cre84web – Website design and web based technologies

A website is the only medium in which you can be everything to everyone. You can address every possible client type, every need, every detail of your services and products, as well as service existing clients. A properly designed and developed website provides you the unique opportunity to clearly describe every aspect of your business, organized in such a way that any user can find what they need in seconds.

Make the most of your websites potential!
Your website is an interface with clients you’ve never had the opportunity to meet or speak with. In many cases your website is the first interface a prospective client has with your company. If your website impresses them, they will call or contact you. If your website does not impress them, or fails to address their needs, they will move on to a website, and in turn company, that does.

All to often businesses feel that as long as they have a website, they are fine. In truth, a poorly designed website can have an undesirable effect. If users are not impressed, or fail to find easily what they are looking for, their impression of your website is their impression of your company!

First impressions count…a lot!
The first impression a website has is important, no different than your choice of clothes are to attending a meeting. If the appearance is professional, the user will view you in the same light. If the website has the appearance of being put together by an unskilled individual, the read will be that your company is less than professional.

For those users who find you via your website, your website can close the sale, or at least provide the confidence to call you so you can close the deal.

Three parts to website success.
Appearance is an important third of your success online. You must also have well organized and appropriately written content, and in turn simple and well organized navigation. Just 5 years ago a website had about 20 seconds before a user would leave due to the user not finding easily and quickly the content they came for. In just 5 years, that timeframe has fallen by half to just 10 seconds.

The final third of the equation, SEO or search engine optimization. This is accomplished through internal and external efforts. The final third relates to the internal efforts by way of properly and effectively written code. This is something the end user never sees but the search engines take heavily into account. The other component of your internal SEO effort, is the content of the website pages themselves.

The potential of untapped clients.
A professionally designed and developed website should be the corner stone of all corporate advertising, public relations and customer service. Your website should be the biggest and best interface with the public that you have. It should be updated, managed and maintained. It should say everything and be all things to all people. It is the only outlet for your company to meet with and talk to massive amounts of people 24hrs a day 7 days a week. Show me a sales team that can do that!

Captive interest: Use your website to close the deal.
Traditional methods of advertising including postcards and print ads are limited in what they can say. In a day and age where we are overloaded by advertising and so tune most, if not all, of it out. The vast majority of these efforts go unnoticed, are discarded or simply avoided altogether, think about your DVR at home. This is why traditional advertising revenue is down across the board.

When people visit your website, they have chosen to interface with you. By doing so they have demonstrated a clear and current interest in your services. They are ready to buy your products and/or services, they are ready to become clients.

It is up to your website to impress and provide what the user is looking for, if it does then you have just gained a client. What is your website saying about your company?

What is a contact form?
An online form is any collection of text areas that you the user fill in and submit information through. When you fill out your address for shipping on Amazon…that is a form! A contact form is simply a collection of text areas, check boxes, radio buttons etc. for the purpose of submitting information to contact a website operator…usually a corporate entity or individual.

What is an e-mail link?
An e-mail link is pretty much what is sounds like. It is a text link in a web page that will initiate your e-mail software (outlook, Thunderbird etc.) to open and start an e-mail to the address provided in the link.

What is the difference?
An online form is processed and sent via the server on which the website in question lives. Meaning anyone using the website can fill out the form and click submit without the use of any additional software.

An e-mail link requires that the user have some form of e-mail software installed and configured on their local computer.

So why go to the effort of having a form?
1. If the end user does not have e-mail software either installed or configured, they will not be able to use an e-mail link.

2. If the end user is on a shared, public or borrowed computer any e-mail submitted, assuming there is e-mail software installed on the computer in question, will come from the account holder who set up the software. Meaning that the e-mail submission will come from the e-mail account of the computer owner, not the individual actually sending the e-mail. This means that a “reply” from the website owner will go back to the e-mail account used, not the individual submitting the e-mail.

3. A form can be used by anyone anywhere! No local software required!

4. With an online form you can capitalize on a visitors immediate interest. If a user has to copy the e-mail address to send later…well that lowers the odds of that contact significantly.

Bottom line:
Have your web developer put together a clear and simple form, there is no good reason not to.

We do not build corporate websites without a form…ever! Certainly provide your e-mail address for convenience and reference along with your physical address, phone etc.

Do not depend solely on a simple e-mail link as your only source of electronic contact from your website.

This is a blog!

The term blog is a shortened form of the original name “web-log”. Essentially an online diary, a place where an ordinary individual can type their thoughts on a webpage and publish it for the world to see. A “log” of their thoughts, actions, insights, exploits etc. placed on the “web”…”web-log” and in turn shortened to simply “blog”.

