Recently I was asked to give an estimate for redesigning a web site, and the client asked an interesting question:

What is the lifecycle of a web site these days? How long should a web site last before it needs to be redesigned?

There is no one right answer about how long your web site will serve you. But for budgeting purposes it is helpful for small business owners to be realistic about the costs of redesigning a web site and how long until they will need to repeat the process.

How long will your web site last?

No, web sites don’t have expiration dates. But after a certain time, they seem to be irrelevant. They are no longer a useful tool for the business, and are no longer supporting the original goals of the web site. Without a redesign, a web site can actual begin to detract from the organization behind it.

There are several factors that may determine whether or not it’s time to redesign or redevelop your web site

1. Has your business grown or changed direction? When we talk about small business web site design, the driving force behind the web presence is the business itself. So, if your business has grown and is offering new products or services, or if you have streamlined operations and are not offering services you used to, your web site should reflect this change.
2. Is the content, and the structure for the content still relevant? If you realize that your offerings have changed, you may be able to make the updates within the current structure and design of your web site. For example, your navigation may say “widgets” and even if you’ve changed from orange to blue widgets, it can be integrated into the web site. However, if you’ve introduced “doo-hickeys” and that cannot be added to the main navigation bar, you may be making it difficult for people to find your newest services.
3. Is your message to prospects still relevant? There are many factors that determine what message resonates with your clients. It may mean working with someone with marketing experience to rework a message. Or, changing market conditions have forced you to adjust your positioning. You want to make sure that the web site design reinforces the same message as your text. If not, it’s time to update your web design.
4. Are you behind or ahead of the technology curve? Web standards change fast. While you can try and anticipate trends, it’s impossible to predict the future. What was a best practice (or at least reasonable practice) a few years ago may no longer be worthwhile. An example is adding a Content Management Software (CMS) to your site. Five or ten years ago, this type of tool was beyond the budget of many small business owners, and it made better financial sense to just send updates to their web developer when necessary. Nowadays, there are many economical CMS platforms and honestly, I can’t imagine recommending a web site without this capability built in.
5. Was the site well designed when it was new? Like all elements of design (including things such as industrial design, fashion, etc.) there are some designs that are classic and can stand the test of time much better than others. In general, if you haven’t invested in professional web site design, the unpolished look of your site will probably start to look worse and worse as time goes on.
6. What are the expectations of your clients and prospects? This is one of the biggest factors in web site design right now. Everyone is getting more and more sophisticated about web site design. While it may have been acceptable at one time, to “just have a web site,” now it needs to be more than just a poorly designed web presence. Your prospects may be looking for a professional brand identity to determine if they trust you. They may want you to offer e-commerce directly integrated into your site. They may be looking for you to be a thought leader as demonstrated by a well-written blog. If you are not stepping up and keeping your site looking fresh, relevant, well-designed and highly-functional, your competitors will fill that gap.

These are six factors that may help you determine how long your web site design will last and whether it is time to start thinking about a redesign.

Do I need to redesign my web site?

What is the bottom line? I’m seeing a lot of requests for proposals from organizations who are redesigning their web site after about three or four years.

A site that is well designed and using some of the best practices for development will last on the longer end of that spectrum. A site that skimps on either design or technology will likely expire more quickly.

On a personal note, we are in the preliminary phase of redesigning our own web site. We did our last redesign in 2008.

Unfortunately, I’ve been hearing the same scenario frequently from some potential clients who are requesting estimates for web design work.

We just had our web site redesigned recently, but we hate it! Can you help us redesign and redevelop it?

With prospects like this, we usually set up a time to talk and walk through their current site. We look at what they like (if anything) and what’s not working. These are some of the typical things we see:

• The design is just not working. These issues usually come back to the basics of good design. Making the most important things most prominent. Good, readable typography. Layouts that show balance. Color palettes that work together. Not using cheesy clipart or poor photography.
• The web site is not user-friendly. Sometimes the navigation is difficult to use (example: roll-overs that are twitchy). Or, the content is not organized well so it is difficult to find. Or, the names used in the navigation are not clear what content they refer to.
• The web site is supposed to have a Content Management System (CMS) but the client can’t figure out how to use it. The problem here can be caused by poor training, or poor expectations about what and how you should be able to update content. Or it may be that the developer chose a CMS that is not very user-friendly.
• They are not seeing the results they expected. Web traffic may not be increasing, or viewers are giving them feedback that they cannot find the information they need.

