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For those about to embark on their first website or facing an overall of their existing site, the task can seem a little overwhelming. Here are few factors to make sure your website is an effective tool for your business and a worthwhile investment.
This list is partially lifted from Mitch Joel’s book Six Pixels of Separation, but adapted and augmented by my own opinions.

Clean and easy to navigate

Clean is a word you’ll hear designers use a lot. It means the design is unencumbered by excessive complexity, that each element has it’s own room to breath and there’s a clear hierarchy of information.

A common mistake that clients make is to demand that certain elements “stand out” more or “pop”. They want things bigger, bolder and brighter colours until all these big bold elements are competing with each other, like a room full of people all trying to shout over-top of each other. The end result is a cacophony of visual noise.

Ultimately websites are about accessing information and the easier you make it for the user to find what they’re looking for, the more effective it will be.

Consistent with your established graphic identity and brand strategy

Your website, as with your advertising and marketing should be part of a bigger picture strategy. Consistency in the way you present your company leads to increased brand recognition and loyalty.

Appealing and relatable to the target audience

If your budget allows a professional copywriter is a great advantage. Don’t use corporate speak. Invent a persona that fits your demographic and write as if they were in the room and you were speaking directly to them.

Filled with engaging media, including text, images, video and audio

With each passing year the bar gets raised a little higher for what users expect from their online experience. We now expect more than some static text and a few images. There’s an expectation of interaction and active participation, feedback and continually refreshed and updated content.

Designed with specific outcomes and goals in mind

Have a plan. What do you want your audience to notice first when they arrive on your home page and what actions do you want them to take? Signup for the newsletter? Request a quote? Purchase a product? The design of the site should be centred around the answers to questions such as these so that the decisions you make are purposeful and effective.

Search Engine Friendly

It goes without saying that you want people to be able to find your site. It should be noted that Search Engine Optimization is an ongoing task, it’s challenging to reach those coveted high ranking positions on Google, so be prepared to make a commitment of time and money to making it happen if this is one of your goals. However even if don’t plan to actively engage in search engine optimization, you should still ensure that your designer or programmer is using search engine friendly programming methods and best practices.

Easy to update and continually refreshed

Give your audience a reason to visit your site and to keep coming back. If your website never changes, there’s no reason to come back. You have a unique opportunity online to engage and interact with your customer base through your website and other online channels. Be diligent about maintaining a blog, provide valuable content, contribute to conversation that are happening online and get creative with video, audio or graphical elements that enhance the user experience. A content management system (CMS) can help facilitate this by providing a user friendly interface for non-programmers to update content. WordPress, Joomla!, and Drupal are good examples.

Measurable

Your website should include some kind of analytics software to track user data, so you can see where your visiters are coming from, what they’re interested in and how you can improve your results. Google analytics is the best free option.

These are just some of the factors to consider when trying to build an effective website. The most important thing to remember is not to treat your website like an after thought. It’s often where you make your first impression.

If this business were split up, I would give you the land and bricks and mortar, and I would take the brands and trademarks, and I would fare better than you.

- John Stuart, former CEO of Quaker Oats

How does one determine the value of a brand? While it’s difficult to put an actual monetary figure on it, consider this. Nike has the ability to embroider their logo on $5 t-shirts and sell them for $30 a piece. In this situation the value of the brand far exceeds the value of the commodity itself and there are countless other examples of this principal in effect.

Beyond the obvious financial implications, brand reputation is a key factor in customer loyalty and 3rd party advocacy, which is an incredibly powerful tool in growing a business. Certain brands are able to inspire such an impassioned  following that their consumers gleefully spread the gospel of their brand to their friends and family and social network connections, creating a much more genuine and effective form of advertising than any multi-million dollar campaign. Today a recommendation from a friend through facebook or a stranger via an online review has become a much greater factor in the completion of a sale than anything a company can put out themselves. This of coarse makes the reputation and relationships built with customers through online channels vital to building a strong valuable brand.

How you go about building these relationships will be unique to every company, but I will share with you a tip I learned from Gary Vaynerchuk, when I had the opportunity to hear him speak at the Art of Marketing conference in Vancouver this year. Gary is famous for growing his family owned liquor store from a 4 million dollar business into a 45 million dollar business primarily through online channels like Twitter and by creating his own video podcasts. Gary tells us that Twitter is more about listening than it is about speaking. At this moment there are a multitude of conversations happening online that concern your brand or your area of expertise. By using tools like search.twitter.com, you can find people interested in your product or your expertise and engage them in conversation. This doesn’t mean a sales pitch. It could mean free honest advice or a casual chat with someone with similar interests. The point is to create a presence in the online world, to establish and grow your brand and to be involved in the conversations that are happening right this minute.

A logo is the face of a company, but it’s supported in this function by a host of other graphics. When used with consistency a company’s fonts, colours, graphics, signage and style can be just as important to brand recognition and loyalty as the logo itself. Consistency in all facets of a company’s presentation, advertising and marketing will ensure that they make a lasting and memorable impression on the consumers.

