This should be the big year where we all take a turn for the better. The ideas below are all scalable — each one could take as little as a day, or could be a long-term project. Take a moment to review your company's marketing strategy for 2010. With a little effort, you could make a big impact.

Re-assess Your Brand

Is your brand still on target? Does it resonate with prospects and your community like it did when you first created your logo, website, sales materials? Send an informal survey to colleagues, friends, family, customers, etc. Get feedback. User experience is key to good graphic design. PS. A recent analysis by Fred Reichheld, a Bain & Co. consultant and author of Loyalty Rules , found that even a 5% increase in customer retention rates results in a 25% to 95% increase in profits (depending on the business). It definitely pays off to keep customers happy enough to return.

SEO

You've heard it for years. Search Engine Optimization is the most tried and true way for constituents to find you online. It is well-known to some and downright mysterious to others. It starts with a keyword discovery process. You then apply those keywords to your website both in the copy and in code.

Metropolis Creative has successfully improved our SEO over the past year. Keywords were optimized on website, images and blog. Targeted search phrases were used in our outbound messaging (blog, twitter, and facebook) to link back to our site. With the help of good graphic design of keyword search and discover programs like Wordstream and Google Analytics, Metropolis was found at the top of most searches for our target niche.
PS Meta keywords, paid links and keyword stuffing are the practices that worked in 90's and early 2000's. Search engine algorithms are changing and if you stick to the outdated strategies, then one day your site may no longer rank in the previous postition and greatly decrease your rankings.

Landing Pages

Getting traffic to your site isn't very helpful unless you can convert those visitors into customers. Traffic is driven to your site via channels. It could be a google search term, or it could be an email that you send out. It could be a keyword linked from a blog post that was picked up by another website, or mentioned in a social media post. The point is, you control the link to your web site, so link them to a page that makes sense. Minimize distractions here. Make a simple and obvious point, and give them the tool to contact you or make that purchase. The simpler, the better. A testimonial doesn't hurt. And BTW — plug some keywords on this page too (for Google).

Test, Test, Test!

There's no excuse not to use different versions of landing pages, email campaigns, and banner ads (among other things.) Its as easy as trying two or more versions and looking at the results. Learn from your successes and start over — every time. You don't have to create two entirely different pieces, just tweak the headlines, reverse the order of the content, change the subject line. You have a golden opportunity to learn what works best every time to send a message out. Use it.

Get Social

Generation Y and Z consider e-mail passé…In 2009 Boston College stopped distributing e-mail addresses to incoming freshmen. What are you using for social media? Use it for communicating, relationship building, reach, and even SEO. Build relationships with people who share interests with you. Then those people will tell others. It's relatively easy to maintain existing relationships with occasional messages, useful resource links, and reciprocal comments. The culture of social media fosters information sharing. If you post something useful or interesting, it will be shared and re-shared. If you include keywords in your post that link back to your website, it will help your SEO standings.

Somethings don't change — they just get better. With a little work, you can take a huge step forward in improving your brand, visibility, and conversions. Post a comment or question and I'd be happy to help you get started.

Labels: boston web design, brand identity, brand process, call to action, conversion optimization, landing page design, search engine optimization, SEO

Force yourself to design each and every page with one and only one primary objective.
- Seth Godin

That’s right! At a quick glance, your website visitors should know what you are selling (or service you’re providing) and take action. A call to action (CTA) is a simple and clear step to tell your web guests what they can expect and what you want them to do.

Done right, CTA’s work 24/7 and deliver leads. Every visit to your website could be a lead. Without well positioned, consistent, specific and engaging CTAs, your website could be turning away business.

Does your website have at least one call to action? If so, look to see if these points are addressed:

Why Now

Have a compelling and maybe even time sensitive reason for visitors to do more then just look at your site. Have them take action (try, buy, sign up, download, etc).

Position

Create a ‘clear and visible’ CTA. Make sure it’s not hidden behind other information that perhaps only you or your internal staff find important (a common mistake).

Consistency

Place your CTA on every page. If visitors are not convinced on the first page and are looking for more educational content, flow them to next page but keep a CTA available on all pages. This way, visitors can click when something does tickle them pink.

Color

Use consistent color on the CTA’s so that visitors identify and recognize the CTA like a stop sign on every page.

Be Specific

Tailor your CTA’s to your audience's interest. Always consider your target audience’s interests, buzz words and pain points.

Get Engaged

Use wordage that is very engaging. Action words like Try, Hear, Join, Start are short, to the point and inviting. Phrases like Click here to learn more or Contact us for more information seem long winded and very yesterday.

Examples of CTA’s that tickle me and surely stimulate business:

Strong and powerful. The white lettering and slight bevel with a shadow pops out from the rest of page.

3D-look gives the viewer the impression that they should be depressed.

Straight forward and simple black and white. Then suddenly a vibrant green attention grabber.

The sign up stands out as a result of nice breathing space and unique illustration. A fun approach.

A ‘web 2.0 badge’ in the very center of the page that surely says click now. My favorite.

Want another opinion about your CTA? Ping manager@metropoliscreative.com.

PS. So what’s the most or least compelling CTA you've seen? Do share.

Labels: bad branding, boston web design, call to action, CTA

If you have an online business and a corresponding website, you’ve likely had to address user engagement at some point, and if you haven’t, it is time to start. While getting traffic to your site is crucial, if users don’t stick around once they arrive, they are unlikely to convert into customers or sales, so make them stay.

Here are four ways to maximize the time users spend on your site. Address these factors and you are likely to see an increase in user engagement and conversions!

1. Make your site welcoming and easy-to-use

With the number of distractions, not to mention websites, vying for users’ attention, it is important to make sure your site is welcoming and easy-to-use.