I have a poorly designed site, what should I do?

As I review the site with the prospective client, the conversation often then goes like this:

“We just spent $5,000 on this site, can you use any of it? Because we can’t afford to re do it.”

Unfortunately, they are often stuck because there are so many problems with their web site that we can’t really salvage much. The design is poor, so we’ll need to start over again. Which means we can’t use the HTML or CSS code as we’ll be redeveloping that in conjunction with the new design. And, they don’t like their CMS so we’ll probably be introducing a new one, which means we’ll need to move all their data to a new system.

Since they’re not getting the results they want, we need to look even deeper. They often need a copywriter to make the text clearer or more compelling. They may be relying on product photography that is unprofessional and needs to be re-shot. They may need to rewrite headlines and page titles to make them more SEO-friendly.

The harsh reality: You just wasted a whole lot of money.

What we are often finding is that they need a $10,000 web site solution. And they already wasted $5,000 on a version that is worthless.

It’s usually a case where they didn’t fully understand their own web site needs. Or, they tried to cut corners by using a web design firm that could not handle all the tasks that go into a comprehensive web site design: good design, content review, user interface creation, content management recommendations and implementation, etc.

What to do?

I wish I had better solutions to offer.

Sticking with the same CMS system, and receiving training on how to use it, will definitely make redesign process more cost effective. Sometimes we take that route (but it has to be a CMS platform we understand).

Other times, we plan a complete web site redesign and redevelopment, but we do it in a phased approach. We streamline and reduce content and functionality for the initial launch and then build it back in as the client can afford it. It is far better to have a smaller but more professional and more effective web site.

Sometimes we have to just put the project on hold until they can afford the whole package.

Groupon and other daily deal sites have created a frenzy in the business world as consumers scoop up big bargains and business owners try to determine if the steeply discounted coupon offers makes sense for their own business.

A recent study shows that while the short term profitability of the offers may be worthwhile for business owners, the long term growth of customers is just not there. About 55.5% of the businesses who offered a coupon made money. But, business owners and entrepreneurs hope that these offers will have consumers buying beyond the deal offered and/or will become repeat customers for the business. However, only about a third of coupon users end up spending beyond the deal value. And less than 20% end up returning for a full price purchase later.

Don’t compete on price

This all comes back to one of the most basic business rules: don’t compete on price. Your value and differentiation from your competitors should never be about positioning yourself as the low cost provider. Ideally, you should create such a reputation and brand appeal that you can actually charge more for your services.

According to this survey, close to 80 percent of deal users were new customers of the business. Which means an opportunity for the business owner to show a distinct brand identity and build an effective brand experience with the offer. But with so few people returning, it is clear that the buyers were just there for the low price—not an ideal prospect.

The cost of business?

Some businesses who offer steep discounts through Groupon or other sites such as Living Social figure that it’s more of a marketing expense and are OK if their deal is unprofitable. But it makes more sense to invest that money into an effective marketing and branding effort that would attract ideal clients rather than just the cheap ones.

My inbox is filled with offers everyday from both local and national businesses who are using these deals. In general, there are very few well-established, high-end brands represented. And while I’m usually one to support any sort of marketing effort that helps independent businesses, I see how getting involved with these deals can do more damage than benefit.

Coupons and discount sites are a means of advertising your product or service. But in a way you are suggesting that your normal customers have been overpaying by the 40-75% margin that you are now willing to discount. It’s like a one-two punch of poor pricing & marketing messages: 1) you are overpriced and 2) you are offering a cheap service.

According to Utpal Dholakia, associate professor of management at Rice University’s Jones Graduate School of Business, who completed the study:

This is a problem for businesses, because they’re not building their brand when they offer discounted prices for their products and services.

In summary: Groupon and daily deal sites can tarnish your brand image and attract cheap prospects rather than ideal clients.

A couple of months ago I was at a networking event and I introduced myself, as I usually do, as owning a graphic design and branding firm. My new acquaintance said they didn’t completely understand branding. They specifically mentioned that someone had told them that the airlines were an example of an industry that was not using branding effectively, and she asked me to explain.

I thought it was an interesting example and a good one because I agree that none of the major US airlines is doing a good job using branding effectively. JetBlue and SouthWest are doing better than the others, but even they are lacking.

My firsthand experience with the lack of airline branding

This weekend I traveled to Chicago to meet with clients, potential clients and business partners as well as to visit with family and friends.

