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15 Important Web Design Tips
Here are 15 important website design tips that you might not be
aware of or have overlooked. Consider taking advantage of them
if you haven’t already done so…
1. Custom 404 Pages
Create a custom 404 web page, so that any time your website
visitor mistypes or misspells a URL on your site, they will
still be provided with navigation options for your site
(instead of getting nothing but a “Page Not Found” error
message, which is neither friendly or helpful).
2. Redirect Non-www. To www.
Website visitors will often leave out the “www.” portion when
they type a URL or link to your website. Set the website up so
that it automatically redirects any non-www version of your
domain urls (http://domain. com) to the www version
(http://www.domain. com) of your website.
3. Properly Sized Graphics
Size and define all graphics and images on your web pages
properly and correctly. Web pages will load quicker if the
graphics contained on each page are properly defined so they
don’t require the web browser to re-size them. Properly sized
and defined images can reduce the web browser workload and speed
up the page loading time.
4. Favicon
Add a Favicon (favorite icon) to your website, so that your
company or product logo appears in the URL box. This icon will
also show up in a bookmark list, and gives the web site an added
level of professionalism.
5. Include RSS Auto-Discovery
If you offer an RSS feed for any content on your website, be
sure to include auto-discovery code in the header of your
website. This will allow many browsers and RSS readers to
automatically detect the presence of an RSS feed and alert the
visitor that it is available.
6. Alternate Domains
Domain names are relatively inexpensive, so you should register
multiple domain versions and extensions in order to protect your
brand. The varied domains can be parked on the main website,
simply to prevent others from obtaining them. Registering
alternate domain versions will help protect your brand.
7. Consistent Navigation
Navigation should remain consistent on a website. As a website
visitor moves through the website, the navigation bar should
remain in the same place on each page. This will make it easier
for visitors to navigate your website, and become more
comfortable as they move through your site.
8. Home Goes Home
The main graphic, company logo, or “header” at the top of the
site should be included on every page in the site, and should
always return the visitor to the home page of the website. This
has become a web standard, and most visitors now expect to
return to the main page of the site simply by clicking on the
main top graphic from any page within the site.
9. Copyright Notice
Include a copyright notice on the bottom of each page contained
on the website, and keep it current! It may seem trivial, but an
out-of-date copyright notice can send a message to your visitors
that the website and its content may be out-of-date as well.
10. Meaningful File Names
Use meaningful file names for any files, graphics, or web pages.
Many search engines look at file names as part of their search
algorithm, and using keywords in file names may help to improve
search engine rankings.
11. Hyphens vs Underscores
When naming files and webpages, use hyphens
(i.e. web-page.html) rather than underscores (i.e. web_page.html)
for the file names. It is much easier for search engines to
separate and index the keywords when hyphens are used.
12. Alt Tags
Use ALT tags to describe what images represent on web pages. ALT
tags not only assist visually-impaired visitors in knowing what
the images are, but they also help with search engine ranking.
13. Spell Check
Use a spell-check feature on the text of all web pages in a
website. A website that contains mistyped or misspelled words
just shouts “unprofessional”. Take the extra few minutes
necessary to check the spelling of text on each page of your
website.
14. Test
After making changes to a website, test it! Many times, a
webmaster will upload changes, confident in their abilities,
only to later discover that in their attempt to fix one thing,
they have “broken” something somewhere else. Make testing a
habit after making even the most minor changes!
15. Keep It Simple
Simple is good. Remove unnecessary clutter and distractions
from a website and navigation menu.
Landing Pages: What You Need to Explain to your Website Design Company
posted by Luigi_M_Scollo @ 8:00 AM
Monday, August 23, 2010
Landing Pages: What You Need to Explain to your Website Design Company
The definition of a landing page is simply “the first page
that visitors hit on your site,” so it is not strictly a
certain page but any page that a user “lands” on. All
websites have landing pages, whether they like it or not,
even if it was not specifically designed as such.
Landing pages can have a substantial impact on your e-
commerce website. A poorly-developed one can hasten its
breakdown just as an effective landing page can drive
traffic to your site, respond to calls to action and make
your business website a success.
One vital measure of the effectiveness of your website is
the “bounce rate,” or the percentage of visitors who
immediately leave your site without making any other click.
The bounce rate is inversely proportional to the
effectiveness of the landing page. Basically, this means
that a high bounce rate indicates that your landing page
isn’t compelling enough for the visitor to pursue his
interest or take some other action.
Normally, the home page is the primary landing page of most
typical websites. But more and more, site owners are
designing landing pages outside of the home page, and for
good reason.
Most users prefer to skip information which is irrelevant to
their needs. They want to get directly to their search,
hence the need for a landing page that delivers just that.
They can avoid the delays caused by having to click through
pages and pages of information when they already have
something in mind.
Landing pages serve their purpose when the site owner knows
the kind of visitor they are targeting. This is determined
by knowing what the visitor clicked on to arrive at your
site. A visitor who clicks on an ad for your product would
not want to go through other pages to get the information
about the product. Webinars, other event registrations and
special offers make use of this same principle.
Not all visitors are looking for the same information. One
may click on your link after reading an article you
submitted to a consumer review site while another may arrive
at your site after viewing your infomercial ad.