A blog can be used by anyone to share anything with anyone. Some people use it to catalogue their life in much the same way you might keep a personal diary. Others use it to voice their opinions in a given area such as politics, relationships or travel.

Most recently businesses have gotten in on the action using the medium as a way to educate, share product information, raise brand awareness, generally entertain or create interest in their brand by delivering information of interest from within their field.

That’s pretty much it in a nutshell, a blog is intended to be a more personal way of communicating. A little less sterile than your typical website, a place you can inject some personality and creativity in content message that might not be appropriate on a typical website.

This is a question I get a lot at the end of presentations. All too often we use the two terms interchangeably, but they are not the same thing. I will not get into the technical details of each too much, I’ll try and keep it simple. So those techies out there please keep your comments to yourselves, this is intended to be in plain english and simple!

The internet was first theorized in the early 1960’s, although the term “internet” did not enter the lexicon until 1974. The idea was to connect two computers who were not on a local network, some distance from one another, to each other via a telephone line. The first successful connection of this kind occurred between a computer in Massachusetts and a computer in California in 1965. This is the point at which I get a few blank stares of surprise by those who are thinking “web”.

This initial concept grew out of a U.S. government project. Early application of this communication type was primarily between U.S. government facilities and universities. In order to connect to this early internet, you had to be a programer…their was nothing easy or friendly about this connection.

Footnote: The first E-mail was adapted and used in 1972!

The first proposal for the “World Wide Web” was made by Tim Berners-Lee in 1989, that’s where we get the “www” from. The intention was to use a new protocol with which to more easily access and share information between computers via the internet. Essentially there was a need for non-programers to share and access information and the “web” was the answer. 1990 saw the first successful implementation of this new “World Wide Web”.

The first web browser, Mosaic, was released in 1993. That team then went on to develop Netscape Navigator and in turn Mozilla’s Firefox.

OK, still not sure what the difference between the web and the internet is? Essentially the internet is the base network by which inter-computer communication can occur…a highway system if you will. The “web” is one way through which you can access or share information via the internet.

The internet can also be used for other forms of data sharing such as digital television, voice over internet protocol or VOIP such as Vonage or Skype. and many other non “web” systems.

The “web” we know now using a browser to interface with other computers/servers has only existed since the early 1990’s. But as you can see, the development leading to the “web” has been ongoing since the 1960’s!

Some people are great organizers, and some just aren’t. Navigation is the backbone of a websites visual organization, and it had better be good!

Before you start to sweat, any good website design/development company will be able to help you develop your navigation. Please note I said “help”, you the business/website owner need to be there too. Successful navigation requires both a skilled designer and the client.

The standing theory on website navigation has been that nothing should be more than two clicks away. This still holds true as a minimum practice, but with flyout navigation you can often build a website where everything is just one click away. Any visitor to your website, should largely be able to find what they are initially looking for in 5-10 seconds.

The trick to solid usable navigation is keeping it well organized, intuitive and as simple as possible.
Think of your company and the key areas you service, throw in “about us” and “contact” buttons and your almost there. OK, so I might be oversimplifying, but you get the point. Think of how you would break down your company and message in terms of a flow chart. Start with the key components and break them down into sub-sets. The sub-sets will be your secondary navigation or flyout menus.

Consider what types of things each client might be looking for from your website/company. I might be looking for “x” but Bob might be looking for “Y”. In addition, what will existing clients be looking for. Try to keep your primary set of navigation to roughly eight buttons or less, then decide where to put the sub-sets of information. Type this out in a word document so you can visualize your message and where your users might look for a certain piece of information. Also, check out the websites of your competitors to get some ideas…no point re-inventing the wheel completely.

One caveat, do not make your secondary navigation too long either. If the secondary navigation for a given section is too long, a users eyes will have trouble scanning it, they will grow frustrated and leave!

Here is an example of a possible navigation set for an area sports bar/restaurant called O’Mallys. In this case there are six main buttons plus a ‘Home’ button, the indented lists are the flyouts or sub navigation for the relevant section:

About O’Mallys
- Latest news
- Our story
- Community work
- Calendar of events
- Photo gallery

Menu
- Lunch
- Dinner
- Sunday brunch
- Wine list
- Catering

Hosting your event
Catering your event
Locations
Contact Us
Home

Pretty much any field that involves a degree of design asks this question at some point. In the field of website design and development you have the programing side (function) and you have the design side (form). Some “website designers” are more one than the other and will likely make the argument based on their background and strengths. The simple truth is you need both!

