Your web site should convey your firm's identity. The appearance, content and user friendliness of your site demonstrates your style and reveals your professionalism. As much as the Internet is relied upon these days, your web site should serve as the centerpiece in your marketing providing a solid combination of resource library and publicity machine. It should include your story, your mission, and any education you wish to provide to your community - whether that be clients, prospective clients, members, supporters, friends, etc.

Whether we're building a one page site or a one hundred page site, we employ the same methodologies. Here are some considerations when planning your web site...   (click on a topic to read)

MAKE IT USEFUL

Visitors will gladly exchange time for value and insight. Provide content that is valuable and relevant. Interactive tools, like our HANDY LITTLE WEBESTIMATOR , help clients make useful assessments and measurements that address their specific needs and concerns.

DO IT FOR THEM

Your site's content and navigation should be for your clients, not for the creative artist within. Keep the site design simple, intuitive to use and easy to read. A few considerations:

  - Include open space on every page
  - Select a palette that's pleasing to the eye
  - Map a logical layout
  - Keep the menu system consistent and on every page
  - Provide simple instructions to open, download or view
  - Limit images to those that serve a purpose
  - Flashing and dancing items are annoying and divert attention away from your message

LET THEM DRIVE

Your site should engage visitors and there is no better way to engage than to make it interactive. At every conceivable opportunity, enable visitors to sign up for newsletters, request special reports, stream an audio program, link to further content, send an e-mail message, offer an opinion, download a file, etc.

RAPID RESPONSE

When a visitor contacts you, respond immediately. A form or email submission inquiring about your products or services will not improve with age. Other than to counter an extended leave, we don't recommend using auto-responders. They only tell the client that a machine has seen their inquiry.

KEEP IT FRESH

Adding new content to your site promotes repeat visits. Align your change frequency to be within the expected term of repeat visits. For some organizations this could be weekly, for others it may be quarterly.

CREDIBILITY

Including your company's address is a "must have" legitimacy builder. Go beyond legitimacy. Describe team members and provide professional and industry associations. Include intellectual assets that demonstrate thought leadership; publications, white papers, technical notes, application notes, surveys, studies, etc.

SPEED, GLORIOUS SPEED

Your site should load quickly no matter which browser or PC a visitor uses. Don't assume that visitors are using high-speed broadband connections (most businesses are on broadband but 1 in 5 households still use dial up). All images should be optimized for web presentation.

IF YOU PASS GO...

We discussed having a nice site for your visitors, now you need the visitors. There are many effective things you can do inexpensively to drive traffic to your site (see our Marketing Services page). We offer friendly free guidance as well as a seasoned palate of Internet marketing professionals to provide consultation and services.