For each specific visitor, you can design a landing page
that will cater to his needs and contain the information he
is looking for. For example, infomercial viewers can be
directed to www.yoursite.com/infomercial, while visitors who
clicked on your banner ads for this month’s special will be
directed to www.yoursite.com/specials.
These landing pages should be evaluated for their
effectiveness. The bounce rate is a key measurement for
determining the effectiveness of landing pages.
Another measure for landing pages is the success of a “next
action.” It might be purchasing the product, requesting more
information, signing up for a free trial, etc.
Determine your conversion rate by dividing the number of
action takers into the number of visitors. A typical
conversion rate is 3 to 5 percent for lead generation pages
and 1 to 2 percent for e-commerce sites. If your site is
successful, you should be getting twice those numbers.
A concept that is intrinsic in creating effective landing
pages is “alignment.” This is the connection between your
source (where the visitor came from) and your landing page.
The more connected they are, the higher the success of
conversion.
A good example is a banner ad for a specific product from a
beauty products company. Clicking on the banner ad and being
directed to a landing page showing the exact same product
yields a higher conversion rate. If the alignment is not
present, on the other hand, there will be a significant
reduction in conversion rates.
In general, a landing page must stir these positive emotions
in a visitor for it to be effective:
Credibility
Your page must be able to capture the visitor’s trust by
presenting a credible appearance. Remove anything that can
cause a negative effect in the minds of your visitors, such
as a lack of contact information, grammatical errors and
typos, buzzwords, “marketese” and jargon, fuzzy or blocky
graphics and too much use of serif fonts, like Times New
Roman.
Recognition
Your page must provide your visitor a “This is what I’m
looking for!” moment upon landing.
Persuasiveness
Your page must be able to convince visitors that your
product or service can help them achieve their goal. Keep in
mind what attracted the visitor to your product in the first
place so you will understand what he is looking for.
Action
You must highlight an action for the visitor to take while
he is on your landing page.
Techniques to Use with Landing Pages
Here are some major principles to guide you in the process
of developing an effective landing page:
Make the Visitor Feel an Instant Affinity With Your Page.
The top half of the first screen should be effective in
making the visitor feel that he has come to the right place.
The use of the right taglines, images and a position
statement (usually about 12 to 15 words) can help to
establish your declaration and inform your visitor what the
site is about.
Use Specific Headlines and Sub-headings.
Throughout your page, include relevant headings and sub-
headings so that as the visitor skim reads the page they can
see what a particular paragraph or section is all about.
This helps him decide whether he will read the text or which
section he is interested in. The longer the page, the more
you should be using sub-headings. The headline should be
aligned as closely as possible with the banner ad or
whatever the visitor clicked on to arrive on your landing
page.
Focus on a Primary Goal.
A landing page can achieve only one primary goal. Examples
of these goals are a lead capture mechanism, such as a free
demo or product trial, or to lure the visitor to go further
and view your main site. The best results come about when
you focus on your goal. However, a secondary goal is possible
in a landing page. For example, if your primary goal is to
make the visitor purchase your product, your secondary goal
would be to entice them to sign up for newsletters or emails
to receive special offers.
Use Multiple Calls to Action.
Using multiple calls to the same action supports the one
primary goal principle. This holds true on a long landing
page. A page that doesn’t go below the fold may need only
one call to action. Overall, one call to action above the
fold and another at the bottom of the page are good.
Pay Attention to Your Layout and Graphic Design.
To make them easy-to-read, keep text columns narrow – about
80 characters or so wide – and left-aligned, not centered.
Place an image of the product (commonly called the “hero
shot”) and make sure the quality and clarity are good.
Images are attention-getting, so put your key text, such as
your offer, below the product image or other appealing
graphics.
If your offer requires the visitor to fill out a form, it
will be more effective if placed on the landing page rather
than needing a click-through to another page.
Layouts and graphic designs depend on the products and their
market and can be very diverse. In spite of the variety,
however, they can all use the same design principles to help
them be effective in achieving their goal.
Driving traffic to your site will require an investment on
your part, so it is only sensible to maximize the impact of
that traffic for a quicker ROI. Increasing website
conversions is also an important consideration.
Developing effective landing pages for your business website
only requires the simple implementation of changes, yet their
impact is significant to the success of your business and
the user experience of your website.
HTML5 – The Future of the Web
Steve Jobs was recently quoted as saying “No one will be using
Flash. The world is moving to HTML5″ igniting interest in HTML5
and sparking numerous debates online in blogs and forums.
Jobs’ prediction that flash is dead invokes memories of the
famous Mark Twain quote “reports of my death are greatly
exaggerated”. While the debate rages on over the future of
Flash, HTML5’s destiny is assured.
It’s not just Apple pointing to HTML5 as an internet revolution,
Microsoft, Google, Opera, Mozilla, W3C and even Adobe themselves
agree. In fact HTML5 may become historic for that very reason.
It is arguably the only time Google, Microsoft and Apple have
ever agreed on anything.
How HTML5 evolved was largely due to a disagreement with the W3C
over Error Handling and the failure to embrace modern Internet
applications. In 1997, W3C announced it would no longer extend
HTML4 and saw XML and XHTML as the future. Draconian Error
Handling, (Draco was the Greek leader that issued death
penalties for minor offences), instructed that browsers were to
treat all errors in XML as fatal. With 99% of web pages showing
minor errors, and the lack of new features in XML, many
webmasters ignored the new standard or continued to serve their
websites as HTML, even when adopting XHTML.
