The Reciprocal Consulting Blog

There are two things that visitors are going to notice when they first land on one of your pages – how it looks and what it says.  Let’s assume you have hired a professional website designer to create attractive easy-to-negotiate pages, so your website looks great. What about the content?

One of the problems with search engines is that they generally rank old pages above new pages. Google, for example, may talk a lot about ‘fresh content’, but for most searches the pages listed are fairly old.  If your site has been around for awhile then those old pages are going to rank fairly well, even if the information on them is a little outdated.

This is where your reputation could take a real hammering. If visitors feel the information is too old, too out of date, or no longer relevant, there is a good chance they’ll hit the back button rather than seeking fresher content on your site. Flagging the fact that the information is outdated and linking to fresher content may not attract them either.

You have several options. You could redirect to fresher content as long as the new page is about the same subject. You could also rewrite the content to bring it up to date. It seems to be pointless having a redirect to new content when you could simply update the content on that page.

Reputation management starts at home – that is, it starts with what you say and do on your own website. While search engine marketing and social media marketing are all the rage at present, taking time to review those old pages on your website is equally important. Is the content still relevant, accurate, and able to answer the needs of your visitors? If not, give it a lick of polish and bring it up to date.

Most website design elements do not help you with search engine marketing, but that doesn’t mean that some elements of web design can’t help you. There is evidence that paying attention to website design elements can improve your chances of ranking in the search engines.

The most talked about example of web design and SEO is the use of Flash presentations. While Flash is beginning to be a crawlable element now, this is still a brand new development where search engines are concerned. That means the crawlability of Flash is still limited. I would not build a website that is created entirely with Flash elements.

Other things to consider with web design and SEO are:

• Placement of excessive links in your footer
• The use of excessive code
• Navigation elements
• Using alt tags with graphic and photo elements
• Hidden links and redirects can hurt you in the rankings
• Use an inverted pyramid style for information and presentation elements
• Use external files as much as possible for extraneous code like JavaScript

There are many more ways that web design can affect SEO. You would be doing yourself a favor to learn and study SEO and web design to some reasonable degree before you build your website.

When it comes to Internet marketing there are services that are worth pursuing and services that you can afford to put on the back burner for awhile. In other words, not all services are created equal. The following 7 services are services that I’d say are worth considering today and that will likely be necessary services five and ten years from now.

1. Pay Per Click Management – PPC has become a staple of online advertising. You pay for traffic and if you do it right then your traffic will be targeted and conversion ready.
2. Search Engine Optimization – The original search engine marketing. There is no reason not to pursue a search engine optimization strategy. It’s the perfect search engine marketing.
3. Online Reputation Management – Don’t wait until you need it. Incorporate reputation management into everything you do.
4. Social Media Optimization – Social media is here to stay. This is evidenced by Facebook becoming the No. 1 trafficked website online. Develop a strategy and make it work for you.
5. Competitive Intelligence – Learn everything you can about your competition, then use it against them.
6. Web Design & Development – It all starts with your hub on the Web. Web design is one of the most important things to do in your total marketing strategy. Give it some thought.
7. Video Marketing & Production - Video marketing is the Internet sleeper. It’s taken awhile to catch on, but it is catching on. This is where the money will be in the future. Count on it.

If you’re serious about Internet marketing, these 7 strategies should be a part of your plan – starting today.

If you look at some of the most popular websites online you’ll find that a lot of them have some things in common. Let’s take a look:

• Google – Long known for its simplicity, Google’s home page is a search box with a couple of links on a white page. Nothing fancy. And Google is a top tier website with one of the highest usage rates in history.
• Twitter – Twitter started off with a very simple design. Just a few months ago they upgraded their web design, but it didn’t change much. It is still simple with its two-column approach.
• Facebook – Facebook might look complicated, but it’s not. There’s a news feed and two sidebars – a right and a left. That’s pretty common these days. The design gives Facebook a familiar look and most users can find what they want with no problem.
• YouTube - YouTube’s design has been simple from the beginning. The current design, while not the original, still employs simple design elements while showcasing some of the best videos in a variety of categories. When you move to channel pages, the design becomes even simpler.

When it comes to web design, it doesn’t have to be complicated. Often, the best designs are simple. Simplicity works.

Web design is not as easy as it looks. There are specific mistakes and pitfalls to avoid and specific web design elements that will almost always be preferred over others. Here are 3 bona fide mistakes to avoid when designing your next website.