You need the programing side to ensure proper delivery of the website and technical functionality. You need the design side to ensure proper presentation, an impressive look and feel, and an organization that people will respond to.

Your website should be the cornerstone of you marketing efforts. It should be the cornerstone, the torch bearer for your brand. It is your 24hr sales team, customer support and general emissary. It should be dressed appropriately and make one hell of a presentation.

A website like facebook is certainly more function than form. It is a very basic design, but attention has been paid to the visual organization and arrangement of the information. facebook is primarily a data driven website, click on a button and the relevant requested data is gathered and presented. It is simply a service, a way to interface with your friends & clients, it is not trying to sell a brand.

In the case of most businesses, this approach will no do the job in terms of gaining clients. In studies 50% of users will judge a website primarily on it’s design and visual organization. Having said that, if the website doesn’t function properly, navigation moves around, data is not successfully retrieved or SEO is not paid attention to…it will also fail.

The point is your website has to look good and work to the best of its ability. Looks will impress, content will sell your product and business. Don’t overlook either one, and look for a designer or firm who can deliver both!

Do you wear a tux on the golf course? Of course not, you dress appropriately for any endeavor you are about to undertake. Business is certainly no exception!

Even a seemingly innocuous thing such as your e-mail address is a very important part of your professional appearance and should not be overlooked.

I am always amazed when I am handed a business card that has an @gmail or @yahoo address listed. This speaks volumes to your prospective clients about you, your mindset, your business size and capabilities…none of it good, which is likely inaccurate.

The most common argument I get in favor of using personal e-mail is the convenience factor. But how convenient is a poor impression? You know what they say about first impressions, so why blow it with something that is so easily remedied?

At this point in time any business that wishes to be taken seriously has a website. As such you have already secured a domain name, so why not go the extra inch and set up an e-mail address using your domain. This little thing reinforces you are a real brand, reinforces your website address, and frankly is just good business.

The extra two minutes it takes to check a second or third email account is nothing compared to the poor impression a personal e-mail address will leave on those looking at your business card. Not to mention the improved organization you get when you separate business and personal accounts. Set up outlook to check multiple accounts set up your iphone to do the same, use the provided webmail interface etc.

The bottom line is, if you are guilty of this indiscretion fix it ASAP and pay for new business cards, you really can’t afford not to.

Writing for your website is quite different than writing for print media. Following the guidelines below and receiving guidance from your website design firm should get you in tip top shape before you know it.

People reading online content have the attention span of a gnat. Not that they lack intelligence, it’s just that you have a very small window in which to provide users with the content they are looking for before they leave. It is estimated that most users will leave a website in 20 seconds or less unless they find what they are looking for fast!

First and foremost you MUST have a well organized, intuitive and simple navigation structure. Your navigation is the key to effective content delivery.

Secondly your content must be organized in such a way that users can scan the content quickly to find the information they are looking for. It is estimated that most users only read 30% of content on a given page…yep!

Use bolded and descriptive paragraph heads:
Use bolded and descriptive paragraph heads, use bullets and other organizational tools to present content. And above all keep it short! Certainly there will be instances where you will need to expand on a topic, but a page full of key paragraphs linking to more expansive details on the paragraph content will more effectively provide for quick surface scans.

Keep most content to a paragraph or two, and then link that content to a complete article if necessary. This way you have given the reader the opportunity to skip over the paragraph and find the one they are looking for, or provide a link to more substantial content should they be interested in more detail.

Organize your content as though you had 20 seconds to find cursory information on three different items, and organize your pages in such a way that you can provide for more detail in the event it is necessary.

Search engine optimization:
It terms of search engine optimization…are you trying to get google to buy your product/services or a real human being? Certainly the search engines need to be a consideration, but you ultimately have to write for your desired audience. It does not do you much good if the search engines place you higher but prospective clients don’t.

Take a peak at the keywords related to searches for your industry and services, keep those in mind and use them when appropriate to your message. DO NOT use these keywords just to use them, annoy your users at your own peril!

Pay attention to using complete terminology, if you are a website designer use “website” not “site”. People searching for you will use website, people using site could be looking for planning, construction, land purchase etc. etc.

Use industry specific terms, use your company name and location and above all say what you do. It is amazing how many clients are ultimately vague in using specific terminology or listing a complete list of services/materials/products etc.

Hiring a copywriter or ghost writer:
If you need someone to re-work or edit your content, this would be an appropriate direction to move in. Make sure that the firm or individual you use has lengthy experience in writing specifically for the web and can site successful examples.

