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as new technologies and trends arrive on the scene, which means that some rules that applied the previous year are no longer applicable in the current year, and vice versa.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Unfortunately, this effort is often hampered by recurring myths – many of which are merely outdated rules – which some people believe about the web.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!

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…

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:

Your website is like a restaurant. Google is the busy corner location on which every restaurant wants to open. Your goal is to get your restaurant on that busy corner. Keywords, social shares, backlinks (links back to your site from trusted outside sources), etc are all roads leading to that busy corner.

Here’s the problem with this analogy. It still matters what your food tastes like, how attentive your staff is and whether or not the place is a dump. Let’s take this analogy a  bit further…

1 – The Food – The Site Content

Content is king. Your content is your food. It’s why people come. If your content is just keyword rich junk they may leave full but probably not very satisfied, and not very willing to recommend your food to someone else.

If your content is tasty, just the right amount, and unique, you are more likely to make that valuable positive impression. Not only are the food critics (Google, bloggers, etc) going to enjoy it and write favorably about it, but the patrons will talk about your food to all their friends, co-workers, and family.

Make the food the most important piece of the experience. But, the food isn’t everything.

2 – Your Staff – User Experience

Just like a dining experience, a website offers a user experience. And much like a restaurant having a quality staff to ensure a quality dining experience, your website should have its own “staff” to help with the user experience.

Your staff includes:

• the host (the landing pages)
• the servers (the navigation)
• and the server’s suggestions (calls to action)

You know those great restaurants where the staff is so amazing, you hardly notice them. In other words, they do their job so well that you focus mainly on the quality food and not much else.

Your website should do exactly the same thing…

1. Hosts – just like a good host, your landing pages should welcome the user and make their entry into your site a seamless, hassle free experience.
2. Servers – your navigation needs to be clear and easy. You want the user to easily find what they want without too much uncertainty or confusion.
3. Server’s Suggestions – these calls to action help drive the users where you want them to go. Just like a suggestion from the server, these are the special items deserve extra attention. The choice is a no-brainer.

3 – Ambiance - Site Design

Yes, looks still matter. If you go to a restaurant that’s dirty, dark and smells bad, are you going to stay and eat? Probably not. Sure, there are exceptions but they are rare and the food better be the best food ever to overcome the dump factor.

Just like a restaurant, your website needs to be visually appealing with appropriate decor and a unique feel. The pages should be clean and free of clutter. The action pages should be easy to manage. If the user is comfortable then the time they spend there will be much more enjoyable.

This can go a bit further. Hip trendy restaurants have unique decor, cool art and maybe the staff has a slightly different approach that enhances the patrons experience. A website should be unique. You want to be memorable and for all the right reasons.

In other words, simply having an abundance of decent food isn’t going to help a mediocre  restaurant. By the same token having an abundance of decent content isn’t going to help  a website. You have to consider the entire experience.

Just like Goldilocks it has to be just right. The check has to come when you are ready to leave. The food has to be at the right temp. The server has to show up when your glass is empty. Any other ways you would compare a website to a restaurant? Let me know in the comments below…

Adobe Flash is a “multimedia platform used to add animation, video, and interactivity to web pages.” – Wikipedia.

It’s been very useful to developers for many years. At Wood Street, we’ve used it to develop all sorts of things… animations, video, eCommerce apps, presentations, Interactive CD Roms, etc.

Flash was an effective tool and we used it a great deal. But, it did come with its own set of issues…

1. It requires an additional skill set and therefore is more expensive to develop properly
2. It can be a barrier to effective SEO (Search Engine Optimization)
3. It is much more expensive to update and maintain
4. And more recently, it is not supported on Apple products like the iPhone or iPad

This last point has been fodder for a very public battle between Adobe and Apple. Apple has flat out refused to support Adobe Flash and Adobe has been anything but quiet about their disappointment in this. Don’t cry for Adobe though. They will be just fine. If you’ve ever purchased their Creative Suite, you know that they make money. And pretty much every web design and graphic design professional has a version of it.

Flash has served its purpose but I am to the point where I rarely see the need for it because of  emerging technologies like html5 and JavaScript like HTML5 or JavaScript. Don’t get me wrong, I think Flash can be very powerful. But you really need to convince me that Flash is going to do what these other platforms simply cannot before I am on board with it.

One strategy I will very rarely get behind is building an entire web site or any of the navigational elements in Flash. This is bad form and just plain unnecessary. You can do so much now with CSS, HTML5 and JavaScript, that there simply isn’t a reason to use Flash in the construction of any of the user driven elements of your site other than longer animation sequences.