I recount my story to help make the point about what goes into branding, in addition to a strong graphic identity. And how the major US airlines are missing big opportunities to implement a distinctive and effective brand strategy.

Choosing my flights: No brand differentiation

I live in Portland, Maine and neither JetBlue nor SouthWest has a strong presence here. Therefore, I usually fly one of the other major airlines and I generally use a site like Orbitz or Priceline to find fares and purchase my ticket.

When I choose my flight, I start with the date I want to fly, then I sort by price and time of day. There is no thought of what airline I’ll be choosing. I scan through the list and see what flight has the most convenient time and a reasonable price.

What this shows is that I have no  brand preference. I don’t feel there are any real differences or reasons why I would choose one airline another. If you want to achieve brand loyalty, you need to give someone a reason to seek out your product or service. More flights and cheaper airfares certainly help, but if there was an airline that people sought out, they’d be willing to pay more for that brand.

As it turns out, with the services like Orbitz and Priceline you can even mix and match airlines. For example, on my return flight from Chicago I went United from ORD to LaGuardia and then US Airways from LGA to Portland. That’s pretty much the epitome of no brand differentiation. They are completely interchangeable.

The baggage game: No brand value

We all love to hate the airlines when it comes to baggage.

Flying out of Portland, Maine means I nearly always have to change planes. My normal suitcase for short visit is a roll aboard that fits the specs for a carry-on, but I often check because I don’t want to have to traipse through the airport with it.

As we all know, most airlines have started to charge you extra to check a bag. On the one hand it makes sense: they make more money, and they are essentially charging more for the weight of your bag. But the reality is that it’s just a mess: both for the logistics of boarding the plane and for the airlines’ brand appeal.

A lot of us figure “why should I pay $25 extra and risk losing my bag? I’ll just take it on board.” which means the boarding process is slowed down, and people are fighting over the overhead bins.

On my flight out, I had a tight connection and took my bag with me. However, on the way home I decided I’d pay the fee and lose the hassle of having to carry my bag through my connection. My flight to New York was nearly full and many people had the maximum sized carry on bags with them. So the flight attendants had to become bullies about the overhead compartments. The announcements started:

Save the overhead bins for the large bags. Any bag that can fit under your seat must be placed there.

They even started walking through the aisles and asking people why they had no bags at their feet. Meanwhile, they were also making announcement telling people to hurry up because people were waiting in the hot walkway.

I was thinking to myself:

I just paid extra to check my bag. I feel like I deserve my seat front area for my legs, if I want it. If everyone had bothered to check those roll aboards everyone would all have all the space they want.

I started wondering if the airlines should change their policy so that you had to pay $25 if you wanted the overhead space. For free you get the space in front of your seat or checked cargo area for you bags. That would still provide revenue for the airlines, but it would speed up the seating process as many more bags would be checked and make the boarding process much more pleasant. A more pleasant experience leads to brand loyalty.

And about that new logo

By the time they’ve got the doors closed, everyone is slightly annoyed and feeling no brand love.

Then, the screens come down and the safety video starts. But, because United recently merged with Continental, the video presentation starts with a message from the President talking about the merger.

Nearly the first thing out of his mouth is that thousands of planes have been repainted with the new logo.

I’m not going to talk about the weak, new logo, you can read about that many places. But I do want to highlight the fact that even I, the owner of a graphic design and branding company, do not want to hear about painting new logos on planes. I immediately started calculating how many baggage fees could be eliminated with the costs of painting the planes.

When a graphic designer, who designs logos and brand identities for a living, doesn’t care about your new brand identity it’s bad news. And these are the two reasons I don’t care: first the new logo is a muddied mixed up mess of the two previous logos; and secondly the other parts of the brand identity are so weak that I know it cannot be saved by a logo.

Beyond the logo, other branding visuals

I’m not going to do a critique of the logo, but I am going to mention the larger visual position of the brand. As we taxied around the runways I was reminded of how every airline has the same color palette: red, blue, white and maybe gray. Every plane is painted with a horizontal strip along it’s belly and the logo near the cockpit (is this some sort of FAA regulation??). And that ubiquitous branding is apparent throughout the airport: blue signs everywhere, no matter what the airline.

A typical airplane design with horizontal stripes and red, white and blue colors.