In 2004, a group of developers and browser vendors including
Apple, Opera and Mozilla gave a presentation to the W3C on
evolving HTML4 to include new features for modern web
applications. The W3C rejected their proposal of extending HTML
and CSS. Those interested in evolving HTML4 rebelled and broke
away from the W3C, forming their own working group called WHATWG
(Web Hypertext Applications Technology Working Group). At the
core of the WHATWG beliefs was backwards compatibility and
forgiving error handling. WHATWG’s vision was to extend HTML
features including form handling while ensuring that it would
degrade gracefully in older browsers. While the W3C wanted the
world to move to a new standard XML, WHATWG planned to evolve
existing HTML to support a modern Internet.
In 2006, Tim Berners-Lee, the founder of the W3C, recognized
that the rebels at WHATWG had gained momentum and announced that
the W3C would work together with WHATWG to evolve HTML. The W3C
HTML Working Group was formed, working with HTML in conjunction
with XHTML. HTML5 was officially born. In October 2009, W3C shut
down XHTML2 making HTML5 the future of the Internet. The pirates
had taken over the ship.
HTML5 marks a change in attitude from the W3C and seeks to
support the diversity of HTML rather than just enforcement of
web standards. It is an incredible achievement that HTML5 is
backward compatible, meaning most of HTML5 can be used straight
away albeit with some JavaScript hacks on semantics for IE.
Ideas from W3C, Apple, Microsoft, Google, Mozilla, Opera and
many other experts combine to pull the best bits out of HTML and
browsers past into an exciting upgrade of the HTML language that
promotes inclusion not exclusion.
In many ways HTML5 simplifies web pages, taking laborious tasks
such as form validation away from web authoring and into the
browser. The idea of making the browser do the work probably
stems back to IE3, where Microsoft provided the first browser to
build in CSS support. HTML5 introduces new tags for page
structure and semantics of documents.
New markets in Typography are opening up with the implementation
of “@font-face”, meaning designers at last can transfer the visual
appeal of print to the web thanks to advances in CSS and HTML5.
Large JavaScript libraries such as MooTools and JQuery can be
slimmed down as HTML5 transfers many common tasks directly into
the browser. Client side storage, session storage and client
side posting are set to change how we communicate on the web.
Web applications such as video are embedded by HTML without the
need of JavaScript. Sites will begin to move away from Flash to
deliver their video and onto HTML5, especially when current
codec concerns with Mozilla Firefox are resolved.
New HTML5 API’s, such as drag and drop, are reverse engineered
from Microsoft, ensuring that they are supported from the start
by IE. What developers of HTML5 such as Ian Hickson (Opera) have
done is to view the modern web and say, “OK that’s what people
are trying to do, how can HTML5 support that”.
Unlike previous web standards based releases such as XHTML 1.1
and the never finished XHTML 2.0, HTML5 is backward compatible
and is here to stay. With the involvement of people that have
been critical of the W3C, HTML5 brings a standard based upgrade
of HTML that is fully supported throughout the industry. HTML5
will genuinely future proof your site without the danger of your
markup depreciating in a couple of years.
HTML5 timetable for completion is in 2022, which has left many
webmasters confused as to its relevance now. However, any
website can begin using the new specification immediately by
simply changing the doc type to “<!DOCTYPE html>”, the lowest
number of characters required to trigger standards mode in IE.
Currently, only beta versions of browsers IE9, Chrome, Safari,
Firefox and Opera support advanced HTML5 elements. However,
typography “@font-face” is fully supported in current
browsers. For more information have a look at Ethan Dunham’s
“FontSquirrel.com” and Jeffrey Veen’s “Typekit.com”. Other
HTML5 features such as “Drag and Drop” and “ContentEditable”
are also currently supported. You can follow the implementation
of HTML5 in modern browsers at “HTML5Readiness.com” and
“Caniuse.com”.
Further information:
http://www.whatwg.org/
http://diveintohtml5.org/
http://dev.w3.org/html5/spec/Overview.html
An Informal Look at Writing Online Content
posted by Luigi_M_Scollo @ 8:00 AM
Saturday, August 7, 2010
An Informal Look at Writing Online Content
I get many questions about my job as a copywriter and SEO
practitioner, and for the most part they follow a similar
theme- ‘what do you do?’ and ‘could I do it?’ In an attempt
to address these questions once and for all and possibly
also give an insight into the life of an internet marketer
I’ve put together an article: this article.
A large portion of my day is spent writing. From articles
to press releases, website content to blogs: countless
hours are spent staring at a blank page, frantically
scrambling for inspiration or that perfectly sculpted
sentence. The phrase ‘writer’s block’ is an often derided
cliche, but there is no denying that sometimes you
just can’t quite work out exactly what you’re trying to
say, or even more infuriatingly, the best way to say it.
Some will go for a walk to clear their mind, others to
their cigarette packet or porcelain throne in an attempt to
find clarity.
In the realm of content writing and SEO based copywriting
in general there is a very simple reason why these personal
catalysts are turned to with persistent regularity: it can
be boring. There, I said it and to emphasise my conviction
will say it again: Writing For Seo Purposes Can Be Boring.
