10. Work the Web. Ask yourself if your website (you do have a website, right?) still fits the needs of your business. Is it time to upgrade to an e-commerce solution so you can sell your products or services online?

I agree. I suggest getting a professional competitive analysis to see how your website stacks up to your competition. You will then get personalized recommendations for the most cost effective ways to expand your online presence and increase your website ROI.

7. The Search is On. Do you know what SEO is? Search engine optimization improves your rank on sites like Google and Yahoo! A few keywords can catapult your ranking in only a few months.

I continue to see small business websites that have not yet tapped into this opportunity. Step out into the search engine spotlight by investing in SEO. Consult with an SEO specialist to determine how you define your organization/products and how to capitalize on your strengths while  attracting new customers.

6. Be Smart and Social. Do some social media due diligence to find out if your industry cares about tweets, friends or followers before you invest valuable resources in social media.

Have your web designer do research on the viability and potential for social media. Do a test run to see the results. Be bold, think outside the box, and you might just be surprised!

In addition to Ms. Keyes recommendations, I also strongly suggest that small businesses put in place a regular web analytics schedule. This will enable you to see how well or poorly your website is performing monthly or quarterly. Then your web designer will suggest simple, practical improvements to increase the effectiveness of your site.

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Why incorporate a process? This framework helps our clients understand what is involved in the design process. Creating branding and websites is not just an ethereal, serendipitous journey. Design decisions are based on research, communication, problem-solving and innovation. Our clients are well-informed collaborators throughout the process, and their business goals are a top priority. View successful case studies here.

Contact Mindspring Design at 856-393-0385 to see how incorporating this framework into your next website project can generate value for your small business.

Mindspring Design also has developed its own exclusive, comprehensive 62-point system for creating and assessing your printed graphics materials.

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Free webinar details the secret to web site success…

Often times web sites are developed by cool designers who have little or no interest or understanding in your business needs. What you need is a website that really works.

Mindspring Design is a cutting-edge web development firm. We know how to make a web site that generates leads, positions your business, and increases customer care.

Specializing in:

• web site development
• improving under-performing web sites
• online marketing

For your FREE Webinar: 9 Steps to Building a Small Business Website, or for your free consultation, call (856) 393-0385.

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9 Steps to Building a Successful Small Business Website
November 25, 2009 @ 2:00 PM EST
Enter Webinar Room Here | Sign Up Below
Dial In (International): 702-473-3463
Atendee Passcode: 646377

On the agenda….

1. The webinar is scheduled to last 30-40 minutes.
2. We will cover what small business owners need to consider before they even consult with a web designer.
3. We will discuss the main steps small-business owners often overlook.
4. We will talk about what we can learn from a few case studies.
5. And you will leave with an actionable plan to get your business website started or even updated.

You can sign up below. After the webinar, I will post a recording of the webinar. And I will also be doing a review of the free, online webinar software called Dimdim that I will be using. It is supposed to be a free alternative to WebEx, so we’ll see how that goes!

Sign Up for the Webinar Here:

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While visiting web sites of companies in my local area today, I ran into several splash intro pages. You know, those intro pages with big Flash animations welcoming you to the web site. Completely unnecessary pre-home pages.

NOTE:

This practice of adding a splash page is outdated. It also fails to add informational or entertainment value as 100% of visitors will skip the intro.

TIPS:

1. Web site animations should serve a purpose, help users reach a goal, learn something.
2. Animations which are purely decorative are annoying and useless.
3. Animations should give users the option to stop, pause, play, skip, fast-forward, rewind.
4. Animations and/or videos should also give users some feedback — as in length of animation, download progression, etc.

EXAMPLE

After a recent downpour, my roof leaked and ruined the drywall in the ceiling. What to do? Here’s an animation that’s functional and understandable. It is easy to follow, clearly showing the steps for repairs. It includes the text in addition to audio. And, it has the options to stop, pause, play, fast forward, etc. Great job! (By the way, I’ve personally worked with Easy2 DIY programs and staff, and they are absolutely great. Maybe I’ll do a review on their software…)

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So check them out. And let us know how you used them!

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He discusses how to save yourself time and money, and to get what you want out of your company’s creative projects. Too many designers simply don’t ask questions or ask the wrong questions, and are more concerned with where a pixel should go rather than meeting your business needs. Rutledge’s article is frank and to the point, and will help you identify a designer who is just as passionate about achieving your business goals as you are.

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Why should I use this tool?

Website Grader is a good tool to let you know how you rank compared to your competition in selected online marketing efforts. It also alerts you to areas in which you could increase the scope and effectiveness of your marketing efforts.