In summary

1. After flying as an adult for the past 20 years, no individual airline has been able to distinguish themselves for me in a way that makes me seek them out when booking an flight.
2. Once I’m at the airport there are no visual cues that separate one airline from the next as it’s all blue, blue and more blue.
3. Nothing about the flight and the service (and especially dealing with the baggage issues) inspires loyalty.

Airlines have a chance to create a unique brand position for themselves. All the major US airlines are making the same branding mistakes: no differentiation in either the tangible (ie brand identity elements) or intangible (ie customer service, pricing, policies, etc.) brand position. There is room for someone to make a bold move, if they dare.

I am curious, do any of you have brand loyalty to a US-based airline?

We are pleased to announce the results of our survey about the importance of branded email addresses on business cards.

Email addresses matter

Entrepreneurs and new business owners are always struggling with how to increase brand equity. A simple way to make you and your business look more professional is to set up a domain-level, branded email address for yourself and put it on your business cards. This means your email address matches the domain name for your web site. For example, nancysmith@yourcompany.com.

Start ups, sole practitioners, and small businesses often use email addresses set up on a free or low cost service like gmail or hot mail. But beware, these addresses are seen as unprofessional by customers and prospects.

I always thought it was a bad idea to use an email address that was not based on the domain name, but couldn’t find any research to back it up. We conducted the survey to prove a point. It’s hard to argue with such conclusive results.

70% of people think a non-domain-name email address is unprofessional.

Survey Results

Respondents overwhelmingly felt that non-domain-level email addresses reflect poorly on the individual and their business, with 70% of respondents citing that it “It looks unprofessional.”

You never get a second chance to make a first impression, and it’s amazing how strong and quickly people are forming opinions about you and your business just by the email address on your business card. If you’re one of the 30% who thinks it doesn’t matter?

It does.

Poor first impression

Excerpts from the survey respondents’ comments:

I am leary of email addresses that are free account services such as yahoo, Gmail or hotmail. It would make me suspect that the company could be a fly by night operation or possibly a scam.

Using a non-domain-level address is just the height of laziness (or cheapness) and shows a lack of commitment to your business.

Free email accounts like Gmail and Yahoo, indicates they’re cheap and most likely to cut corners rather than provide quality work.

Using the ISP email account, indicates to me that they’re lazy and not worth my time to deal with.

Download the whitepaper

Our full results, including statistics and more quotations from survey participants is available in our white paper. Download the white paper here.

Last week I went to New York to attend Behance’s 99% conference. The conference gets it’s name from a quotation from Thomas Edison:

Genius is 1% inspiration, and 99% perspiration.

The conference is focused on getting creative people, those who generally don’t have problems generating ideas, to be able to bring the ideas to reality.

I truly enjoyed the variety of people I met and spoke with at the event. There were definitely a large number of graphic designers in the audience but there were also web and software developers, educators, film makers, industrial designers, business coaches and more. The line-up of speakers was unconventional, but well curated and motivating.

Whenever I take time away from work and family to attend a conference or networking event I find myself evaluating whether it was worth my time. It’s usually my time that I miss more than money when I feel that an event was not worth it. The 99% Conference was definitely time well spent. I came away both inspired (which is motivating, but can be fleeting) and armed with some new ideas to be more creative and more productive.

11 Takeaways

Here are my takeaways from the conference. Some of these are directly from a speaker’s presentation. Others are my interpretations and thoughts after hearing different threads that went throughout the conference.

