Posted by Jeff Machado on Tue, Aug 10, 2010
Back on April Fool’s Day of this year, HubSpot had us all laughing about (and secretly wanting) their fake product, HugSpot. A lot of lessons can be learned from this prank though – especially when you compare that all important first date to your website homepage design.
First dates and homepages are all about the first impressions. Fail to make a good first impression and you’ll find yourself alone on Friday nights or with a website that fails to generate leads and convert prospects into sales.
Not sure if your website is like the first date you’ve had nightmares about? Ask yourself the following 3 questions:
Are Talking Too Much About Yourself?
Some of the worst first dates are those where the other person has decided to turn their resume into a narrative in the hopes of trying to impress the other person. Yes, you do need to let your date know something about you but it’s not an excuse to list off your accomplishments and milestones.
Yet, it’s more often than not that websites are nothing but a list of these accomplishments and milestones designed to try and entice prospects into your world. These prospects don’t care about these itemized details in the beginning. They simply want to know what it is you can do for them. If this isn’t listed on your homepage clearly and succinctly, you will lose these visitors’ attention.
Is There Any Interaction Going On?
One of the worst first dates imaginable is heading to the movies. For almost 2 hours, you’re staring at a screen and losing out on the golden opportunities to get to know the person sitting next to you. The website equivalent is having only words that talk at your visitors but no real way to interact.
Some easy ways to add interaction to your website are to showcase your Twitter feed, add your Facebook page widget, feature your latest b log posts, or give people a way to download your latest webinar.
Are You Jumping Straight To The Proposal?
Even those of us who aren’t so skilled in the world of dating know that you at least wait a few dates until you ask to start a relationship or get married. Yet, when it comes to websites, the majority of business owners expect that visitors will come to their website with credit cards in hand ready to buy.
Your website is not a place where people come to buy from you. Instead, it is the first step in developing the Know, Like, and Trust factor to bring visitors into your world. To help move this along, establish a way to give something of high value for free away to your website visitors.
This is the equivalent of asking for the next date – not asking for the hand in marriage.
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Posted by Samantha Coren on Wed, Apr 21, 2010
No one likes looking at sites that are Under Construction.
Photo: Meddy Garnet For many businesses, launching a website designed to generate leads is an after-thought; especially for new businesses.
Worrying about web design mistakes may hit the radar screen simply because of other concerns, e.g., funding, staffing, legal issues, etc.
Most of the time, the job falls to outside web design firms or freelancers with varying degrees of input from the business owners themselves. Sometimes, you're totally unsure of what you actually want and you can't give much direction. So, the next time you sit down for a talk with your web designer, here are some things you might want to tell them to avoid:
1. All Flash Designs
Sure, those crazy animations and graphics seem impressive but if you go "all flash" with your site, your content is totally unseen by search engine spiders – even more so for navigation and content links. If they’re embedded in flash, those pages can't be picked up by search engines for indexing. Translation? If the search engine can't find it, chances are potential customers aren't going to be able to either.
2. Background Music You Can't Escape
If you're a music nut like me, you're usually browsing sites and listening to your favorite new tunes. The most irritating thing for us is clicking on a site and getting an earful of competing noise. There's also that situation where we forget that we had our sound turned all the way up and get blasted across the room when we load a site. I'm sure you love music as much as us audiophiles, so if you want music to be featured on your site, do us all a favor and keep it in a player that people have to click play first before they get their groove on.
3. Coming Soon
How many times have you clicked a link on a web page only to be greeted by "Coming Soon" or even better "Under Construction"? Christine Fay PullnotPush's 'Jane of All Trades' says, "I'd rather not see it (or even think of it) in the first place than click on something and be disappointed that it's not there." So, if your site is already live and you have upcoming sections, it's probably not a good idea to link there when there's no content.
4. Inconsistent Navigation (or a total lack of it!)
This website "don't" comes from our very own Alex "Pixel Perfect" Berry. Having clear and straightforward navigation menus on your site is crucial. These days, most large sites are in the habit of putting a "site map" at the bottom of a page in addition to a main navigation bar. On occasion, you'll find a site that changes the positioning of these navigation items which is disastrous to user flow and doesn't give your visitors a whole lot of reason to come back.
Comic Sans, isn't it about time you retired?
Photo: Steve Keys 5. Bad Font Choices for Copy TextArial, Times New Roman, Verdana, Lucida - these have been old standbys for copy text on the web. They're easy on the eyes and supported by just about everything. However, there are some fonts that have been over used and abused for years that I'd never like to see used on another commercial website as long as I live. The main culprits? Papyrus and Comic Sans. Even worse? When the font size is less than 12 points in size! If you gave money to someone to design a website for you and you see walls of teeny text in either of those two fonts, fire that designer immediately and run far, far away.
Now we all know there's way more than five things that drive people bonkers about web designs. What things have you seen that have turned you off to a company based on their website?