I would not recommend you find a “ghost writer” to write your content for you from start to finish. The point of your website is to share information on your company and services, ultimately trying to get an edge on making the sale. Who knows what you do and how you do it better than someone within the walls of your company? If you want your website content to stand out, you need to open a dialogue with your clients and prospective clients personally, not just in an open letter from the president on the homepage.

To have a personal dialogue, to share the way a company works, the character of that company can only truly be achieved by the content coming directly from that company. As I said above, hiring a copywriter to rework what you have written is fine, but I would recommend you avoid having someone outside your team write the content completely.

Final thoughts:
Write for your desired audience, consider the search engines in mentioning all that you do in complete proper terminology where appropriate, use good organization in your navigation and get to the point in short descriptive paragraph heads with short paragraphs and bullets leading to more expansive articles.

Use your website design company to it fullest. Even thought they might not write content for you, they certainly should be able to offer some tips for improvement and help guide you in constructing your navigation set.

Flash is a great tool, and I don’t care what Steve Jobs thinks about it! Don’t get me wrong, I think Steve Jobs has been a genius in the true sense of the term in business and product development, but his dislike of flash does fall on his more maniacal side.

Note to Steve Jobs: Nothing personal. I am in fact writing this post on my Mac Book Pro, over my wireless Airport network, using i-work while listening to music on my i-phone…your my boy Steve! BTW, can we please get flash on the i-phone…pretty please!

What you can use Flash for:
Flash can be an extremely effective way of delivering dynamic content, engaging users, and providing for interactive content. It can be a useful tool for dressing up pages with interesting product photo delivery. It is the most popular video delivery medium online…period! You can use it to create games, interactive product or locations tours, portfolio delivery, presentations…the only limitation is imagination.

In the right hands and creative minds, the results can be stunning!

The cons:
Like anything else, there is a time and place for flash. Search engines still have a problem cataloguing flash content and can have problems following flash based navigation. While there have been improvements on the part of the search engines, and designers have catered to those changes in proper flash construction, the results are not sufficiently reliable at this point.

The iphone doesn’t support flash…hence the opening Steve Jobs comment. So if you intend on delivering key information in a flash piece, just keep in mind iphone users will not be able to see it. Granted this is a small overall market share in terms of the majority of website visitors, but it should be considered.

Some people disable their flash plugin as they view flash pieces as a nuisance. This is less a statement against flash and more a statement against it’s rampant overuse. Flash usage should never get in the way of content delivery, it should augment it.

The average website owner can’t edit it! Flash is a complex tool that takes a great deal of expertise to use to it’s full potential. The editable flash file is complex in it’s construction on various timelines, programing efforts and built in controls. The final flash file that you see on your website is a published version which can not be edited directly. Editing requires the original file, which many designers consider their property, and can not be edited without a copy of the Adobe Flash software and considerable expertise. You will most likely need your designer to update or change your flash pieces.

What about sound?
Whatever you like my friend! Keep in mind this will add to the overall files size, and most users keep their speakers turned off. For the most part users turn their speakers on intentionally to listen to music or watch video, otherwise they have them turned off. The extra effort it will take, the extra files size and the possible licensing fees may not really be worth it. But if you want it…go for it!

My personal recommendations:
Don’t use flash for navigation. If you do, be sure your designer includes an alternate navigation method within the pages for those without flash and the search engines.

Don’t use flash for key text content delivery, or at least not for content that can’t be found elsewhere on your website in a more traditional style as well.

Unless you’re Nike, don’t build a 100% flash website without having a mirror of it as an html version.

Avoid large bulky files sizes. Some designers will build an entire website as a single file and the result can be one large file. If a user is sitting there twiddling their thumbs for too long, they will move on before they’ve even seen your logo!

Final thoughts:
Don’t be afraid to use flash, embrace it! It is a fantastic tool when used appropriately it can really give a website a little extra flare. But do make sure your designer knows how to use it properly!

Web 2.0 is currently intended to refer to the web as a new platform built on the old paradigm. One on which software runs, services are hosted as well as provided, social media networks exist, video sharing, wikis, blogs etc. A place where users can directly and immediately interact with one another in a variety of ways. Again, I would ask how this is different from the natural organic evolution and initial intention of the web itself.