1. Show more of the process that goes into a design solution, rather than just revealing the final designs. Showing the process can take many forms: sketches, trials, explanations, failed attempts, etc. While I currently try to walk a client through some of the thoughts that are behind the design choices I present, I often am too brief in my explanations. Also, I rarely spend time presenting ideas that didn’t work, or rough forms such as sketches. However, I need to remember that while I’m a designer and can rapidly go through talking points that make the basis for a design decision, my clients are not designers and I need to take them step-by-step through the process in more detail. But the point is not just to showcase all the time spent on a project, the reason is to have them understand that there were many considerations and options examined, even if they all do not appear in the final design. This builds trust. I’ve found that with email and PDFs it’s very tempting to just send off a final design with little explanation and then cross your fingers that the client understands what they’re seeing and knows how to give constructive feedback. I need to break that habit, especially for initial design presentations.
2. When tackling a large design project, work on different iterations each day (or week) and share them with team members. Feedback from other designers (and non designers) before getting too far is critical to generating more and better ideas. Also, forcing oneself to pace and make daily progress on a creative project is a great way to overcome procrastination.
3. Evaluate how I can stop the gerbil wheel of email/twitter/social media/phone interruptions. One of the things that shocked me while being away at the conference was just how hard it was to avoid the avalanche of email. During the conference we had a break every couple of hours or so, and during that time I’d use my iPhone to check my email. Every time I had no less than 30 emails waiting for me. Seeing all the crap that got quickly deleted makes me realize how I need to manage my spam, my e-newsletter signups, and my social media notifications better. I don’t have a complete solution for this problem, and I need to devote some time and come up with some fixes. I will unsubscribe from some e-newsletters, and I will create some additional email addresses to accept some other notifications and feeds. I am considering setting up a new, clean email address to only give to partners and clients. Anyone tried this, and does it work long term?
4. Plan for uninterrupted time for focused creative work. This is something I’ve done in the past, but then I let it slide. I used to look at my week and figure out when the large blocks were going to be. Then, I looked at my to do list and figured out what to work on during those blocks. Lately, I’ve just been too short-sighted and too reactionary with my schedule. I need to return to the practice of focused work blocks.
5. Find a way to visual goals and progress. This is for both personal items and company/team goals. I heard about, and really liked, the idea of posting goals and progress so that everyone can understand priorities and timelines and encourage others to focus on what’s important. I like all my online tools such as Google calendar and Remember the Milk but they stuck in my computer and not very visually inspiring.
6. Bring my junior designer to more client meetings. This, in some ways, is the counter part to point #1. Clients need to get a fuller picture of the design process, and young designers need to get a better understanding of the client perspective: what goes into a presentation; how to listen and ask questions; how to speak, look and act professionally; how to read a client’s understanding of the design process; etc.
7. Give more specific, appreciative feedback that emphasizes the positive. I know this is general terms and I try to always lead with a positive statement before giving critical comments, but I know the balance is still off. I learned about how emphasizing the positive can reinforce and grow the ideas, or elements that we want to foster to the point of squelching the less desirable traits without ever mentioning the negatives.
8. As a leader, I’ll talk last. At Visible Logic, I’m the owner, the president and most experienced designer. That means that I’m usually the one who should know best. But I need to give all my employees and partners better opportunities to express their ideas so we can all benefit. When the leader gives their opinion first it can often stifle other ideas, so when we’re brainstorming I need to wait for others to go first.
9. Remember the humanity. Don’t make people bored, wow them. Be nice. Don’t talk about user experience, just talk about how it works and how it makes you/me/us feel.
10. Find other entrepreneurs or business owners to connect with on a regular basis. I’ve been part of a small group of business owners who try to help each other, but I need to take this commitment to my business more seriously and find a more focused venue for this type of learning. I’m ready to put more effort, time and money into a group that does this.
11. Create an action plan for my two orphaned ideas. They are not quite orphans, but I have two projects that are basically complete, but no one knows about them. The first is Mail On The Mark, our custom-branded e-newsletter service; everything is ready to go for this new service, but I need to market it. The second is my report on the importance of having domain-based email addresses. Some of you were kind enough to make my survey many months ago; now I need to release my findings.

I hope some of these ideas help you think about how to focus and be more creative and productive. If you are not familiar with Behance and their 99% group, I suggest you look at their articles, tips and tools. I also highly recommend this conference!

I read an interesting post over at the Marketing Sherpa blog which I wanted to expand upon. The article, B2B Marketing: Calls-to-action and the business buying cycle, discusses four stages of the buying cycle and how to customize a call to action around each.

I wanted to give some practical and specific examples of how a small business owner can improve their calls to action on their web site, and how to integrate these calls into your web site design.

Why do I need a call to action?

First of all, in case you don’t know, a call to action is a place on the web site that is asking for the viewer to do something that shows their interest in your product or service. For example, you might have blog readers subscribe to an RSS feed, or join an email list. You may have viewers download a whitepaper or set-up a free trial of your product. It may be actually purchasing a product. Any of these are opportunities to convert web site viewers to real customers, or engaged prospects.

You probably have plenty of content on your web site that just requires passive interaction—your company history page or listing of calendar events. A call-to-action (CTA) requires the web visitor to do more than just read. The reason you want to have a call to action on your web pages is that it gives a chance for interested prospects to expand their connection with your organization. Without any formal CTAs in your web site design, you may still have people contacting you, but you increase the likelihood if you make it easy for them, and worthwhile to connect with you.