Now hopefully you’ll grant me enough time to justify this
outburst before reporting me to the various authorities,
oh, and please forgive my reliance on personal experience
in portraying a more universal point.
I go into work every day knowing that I am required to
write intelligently and enthusiastically on topics which I
may have very limited previous knowledge of, and due to
what I assume to be some sort of genetic defect: utterly
love it. It is my love of writing that stops me from
finding it boring. I am fully aware that the majority of
people wouldn’t revel in this challenge, which is great for
me as it reduces my competition. Consequently, the odds are
that you’re reading this purely to find out a little more
about writing on just one broad topic: and to make another
assumption, I expect that your writing on this topic is to
promote your own website. It is to you non-reveller, single
broad topic focussed, committed website owner that I level
my ‘it can be boring’ battle-cry as an explanation for your
writer’s block and seek to show how you can get round it.
You have passion for your chosen topic, well, I sincerely
hope you do (if you aren’t enthusiastic about your
product/website/company/field of operation then it won’t be
poorly written content that jeopardizes your company’s
longevity and more importantly in this instance: my whole
argument rests on it). It is this passion and the resulting
knowledge you have amassed on the subject that is key to
your success in writing copy, articles and press releases
for your website. No amount of literary flair, cunning word
play or EXCESSIVE USE OF formatting Tools is ever going to
appeal to your target reader more than the sound advice and
authoritative content that you, the expert on this subject
are capable of providing. Equally important is the very
fact that if you’re passionate about something then surely
you aren’t going to find it boring.
Having established that you are more than qualified to
advise others on your chosen subject and have enough
interest in it to apply yourself to the time consuming task
of writing accurately about it, all I can really do is give
you a few pointers and tips on converting your knowledge
into something which others can benefit from and in doing
so raise the profile and credibility of your website. To
avoid taking up too much of your time, I’ll keep it brief:
1. Provide Original Content.
Whether you’re writing the content for your homepage or an
article explaining the finer points of your industry and
associated benefits, you must ensure that what you’re
saying isn’t said elsewhere. Inevitably there will be
others who have said something vaguely similar, but focus
upon being better and different. You will get no credit
from search engines for duplicating someone else’s work and
gain no customers by rehashing a competitor’s article.
2. Research Tone and Style.
We all write differently depending on the context. A blog
on celebrity gossip will read very differently to a
governmental department’s homepage and the way you
construct a text message to a friend will differ to the
structure of an email you send to a business associate.
It’s well worth researching the homepage content of similar
websites when writing your own in order to judge which
style you find most effective, relevant and credible. It is
more than likely that the style you find most suitable will
be the style your prospective visitors will find most
suitable: so copy it (NOT THE CONTENT…just the tone and
style). Once you’ve established this starting point then
write in a way you find comfortable but adhering loosely to
the tone you’ve chosen to emulate. The words should come
naturally, don’t worry if it doesn’t sound quite right you
can always come back and edit the text.
3. Double Check Grammar and Spelling.
Having spent hours crafting your text, there is nothing
more irritating than publishing the piece to discover an
abundance of easily avoided errors. Get others to read your
copy with a critical eye before making it live, they may
well spot something you’ve missed. Having taken onboard any
amendments: read it again…and again before committing it
to the archives of internet history.
4. Enjoy It.
I know, I know…easier said than done, but if you care
about the subject matter and the benefits the content will
have for your business then I’m sure you won’t find it that
hard.
This post was supposed to be brief but I got a little
carried away, I just hope it provided a little guidance to
those hovering on the precipice of a first foray into
writing online content. If you republish this, then please
include the resource box- a vast number of my more
conventional and less formal articles have been ’stolen’ in
the past and put on websites in the guise of original
content.
Web Design FAQ – 10 Questions to Ask Yourself Before Designing a Website
posted by Luigi_M_Scollo @ 8:00 AM
Friday, July 30, 2010
Web Design FAQ – 10 Questions to Ask Yourself Before Designing a Website
Many site owners make the mistake of building a website
without laying out a clear plan for their online business.
This is a sure set-up for failure. There are 1000s of
abandoned sites on the web due to lack of careful planning.
Before designing your website you should ask yourself some
questions to avoid making mistakes down the road.
10 Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) About Designing a
Website
1. What Are Your Business Goals?
It’s easy to say, “I want to make money,” however, this is
not a great motivator. Think of a deeper motivation that you
feel passionate about e.g. “I want to have the financial
freedom to spend more time with my kids as they are growing
up.”
2. What’s the Purpose of Your Website?
This is the question most visitors will ask when accessing
your website. Your home page must clearly explain the
purpose and benefits of the products and/or services you are
offering.
3. What Type of Products or Services Will You Sell?
Research the marketability of your products or services by
doing keyword research. Use the free Google Keyword Tool to
find out how many searches your main keywords receive every
month. If there are no searches, it means there is not much
demand and therefore not worth marketing.
If it is a very competitive market (millions of searches per
month), it may be difficult to stand out from your
competitors and create a profitable online business.
4. How Many Products Will You Sell From Your Website?
This will determine how many pages your website will have.
If you’re only selling one product or service, you may only
need 4 web pages e.g. Home, Product (or Services), About,
Contact. If you’re selling 100s of items, you will need a
database driven site to store and manage all of them.