So the next time someone in your organization starts leaning toward developing any part of your website in Flash, ask them these questions…

1. Is it necessary? What purpose does Flash serve the user? If none, don’t use it.
2. How will the use of Flash impact accessibility? If you are concerned about users with disabilities, Flash could be a hindrance. Readers for the blind cannot read Flash files for example.
3. Can you accomplish the project goals with another technology? Can you use CSS, HTML5, JavaScript or something else to achieve the desired outcome? Even if you can do 75% of what you want with something else, strongly consider it.
4. Is SEO important? It used to be that Flash was not indexable by Search Engines. Nowadays you can develop Flash so that keywords are visible but it takes time and therefore will be more expensive. Of course, if the developer does not know how to do this or simply does not do it, then your Flash piece will be invisible to search engines.
5. Are your users going to be viewing your site on an iPhone or iPad? If even a portion of them are, consider something else. You can do some neat things with animation and HTML5 and it will be supported by these devices.

Flash still has its place. It is currently the most widely used plugin for service video. YouTube, Vimeo and Hulu are good examples of this.

Remember to consider the user and your desired outcome before you use Flash. You can have the most amazingly animated site with all kinds of swooshes and sound effects and video, but if no one sees it, no one sees it.

Unless you have millions to spend on promotion, you need your site to attract visitors on its own. Flash will hinder this way more than it helps.

Am I missing something? Is Flash more useful than I give it credit? Let me know in the comments below…

So, what is User Experience exactly? Wikipedia defines it in the following way:

User experience (UX) is about how a person feels about using a product, system or service. – Wikipedia

In this case the system is your website. Now you might be thinking “how they feel??? who cares!” or something along those lines. But consider this: if someone gets to your website, how do you think they need to feel in order for your site to convert them from a user into a client? Let’s break this into warm and fuzzies and eww gross…

Warm and Fuzzies – A Positive User Reaction

1. Comfortable, Safe – these are feelings that you want the user to have. You want them to feel comfortable that your site is the place where they will find what they are looking for (even if you want to scare the crap out of them, you want them to feel that you are the one that will make everything OK).
2. Validated – there is something rather satisfying about knowing you’ve made the right decision. Well, if you’ve chosen to go to a site from a list of search engine results and the site you go to has what you need, you will feel validated in your choice to click.
3. Eager – if the user has the two previous feelings, then they will most likely be eager to poke around on your site. This is good, because once you get users to visit your site and find information they want, they are invested and more likely to buy/join/download/whatever.

Eww, Gross – Bad Site, Head for the Hills!

1. Uncertainty – is this site for real? Can I trust this site with my information? Is the owner of this site a real person who actually cares? If someone is asking themselves these questions and is unsure of the answers they hear in their head, then they probably feel that they’re not in the right place and will want to get the heck out of there.
2. Lost – if they get there and have some initial comfort but then feel lost or confused after a minute or two, then frustration sets in and they are gone!
3. A Bit like Dorothy – when the wizard came out from behind the curtain, we were all a little disappointed. If the users feel there is something shady going on behind the scenes, they will bolt. They are bombarded with spam, etc. and don’t want to do business with anyone they think has a hidden agenda.

Of course, User Experience goes deeper than just initial reactions to a website, but this stuff is very important. Consider your own web surfing experience. How do you react to different types of websites? The users want a positive experience and they want it without having to think.

So, how does this happen? How can you design and develop a website that gives a user the warm and fuzzies? Here are some quick tips that will help you get there:

Comfortable, Safe

A user will feel comfortable and safe for a number of reasons and most are well within your control…

1. Good design – let’s face it, first impressions still count and visuals make up a lot of that. If your design is appropriate without being distracting, then the user will not even notice it, or if they do, they will like it. The key is to not let your design get in the way of the user interacting with the site. This goes for users who are visually impaired; design and code matters a great deal here as well.
2. Clear message and direction – no one likes to wander around aimlessly looking for information. They want it and they want it yesterday. Use your copy and your design to make sure they can find what they want and quickly (knowing what they want helps too!).
3. Knowing real people are behind what they see – if the user knows that the people responsible for this site are real and even accessible, then the comfort level goes way up. If all they can find is contact@wedonotcare.com and a PO Box, then their willingness to give anything beyond a quick glance is going to be minimal. Make sure they can easily figure out who is in charge.