You need different types of calls-to-action depending on your business’ sales cycle

While a professionally designed web site will help any kind of business, having the right call to action helps you connect meaningfully with your prospective clients and customers.

• Short Sales Cycle. An example of a business with a short sales cycle is office supplies. While you may do some price comparison shopping, it’s unlikely you’re going to do a ton of research before restocking your pens and notepads. Calls to action in this case need to be direct such as a discount coupon or featured product.
• Medium Sales Cycle. Many professional services companies would be considered to have medium sales cycles. This might be anywhere from 30 days to three years. They need to stay in touch with prospects and prove themselves as respected experts when their prospect is ready to buy.
• Long (and Offline) Sales Cycle. A highly technical medical device or the architectural services necessary to design a large office building is never going to be purchased based on the whim of a discount code. Sales cycles in these businesses are long and more importantly,the final sales process takes place offline. However, these businesses would still benefit from a call to “stay in touch”.

Integrating your call-to-action into your web design

The urgency of your call-to-action (based on the shortness of your sales cycle) affects how you prompt people to act. If you look at the home page of any office supply web site, you’ll be bombarded with offers that have a limited time availability. However, having that same look on a professional services company’s web site can portray a very inappropriate feel. This is why some web sites feel scammy and untrustworthy—both of which can be detrimental to your organization’s reputation and brand.

The reason call-to-actions work is that people want to be directed to do something. Especially if they like what they see. If you are too reserved in your request for your web viewer’s contact information there’s no reason for them to share. However, if you give them a great reason to act (a pricing offer, a research paper, etc.) prospects will be eager to exchange their contact information for your offer.

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As a follow up to my last post, 7 Questions to Answer Before Launching Your Blog, I wanted to suggest some alternatives to creating a blog as well as the pros and cons of each.

The reason to add a blog to a corporate web site is that it’s a perfect vehicle for adding new, relevant, search-engine optimized content. A blog can also help your business offline too. But the demands of writing a blog are challenging. Also, some people may feel that the term blog doesn’t fit their corporate brand personality. Many bloggers write about personal views and have an opinionated style. That doesn’t have to be how your blog reads, but there are some people put off by the whole blog category.

Each of the options listed below are alternatives that could be easily integrated into your web site design and marketing strategy.

What are the alternatives to starting a blog?

1. Create an articles or resource library on your web site. If you have meaningful content to share with your clients and prospects adding an article library to your web site can hold a lot of the same value as a blog. Generally, an article library would not have comments enabled, but otherwise a library could be developed using the same CMS to build a blog, such as WordPress. Articles are generally loaded with key words which makes them search-engine friendly, but don’t forget to announce and market new entries just as you would a blog.

Pros: Adds keyword-rich content to your site, which Google likes. Is more formal sounding than a blog.

Cons: Can take just as much time as a blog to write and keep current.

2. Write case studies. Like a blog or library, a case studies section of your web site can be created using any CMS. We like to design many web sites using WordPress. Case studies allow you to “toot your own horn” a bit more than some other types of content because you generally feature your own work as the case study. It can give a very in-depth look at the process your company uses to solve other people’s problems. It demonstrates your expertise. Like an article library, each case study is key-word rich and should be promoted via social media and news services.

Pros: Adds keyword-rich content to your site, and allows you to promote your own work.

Cons: Can take just as much time as a blog to write and keep current. May require gathering and organizing visuals.

3. Add a news section to your site. A news section can be an effective catch all for posting new information about your organization. Unlike a blog, it’s perfectly OK to promote your own events, and talk about things like new clients that you’ve landed and new hires. If done correctly, you can do a mix of different content types (ie invitations, photos, summary of recent work, etc.) and still have them all work together.

Pros: Readers have different expectations of a news section, it’s OK to have a mix of contents and to promote your own work.

Cons: Nothing looks worse than an out-of-date News section. Make sure you have a plan to keep it updated.

4. Use Facebook and/or Twitter. Many organizations are jumping onto Facebook and setting up company pages. Compared to other content management systems, it’s very simple, and you probably don’t have to train anyone very much to use it. It also can be great because, depending on your client base, you may already have connections established with “friends” who may be eager to like your brand and hear your news. But, one of the biggest problems with Facebook or Twitter is that there is no formal archiving system. Because your content is not posted to your own domain, you don’t fully own it and it’s not available at your finger tips. There is no easy way to search and share links to old content.

Pros: Easy to use. Easy to share content. Postings can be brief.