• Irrelevant information, or information overload – This is a fairly common mistake. You design your website and it looks pretty, but you have put too much information in your site. As a result, it is difficult to read and visitors do not want to spend the time it takes to read every word. Sometimes, less is more. Only say what is absolutely necessary to get the business. Get in, close the sale.
• Lack of visual elements – A web page with nothing but text is boring. Break up the text with images, videos, and other multimedia graphics. Make your pages look interesting and people will stick around longer.
• Complicated navigation structures – Navigation is one of the most important aspects of web design. Make your site easy to navigate and the information easy to find. Otherwise, you’ll lose your visitors.

If you avoid these 3 web design mistakes then you’ll go a long way to improving your website and increasing your chances of closing the sale.

One of the best developments in web design over the years is the technology called CSS. CSS stands for cascading style sheet. With a CSS file you can make updates to your websites in minutes, updates that used to take hours prior to the development of style sheets.

CSS allows you to make changes to your website across an entire section or your entire site. Rather than go page by page to make changes that affect each page of your website, with CSS you can change the element one time and it changes across your entire website. Isn’t that cool?

There are still some web developers who design pages entirely by HTML using tables. This is a very primitive way to design websites, but it can be done. However, I’d recommend using CSS when practical and possible.

With CSS you can influence the following types of changes sitewide with a single update:

• Navigation menus
• Page background colors
• Font styles and types
• Link attributes
• Page layout
• Column width
• Header and footer details
• Mouseover and hover effects
• Special effects like drop shadows and rounded corners

There’s plenty more you can do with CSS. In fact, you can get quite creative with it. If you are designing web pages today then you must consider CSS in your design strategy. Pages built strictly with HTML are quickly going by the wayside.

Simply placing your opt-in box on your website and hoping you get sign ups isn’t a very effective plan. Lots of website owners have found out the hard way. Instead, why not take the time to learn the optimal place for your opt-in box so that you can increase your subscribers and increase your revenue?

Is there an optimal place?

To be sure, it is relative, but that doesn’t mean inconsequential. There have been eye studies that show where most website visitors view a web page and where the human eye is more likely to go. In essence, the two hottest spots on any web page are on the top left and on the bottom right.

So does that mean that is where you should place your opt-in box? Not necessarily.

The general rule of thumb is to put your most important content in the hot spots and fill everything else around them. You want your web pages to “breathe”. That is, you don’t want them cluttered. So make sure there is some white space.

However, you want to make maximum use of the space that you do have. And that means putting your most important content items in the hot spots and placing other items around them ensuring that your overall design is attractive, uncluttered and puts your visitors’ eyes right where you want them most.

Web design is about more than just making your site pretty. It’s also about making it functional – and profitable.

When it comes to online marketing and web design there are certain things that every marketer considers to be absolutely true, then there are certain things that are debatable. One of the things that often comes up for debate is the relationship between design and content. Which do you favor?

Before you answer, consider some of these points:

• An ugly website can still make money
• If you do not capture your visitor’s attention in 3 seconds then they will go elswhere
• No one buys anything online until they read something that makes them click the Buy button
• Pictures tell a thousand words
• You don’t need a thousand words to sell
• All other things being equal, people will spend more time on a pretty website than on an ugly one

Some of these statements may seem contradictory, but each step on its own is worth a goldmine of wisdom. But what do you make of “an ugly website can still make money” and “people will spend more time on a pretty website than an ugly one?”

Can both be true?

Yes, actually, they can. You need to keep in mind that content is what sells, not design. However, a beautiful web design can enhance a user’s experience. If your site visitors are turned off by the design of your website then they may not stick around to read the content. But if they do read the content and it doesn’t sell them on your products or services then your design won’t either.

Bottom line, web design and content go hand in hand. Make them work together.

I’ve seen small business owners try to do online marketing with nothing more than a MySpace page or Facebook account. It’s good to have those things and you can probably make money with them, but you’d be better off with a website. I can promise you that.

Sure, your Blogger blog is cool and you probably get some readers, maybe even some business, but your well-designed website would likely get you more.

I firmly believe that a small business website, well designed with well-written content that is optimized for the search engines is the best Internet marketing tool you have. It costs a little bit of money to get one, of course, but it’s a great investment. Think of it this way:

• Nowhere on earth can you start a business for less than $1,000 and have it profitable in just a few months or, in some cases, a few weeks.
• You can still use your Blogger blog, Facebook account or MySpace page to promote your website. Tap into the traffic you’re already getting and drive it to your website where you’ll close the sale.
• Your website is a one-time investment. After the initial outlay, your ongoing costs are minimal – $10/year for a domain name and less than $10 per month for hosting. What kind of business can you run off line for that?

Web design is a small investment compared to the income you can earn from a website. Don’t look at it as a cost you can’t earn back; think of it as an investment that pays off.

There’s an old saying in Web development circles:

An ugly website that makes money is more attractive than a pretty website that doesn’t.