Validated

Once a user feels comfort and safety, they will then be looking for validation. They want to know they’re making a good choice by being on your site. They want to feel that their choice to click on your listing was a good one. Knowing them is really the key to this one…

1. What do they want – if you know your audience and what they want, then you can give it to them. Placing this information in the obvious areas of the design will mean that they will find what they want quickly. This lets them know that they are in EXACTLY the right place.
2. Other users agreed with their choice – adding things like user ratings for products or client testimonials will also help the user feel that they are in the right place because other people with similar needs are telling them so.

Eager

So, if the user is comfortable with your site and they feel validated in choosing to visit, then what’s next? They want to do something. Think about it: if you get to a store, it looks nice, you feel good about being there and your buddies told you it was a great place, you are going to want to go shopping right away. Users are going to be in a mad rush to get more. Don’t get in their way…

1. Make your CTAs (call to action) obvious – people need to be guided through an experience. Your CTA needs to be obvious without being obnoxious. Place the useful qualifying information on your site followed by a clear call to action (what you want and expect them to do next: call, email, buy, etc.).
2. Don’t over-complicate the message – get to the point! No one is going to wade through tons of information to get what they want. They want it now! They want to click once and be there. Do as little as possible to complicate this process.
3. Keep the aisles clear from debris – no one likes their shopping experience to be a cluttered one. They want free and easy access to the products they wish to purchase. In the case of a website, this means that they want to find the information they are looking for quickly. You want your site’s navigation and support features (search, help, etc.) to be intuitive and effective. Testing is important here because designers and developers sometimes miss the obvious roadblocks.

Working with your marketing team, web design and development team, and yes, even your clients, you can think through and plan for the user experience from start to finish. If you build this site with the user’s experience in mind, you will see better results. If you build the site with only your goals in mind, you will miss some opportunities to convert a user into a client.

What are some of your best and worst examples of user experience?

Does this mean that WordPress is going to solve all of your web marketing woes? Nope. Does this mean you will never need help from a designer, developer or SEO professional? That depends, but generally the answer here is no. Let’s dig a bit deeper into this last idea…

Isn’t Content King?  Does Design Even Matter?

There are lots of popular blogs and web sites that were built using a pre-designed template on the WordPress Blog platform. Some folks have been able to use their basic knowledge of coding to enhance this presence with plugins, upgraded design elements, pictures, etc.

The problem with templates is that you start looking and feeling like every other out-of-the-box WordPress site out there. Sure, some of these templates are decent, but you really need to tweak them quite a bit to achieve any sort of unique look and feel.

Other companies will hire a web designer to modify a template for them. This is definitely a step in the right direction. But if you want to really stand out, a completely custom look is the way to go.

Recently, Google has rolled out a new feature called Google Instant Preview. When you do a search in Google, you will notice a small magnifying glass icon next to the search results. This basically lets searchers preview the site in the listing before they even click on the results link.

So, yes, design matters. User experience matters. Perceived level of trust and experience matters. It is very difficult to be successful in these areas if your site looks like a free WordPress template. (see our previous post on the importance of web design)

And What about Content Management?

Ever since WordPress 3.0 came out, it has been a viable and popular Content Management System (CMS) solution. A CMS is a tool enabling content managers at companies with the ability to edit the content on a web site using a WYSWYG editor – similar to what you would see in most desktop publishing apps like Word.

This has been great for our clients. They love the control they have over their content and the fact that they don’t need us for every single update and edit. We love it because our clients stay engaged with their content strategies and their web sites enjoy greater success. This means happy clients and happy clients give referrals.

Unfortunately, there is a common misperception about CMS solutions. Clients will assume that, because they can edit the content themselves, it’s an easy solution with no training or advanced knowledge needed. Sure, simple edits are generally simple, but not all effectively published content is displayed simply.

Successful web sites that convert visitors to clients use things like call outs, dynamically posted content, social media integration, forms, etc. There are nice widgets and plug-ins for these, but they are a little tricky to manage. With a little testing and some trial and error though, our clients become pros in no time.

With SEO Plug-ins, Optimization is a Snap!  Right?

Sure. With plug-ins like Yoast, wpSEO and others you can now manage your Meta descriptions, page titles, etc. You can even do a quick review of your content for keyword density. These tools are fantastic and really allow the client to be able to manage their SEO on an ongoing basis to achieve maximum results.