Cons: No archiving system, you don’t truly own your content. Some business owners struggle with personal vs. corporate identities and how to connect and share appropriately.

What about you?

I started writing this blog over two years ago. I’ve found it to be hard work, but very worth the effort. We use Facebook and Twitter as ways to share our blog posts with others, but we don’t use them as our primary publishing platform.

What are you doing? Do you blog? Are you thinking about blogging, but are considering alternatives?

Recently, we redesigned the web site of ClaimVantage.com.

ClaimVantage offers a suite of software products, available in both cloud and enterprise packages, that automate and integrate insurance claims processing. Their newest claims processing product is a cloud-based solution that runs using the force.com platform (from salesforce.com). In the insurance industry, which has generally relied on large-scale enterprise software solutions, this is a very new way of approaching  claims processing.

Before

After

The web site design did not reflect this forward-thinking, cloud-based solution. It looked rather rigid and out of date with a boxy design, heavy color palette and graphic elements that looked out of date. We began the web site design project focusing on making the web site design more inviting and modern looking. We also helped to reorganize content and navigation structures to make content easier to find.

The old site had several issues that we focused on improving:

• Creating a look and feel that complemented SalesForce.com ClaimVantage is using SalesForce.com‘s platform and wanted to benefit from SalesForce’s strong brand identity and clean graphic appeal. The original website design used rigid-looking boxes and a dark color palette. The SalesForce.com website design is light, airy and fluid looking. It visually represents the idea of cloud-based software. ClaimVantage also wanted this look that shows their new product as flexible and nimble. By rounding the corners on the boxes and using a very light color palette we were able to create that effect. We also eliminated the graphic icons in the sidebar that looked out of date.
• Making the live area more narrow. The live area of the web site was very wide, about 1250 pixels wide in fact. And, one of the most critical elements—the 30-day free trial button—was on the far right side. The design did not use a fluid layout, so we guessed that many viewers were getting a scroll bar on their browser and not even seeing that important call to action. We confirmed our guess by using Googlelab’s browser size tool and discovered that 50% of their users were probably NOT seeing that element unless they scrolled to the right. Our new design is about 1000 pixels wide so that button is nearly always viewable on a standard monitor.
• Using the royalty-free illustrations in a more modern way. The company had bought the usage rights to a series of illustrations, and we felt there was some merit in keeping those graphic elements as part of their brand identity. However, with royalty-free illustrations, especially ones that are a few years old, you have to make some adjustments to make them look up-to-date. We solved this problem by integrating them more fully into a design that included modern touches such as a softer color palette and rounded corners on the boxes.
• Making content easier for viewers to find. We made several important design changes to make content easier to find.
  • We added drop-down menus to the main navigation, so people didn’t have to guess which section held which type of content.
  • We moved critical information, including a new video and key product information to the home page.
  • We listed all the case studies, rather than using a rotating graphic as navigation. Before people would have to sit and wait for an animated graphic to see the different case studies that were included on the web site (do you really think prospects will do that?)
  • We increased the contrast in the color of the key call to action—the 30-day free trial button.
• We reshot the video that demonstrates the software. The old site had a video which showed the key functionality of the software, but the video was all shot like one mini screen shot. It never zoomed in so that it was difficult to see the details that were being demonstrated. Using the exact same content, we redesigned the video to focus on key details, and we used a professional voice over talent to make the audio easier to understand. We also moved the video from an internal page to the home page. The video is being hosted by Wistia so we have very good data to see who is viewing the video.

We encourage you to take a look at the live site and take a look around.

Next steps

The new web site design was the first step in a series of steps that are part of making this web site a more valuable business tool.

• Writing. We also worked with a writing partner to rewrite much of the content on the web site. It is now much more reader friendly, while still focusing on natural SEO benefits. This included rewriting existing content, but also figuring out what content a viewer would like to read know more about, but was missing. We helped the client focus on some of the business problems that prospects are trying to solve and emphasize the solutions, rather than focusing too much on the features of the software.
• Adwords and landing pages. We also reviewed their Google Analytics and Adwords campaigns and, unfortunately, found a pretty high bounce rate and several old adword campaigns linking to landing pages that were no longer part of the live site. Our next step in the web site redevelopment process is creating more relevant landing pages and linking those up with appropriate keywords in Google Adwords.
• Relaunching the blog. We are planning to relaunch their blog soon. We took it offline because the client did not have the resources to create content on their own. We will be working with them to develop content and an editorial calendar. We are planning a very hands-on approach to help them create a system for writing their blog.

