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Web Site Marketing Tips and Tricks
We've created a list of tips and best practices for new web site builds:
New Web Site Builds - Best Practices Do's and Don'ts
Do's
1. Do use descriptive page headlines and sub headlines and/or paragraph headers. Page names should have the ability to be placed in plain text with appropriate -Tags. If page titles are required to be in images, there should be descriptive, plain text sub-headlines and/or paragraph headers. This also makes it easier for users to scan and read. 2. Do allow for multiple areas of navigation. Main navigation should be located near the top, horizontal preferred, to conserve real estate on the page. This will also allow more information to be shown "above the fold" (the upper part of the Web page that a user sees first). Navigation buttons should indicate where a visitor is by having that button "on." If main navigation is going to be image-based, there should be a footer "area" for secondary, plain text navigation and a link to the site map. 3. Use a columnar layout. A user's eyes normally are drawn to the center of the page, and search engines are increasingly using what is referred to as "block analysis" to determine the parts of a web page that are most important. Site visitors naturally scan web pages, and increasingly search engines are taking blocks of a page into consideration, as they weight a page to determine its relevance. We recommend a main column, a secondary column, and in some cases, a tertiary column.
Don'ts
1. Don't build an entire Web site in Macromedia Flash. Macromedia Flash is often treated as images by search engines. In other words, they tend to overlook them and therefore not search-engine friendly. It also offers poor usability and accessability (when done incorrectly). However, there are alternatives. If you do intend to build a site entirely in flash, we recommend there be an HTML-based version created alongside it. 2. Don't use "splash" pages. Search engines don't like splash pages, which can sometimes act as a roadblock for them. Recent usability studies have also shown that users don't like splash pages either. The fewer clicks someone has to go through to get to what they're looking for, the better. 3. Don't put plain text in images. Putting an entire site in images is a huge no-no. Regular page copy should not be in images since search engines can't "read" them. Page copy is the most important part of the Web site and should be in plain text.
1. Do use descriptive page headlines and sub headlines and/or paragraph headers. Page names should have the ability to be placed in plain text with appropriate -Tags. If page titles are required to be in images, there should be descriptive, plain text sub-headlines and/or paragraph headers. This also makes it easier for users to scan and read. 2. Do allow for multiple areas of navigation. Main navigation should be located near the top, horizontal preferred, to conserve real estate on the page. This will also allow more information to be shown "above the fold" (the upper part of the Web page that a user sees first). Navigation buttons should indicate where a visitor is by having that button "on." If main navigation is going to be image-based, there should be a footer "area" for secondary, plain text navigation and a link to the site map. 3. Use a columnar layout. A user's eyes normally are drawn to the center of the page, and search engines are increasingly using what is referred to as "block analysis" to determine the parts of a web page that are most important. Site visitors naturally scan web pages, and increasingly search engines are taking blocks of a page into consideration, as they weight a page to determine its relevance. We recommend a main column, a secondary column, and in some cases, a tertiary column.
Don'ts
1. Don't build an entire Web site in Macromedia Flash. Macromedia Flash is often treated as images by search engines. In other words, they tend to overlook them and therefore not search-engine friendly. It also offers poor usability and accessability (when done incorrectly). However, there are alternatives. If you do intend to build a site entirely in flash, we recommend there be an HTML-based version created alongside it. 2. Don't use "splash" pages. Search engines don't like splash pages, which can sometimes act as a roadblock for them. Recent usability studies have also shown that users don't like splash pages either. The fewer clicks someone has to go through to get to what they're looking for, the better. 3. Don't put plain text in images. Putting an entire site in images is a huge no-no. Regular page copy should not be in images since search engines can't "read" them. Page copy is the most important part of the Web site and should be in plain text.
Web Site Usability - Best Practices and Helpful Guidelines
The content that your site contains will have more impact and be easier to read if you plan your site's layout carefully. Below are a few recommendations on how to improve your site's layout and visual clarity:
1. White Space. Usage of white space, as in this example: http://workspaces.com/, makes the page as uncluttered as possible to allow the user to be able to quickly scan the page. Do not waste valuable home page real estate using large images and use the remaining space to add text and calls to action.
2. Color. The usage of color on your site pages, especially the home page, will be critical to driving customers to do what you want them to do. A highly organized home page is the Irv's Luggage Warehouse http://www.irvs.com home page. They use color to their advantage; with the greys / blues used to direct the user's eyes from section to section. All text on the page is sharp and easy to read. The page is laid out with the user in mind; to get the user to the product, and allows the user to make purchasing decisions quickly.
3. Text links. Another good way to improve the navigability of your site is to embed text links to relevant pages within the body copy. A user can scan quickly and jump to other pages.
4. Content. Your site's content is your opportunity to illustrate your unique selling points. Discuss your products and services and why the user should purchase them from you, versus your competition.
1. White Space. Usage of white space, as in this example: http://workspaces.com/, makes the page as uncluttered as possible to allow the user to be able to quickly scan the page. Do not waste valuable home page real estate using large images and use the remaining space to add text and calls to action.