But this doesn’t paint the entire picture of SEO. Any SEO expert will tell you that it isn’t just about the keywords. It is about testing, analysis, retesting, more analysis, and more testing.  Get the picture?

Plugging a bunch of keywords into your code and content without some data to back it up is just a bad idea. If you are going to take the reins of your SEO efforts, you need to do some research first and acquaint yourself with the practices of proper SEO.

We recommend the following SEO resources if this is a path you want to take:

1. Search Engine Journal
2. Search Engine Roundtable
3. SEOMoz

So, Is WordPress a Bad Idea or a Good Idea?

It’s a great idea. WordPress is a viable CMS and Blogging solution for many businesses and organizations. However, WordPress implementation is by no means a plug and play affair. With any successful marketing and communications endeavor, it takes planning, the right tools, strategic implementation and lots of testing/trial and error.

The greatest thing about the internet is the wealth of information available at our fingertips. Use it to do some research on WordPress, and I think you will find that it could just be an option for you.

What do you think about WordPress? Let us know in the comments below.

However, we don’t think this is an excuse for bad design. Design still matters. The web, for the most part, is a visual experience (factor in mobile, and the visual matters even more). Users tend to develop their initial level of trust based on superficial elements, i.e. design. And how they use the site is very much determined by how it is arranged visually and how well the information is presented.

Don’t think design matters? Here are three reasons why I think it does…

1. First impressions are more important than ever
2. Usability and user experience is crucial
3. Good design means greater control

First Impressions

Chances are pretty good that a user will end up on your web site or blog through some sort of search or referral. This will lead many to argue that they were driven to a web site because of its content and that content is all that matters.

Good content does increase your site’s Search Engine Page Results (or SERPs). And both valuable and useful content will produce referrals, retweets, Facebook “likes,” etc.  But what happens once they get to your site?

Does the design make a difference? Sure it does. If you go to a site and it looks terrible or confusing, are you in a comfortable place? Are you feeling confident that this is the place where the content is going to deliver? Or does none of this matter to you?

Whether you realize it or not, you experience a subconscious reaction to the site before you have even read one bit of content. You have a first impression based on the overall look and feel of the site. Your design needs to support the content and goals of the site (which is something we will cover later).

The bottom line here is that your web site is an important marketing and communications piece and as such should promote your brand. The look of your site should visually convey the feelings you want the user to have about your company when visiting. It should be inviting and invoke user confidence. If the user has a bad first impression then your content is going to have to be stellar just to try and win them over.

Usability and User Experience

Once you have made that first impression, now comes the important matter of user experience. Again, some will argue that all they want is your content and if they were referred through a search they should be staring right at it.

This is true to some extent, but it doesn’t paint the entire picture. Again, what are your goals for your web site? Do you simply want more visitors? Or do you want those visitors to do something when on your site?

You want conversion; you want this user to act when given specific pieces of information. Let’s say you’re a landscaping company and you’ve written a great blog post about how to prune a rose bush. When someone comes to read that post, you want them to do something – leave a comment, look at your pruning service offerings, refer the post via a social media channel, or all of the above.

Layout, navigation and even color can play a huge role in whether or not these things happen and how often. If your design is cluttered with poorly placed ads, or your navigation is confusing, or your colors are distracting, then your design (or lack thereof) is acting as a deterrent when it comes to achieving your goals.

Consistency in layout and styles (elements like fonts, buttons, etc) will also help the user to navigate the site more easily. Anything you can do to minimize confusion or doubt on the part of the user will make the experience for them for more productive.

It can be helpful to refer back to basic design, composition rules and color theory (our post Hierarchy & Web Design might be helpful). How can you use your design to lead the eye or draw specific attention to something without being too obvious and obnoxious? How can you use a certain color to convey a certain theme like “fun,” “professional,” or “creative”?

Good Design Means Greater Control

Unlike a lot of social media pages, your web site is the place where you control the message and the experience. You can use design to lead the user through the site, gently suggesting the next page to visit or what call to action to select.

Think about it this way. You’re visiting a Facebook page, what do you see? Ads on the right side, updates from friends, notices up top, and so forth. You are constantly being pulled in all directions by elements that demand your attention.

On your web site, you control these elements and can use them to lead the user along the path you would like them to follow. Design plays a huge role in this, based on the reasons I have already pointed out like composition, color, etc.

All of these things working together with your content will make for a more controlled and targeted user experience, which will ultimately lead to higher conversion rates.

All of this needs planning and testing. You will want to work with a designer or someone who knows about web site design. You will also want to determine your goals and their order of importance. And you should be testing with some sort of stats tool, such as Google Analytics.