5. How Many Variables Does Your Product Have?
Variables may include size, color, type, sku#, shipping,
tax? Make sure your shopping cart allows you to include
these variables.
6. How Will You Accept Online Payments?
To accept credit card payments online, you will need a
shopping cart, merchant account, payment gateway and SSL
certificate for secure transactions. This means you will
have monthly fees and processing fees every time a customer
purchases something from your website.
A less expensive option for accepting payments online is the
Paypal shopping cart. You don’t need to purchase a separate
merchant account, shopping cart, payment gateway and secure
certificate. For a small processing fee it takes care of all
this in one place.
7. Do You Have a Web Hosting Plan?
Your website needs to be hosted on a server for it to be
available online. Select a hosting plan that has sufficient
space for all your files and bandwidth to receive 1000s of
visitors each month. Make sure you have the flexibility to
upgrade your plan should you need more space and bandwidth.
8. Will You Need to Maintain the Website Yourself?
Asking this question before the design will determine what
software your designer will use to build your website. If it
only consists of a few web pages which don’t need regular
updating, then use software such as Dreamweaver to build it.
It creates clean code and you will have only a few files.
If your website has 100s of pages, consider a content
management system such as WordPress, Joomla or Zen Cart.
They all enable 100s of items to be stored in a database.
The website can be managed (add, edit, or delete items or
pages) by logging into an administration area.
9. Do You Have a Marketing Plan?
To create a profitable online business you must create a
plan to promote it. Some methods may include, search engine
marketing, pay-per-click, article marketing, press releases,
social media, video marketing, etc. Website promotion needs
to be done frequently and consistently to be effective.
10. How Will You Monitor Your Website Statistics?
Check if your web hosting plan includes site statistics
(e.g. AW Stats). If not, create a Google Analytics account
and insert the code on your web pages. It will track how
many daily, weekly, monthly, yearly visitors you receive,
where they are coming from and what keywords are being used
to find your site in the search engines.
If you answer these 10 questions first, you’ll avoid the
pitfalls of designing and building a website and increase
your potential of creating a profitable online business.
“My mechanic told me, ‘He couldn’t repair my brakes, so he made my horn louder.’” – Comedian, Steven Wright
We all want our websites to be more effective, and if you’re like most business people you are constantly searching the Web for anything that will help. What you find is a cabal of experts armed with statistics, analysis, charts and graphs all pointing to how they can get you high-up on the search engines and drive more traffíc to your site. The problem is that like Steven Wright’s mechanic these guys are adjusting your horn when it’s your brakes that need fixing.
There is little point in attracting more visitors to your site if your site has little of interest to say. Even if your site is jammed packed with useful products, services and solutions if it doesn’t connect with your audience, they won’t ever invest the time necessary for you to make your case.
When websites fail it’s most often because they do not function effectively as your primary communication tool. The Web is overcrowded with options and unless you’re prepared to deliver a compelling differentiating presentation you will be quickly dismissed as irrelevant. Let’s face it; business is tough, probably tougher than it’s ever been before.
Something is Missing
You’ve done all the technical tweaks and responded to all the research and analytics. You’re blogging, micro-blogging, social networking, and search optimizing, but still something is not quite right, something is missing. What’s the missing ingredient? You know it’s out there, but you can’t for the life of you figure out what it is.
You know the Web offers the potential to access new markets, find new customers, and reach new heights, but with all that potential, the results always seem just out of reach. If research and analytics were the answer you’d already be rich. Of course it was an over-reliance on research that brought us the Edsel, New Coke, and that wonderful Wall Street goody called Derivatives, one of the greatest investment boondoggles of our time.
There is something artificially comforting about putting your faith in seemingly logical yet unfathomable solutions based on indecipherable scientific modeling and over-hyped research analysis, all brought to you by computer scientists and mathematicians who haven’t ever run a marketing department or launched a new product or business.
Business leaders have adopted the attitude that, “It must be right, because I sure as heck don’t understand it.” And when it all goes wrong, or results are anemic, well, “What are you going to do? It’s not my fault, it all looked good on paper.” Ad agencies and Wall Street have been getting away with this kind of bunkum for decades, and look at the mess they’ve made of things.
What’s It All About, Alfie?
Business success is all about your ability to engage your audience with a message that compels them to action. Simply put, your business relies on your ability to communicate. Eureka!
And your website is the best communication vehicle you have. The question is how do you use your website to communicate your marketing message in the most engaging, compelling, and memorable manner? What is the missing ingredient that will turn your scientifically sterile online cookie-cutter presentation into something that cuts through the massive sameness of Internet clutter, and makes a statement that your audience will respond to?
Finding Your Emotional and Psychological Value Proposition
One of the hardest things for tough-minded business people to accept is that sales and marketing success is based on the subconscious emotional and psychological appeal of a brand. That’s the reason, reliance on feature selling rarely works, and only tends to commoditize a product or service – the guy with the most bells and whistles for the least amount of money wins, and why would you want to play that game?
Even the most casual market observer must recognize that all leading brands have one thing in common, no matter what they sell: the promise of their brand is based on a concept that is established through an emotional or psychological appeal. Apple is about thinking and acting creatively without the worry of technical issues; Starbucks is about reconnecting to the original coffee break ideal of a relaxing oasis away from the hustle bustle of everyday life; and Ikea is about stylish living on a budget. Each concept appeals to the deep-seated desires of the targeted audience. It is this singular concept that makes each of these companies special and different from their competition; it is the message that all their marketing, advertising, and promotion is based upon, and it is the true value they provide their audience that attracts interest, holds attention, and delivers promise.