Many of us have arrived at a website and noticed it makes us feel calm and comfortable. The website is inviting in some way and makes us want to stick around and explore. Try to think of a website design that makes you feel this way and take note of the qualities that stand out on your next visit.
This ‘sticky’ quality to some websites is a big part of ease-of-use, but there are more tangible aspects of your website that contribute to a carefree user experience. Things like a speedy site load time, uncluttered and logical navigation, and reader-friendly formatting of your website copy that includes headings to break up important points in your text and bolded keywords to direct users attention will make users feel at home on your site and encourage them to spend time looking around at what you have to offer.

2. Give users clear calls to action

If you want people to stick around, tell them what to do. When a user visits your site, they need more than a quick load time and welcoming interface design. They need direction.

Use clear and prominent calls to action to tell users what to do next, whether that is to read more about your company, check out your blog, try your product, or fill out a form. Be sure your calls to action are strategically placed on your site in areas where the eye tends to gravitate. Use call to action buttons when it makes sense, and design them to grab attention without making them garish. Finally, avoid overwhelming your user with conflicting calls to action. It is okay to repeat a call to action on an individual web page and at times it makes sense to give your visitors an option, but if you give them too many, you’re taking a risk that they glaze over and move on.

3. Educate users with articles, case studies, eBooks, and white papers

Users want information. They want to be educated. If the primary goal of your site is to inform, educational content specific to your business is an obvious inclusion, but the same is useful if your goal is sales, and to get a sale you need a user to stick around.

Add value to your site by educating your users and you will not only increase the amount of time they spend on your site, you will also help build brand credibility and activate the law of reciprocity, a powerful marketing principle popularized in the milestone book, The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert Cialdini.

The law of reciprocity states when you do something for or give something to someone, they are naturally inclined to repay the favor, and marketers have been employing this principle for ages. Give your user something of worth in the form of content and they will take the time to divulge it. Once they are through, they are likely to be more inclined to become a customer, request more information, or at least come back for a second visit. Either way, you win.

4. Keep your content fresh

No matter how useful your content is, it also must be fresh if you want repeat visitors and long-term user engagement. While an impressive white paper or comprehensive how-to guide will gain traction on its own via word-of-mouth draw new visitors to your site, if you want people to keep returning over time, always offer them something new.

Start a company blog and post 2-3 times per week, host a forum where experts can share industry tips and advice, or pull in RSS feeds from authoritative sites and blogs to give users a comprehensive look at the pulse of your industry. As long as your content is dynamic, engaging, entertaining, and/or useful, users will take the time to consume it, spread the word, and return for more.

Hope these tips help you improve the performance of your website. Good luck!

Amanda Moshier is the staff writer and editor at Wpromote, Inc., the #1 search marketing firm in the US as ranked by Inc. 500. For more information on PPC Management, SEO Management, or how to grow your small business online, please visit www.wpromote.com/. You can also connect with us at twitter.com/wpromote.

Labels: brand credibility, call to action, user interface design, website design, wpromote

There are over 182 Million web sites out there according to Netcraft. So what makes your site findable, usable, and effective? A good web site design should have three basic things on every page: search engine optimization, a good user interface, and a strong call to action. If your web site doesn't focus on these things, your target audience will just move on, or not find you at all.

Search Engine Optimization
This is a huge topic, but I'll talk about some web design basics.

1. You need a list of key phrases. If you are a web design company, "web", "design", and "company" are horrible keywords. But "web design company" is a good one. Think about key phrases as opposed to words. Include your city in there as well. The more keywords you can come up with, the better.


2. Target the keywords to your pages. You can't effectively target more than 5 keywords per page. Three is a better number. Start with the page title bar. Use your keywords there, and then in the copy of the page. Links using keywords are great, too. Instead of saying "See our web design work here" use "See our web design work here". Lastly, take a look at your copy, and see where you can inject your keywords more often. You need to balance effective communication with adding additional keywords, but it's usually not that hard, just time consuming.


3. Code the site correctly. A good web designer will use HTML searchable text, not text in a graphic. True, you can't get too crazy with fonts this way, but findability is more important than how it looks. And there's a lot you can do with HTML fonts anyway. Images should always have ALT tags, with keyword-rich descriptions. Headlines using tags hold more weight then body text. And if you can get keywords into the actual file names, that's even better.

A good User Interface
This obviously starts with an easily understood nav bar.

• Navigation is expected either on the top or the left side of the page. If you deviate from that, it will be harder to find. Don't forget that most web surfers are still a bit technically challenged.


• Keep the navigation options to the minimum. The more options you give someone, the harder it is to choose


• Buttons should look like buttons. And if it isn't a button, then don't make it look like one. (Sounds simple I know, but we've all clicked away on that thumbnail image waiting for it to do something... waiting... grr — not a button.)


• Wording on the buttons needs to be obvious. Don't put product names on buttons. They make sense to you, but not to your visitors. Also, don't get cute with titles like "The Team" and "Home Runs." What does "Home Runs" mean anyway?


• Don't forget that the user interface includes proper labeling of areas of the page, including the name of the section that you're actually in. A depressed button usually isn't enough to tell you where you are.

A Strong Call to Action
What's the point of your web site? Is it for lead generation? Or are you selling a product? There should always be a call to action on every page if you can. The top right column is ideal for this for a couple of reasons. It's usually space that's available, and it's where people expect to see an important announcement. Make your call to action prominent, and you'll see an increase in action.

What's interesting, is that all of these things can usually be done to a web site without requiring a complete redesign. If you'd like an analysis of your site's effectiveness, post a comment below and we'll check it out!

Labels: call to action, search engine optimization, user interface design, Web design