This web site redesign process is not a quick, one-step process. There are multiple factors that play into whether or not your web site is successful: design, usability, content, readability, search engine optimization, and AdWord traffic, to name a critical few. We are working on a step-by-step basis to not only redesign the web site, but make it a more effective tool for the business.

Last week, I attended the Maine Marketing Association’s lunch & learn presentation on QR codes. The talk was led by Joe Rosenfield of Edison Press.

You maybe asking yourself: What are QR codes?

I will admit I was a bit of a novice in my understanding of QR or Quick Response codes, and found the presentation a great overview of what QR codes do and how they could be integrated into a marketing campaign. I’ve been seeing these funny looking codes crop up more and more, but wasn’t sure what to do with them. Or, how my clients my use them.

Joe gave one definition as:

QR codes area non-invasive pull media

That’s bit of marketing jargon for saying that it’s a way for prospects who are interested in your product or service to actively connect with you.

I actually saw another definition on QRStuff.com which makes it more clear:

A QR codes is a print based hypertext link

From the “real” world to mobile

Right now, the most important role QR codes play is in getting someone with a smartphone to be able to easily access information in the real world.

For example, imagine yourself walking through downtown and seeing a poster for an event you’d like to attend. The poster designer may have added a web site address so you can get more information, order tickets online, etc. And if you want to access that web site with your phone you’d have to enter the URL using the keyboard. For many of us, that’s a bit of a pain because of the small keyboards on these devices.

With a QR code, a smartphone user can just scan the code and be directed to a URL. It saves them from having to type in the web site address. So the poster designer includes a QR code and gives you a direct link to the event’s web site, ticketing information, etc.

That is why I like the definition of the QR code as essentially a hyperlink that works via a scan rather than typing in the URL.

How to use QR Codes

There are two main components to have a QR work:

1. The creation of the code
   
2. The reading or scanning of the code

How do I create a QR code?

QR codes can be generated for free using one of many online resources. After a very brief search, I found QRstuff.com which generates QR codes that are not only plain URLs but also have the ability to create a calendar event or Paypal button and more.

It’s easy. You go to the web site, fill out the information about where you want the QR to point, and then generate the QR artwork. You then place the QR code in whatever marketing or educational material you have.

There are many other web sites that offer these codes and I welcome feedback from others as to which are the best.

How does my audience read the QR code?

The next step is to get your audience to scan the code. Technically, the viewer needs a smartphone with a QR reader. This means a cell phone with a camera that is connected to the internet. Some phones have QR readers built in, or otherwise there are many free apps to scan QR codes.

Once your prospect sees your QR code and scans it using their smartphone, they are automatically redirected to the URL (or calendar event, etc.) that you assigned to the code in step above.

Is that it?

Yes, but…

Another thing to keep in mind is that people still need to have a sense of where the code is taking them and a reason to scan your code. Like all marketing, there should be a clear call to action.

It’s a good idea to include text that explains what they’ll get from the QR code link. Something like: “Scan here to book online.” or “Save the date”. Otherwise the QR code itself (unlike many web links) do not give a hint as to where the viewer is being directed.

Right now, with QR codes being so new, you may want to include the direction “scan this” or similar. But I imagine that going away very quickly as Americans learn more about the functionality of QR codes.

Also, like any effective web-based marketing, you want to think about where you are sending people. Create an effective landing page, and make sure it’s mobile-ready.

Takeaways

Now that I have a better understanding of how QR codes work, I can understand why they can be so useful. As an iPhone user, I hate having to use my keyboard, so a shortcut to a certain web address is great.

However, there seems to be a bit of trendiness to them which really doesn’t make sense. For example, Joe (who made the presentation) said that HBO tried showing a QR code onscreen during a show. Unless they give viewers a lot of notice and a lot of time to access the code it seems useless. However, I can imagine a TV station showing a QR code as part of a footer graphic where you can get more details on a news story, about a sports stat, a promotion, etc.

I think it will be interesting to watch this phenomenon grow in popularity and then eventually sort itself out. I also wonder if smartphones will soon be able to just read a written URL by using something like Optical Character Recognition (OCR)?

I have a few questions for you, readers:

Are you or your clients using QR codes?
What QR creating tools do you like?
Which iPhone apps do you like for scanning QR codes?