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VIA Idea #33

Tips for Designing Better Websites from the User Experience Point of View

However it’s delivered (print or electronic), every strong marketing piece presents information from a “what’s in it for me” point of view. A website presents you with the opportunity to personalize the experience by allowing your customers and potential customers to learn as much (or little) about your company and products as they desire.

Your website’s design needs to function well for many people. Each of us comes to a particular website with our own expectations and with individual goals. The more you know your target audience, the better you can predict their expectations and guide them into the sales funnel.

 

Tips to improve user experience include:

    1. Placing your phone number at the top and make it a “click to call”.

 

    1. Including a form that will make it simple to contact you without asking for too much information.

 

    1. Utilizing caching (see the sidebar article for details).

 

    1. Making sure that Responsive Web Design (RWD*) has simple layouts and fluid grids. Avoid complicated navigation.

 

  1. Examining Analytics data and tweaking the layout over time. For example, by moving a navigation tab on a client’s site, the hits to that page immediately increased.

Contact Julie to discuss assessing the effectiveness of your website’s user experience and in thinking through how to make improvements.

*RWD is a website design that resizes itself in order to work well across various screen sizes from mobile to desktop and everything in between.

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VIa Idea #32

What’s the difference between CMYK and RGB colors and which one is better?

A client recently asked this question during a discussion about updating her company’s marketing pieces. But it’s not a question of better; it’s a question of when to use which. Let me clarify—if the finished product will be printed, then CMYK colors will be specified. But if the finished product will be electronic, then RGB is the color mix.

CMYK refers to cyan (blue), magenta (red), yellow and black inks. A printing press applies each color to paper separately to build up the image into the full-color photo or graphic image that you see in a newspaper, magazine, or brochure.

RGB, as you might guess, refers to red, green and blue, the primary colors of light that your computer monitor and iPhone use to display screen images. Software allows you to view the images by mixing these three colors. The color capability of your device determines how well the colors will display. SuperVGA (SVGA) mode can display up to 16,777,216 (16.8 million) colors; a 16-bit display is only capable of producing 65,536 colors. Although you would think that more than 65,000 colors would be more than enough, we need as many colors as we can get to display that logo just right.

Graphic designers work first in RGB mode, as that’s what they’re seeing on their monitors as they work. If the finished piece will be printed, they’ll convert the files before sending them to the printer. We often send a client a work in progress via email in pdf or jpg format. When getting the color just right is critical, we’ll sometimes suggest a press proof.

I’ve way oversimplified the printing process, and haven’t even yet addressed when to use a vector file and when a raster format is needed. Take a look at the sidebar and see the infographic for a quick lesson. Want more information? Contact me and I’ll share more technical explanations.

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What NOT to do With Social Media

Small business owners and their employees have always been busy—busy getting the job done, busy following up on leads, busy managing employees, busy figuring out how to fit time with their families into already crowded calendars. Added to everything else, you’re increasingly feeling the pressure to create and maintain an online social presence. Social media is important for businesses; however, we want you to know how not to proceed. Here’s our list of often-heard statements and logic in refuting them:

    1. You need to be on every social network.
         
      There’s not enough time in the day to be on each social network! As with any media, knowing your target audience will drive the decision on whether to engage on (#1) Facebook with 750 million; (#3) LinkedIn with 110 million; (#11) CafeMom with 12.5 million; (#13) Meetup with 7.5 million unique monthly visitors* or any of dozens of other sites. 

    1. Social media is completely free.
      Although creating an account and uploading your business information doesn’t cost anything, you’ll want to pay a professional to design a custom page. And posting messages isn’t free unless your time is worth nothing. Social media is like a friendship; the more effort you put into it, the more rewarding it becomes.

    1. All you need is social media.
      I’ve had potential clients ask why they should invest in a website when they can be on Facebook for free. If you wouldn’t build your home on property that you don’t own, why would you build your online business presence on a site you have no real control over?

    1. You can outsource your social media or let an intern manage it.
      Whether you’re General Motors or the pizza guy down the street, social media is your opportunity to connect with followers in a personal way. Include photos, speak in your own voice—and inject some humor and insights. It’s difficult for someone not intimately involved with your business to sound knowledgeable and authentic.

    1. You should only post messages about your company.
      Like the loud woman at a party who talks incessantly about herself, posting only messages that are company-related quickly gets boring! A good rule to follow is that 20 percent of your posts can be company/sales-related and the other 80 percent should inform and entertain your followers.

    1. Don’t let your employees use social media.
      You can also ask the wind not to blow; you can’t keep your employees off of social media. Instead, ask them to “use good judgment” as they connect with their families, friends and associates.

    1. You shouldn’t ask people to comment, follow, or retweet you.
      Of course you should. Just not for everything you post.

    1. Don’t respond to negative comments/Disable comments to avoid negative comments/Delete negative comments.
      Immediately address a negative comment with an explanation and, if needed, an apology. By being upfront and transparent you can sometimes turn a disgruntled customer into an appreciative one. If you disable comments, you’re taking away the interactive qualities that make social media attractive to so many. And, because of screen shots and smart phones, you can’t assume a negative comment will go away by hitting delete.

    1. Respond to every negative comment.
      Unlike a legitimate negative comment or complaint, you may someday be harassed by a “troll” whose intent is to stir up trouble. If this is the case, don’t try to win.

  1. You don’t need a strategy for social media.
    Social media is another tool in your marketing kit. Thinking through what you want to accomplish with it requires a plan.Contact Julie to discuss ways that social media can work for your business.

*Numbers are from ebizmba.com/articles/social-networking-websites.