Implementing Your Emotional and Psychological Value Proposition
In order to implement a company’s emotional and psychological value proposition, we use a process called the ConceptCreator. It starts with various sales’ points that need to be covered. Based on the supplied information, we develop a focused marketing concept using the Law of Dissatisfaction that enables us to discover the experiential human subtext of why people will want what you sell. The presentation concept is boiled-down to a movie-style logline that states the brand story to be presented in the Web Video campaign.
How Much Is A Concept Worth?
“Wait a minute – did he say a movie-style logline? That sure doesn’t sound business-like, and I haven’t heard any corporate CEO or MBA talk about movie loglines.” Maybe so, but think about it. Hollywood studios spend enormous sums of money to produce a movie with the potential of making hundreds of millions of dollars, and each financial investment starts with someone coming up with a clever logline that captures the imagination. Television commercials can cost ten thousand dollars a second to produce and without a guiding conceptual premise they become DOA when implemented. So why wouldn’t you start your Web Video campaign using the same proven formula.
The logline, mission statement, or elevator pitch if you prefer needs to state the characters, goals, obstacles, differentiating factors, and resolution within the context of a story scenario.
For Instance…
If it works for the movie industry will it work for the advertising and marketing industry? Let’s take a look at one of the most successful, popular, iconic marketing campaigns of the last number of years, The MAC versus PC campaign.
Example Logline Concept: A stylish, pleasant, mild-mannered young man verbally spars with his geeky competitive opposite (characters) in a series of humorous, relatable incidents (story scenario) that illustrate the people-friendly advantages (resolution) of the brand compared to its rigid, unbending competitor (differentiating factor) whose sheer size dominates the market (obstacle) in an effort to win the hearts and minds of the computer buying audience (goal). – The MAC Versus PC Ad Campaign.
“The Time Has Come The Walrus Said…”
- Lewis Carroll from ‘Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There,’ 1892
The time has come to realize that Web Video is the best communication tactic available to deliver your marketing message to a worldwide audience; an audience that craves answers and resolution to their every need, concern and desire. It is not good enough to list a bunch of features and hackneyed bulleted points or even to dump pages and pages of search engine optimized hard-to-read text, especially when it’s aimed at an audience raised on television, movies, music and video games. We must learn to speak the language of the audience, and use the appropriate communication tools they can understand in a way that connects on a human level.
It all starts with finding the emotional and psychological value proposition your product or service promises. In a world of frustrated, cranky, attention deficit consumers, the onus is on you to present what you provide in a way that relates to the human elements that make your brand relevant.
We believe you don’t start the design of a new or revised website by sitting down with the designer and coder of the website. Rather, we recommend you review the approaches, ideas, processes and other methods listed below to determine if they apply to your situation.
Think about your audience. Are they looking for immediate answers and solutions? We bet they are. Most likely these visitors to your website are very much like you. Chances are you use the Internet more than other types of media to search for information. If a web page doesn’t “grab your interest” within 8 – 10 seconds after landing on it… you move on!
As a “first step” we suggest that you start by reviewing the questions listed below. We are convinced that once you get to the last question… you will have a list of action items identified that will greatly improve the productivity of your current website. The success or failure of the site and/or business may very well depend upon the decisions you make after reading these questions.
What Do You Know About Your Clients and Prospects State of Mind?
When visitors land on your website, they have very little time to read what you say. They have a need for information or a product and don’t want to listen or read verbose descriptions and comments. You have about 8 seconds to engage them and get them to take action. Do most visitors land on your website wanting:
1) information,
2) a “quick fix”,
3) a bargain,
4) a large selection,
5) or a telephone call, etc.?
It is imperative to know the answers to these and many other questions BEFORE you design the pages within your website.
Do You Make Website Visitors Feel You Can Satisfy Their Wants and Needs?
Landing on any page within your website [especially the Homepage] must make the visitor know that you understand their needs, business, wants, and desires. The more you put yourself into the “mindset” of the website visitor, the better chance you have of converting their visit into something you want to happen i.e. buy, complete a contact us form, bookmark the page, pick up the phone and call you or any other method of measurable conversion.
What Approach Do You Take When Developing Pages Within Your Website?
What do you think you would want from your website if you were the prospective visitor or client? Assume you don’t know as much information as you want in order to make an informed decision. Talk to these visitors in a language they will understand. If visitors want more insight or information, tell them to click on the more info link or give you a call. They will follow your direction ONLY if you have built some level of trust or understanding.
What are You “Selling” to the Website Visitor?
Are you focused on telling them about your product or service or are you making them understand that choosing your firm will deliver that special feeling they are seeking by making the purchase? Are you sure that you made the visitor know that you understand their needs, wants, problems, etc.? What techniques did you implement to get your points across?
How are You Going to Get the Visitor to Stop and Think About Your Service or Product?
Remember… they are ready to pass by your website in a blink of an eye. What are you going to do to engage them? The answer you come up with will be critical to the success you have in gaining their confidence enough to buy or call you. Make sure what you say is NOT the same old thing they are used to seeing or reading on other websites. Be boring and you lose! Address the issues that appeal to the visitor and they WILL STOP! This is hard work… but worth the effort.