Design is more than just a beauty contest. Design is an integral part of your web marketing strategy – it drives user experience, goal conversion and content promotion.

What do you think about a web site’s design? Let us know in the comments below.

So, what does this mean? First, it means that simply having a Facebook page doesn’t lead to increased site traffic. It also means that if you have a targeted and effective Social Media Marketing campaign, you can see an increase in site traffic.

These two things may seem contrary to each other, but the simple fact remains that we are, as marketers, still learning a lot about the effectiveness of social media on our marketing efforts.

However, one thing that hasn’t changed is that a web site is still important and that the strategy for that web site is crucial. Social media marketing is about conversation and your web site is about conversion. This is where you make the connections that lead to business.

I’m not saying that you can’t make business connections in social media channels. Of course you can, but your web site is where you can readily convert a prospect into a client.

To illustrate this point I want to focus on 3 reasons your web site is still your most important marketing piece:

1. You Own It!
2. Search Engines Look For It!
3. Content Marketing Needs It!

You Own It!

We all know that Facebook is popular, will readily admit that LinkedIn is still the best professional social network out there, and am definitely a Twitter fanatic. But does this mean it’s time to abandon your web site in favor of these? No.

Here is the main reason why, you do not own them: these pages are not yours. Don’t believe me?  Read the terms and conditions. Plus, these sites are forever changing the rules. The headaches of having to redo your Facebook fan page when they removed FBML are proof enough. This is not your site and you have limited control.

Your web site is yours, you own it! You can design it and control the look, message and tone there. You can also do a lot more to control the user experience to drive better conversion. Plus, it is all about you – no friends, ads, or other distractions to overshadow your message.

Take advantage of ownership:

1. Make your web site unique with strong design that reinforces your marketing efforts. This is how you stand apart from every other WordPress template site and Facebook Company Page.
2. Think through the user experience – work with your web designer and a group of advisors and valued clients to craft a meaningful user experience with a strategically-developed site architecture.
3. Think about goals, you have more control here, so focus on what your goals are and how you can use the navigation and design to drive goal conversion.

Search Engines Look for It!

Yes, social media is being integrated into search more and more each day. The search engines are crawling these pages in an effort to identify your social authority and what kind of reach and influence you have online.

More importantly, the search engines are still looking for your web site. They are looking for the best possible answers to their search queries. Do you think Google wants to show a top 10 results page full of Facebook links? They want the search results page to be diverse yet effective and relevant.

Search engines will list social media pages but mainly when you search for the proper name associated with it (ex: if you search my name, you will see my LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter profiles). For more keyword specific terms, you will find results that list blogs, forums, etc. So, include these on your web site:

1. Host your Blog on your domain, e.g. www.yourdomain.com/blog. This way, your Blog content shows up in search engines and is tied to other areas of your site that are targeted towards conversion.
2. If you have video, podcasts or webinars, add an archive section on your web site. You can and should post these on sites like YouTube and SlideShare, but you also want this content on your site.
3. You can also post video and reviews of that video on your Blog. This is more keyword rich content driving rankings for your site.

Your web site should be driven by content. Develop a strong content strategy starting with your web site as the main content repository and you will have your editorial calendar in place to keep you moving forward – placing quality, keyword rich content on your site regularly.

I would argue that it continues to be important from a search perspective for your company to have a well built website with targeted landing pages and a solid content marketing strategy.

Content Marketing Needs It!

Content marketing is a newer term for an old idea. If you push useful content, become a resource for potential clients and show yourself to be a trusted expert, you will win business. You might remember this from your old-school networking days… “the giver’s gain”.

The basic premise means that you provide quality content that is of some immediate value to the user. You can do this on social media sites like LinkedIn, YouTube, SlideShare, Facebook, etc. and you should.

But your site should be the centralized source of all of this content. You want your web site to be your central content marketing hub – the destination from your outreach efforts and the source of your content push.

Why? Because, as we previously covered, you control the user experience on your site. You can bring users in with valuable content and through smart design and effective navigation you can convert them into clients. This is not as easy to control on social media outlets because there are too many distractions getting in your way. Marketing on social media can sometimes be like herding cats.

Your site should contain a Blog with entries that appear on Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn. It should have a video feed from your YouTube channel. It should be the source of any eBooks you promote. And the majority of the information you promote in your email marketing should live here.