A web developer friend of mine has a knack for saying:

An ugly website that makes money gets prettier by the dollar.

These are both true statements, but let me add a third one:

A pretty website that makes money is more attractive than an ugly website that makes the same amount of money.

Bottom line, you’re in the business of making money. Anything you can do to be more profitable is a good business decision. And you’d better expect that your website visitors are judging your business by their first impressions of your website. Some people will just not buy anything from a business with an ugly website.

If you ensure that your web design is attractive without sacrificing functionality and practical usefulness then you’ll increase your website’s value to your visitors. There’s no need to settle for ugly.

A few years ago it was common to hear someone say something like, “An ugly website gets prettier by the dollar” or “A ugly website that makes money is more valuable than a pretty website that doesn’t.”

While these anecdotes are pithy (and, we admit, true), we also can’t help but quip in return, “I’d rather have a pretty website that makes me money than an ugly one that makes me the same amount of money.” Wouldn’t you?

All things being equal, I’d rather have a pretty website than an ugly one. And that’s why I can say with confidence that web design IS e-commerce. There’s no sense pretending you have a choice. It’s not like you have to choose between a pretty website or one that makes money. You can have a pretty website that makes money. In fact, if your website is attractive then you stand a better chance today of turning it into cash.

Google would rather send searchers to a pretty website that is relevant to their needs than an ugly one that isn’t. Visitors to your site today will leave if they show up and are offended by your colors or the odd shape of your background. So attractiveness does count.

Instead of defending old Web 1.0 websites that did well because they were ugly enough to stand out, take some time to examine what it takes to make money online today. One part of the equation is web design and website attractiveness. Don’t discount it. Your visitors won’t.

Is there a difference between web design and web development? Actually, there is. But sadly, most small business owners don’t really know what it is.

Web Design is about one thing – making your website appealing and attractive to your target market.

Web Development, on the other hand, is about making your website functional and helping your visitors find more easily the information they are looking for. There are a variety of strategies for accomplishing that task.

While web design is concerned about elements such as logo design, sidebar widths, header and footer appearance and photo/video presentations, web development is more concerned with elements such as navigation menu protocols, conversion funnels and usability studies. Of course, copywriting and SEO are also very important.

I won’t say that one is more important than the other, but it does help to know the difference. Your web development team should include a good web designer. But it shouldn’t consist only of a web designer. At any rate, if you are setting up a website that you hope will make you money then you should think about web design within the framework of your web development strategy – not the other way around.

Members of the W3C are muddling their way through an update to HTML, the principle language of the Web. The new version, HTML5, is said to be an improvement over HTML4, the current version of HTML. But is it?

Some of the code elements that are being tested as we speak include:

• <header>
• <footer>
• <audio>
• <video>
• <article>
• <embed>
• <nav>
• <section>

The above HTML tags are currently not included in HTML4. I will say this much. These tags will certainly streamline the code in HTML and make some parts of web design much easier. The big issue will be in the implementation of the new version of hypertext markup language and whether or not HTML4 will still be acceptable to modern browsers.

My guess is that HTML4 will still be acceptable and readable, but I do see a point afar off in the future where HTML4 will be phased out completely and replaced entirely by HTML5. Of course, HTML6 could be in development by then.

What do you think. Will HTML5 make web design easier?

One of the most important decisions you’ll ever make is whether or not to incorporate video into your web design. If you do then you’ll need to think carefully about placement of your video. Will you have one on every page of your website or just the home page? And where exactly on the page will you put your video?

To make that decision you’ll need to think about eye tracking studies. The famous graph of Google’s eye tracking study shows that most visitors to a web site will have eyes on the top left corner of your web page. In fact, the eyes scan from left to right and top to bottom in a Z pattern. That should make it easy, right?

No. Not really. What’s the purpose of your video? Furthermore, what’s the purpose of the page on which your video is presented?

These are two very important questions. Some people use the video as a sales tool to get people to opt in to their list or become customers. In that case, a paragraph of text followed by your video on center page might do the trick. But I’ve also seen videos – informational videos primarily – on the right top side of the page next to the main content column. And I’ve seen on the top left of the page as well.

The key to video placement on the page is to think about your visitor. Will the video be the most important element on the page? If so then premium placement should be the order. If something else is more important then place the video where it will enhance the page but not be center of attention.

Video marketing has arrived and webmasters who decide to use video on their web pages will need to  experiment to come up with the best placement.

Web design is an important part of doing business online. In the old days, if you had a website it was enough. People were not expecting attractiveness. But today, an ugly website won’t do. Your website needs to have a pretty face.