What Kind of “Call to Action” Statements are You Placing on Your Website?
Turning a visitor into a prospect or client is one of the most critical actions of your website. How will you engage them? Once they know that you understand their needs and wants, they are more inclined to follow your CTA direction. Call to Action statements are critical to the success of any website’s conversion. Guide them in a manner that is more telling, rather than selling. Don’t be afraid to be assertive.
How Does Your Website Address the “Who Are We” Issue?
Again, it is about making the website visitor feel confident that they are choosing a reputable firm or organization with which to do business. They need to read about your success. This can be done by exhibiting your affiliation with associations, awards won, satisfied client statements, client success stories, examples of your work, etc. Show them you are a “player” in your industry.
Are You Prepared to Answer: “What Makes You Different”?
What have clients and prospects said about you and your company? Have they applauded you for your approach to doing business? Did they say you made them feel like you understood their needs and wants? Think back to the reasons clients buy from you. How did you meet their needs and wants? Give your prospective clients reasons to do business with your firm.
A final thought…
Make it your primary goal to understand the potential client. Look at your website through that client’s perspective. Who are they? What makes them different? What do they individually want and need? Be informative… do more telling than selling. They will “get it” and appreciate that you have made them an educated buyer. Finally, tell them what you want them to do next. Get them to take the first step and be ready to deliver on the expectations you have set throughout your website!
Finally, be sure to hire Internet marketing professionals to do the job if you don’t have the capabilities in-house. Too much is at stake to leave this part of your business to chance! We are pleased to provide you the insightful comments contained herein.
Top 10 Issues in Website Design and Usability
posted by Luigi_M_Scollo @ 8:00 AM
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
You’ve tested your website, you’ve visited it a few times, you’ve gotten some feedback on it, and you have a bit of data about your visitors.
You might want to make some changes. Here are the top ten issues in website design and usability.
Think about these things in relation to your website and consider what you might want to do to perfect your site.
1. The First Glance
In general, people look at the top left corner of your website first. You should have your essential information there: what your offerings are and how your potential customers can get it. Some visitors are at your site only long enough to confirm that you sell what they want, and some are ready to buy. All visitors need to be able to tell what you do right away. Don’t hide behind a splash page or make people wait while something loads – many won’t take the time.
2. Navigation
When your customers want and need more information, they’ll stay and look for it. Make sure they can find it easily. Put your navigation in the usual places, and make it very obvious what your visitors need to click in order to find each section. Don’t have more than 5-7 choices in your main navigation and keep it consistent on every page. Let your creativity and uniqueness show in some other way – follow the rules when it comes to navigation.
3. Contact Information
Can customers (and search engines) find you when they need you? Your contact information must be clear and accurate. It must also be easy to find. Visitors will visit your website several times before they choose to go for your services or purchase. Don’t make it hard for them to contact you when they’re ready.
4. Call To Action
What do you want your visitors to do? It should be easy to find out how to complete an order through your website or get more information. Regardless of the content of the page make sure that you include a clear call to action. Make it easy for visitors to purchase or request information from you. Just be sure to make it very clear.
5. Above the Fold Focus
Many visitors won’t scroll; most won’t scroll unless you have already convinced them that it’s worth their while to do so. Make sure important aspects are above fold. The unimportant things – why are they on your page? This is especially important on the home page. Visitors who’ve reached your FAQs page or your blog are probably interested enough to spend some time reading.
6. Inviting Content
To develop relationships with your clients, you need to have them visit more than once. In fact, most people won’t commit themselves the first time they come to your website. You need to offer them something of value so they’ll return. Do you have a blog, or frequently-updated featured products? Have you got any useful information that you could offer your customers?
7. Well-Organized Pages
Don’t make your visitors search. Always ensure that your page layout is clear, concise and gives the visitor exactly what they want without having to search for it. Try to put yourself in your customer’s position and use what you learn from testing. Decide what you want to say and plan its organization before you write, so you can be sure to have coherent paragraphs.
8. Visual Appeal
While the content on your page is the most important thing, an attractive page will be more enjoyable and appealing for visitors. Choose colours that work well together, leave some open space so it’s not too busy, and make sure you have everything lined up nicely. Even if you have not got artistic skills you can make a good impression – and you should.
9. Sincerity and Trustworthiness
The internet is all about trust. If you can ensure that your website is trustworthy, people will be more likely to complete an order. What’s more, the search engines also base your rankings on how trustworthy they think your page is. Don’t undermine your future success by trying to trick the search engines or mislead your visitors.
10. A Polished Finish
Do your links work? Make sure you check your grammar, spelling and layout are correct? Is all the information up to date and accurate? Your visitors would prefer to shop in a well kept and clean shop in the high street. They would prefer to purchase in a clean and well kept website too. They’ll have less faith in you if you have errors on your website.
Is your website perfect? Maybe not. We’ll be providing more information on all of these points as we go along, and your site will become better and better as you follow our suggestions and learn more.
Writing for the Web
Content is one of the most valuable things you can focus on
during development of your website. Consider each page of your
website an opportunity to capture or lose your audience. If a
web page has paragraph after paragraph of text, many visitors
won’t bother to begin reading. There are various other things to
be leery of when writing for the web. This article covers eight
tips to help you succeed when writing content for your
website.