2. Color. The usage of color on your site pages, especially the home page, will be critical to driving customers to do what you want them to do. A highly organized home page is the Irv's Luggage Warehouse http://www.irvs.com home page. They use color to their advantage; with the greys / blues used to direct the user's eyes from section to section. All text on the page is sharp and easy to read. The page is laid out with the user in mind; to get the user to the product, and allows the user to make purchasing decisions quickly.
3. Text links. Another good way to improve the navigability of your site is to embed text links to relevant pages within the body copy. A user can scan quickly and jump to other pages.
4. Content. Your site's content is your opportunity to illustrate your unique selling points. Discuss your products and services and why the user should purchase them from you, versus your competition.
5 Email Marketing Tips for Small Businesses
Everyone knows it costs less to sell to existing customers than it does to to acquire new customers. Email is one of the most inexpensive mediums to use to capture these potential sales. If you are considering incorporating web-based email marketing campaigns into your business plan, there are a few things you should do.
Modify your existing registration and contact forms to request permission based emails
The CAN-SPAM Act requires that all businesses request permission from visitors and customers before adding them to an email marketing list. If you haven't already modified your forms to give visitors a chance to opt in to your email list, you're losing valuable leads each time a user completes a form or registers on your site.
Add a check box to your forms that give your users the chance to opt in to your email list. Do not have it checked for them when users reach your form. There's nothing more annoying to a visitor than a host who assumes they know what the visitor wants.
Give your users control
Always provide users a link to unsubscribe. Not only is this required by the CAN-SPAM act, it's just common courtesy. Place the link in a place where users will see it such as the bottom or the top of the email. And if your email marketing system allows for one-click unsubscribes, you're already one step ahead. The fewer the steps required to leave your list, the better.
Be clear about your email marketing practices
On your sign up or contact form, provide some information about your email marketing practices. Tell them how often you'll be sending an email to them and what types of email they'll receive. Providing the visitor with a sample email may potentially increase your chances of earning their trust if the user thinks its something they would be interested in.
Provide a link to your website's privacy policy
Earning a visitor's trust should be top priority on every email marketer's list. One of the most important things you can do is provide a privacy policy telling your visitors what types of information you collect, what you use it for, and whether or not any unaffiliated third party will use their information. A privacy policy doesn't have to be a long, drawn out legal document. It can be a few simple paragraphs written in plain English. Don't frustrate your users even more by making them wade through a ton of legal jargon.
Don't forget the text version
These days almost all email marketing services provide marketers the option to create a text version of an email. This is a part of the process that most marketers neglect to spend time on. Considering the growing number of mobile phone users surfing the Internet and reading email on their phone, it's imperative you make the reading experience easy for your text-only readers as well as your HTML-version readers. The last thing you want is to lose a potential customer simply because you left the text-only version of your email blank. Email marketing can become a very valuable marketing tool if you approach it correctly. Of course, providing your customers with the most useful information will help you most of all, but if you practice the steps listed here, you will already be on the right path to online marketing success.
Modify your existing registration and contact forms to request permission based emails
The CAN-SPAM Act requires that all businesses request permission from visitors and customers before adding them to an email marketing list. If you haven't already modified your forms to give visitors a chance to opt in to your email list, you're losing valuable leads each time a user completes a form or registers on your site.
Add a check box to your forms that give your users the chance to opt in to your email list. Do not have it checked for them when users reach your form. There's nothing more annoying to a visitor than a host who assumes they know what the visitor wants.
Give your users control
Always provide users a link to unsubscribe. Not only is this required by the CAN-SPAM act, it's just common courtesy. Place the link in a place where users will see it such as the bottom or the top of the email. And if your email marketing system allows for one-click unsubscribes, you're already one step ahead. The fewer the steps required to leave your list, the better.
Be clear about your email marketing practices
On your sign up or contact form, provide some information about your email marketing practices. Tell them how often you'll be sending an email to them and what types of email they'll receive. Providing the visitor with a sample email may potentially increase your chances of earning their trust if the user thinks its something they would be interested in.
Provide a link to your website's privacy policy
Earning a visitor's trust should be top priority on every email marketer's list. One of the most important things you can do is provide a privacy policy telling your visitors what types of information you collect, what you use it for, and whether or not any unaffiliated third party will use their information. A privacy policy doesn't have to be a long, drawn out legal document. It can be a few simple paragraphs written in plain English. Don't frustrate your users even more by making them wade through a ton of legal jargon.
Don't forget the text version
These days almost all email marketing services provide marketers the option to create a text version of an email. This is a part of the process that most marketers neglect to spend time on. Considering the growing number of mobile phone users surfing the Internet and reading email on their phone, it's imperative you make the reading experience easy for your text-only readers as well as your HTML-version readers. The last thing you want is to lose a potential customer simply because you left the text-only version of your email blank. Email marketing can become a very valuable marketing tool if you approach it correctly. Of course, providing your customers with the most useful information will help you most of all, but if you practice the steps listed here, you will already be on the right path to online marketing success.