Your first impression as a business will often be your website. If it looks cluttered and unorganized then people will have that impression of your business and you will lose sales. It is vitally important to focus your web design efforts on three key areas of first impression:

1. Attractiveness of design
2. Search engine optimization
3. User functionality

If you ask which of these is more important, the answer is none of them. They are all equally important. Your web design should be attractiveness enough to keep people interested long enough to read the content. The content needs to search engine optimized so that it attracts the right people through search engine marketing channels. And it needs to be functional and easy to use for your visitors. Miss the mark on any of these and you’ll lose sales. But it all starts with a pretty web design.

If you own a business and you are thinking about doing some Internet marketing then I certainly wish you all the best. But you should give some serious thought about the implementation of your online marketing plans. Don’t just jump in and hope for the best.

Many companies go online and immediately start marketing through Facebook and similar websites without a website of their own. That’s OK, but where are you sending people to for more information about your company if they want to know? Without a website you’ll find it difficult to really connect with people long term.

Your Internet marketing plans should center around your home, or hub. That’s your website. Everything else you do online should go to support your web design and the content on your website. Start there and move out in concentric circles to other avenues of Internet marketing. You’ll be much more effective.

One of the oldest adages concerning Internet marketing is “Content is King.” The adage simply means that content is the most important aspect of your website because without content you really have no website. But that doesn’t mean that web design isn’t important.

Perhaps one of the things that many webmasters don’t think about is what your web design is actually for. You should consider your web design template as a shell for your content. If it were nuts, the web design would be the shell and the content would be the nut.

So what is the web design for, exactly?

Well, your web design is the face of your website. Having an attractive web design is much more important today than it was in the past. Ten years ago you could have an ugly site and get away with it. Not so much today. That doesn’t mitigate the importance of content, but you should consider that your site’s web design will either drive visitors away or attract them to the content. And there’s the rub. If your web design doesn’t point visitors to the content then it’s failing you. Pretty or not.

Should you design your website with a content management system (CMS)? There are some definite advantages to doing so.

Some people don’t like CMS applications because the perception is that they aren’t very good at SEO. But that’s not really true any more. Joomla has come a long way in its implementation and WordPress has always been good at SEO. It hasn’t always been a great CMS tool, but lately it has expanded into quite a web design alternative.

One of the primary benefits to using a CMS is that you don’t have to hard code every web page. The CMS does a lot of the code work for you. But you also have tools to help you develop your website when you work with a CMS. WordPress calls them templates and plugins. Joomla calls them templates and modules. They do the same thing.

The key to CMS web design is to pick a template that you like and alter it for your own use. Then take the modules that do the things you need for your website and install them. Then it’s a matter of marketing.

Should you use a CMS for web design? You don’t have to, but it’s one option.

Now that the Web has migrated into a fully social platform, modern web design necessitates that webmasters include some social aspect into their websites. Invite people to participate in what you are doing at your website and to become a part of the content production process. There are a number of ways you can do this. Here are some ideas:

• Start a blog – This is the most basic social media application and if you want to make your website more social, this is a good place to start.
• Create a forum – Forums are old school, but they are still valuable places to connect. They are difficult to manage, however. Nevertheless, if you can get people to participate, a forum is a good social tool.
• Open a chat room – This is another throwback to the earlier Web days, but a chat room is a good addition to any website.
• Google Friend Connect – Google’s own do-it-yourself social platform. It has its weaknesses, but it’s strength is ubiquity. This is social web on the go.
• Facebook Connect – Where Google Friend Connect is social across multiple websites in unrelated niches, Facebook Connect is proprietary and makes your website an extension of your Facebook experience. This is truly a social app you should not ignore.
• Twitter Widget – Share with your site visitors what you are talking about on Twitter.
• Amazon Wish List – Amazon actually has several widget you can incorporate into your website. The Net’s largest book store can be a part of your website.
• Any Ol’ API - Take any social app with an API and add it to your site. You’ll need some development experience or a developer at your disposal. Turn your site into what you want it to be – a social center of its own.

Today’s web design incorporates elements of the social web. If your website isn’t social then you’re behind the times.

Web design is deceptively simple. You’d think that all you have to do is design something pretty and people will flock to it and click the buy now button. But it isn’t really that simple. There is a lot to think about when designing a website for any business.

No. 1, design issues are just one concern. Not the only concern. Web designers and business owners also need to think about the following concerns:

• Search engine optimization
• Social media marketing
• Paid advertising models
• Driving traffic
• Navigability
• Metrics
• User perception
• Cost of development

Web design is a whole marketing plan, not just a one-time event. You can’t just throw up a web page and forget about it, hoping the world will come to see it. Just as important as design attractiveness are visitor ease of use, search engine optimization, and page-to-page navigation. Just for starters.

When it comes to web design, you can’t afford to leave it to amateurs. Let a professional handle your design work and increase your odds of profitability.