The web is changing and you need to be able to change with it. But this does not mean that you should relinquish control. Marketing is still about crafting the message and controlling its delivery. Sure, it’s become easier for the user to control but at the end of the day, content still needs a source. Make sure that source is your web site!

I don’t mean to pummel a dead horse here but this is very important. If your idea of content marketing is placing a mention here and there about what you do, you’ve got it all wrong. Content marketing is much more than that:

1. Start a Blog and make it useful to the reader
2. Host seminars and webinars, record these and post them on your site
3. Post white papers, eBooks, studies and published articles with source reference
4. Ask people to guest Blog, guest host a seminar or webinar, and post this on your site
5. Host contests and integrate with a specific social media channel
6. Even more! Be creative, thinking about the user

The important thing is that all of this is focused and tied to goals. Your marketing approach needs to be targeted. And the best anchor for all of your content marketing and general marketing efforts is your web site.

What do you think about a web site’s importance? Let me know in the comments below.

Of course we get the “easy button” question… “Well, can’t we just convert it to mobile?” The answer is no… well, sort of. Most well-built sites will render just fine on mobile browsers. For example, here is our standard site on an iPhone…

iPhone Site Simulation

As you can see, only a portion of the entire page is visible. However, with some simple vertical and horizontal scrolling using the touch screen you can easily find the areas of the site that you need. So, you are probably fine right? Not necessarily…

Sure, the user can get to the content they want with a little extra moving around, but what if they don’t know what they want? What if they have an idea of what they want but aren’t specifically sure what that is?

This is the real issue with the mobile experience. What does the user want, or more importantly, what do you want them to want? What is the desired action? How do you want this mobile user to interact with your site?

With mobile, the experience is much different than it is on a PC. These users are on the move. They are busy and need information quickly. Their goals are often very different than they might be on a PC. The good news is that on mobile you can cut a lot of “stuff” out of your site. The bad news is that you need to know what “stuff” to cut out.

We’ve put together this survey that we hope will get you thinking about the mobile experience and how you can use it successfully…

Question One: What are the calls to action on your web site and how well do they perform?

For this, you will need to look at your site statistics. We use Google Analytics. You want to see what areas of your site are currently working for you and how well your site is converting traffic to sales.

You can set up Goal Conversion tracking with Google Analytics. With this you could set up a goal similar to this… Landing Page à Contact Page à Contact Thank You Page. If a user follows these then you know this is a goal conversion.

With this you can see what works and what does not. There is no need to mimic what doesn’t work on your mobile site; it’s a waste of time and money. For you to succeed on mobile, you need to have targeted goals that you can achieve.

Think about how this could work on mobile, how you can streamline things and get to the most immediate form of a call to action.

Question Two: What information would someone on a mobile device need from you?

Again, these are people on the move, they need information and they want it 5 minutes ago. What information would they need on the go? Do they have to get right to that brilliant white paper or glowing customer testimonial right away? Probably not.

They are looking for the essentials…

1. Sales Contacts
2. Location and General Contact
3. Pricing, etc

Whatever you do, don’t get in their way. Fancy doesn’t play well here – you need to think usability.

Question Three: Are there any tools or extras on your site that mobile users would also need?

You might have a product gallery, a Blog, or maybe some sort of calculator or estimator on your site. Some of these tools or added extras were probably added to give your site depth or some stickiness.

Some of these tools could be essential – essential in the sense that your customer needs these tools on the go. Or maybe there’s something that mobile users would use, even if it is just for fun, and it can further promote your brand.

So, if these tools or add-ons are deemed to be essential, how can they be repurposed for mobile? Will they work as is on a mobile device or do they need to be redesigned or reconfigured for the space and mobile browser requirements? Do they work with a touch screen?

Question Four: Are there any databases integrated with your site?

You might have a member database or product database. Is this information necessary for the mobile user? Some of this information may be necessary on your mobile site just as it is on your web site.

Most times you can probably just make some adjustments on the interface for your mobile site to bring in certain bits of data. It could be that only certain parts of the data are necessary on mobile, whereas the full data would be needed on the web site.

As we mentioned before, it matters in terms of what you want them to be doing on your mobile site. Do you want them searching through tons of data, and if so, will they? Or do you want them to get in touch with you right away and save the extended engagement for the web site?

Again, your web site will most likely render just fine on a mobile browser. But as you can see, this is only part of the story. You really want to guide the user. To do this, you need to know the user, the medium and your desired response.

So how are you feeling about mobile now? Let us know in the comments below…