There are many factors that affect a persons willingness to purchase a certain product or service, but in the absence of other information we still have a tenancy to reach for the product with the best packaging, because we draw a correlation between the quality of the wrapping and the quality of the product.

A company’s logo along with the rest of their graphic materials form a type of packaging that communicates the level of professionalism that a company possesses and inspires confidence in the consumer that they’re making the right choice in choosing that company’s product or service. More importantly a company’s logo is the visual representation of their brand.

Building a brand

A brand in simple terms is the essence of a company, it represents public opinion including the company’s strengths, as well as it’s flaws. It can be an assurance of quality and a tool to encourage loyalty.

When purchasing electronics a person may be willing to pay a much higher price for a Sony or a Panasonic, compared to a lesser brand because the logo on the front carries information about the product’s quality, reliability and performance. In effect the brand it self carries a monetary value.

Logos are symbols that collect and store information about a company and communicates that information to the consumer in the form of an instant subconscious response.

What make an effective logo

The factors that are most commonly acknowledged as the key traits of an effective logo are

1. Simplicity

Simplicity allows a logo to be versatile, recognizable and memorable. A complex logo contains too much information for the brain to instantly recognize and process.

2. Memorable / Distinctive

Of utmost importance a logo should make a lasting impression in the minds of consumers, creating a comforting familiarity that generates confidence and brand equity.

3. Timeless

The General Electric logo has remained largely unchanged for over 100 years. A logo design should never be based on current trends or passing fads. It should be made to last so that it can continue to build brand equity uninterrupted throughout the life of the business.

4. Versatility

Versatility means a logo function equally well on a 50 ft billboard as well as in the corner of a business card. A versatile logo can easily be used in one colour or black and white applications on a white background or a dark background.

5. Appropriate

A good logo should be appropriate to the audience it’s designed for. This requires a knowledge of the companies target demographic and the forms, styles and depictions that will be appealing to that audience.

Having an effective logo and an appropriate brand strategy is a cornerstone of a successful business and should never be and afterthought when starting a business or as you plan to grow your business.

I thourghly enjoy Seth Godin’s short but sweet blog posts. Check out his latest gem, Willful Ignorance.

Came across this interesting little article today for those trying to sort there way through the social media conundrum. Overall message, be genuine and passionate and people will respond. Enjoy!

http://the99percent.com/tips/7048/Its-Not-About-Engagement-Using-Social-Media-To-Make-Ideas-Happen

The Kaiser Chiefs have just released a new album, but there’s a twist. The band has released 20 tracks on their website, of which you get to choose 10 to create you own customized album to download. Next you have the opportunity to create your own album cover using artwork that varies depending on your track choices. Once your masterpiece is complete, a web page is created with your version of the album for sale to the general public, for each sale, you earn £1 (or $1.63).

My custom Kaiser Cheifs album

Check out mine here: http://kaiserchiefs.com/DavidDayco

The sneaky genius of this strategy is the Kaiser Chiefs are essentially recruiting their fans to actively promote their album  through their online social media networks. It show a clever understanding of the power of social media and viral marketing. The fans, for their part get to enjoy a fun interactive experience and the chance to earn a little cash.

Red bull recently launched a new website, using google street view to pin point street art from around the world. It struck me as a brilliant example of outside the box thinking when it comes to making a connection with your target demographic.

http://www.streetartview.com

http://www.streetartview.com

You might ask yourself, what does street art have to do with an energy drink and how does making this website equate to increased sales? It’s simple, Redbull understands their demographic is young, hip and they’re going to be stoked about a website that zips them around the world to see what the best graffiti artists have to offer. And not only that they’re probably going to spread the word about this awesome new site they’ve found through social media networks, exposing the Redbull brand to thousands of potential customers with every click.

What Redbull gets in return for offering this site as a free service is invaluable. Brand loyalty. When consumers reach for a product off the shelf, they tend to choose the brand that most reflects their image of themselves. Through this initiative Redbull, rather than just saying they get their target demographic, is proving it.

One of the most difficult challenges in design, advertising  and in business is to innovate.

Design and innovation are two characteristics that help define our species. The ability to discover – either through curiosity or experimentation – has enabled mankind to overcome fear through experience and create a world rich with structure and art.

- Matt Mattus – Beyond Trend

It can be easy for companies to fall into a reactionary copycat routine, responding to a competitor’s initiative with a similar promotion. It sounds overly simple but often the best response to a competitor’s successful initiative is to take the polar opposite approach. Your competition is known for their low prices? Focus your next campaign on your product’s quality and reliability. Zig when they zag and you won’t be caught chasing.

To be successful, you must carve your own path. Approach you company’s marketing and brand strategy with an emphasis on innovation and fresh unique ideas. Creativity in the way you promote your company is the difference between standing out from the crowd and fading into the background.