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Posted by Dan Ronken on Mon, Feb 01, 2010
Ever wonder what the inside of a landing page's journal look like? Read on to find out what one landing page has to say about its existence...
I'm not sure that I realize the value of being a landing page. I mean people are always spouting off on the benefits of landing pages but I think all the fanfare is overrated.
For starters, most of my owners tell me the benefits of landing pages doesn't include showing them off in the navigation menu. But how do you think that makes me feel? All of the other pages get their fancy names shown right on the home page and I'm off stashed away in some no man's land all by myself with no friends.
But this morning I had come to a realization. Yes, a wake up call if you will. I now intend to experience the benefits of being a landing page simply by choosing to see things differently.
Customized Image Made Just for Me
The entrance to my castle is an awesome, bright, commanding call to action image that no one can resist. I mean could you say no to something like this?
People Share Their Personal Information with Me.
Unlike those other 'pages in the crowd,' my visitors take the time to let me in their private lives and share their contact information with me so we have a chance of getting to know each other better.
Commanding Presence if Designed Properly
People pay a nice chunk of change just to have the privilege of me gracing their domain with simplistic beauty that only a well designed landing page like myself can provide. I'm not overwhelming to my kind visitors and I am perfectly clear on what my expectations are; Fill Out This Form, Please.
So I don't know what my problem was for so many years. Why did I choose to stay depressed and lonely feeling like people were just using me? I think I learned it from you humans. I'm grateful for the power of choice.
Posted by dan ronken on Thu, Sep 03, 2009
Last Sunday I wrote a post titled "How I Leveraged 44,000 Designers to Create My Logo." Wow, did I receive some unexpected blowback from the design community. This simple follow up video from my home office will likely ruffle some more feathers.*Yes I know the quality of this short video leaves a lot to be desired. It was just something I threw together. See actual logo on top of this page. Hint: focus on the content.*
I do empathize with my designer friends, but I also have an obligation to offer my small to mid-sized business clients opportunities where they can 'get more for less.' After all, receiving an inexpensive quality design is just the beginning of a successful pull marketing strategy. Watch the video and make sure to leave a comment so we can continue this discussion. Thanks!
Posted by Dan Ronken on Sun, Aug 30, 2009
I've been planning to publish this story for quite some time. I'm happy to be finally sharing it with you.
This is a personal story on how I was able to use leverage in creating an awesome logo for my brand 'on the cheap.' Don't confuse 'cheap' with low quality, I mean 'cheap' as in 'inexpensive.'
An impressive logo should be mandatory as it is the first thing that people will see when visiting your website. If you're looking to create or redesign your logo, I've learned how you can throw out a bid to over 44,000 potential designers from across the globe in a single swoop.
The site for this amazing service is 99 Designs (I have no affiliation, contact, or financial incentive with 99Designs). I was shocked how easy it was to get it done. Yes, the logo for PullnotPush was created using this system. My entire cost was less than $250! It could have been less, but I wanted to ensure that I generated enough activity from the designers because then I would have plenty of options to choose from before making my final decision.
You are basically running a contest which requires designers to show off their skills and compete to earn your business. Here are the four steps as described on their website.
Step 1: Create Your Design Brief
I found it to be very helpful to take your time with this step and go into as much detail as needed so the designers have a rough idea where to start. Here's what I wrote:
"Brief Overview: I'm a 36 year old guy who is starting an internet marketing company named PullnotPush for small to mid-sized businesses. I'm really excited about becoming a partner with a pioneering inbound marketing software company named HubSpot. Please check out their site so you have an idea of what I'm trying to accomplish. You'll then know why this is going to be a fantastic and successful business venture. Also, here is a link to a quick and funny video I did on the streets of New York so you can get a glimpse of my personality too.
Target Audience: Small to mid-sized businesses looking to increase the amount of leads they receive from visitors on their website. Their marketing strategy will involve participation in social media, blogging, engaging in forums, etc. Some benefits of HubSpot's software include web traffic analytics, blog optimization tool, keyword research, competitor analysis, social media tracking, etc. All of this is accomplished using a single interface. Now do you see why I am so excited??"
Step 2: Set Your Budget
You decide how much you want to pay the designer. The winner is awarded the 'prize' if you choose their design. Generally speaking, prizes range from $100 - $600 depending on the complexity of the project. Obviously, the more you offer, the more designers will be willing to put forth their best effort.
Step 3: Work with the Designers
I'm amazed that some people who use this service don't give good feedback, or don't respond until the very end. Personally, I was checking my messages every couple of hours so I wouldn't miss any opportunity to tell them if they were on the right track.
Step 4: Choose Your Favorite Design
The contest will run for an entire week (unless you specify otherwise). However, if you are happy with a particular design, you can award the prize at any time during the week and choose the winner. The designer will then send you the final design along with copyright to the original art work.
Happy co-creating! And when you've completed this task, then you can move onto learning the importance of keywords for improving your website ranking. Leave a comment with your logo design experiences. We'd love to hear from you.