Entice with Communicative Headings
Visitors decide whether to invest their precious time reading
your content, typically after scanning a heading or two.
Consider which headline will receive more attention:
* PHP solutions (http://www.webassist.com/
php-scripts-and-solutions/?WAAID=898) for the Web
* Three eCommerce PHP Solutions for the Web
While both could be headings for the same content, the second
heading will attract more attention because it clearly denotes
what will follow. Additionally, it adds a level of expertise. It
is also important to keep your headings concise. When headings
wrap to multiple lines, they start becoming paragraph-like and
readers cannot scan them. Sub-headings are another way to make
your content easier for visitors to scan. Once readers have
decided your heading is worth investing more time in, they often
scan the sub-headings to jump to the section that is most
applicable to them.
Conclude Before You Expand
Every page of your website should cater to the most impatient
reader and clearly state what the page is about in the first few
lines. Most readers won’t want to read an entire page to get to
the point. Write an introductory paragraph that summarizes the
most important parts.
Many successful writers outline the points they want to get
across, fill in those points and only then do they write their
first paragraph. It is not necessary to write from top to bottom
and this method can help you write a stronger introduction.
Create Effective Lists
It is quicker to scroll down a web page than it is to read from
left to right and keep your eyes wrapping from line to line. For
this reason, readers appreciate lists. However, it is important
not to use overwhelmingly long lists. Studies have shown people
can remember 7 things at a time. A list of seven bulleted items
is digestible, while a list of 50 is intimidating. If it is
crucial for you to list 50 points, break up your lists with
sub-headings so readers are able to jump from section to section
efficiently.
Write Clearly and Succinctly
Whether your visitors are coming to gain information, make
buying decisions or simply be entertained, respect that they
don’t have all day to read your content. If you are wordy, you
can expect your visitors to drift to competitors’ websites.
However, don’t sacrifice clarity for brevity.
Similar to print writing, each paragraph should contain only one
idea. The attention span of a web reader is shorter than that of
a print reader though, which makes it important to trim your
paragraphs to a few sentences each.
Eliminate unnecessary words. For example, there is no need to
say, “at this point in time” when you can say “currently.” It is
useless to say “an awful tragedy” when tragedies are awful by
nature. Avoid describing an object as “round in shape” when you
can just say round.
Avoid the passive voice. For example, replace, “My life has been
made easier by templates” with “Templates simplified my
life.”
The above paragraph helps illustrate that examples are useful;
however, I should specify that repeating yourself is not. Do not
say the same thing in three different ways.
Use consistent language. Consider your audience when writing in
first, second or third person and be careful transitioning from
one to the next. Jumping from a formal paragraph to a first
person story sounds like two authors wrote the content.
Finally, read your content aloud and trust your first reaction.
If you have to re-read to put the emphasis in the correct part
of the sentence or to understand your own point, you can bet
that others will too.
More importantly, have someone else read your content -
preferably, your target audience, not your business partner. You
are too close to the ideas you want to communicate and others
may find ambiguities that you will certainly want to clarify.
Create Content Relative to Your Audience
Know your audience and speak to them, not at them. Whether your
objective is to sell toilet seats or convey a change in the
stock market, play to people’s emotions. Don’t use technical
terms for a less than savvy audience.
Don’t assume your readers have been to certain pages of your
website before others. With a growing dependence on search
engines, visitors often arrive at a website two tiers down from
the home page. Consider the visitor’s point of view: If I knew
nothing about this company or website, would I understand this
page?
Be cautious of tangents, information and links that will
distract a reader from the web page’s primary purpose.
Specify Links with Style and Language
Links are another way visitors can scan your web pages as they
stand out from normal text – or at least they should. Make sure
your links differ in color or style from other text on your
website. Using “click here to learn more” is a waste of space.
Instead, use “learn more.” Your links should tell readers where
they are going, but they shouldn’t be reminded they need their
mouse to get there.
Be specific with where the link is leading to. There are many
websites that break up articles into two or more pages. Readers
are more apt to click on a link that says, “Part 2: Mortgage
Lending” than they are to click on a link that says “next.”
Proofread – Forward and Backward
There are some people who are a magnetic force to typos and
grammatical blunders. While some will gloss over these errors,
the people who do notice are typically repelled. Websites with
typos look unprofessional – or worse – like the author didn’t
care enough about the reader to take the time to proofread.
Tips for proofreading:
* Use spell check and grammar check.
* Read backward. When we read forward, our eyes skip over
small words and miss mistakes.
* Have someone else proofread your content.
* If in doubt, look it up!
Trusting copy/paste is a common mistake; be sure to proofread
your content after it is on the web page.
Conclude with Action
Although many of your readers won’t make it to the end of your
content, it’s important to summarize for those who do. Include
your overall point, as well as where you would like to lead your
reader to next. If you are fortunate enough to have your readers
want more, don’t miss an opportunity to provide it!
For example, I would like to conclude by articulating that web
writing has similarities to print writing (entice and be
concise!) but differs in that readers are more impatient and can
easily “surf” elsewhere. The more you understand how people read
on the web in general and what your audience wants to know, the
more you will keep visitors coming back for more.
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