But don’t sweat the small stuff…

This tool doesn’t score you on everything you are doing with social or viral marketing, or show every directory you are listed in. In addition, it didn’t pick up all my inbound links, although other search engines picked them up.  Some alerts that it reports are not to be overly concerned about. I’m not sure I agree with the readability level scoring either. It seems that more technical sites might come up with a “Graduate” level readability score simply because they include some technical terms.

Overall, I believe this is a useful tool. Grade your website and use the report card to lay out specific steps to improve your online marketing strategies.

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You might take for granted that some users cannot use a mouse.

When designing your website, you should design web content in an accessible format (not as an afterthought), keeping in mind people who have:

• Visual impairments (Blind, Color blind, Senior citizens)
• Hearing impairments
• Physically disabilities
• Learning disabilities
• English as a second language
• Slower internet connections
• Access to Internet content on multiple platforms (mobile phones, etc)

You will reap several business benefits by following web site accessibility standards:

• Improve the searchability of your website.
• Increase usability and help to improve web conversions.
• Increase information access to more people using assistive technologies and adaptive technologies.
• Accessibile web design is required by law in some places, so your business brand will benefit by complying with accessibility standards.

9 Accessibility Mistakes to Avoid When Designing a Website:

1. All your links read: “Click Here.” This could be confusing to visitors using screen readers and other assistive technologies. Instead, use a descriptive link that gives useful clues about where you’ll take them once they click.
2. You use tables to layout your web pages. Instead, use tables for organizing ‘tabular data’ (for charts and such) to eliminate confusing and repetitive table tags. Opt for CSS to layout and style your web content.
3. Your pages use extremely small type (because “it looks cool”) that can’t be resized in the browser. People with sight disabilities may need larger text in their browser. If your design breaks or doesn’t allow that, they will have to leave your website.
4. Color is used as an integral design or navigation element. That would confuse those who are color blind (take the color blind test). And remember some monitors don’t display colors accurately.
5. You’ve got light grey text on a white background or dark grey type on a black background (because it’s “so Web 2.0″). This makes reading a difficult and painstaking process. You need to use a bit more contrast for users with challenged vision. You don’t have to completely sacrifice design for functionality, but do keep this in mind. And do allow users to make their own decisions about how they browse your page.
6. All description, title and alt tags have been left blank so people must guess what your page and images are all about. Make sure your web designer goes that extra step, labeling and describing the contents of your page. This may mean that you, the business owner, must provide content for the designer to input.
7. There are no captions on any video or audio recordings, and no transcripts are provided for the deaf. Physically challenged users might miss out on this quality web content. So don’t leave anyone out, and make sure to offer alternative versions of your audio/visual content.
8. There are no descriptive tags in web forms explaining how to fill them out. Close your eyes and imagine filling out an online form. Where do you start, what should you type, in what format? To ensure that you recieve high quality form submissions (or recieve submissions at all), try including descriptive form tags. You web designer should also insert any instructions (like “enter year with four digits: 2010″) before the form fields, not after.
9. You used an online validator, but didn’t do any web content accessibility testing on actual users with disabilities. An online validator is a good place to start. But it is not a good substitute for a person. Testing your page on a group of people who have disabilities will give you most invaluable feedback about your site.

Recommended Reading:

• Website Accessibility Under Title II of the ADA
• Understanding Disabilities When Designing a Website
• Beyond ALT Text: Making the Web Easy to Use for Users With Disabilities: 75 Best Practices for Design of Websites and Intranets, Based on Usability Studies with People Who Use Assistive Technology
• Web Usability Accessibility and Usability Resources

Resources:

• Web Site Accessibility Tools, Checklist & Guidelines
• Test URL in Online Checker
• List of Screen Readers

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Planned Video Tutorial -- Check Back!

Do you have a quick website or graphics question that needs answering? In less than 2 or 3 minutes? Mindspring Design will be producing bite-sized, video tutorials for the busy, small-business professional.

Some examples of topics planned are:

• How to Use Layers and Masking in Photoshop
• Web Usability Testing — Why Every Small Business Needs to Do It
• Testing for Accessibility — Don’t Leave Out Any of Your Customers
• Award Winning Web Designs — What’s So Great About Them?
• HTML and CSS Stylesheets — Stop Pulling Out Your Hair
• Setup and Connect to a MySQL Database
• PDF creation, manipulation, editing, optimizing, preflighting, and more…

Let me know what questions you’d like to see addressed on this blog!

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