The Diablog - it’s Diabloglical™

The man who sells spoons for a living eats his soup with a fork (part 2 of 2).

25 June 2010

As I have mentioned before, we work with a lot of different creative agencies who offer internet-based services. Some limit their offering to web design only. Others are more focused in internet marketing. Some are full-service interactive agencies including design and implementation plus life-of-site services like SEO, online advertising, and marketing.

Your agency’s website is the perfect showcase for how you make websites that work. Here are a couple approaches to avoid:

• We want our site to be all Flash. I’m sure you’ve heard about the Steve Jobs interview with D8 where he said, “Flash looks like a technology that had its day but is really waning ….” Apple’s assessment of Flash’s declining importance is why the iPhone and now the iPad do not support Flash. With that kind of visionary guidance available, why do so many creative agencies still build their websites in Flash? The only answer I ever get to that question is, “It looks cool.” Well, let’s look at it another way. If you built townhomes for a living, would you build a single-family house as your model home? Of course not. Your customers want to see an example of what they are interested in buying. An agency’s website is a great place to show prospects an example of the work you would do for them. They want to know that you can provide content management, that sites you build can yield high SEO points, that your sites can integrate with email delivery systems including unique URLs/landing pages for each email recipient, etc. Most businesses don’t need a website that looks cool. They need a website with a polished look that also delivers customers. Your own website is the best place to show prospects that you understand their needs.

• Our site needs to be simple because we don’t have time to update content. Like yesterday's point about minimal copy, this point is also Google-related. Google prefers a site that has new content every time the Google spiders re-index it. You (and everyone else, including your prospects) needs a website with meaningful copy on a lot of pages. As many pages as you can conceive of. With a good CMS system, updating content can have very little impact on your internal resources.

If you are thinking about overhauling your agency’s website, pattern your work after the interactive work you want to sell.

Talk to us before you start to rework your website. Let us show you how working with our process in Dialogs can make your life easier.

The man who sells spoons for a living eats his soup with a fork (part 1 of 2).

24 June 2010

As I have mentioned before, we work with a lot of different creative agencies who offer internet-based services. Some limit their offering to web design only. Others are more focused in internet marketing. Some are full-service interactive agencies including design and implementation plus life-of-site services like SEO, online advertising, and marketing.

When an agency partner determines it’s time to overhaul their own website, we often get invited to participate in the project. I am amazed at how often the process breaks down when a creative agency is working a project for themselves.

Here are some ways I have seen creative agencies treat their internal projects differently than client work:

• Creative comes first. If you’ve read our process white paper, you know how important it is to fully understand the purpose, content, and functionality of a website before the designer starts even noodling on look and feel. Even some agencies that follow our process for their clients have derailed the process when working for themselves. We’ll get the call that the agency wants to move their site into Dialogs and they want us to look at their ideas. Then they send us layouts. We ask for the architecture map, but they don’t have one. We ask for the discovery documentation, but they don’t have any. We do discovery and architecture for every project (large or small) because it is the best way to ensure that the site includes everything that’s needed, doesn’t include stuff that’s not needed, and connects to various outside resources as needed. Most importantly, clear documentation of discovery and architecture makes the creative and implementation segments of the project more efficient (wasted time = wasted dollars) and more effective (all work is on target). When it comes time to redo your website, trust the process.

• We don’t want copy, just eye-popping visuals. This idea can be stated another way (even though most people who tell me this don’t know it): “I don’t need Google to succeed.” Here’s the wakeup call - you do need Google to succeed. Google doesn’t have eyes that pop. Google likes words. Only words. When you include a visual in your site, make sure you add alt text so Google can index words that describe the visual. I’ve been told things like, “I don’t need Google to send people to my website - I do that.” and “All I need the website to do is give out our phone number.” That’s not how the web works. The only people you send to your website are people you know. Most of the people who visit a successful website are people the site owner doesn’t know. That’s what makes them successful. Plus, as I mentioned in the previous point, your prospects know they need Google to succeed, so they will be more likely to hire a firm who demonstrates Google-friendly practices.

If you are thinking about overhauling your agency’s website, keep in mind that you are your most important client.

Talk to us before you start to rework your website. Let us show you how working with our process in Dialogs can make your life easier.

Worst of the Web

21 May 2010

We’re feeling pretty good about how things are going right now, so we thought we’d have a little fun. We may decide to do this once in a while, just to blow off some steam.

Here are a few things I hate about the web. Hate is such a strong word. Maybe it’s more like things that annoy me. The web can’t change its heritage. It didn’t choose its parents or where it grew up. It IS trying to make something of itself, so maybe I should cut it some slack.

This is not a top ten list. It’s just a few random topics. More will come. If I didn’t mention one that really annoys you, share it with me, and I’ll share it with the world.

Websites with audio make me jump.

I keep busy, so when I’m checking out new websites, I’m probably doing other things at the same time. I may be in a video chat or a conference call, and we’re looking for inspiration, comparative content, or a solution-provider. I might just be listening to music while I look for something. I might even just be enjoying the quietness of my office. When I click on a website with audio, it disrupts everything. Just stop it! No background music. No spokesperson who walks onto the screen and starts talking. No whooshing and beeping when I hover or click on things. I don’t mind video content that allows me to choose when I want to watch - I know there will be audio, and I will watch it when the time is right. Here’s why you audio junkies should pay attention: it’s easier to find the “close window” button than it is to fish around looking for your “audio on/off” button. And that’s what I do. I end the contact.

Navigation that changes from one page to the next annoy me.

It annoys me when I go to a new site, click on a nav link, and the next page I see has a completely different nav system than the last page I was on. Certainly there’s room for creativity in nav, and not every nav system needs to be the same. But consistency prevents frustration. I want accessibility to all pages from any page. I want to understand the nav system quickly and then not think about it again. Every time a new site visitor comes to a site, they have to learn the system for navigating the presentation. That learning takes valuable time. Respect your site visitors.

Intro pages are so second millennium.

If I wanted to watch commercials, I would have turned on the TV. When I go to a website, I want to get to the information. Back in the ‘90s, the first person to put an intro in front of a website was clever. The second person who did was a copycat. Now it’s just a stale idea. An intro that inserts itself in front of site content violates the site owner/site visitor pact - the site owner makes content available, and the site visitor accesses that content in any order they choose. That is the medium. The web is not Powerpoint. Keep this in mind if you’re considering a Flash intro: one popular SEO theory says that Google likes home page content more than sub-page content. That means it is important that the home page has indexable HTML text, not just a Flash movie. From an SEO perspective, the worst decision of all is to embed the “enter the site” link inside Flash. Google won’t see it, and, therefore, won’t index any of the site. If you can tell your whole story in a 30-second spot, put it on your home page (not set to auto-play) alongside textual content, and let your site visitors choose how they learn about you.

When Dialogs Professional Services works with customers to plan information architecture, we help steer the project away from choices that may annoy site visitors. Ask us to walk through your site with you. We promise we won’t be annoying.