Web 2.0 was first coined or at least attributed to Darcy DiNucci in 1999. So for starters it is not the “current” term that most people think it to be. DiNucci stated in 1999, “The Web will be understood not as screenfuls of text and graphics but as a transport mechanism, the ether through which interactivity happens.” In short she was expressing the fact that the web was going to be a transformative way in which we were going to be exchanging information and engaging each other. All very true, but a lot more general observation than the current more specifically assigned meaning of web 2.0

The term did not resurface again until 2003/2004 when companies started 2.0 conferences speaking to the “new” web. Essentially it was used as a sales tool to fill seats of those interested in what flying cars we might all be driving in the new “yet to be unveiled” web of the future. Ah, you detect an air of cynicism…I would concur!

Tim Berners-Lee, the co-creator of the web (see “what is the difference between the web and the internet”) in 1989-90 described the term “Web 2.0″ as a “piece of jargon” he goes on to say, “Nobody really knows what it means…If Web 2.0 for you is blogs and wikis, then that is people to people. But that was what the Web was supposed to be all along.”

Already web 3.0 is being used, yes really! If we were really keeping track of the web as though it was a software version, we’d already be at web 32.2.1 by now!

My point is that Mr. Berners-Lee is right, it is simply another one of those buzz words that caught on, and people started catering to it in conferences, symposiums, books and blogs. Put simply, the web is a visual interface between two computers, one supplying information and the other requesting it. What information is available and how it can be presented and/or requested is a function of everything that is intrinsically “the web”.

The changes and growth of the web has been made possible as a result of the culmination of massive adoption by both individuals and organizations, the availability of high speed connections, computer monitor resolutions, CPUs, graphics cards, browsers keeping up with available technologies and coding practices, more complex tools being available to designers and developers, and so much more. The more external technologies like wireless and cellphones adopted web based applications and browser access, the more and more and more we could do. With time and adoption by users, the more expectations grew and the more those building the web were able to do.

If you remember, in the mid 90’s B2B was the next big thing, Business to Business websites. Put simply this is where a business builds a website for the sole purpose of selling to another business…hmmm? So let me get his right, a business commissions a web design company to build them a website that is intended to speak to their prospective clients…this is different from a regular site how? I am over simplifying this example a touch, but the premise is correct. It was simply an organization speaking to a desired audience in such a way that would appeal to that audience, and in a nutshell that is what the web is.

Much like humanity going from fire to the wheel to homogenized housing developments, the web grows organically as a result of everything that touches it.

My problem is the terminology, I am not a fan of buzz words that serve no purpose other than to line the pockets of those that peddle it, or to create a star struck glaze on the faces of those who don’t know any better. To be blunt it’s snake oil for the new millennium! Am I version 2.0 because I now need glasses? My needs changed, the optics were there and I adapted. It’s simple evolution at work here, yes you can track the growth/changes, but the base life form in this case is the same.

Web 2.0? Where did web 1.0 go? Did we have to move all our files to disc and reboot the entire web in order to see the new release on June 5th? No, we didn’t!

I don’t dislike the term web 2.0 simply because I am averse to kitschy catch phrases designed to draw attention, which admittedly I am. I dislike the term and it’s adoption because is fails to recognize just what the web is. The web is alive, it is a living breathing frankenstein. It is a sum of it’s parts and the imaginations of the millions of individuals and organizations who build on the work of each other every day. We have gone from text only exchanges between servers on green text screens to fully interactive and immersive tours of the new shoe release from nike complete with hollywood quality video from the it boy/girl of the day.

The web will be tomorrow what we the creators make it, and what the users flock to. What the users cast aside will die, what they adopt will be built upon. Facebook isn’t anything special, other than it has 300million members…oh yeah, I guess that makes it something special. Facebook without it’s enormous membership is just another website. Wikipedia with no users, Wiki wouldn’t be in the dictionary!

Web 2.0 negates the dynamic of the web. It makes it seem as though some big programing firm decided to create a very specific piece of software and the engineers simply went to work making it so. The web is the embodiment of millions of creative thinkers building and tweaking their creations. Users interacting with that content and designers watching in anticipation for the lessons they learn and creating the next thing and the next thing.

There is no web 2.0, or 3.0 etc. etc. there is just tomorrow. Tomorrow we will be able to do a little more, tomorrow the users will be looking for something that does things a little better or addresses a need that hasn’t been addressed or a need that doesn’t even exist yet. The web changes everyday, not just because some conference deems there to be a new version, but because of what the web intrinsically is.

Users and designers/developers working like a hive create the web together, that is simply the nature of the web and always will be each and everyday. That’s what got me into this field in the first place, it’s challenging, it changes everyday and it’s fun to be a part of that dynamic.