come in threes –

1. Traditional media

As mentioned above, this is an easy one. Instead of telling your audience to “call now” or “visit our website”, have them send a text message. Maybe they’re entering to win something or getting an instant “show this message on your phone for something” coupon.

2. Events

Are you still using clipboards and sign up sheets to gather data at your events? Still putting out that plastic fish bowl for business cards? Try having your event attendees get out their phone and text to vote, answer a question, put a message up on a screen, sign a petition, win something, or get a discount. It’ll be more fun for you and your audience, and in the end you’ll get a valid mobile number instead of an email address you can’t read anyway.

3. In-store

Many businesses have more people passing through their doors everyday than visits to their website. Those people also have phones in their pockets and purses. Print out a sign and create a mobile loyalty club by having visitors text-in for a discount on their next visit. They’re in your location so you know they have an interest in your business. Give them an easy way to offer up their valuable mobile phone number so you can bring them back later.

This post was originally featured on Social Fresh, a site dedicated to social media and marketing education for business. This was re-published with permission from JA.TXT.

Hopefully, you’re prepared to  respond quickly with your mallet of accessible justice. Everyone knows about the commonly referenced stuff, like the alt attributes in HTML image tags, or captioning for videos. But what about the rest of the real-world? What things should you be looking out for? Tackle these three issues next time you launch a site, and you’ll be ahead of the pack: