POLYSORT INTERNET MARKETING INTERVIEW
with Tom Speer

I was recently contacted by Ms. Jen McCann of PolySort Inc., an internet marketing firm in Akron, Ohio. Ms McCann is the editor for their electronic magazine, "Targeting Trends." Jen asked for my advice on Internet marketing and web design considerations for companies developing business web sites.
Jen agreed that the content of our interview might prove very useful to other businesses considering web sites of their own. What follows are the questions and linked answers from our correspondence.

Q. When a company decides to build a web site or redesign an existing site, what are the essential design elements that first must be considered?

A. There are numerous design issues that come into play when developing a business web site. From a purely "executive level", the following issues should be resolved prior to beginning any actual design work. Answering the following "design questions" will lay the foundation by which the entire site will be developed.

First ­ Define your target audience and purpose. Will your intended audience consist primarily of new prospective customers, existing customers, or perhaps focus on staff and employees. Will the site offer products and services, customer support, or simply serve as a company "presence" on the web.
Determining how broad (or narrow) of a market segment you intend to focus on and what your motives are will directly affect the copy you write, the level of interactivity, your promotional efforts, and your marketing strategy.

Second ­ Determine the general theme and presentation method you would like to employ in your design. Do you intend to portray a strictly professional presentation of information, products or services? Do you wish to establish a formal or casual rapport with your intended audience? And finally, will you make use of the latest technology or utilize conventional design methodologies (the bottom line here is that the "bells and whistles" look and sound great but you run the risk of alienating a certain segment of your viewing audience. The development cost is also much higher� a budgeting issue discussed later).
Regardless of which target audience you select, user friendliness is an essential design element for a successful web site. No amount of useful information and valuable services or products will guarantee a successful site if your customers cannot find what they are looking for.

Third ­ What incentives can you offer someone to visit your site? It is not enough to simply build a site and wait for customers to come to you. You must offer some incentive to motivate them to not only visit your site, but to even search for it in the first place. Something as simple as a discounted product or service for purchasing from or visiting your site (easily offset by the reduced marketing costs of using the Internet), free information, weekly newsletter, or other "low cost" incentive will significantly enhance the likelihood that they will "choose" your site over a competitors. Deciding what you have (or are willing to) offer early on will add greater focus to the overall design of your site.

Fourth ­ What resources do you have to build (and maintain) the web site? Many a web design project is approached as a budgetary afterthought, only to wither on the vine because of poor design and maintenance. Establishing what level of personnel and financial resources you expect to devote to a project will directly affect the efficiency of your design (and ultimately the success or failure of your site). The old saying, "you get what you pay for" rings particularly true in the field of web site design and Internet marketing. Executives must "buy into" the project early and be prepared to wait for an acceptable ROI. The most profitable and successful sites on the Internet today are a result of patience, innovation, and consistent promotional efforts over time.

Part II

Q. There is a lot of talk about how frames can be a bad idea. For example, many search engines don't index framed sites which make it difficult for users to find the sites. Can you explain your view on frames, noting both the benefits and drawbacks?

A. Framed sites have a bad reputation because the design method is often used ineffectively. There is a frequently used saying in web design� "Just because you can do something, doesn't mean you should." This holds true for frames. In considering the use of frames in your site design, you should first refer back to your answer regarding who your target audience will be. If your target group will be primarily existing customers who are likely to find your site through other promotional means like business cards, correspondence, and outside advertising� the use of frames is a good way of providing additional informational structure and ease of navigation to your visitors. However, if you are building your site primarily to develop new customers and draw in prospects through search indexes and other listings, frames do offer a few design challenges that are difficult (but not impossible) to overcome. Search engines will not typically index a framed site all that well but you can design a "frameless version" within the framed site that can just as easily be indexed. There is also evidence to support the notion that some designers are making effective use of frames to add additional keywords and descriptive content to pages that may not be viewed under normal conditions. For instance, a left frame that is fixed at 100 pixels wide and contains a site menu may also contain 200 key words that only display if the frame were expanded to its' full viewable width of 640 or 800 pixels. Overall, effective use of frames can add great utility and ease of use to your site if you are willing to accept some of the drawbacks that come with them.

Part III

Q. Can you explain how color plays a part in creating a web site's mood?

A. Just as we use color to convey certain meanings in our everyday life, we also associate colors with specific moods and settings. Some colors invoke certain feelings or expectations relative to the culture or society we grow up in (in parts of Asia, white is the color of death for instance). Other colors convey a universal meaning life (red = warning, yellow = caution). How you choose colors for your web site will have a significant effect on how your viewers perceive your message (and whether they come back for more...). Marketing and advertising departments take the issue of color choices very seriously. Consistency in color layout provides an impression of professionalism and stability in a site (and subsequently, the company). Your choice of web colors should be complimentary to your choice of colors in other aspects of your company like business cards, magazine ads, television commercials etc. Take a look at IBM for instance (big blue). When you look at anything that has to do with that company, you're looking at a consistent use of colors (blue and white in most cases). There are basically six categories of
color combinations (actually a few more that are seldom utilized) that can be used as guides for establishing the theme of your site. Depending on the type of message you are trying to convey to your audience (professional, energetic, cutting edge, lively, traditional), you'll employ one of the following:

Warm colors are best suited for sites that utilize an energetic or bold theme. The vivid nature of these colors coupled with the appropriate background can offer excellent contrast. Be cautious when using this color group so as not to overwhelm your content with these eye catching hues.

Cool colors are well suited for conveying a lower key message. They give a soothing impression of calm and seldom overpower the main content of a page. With a complimentary font color, they offer an effective combination of contrast and color variation.

Analogous colors offer a palette of well blending colors that are generally compatible in any combination. You can use this color grouping when you want just enough variation in color to offer separation of the elements without straying too far from your theme.

Complimentary colors offer high contrast and should be used with caution. Like warm colors, this stark difference in tone and hue can be eye catching, but if used wrong, can give an eyesore effect to your design. The bottom line here is to use complimentary colors in moderation.

Monochromatic colors are what you might call "low risk" colors. Because you are using all of the hues of a single color, there is little chance of overwhelming your content or conflicting with another color selection. Like cool colors, the subtle changes in hue can give a calming effect but you also run the risk of giving your pages a generally "boring" appearance. This group offers very little contrast or variation and may not be suitable to many themes.

Triadic colors give your page a sense of balance. You have sufficient variation to support most any thematic approach to design without much conflict between color combinations. The triadic group could be considered a "middle of the road" approach to color coordination.

Part IV

Q. Do you have a rule of thumb when it comes to graphics? How big should the file size be? Are animated graphics okay?

A. Graphics can be a wonderful site enhancer or an undue burden on your design. A general rule of thumb is to never do with graphics, what can be done just as effectively with conventional text. There are two basic graphic formats in use on the web. These are GIF's and JPEG's. Each has it's own benefits and limitations. One of the greatest determining factors in using either format is the actual file size the final image translates to. For higher resolution images and photographic quality pictures, you'll probably get the bets results from JPEG's, utilizing the variable image compression built into the format.
For less detailed graphics like icons or clipart (or images that require a transparent layer), you'll probably want to make use of GIF's. In general, your ideal page size should be limited to around 45-50K.  The more graphics you add to a page, the greater the total file transfer time you require of your visitors. It is up to the designer to achieve that balance. Animated graphics can take up significantly more bandwidth for what is often a limited benefit in terms of page aesthetics or clarification of meaning. The unfortunate tendency in novice designers is to put every "interesting" bell and whistle they find on a single page, often with total disregard for whether it is actually contributing to the page in some way (well, it just looks neat�). A single animated banner with 3-4 rotating text messages can account for as much as 70K alone� this is excluding the actual content you intend to add to the overall page. The bottom line with animated graphics is to use them sparingly and only when necessary. They should ultimately be an enhancement, not a distraction.

Part V

Q. Can you talk about the effective use of icons?

A. Icon usage is much like that of graphics; they can either enhance or confuse your message. Because the Internet is a global medium, Companies should take caution in using icons as a complete substitution for conventional text menus. Some icons have gained universal recognition and can be used quite effectively to spice up a page. These include directional arrows, a house symbol (for home page), and to a lesser degree, things like envelope or mailbox symbols for e-mail. To be effectively used in a web page, icons should:

• be relatively simple in design (no complex pictures)
• be small in file size
• be placed consistently from page to page
• be recognizable within the content (not obscured by the surrounding images and information)
• be "backed up" by an alternate menu system such as text links

Ultimately, if you feel a need to explain to others what that icon is there for, it is probably not conveying its intended message. Unbiased third party opinion is your best bet when testing the recognition value of an icon. Just remember� what is recognizable by your employees may have absolutely no meaning to the general public (more on this in one of your following questions). Design and use icons for the widest possible audience.

Part VI

Q. In previous issues, "Targeting Trends" has discussed the importance of quality site content. But what about typography? Can you explain how important this design element is?

A. Typography is a rather broad subject. In relation to quality content, bad typography will erase all the gains you may make in developing meaningful information. If your message is obscured by poor use of fonts and color contrasts with background tiles or images, your information is simply lost in what a viewer sees as another jumbled web page not worthy of their time. Just like conventional printed media, you can use typography effectively to categorize and separate your message into usable sections. More importantly, you take advantage of the way a person actually views a web page and "draw their attention" to sections that are more important. As an example, you may notice that many personal pages will make the link to "sign their guest book" the indisputable focus of the entire page. However, we all know that is not why you visited the page in the first place. A business site may suffer the same fate. If a visitor has to dig through the details to find the information they are looking for, chances are, they won't bother. You should identify what elements of your site are the most important to your visitors and then make use of typographical enhancements such as bold letters, large fonts (or different fonts), offsetting text, indentations, and white space (margins) to ensure those elements stand out from the background information and remain the focus of your page layout.

Part VII

Q. What are common mistakes companies make when they design their business web sites?

A. Here are the three biggest mistakes� The single most common mistake a company makes in developing a web site is to develop the site from the company's viewpoint rather than the customer. If your intended audience is your employees, this factor obviously has less relevance. However, in most business web sites, the target audience is new or existing customers or vendors. Just as in a conventional business, a customer does not visit your store to learn about the history of your company, see who the employee of the month is, or take a look at your organizational structure. They come because they want something� and they want it now (one of the founding principles of doing business on the web ­ 24 hour immediate access to information, products, and services). The easier you make it to find that "something", the more likely your visitors are to stay awhile and see what you have to offer.

This leads into the second biggest mistake� confusing your customers with difficult navigation and informational structure within the site. Make navigation simple and place additional emphasis on those areas that are most important to your customers. Things like contact lists, order forms, product listings, and in some cases, FAQ's (frequently asked questions) should not be buried several layers deep into unrelated pages or directories. If you sell "widgets", there should be a link on your main page to your list of widgets, to an order page, and to a contact representative. Many companies will approach this site navigation from the point of view of "how we do it in the company". Within your conventional company, to process an order, you may have a customer call sales, who forwards it to your inventory personnel, who confirm availability and pass it along to billing� then to shipping�etc. A web customer shouldn't have to click on an "about our company" link� then a regional office link� then a products link� then a sales rep link� then an order form, just to buy something (a verbose but accurate example).

Finally, it is never enough to assume that just because you have developed a web site, people will flock to your door. Like any other marketing tool, you must promote and advertise your site. Many businesses hesitantly devote the resources necessary to build a web site but fail to market the site properly. Several months later when they have a trickle of visitors and no new customers, they write the whole effort off as a failure. Like any other business venture, you must not only acquire the means to do business on the web; you must also provide the support and promotional resources to make it effective.

Part VIII

Q. Is there anything you'd like to add about site design that you feel is important?

A. In general� you get what you pay for. With web development and marketing salaries rising every year, there is ample temptation to take the low road and get your web site up and running as quick as possible at the bottom dollar bid. The company with vision will avoid this pitfall and take the time to carefully plan the project as they would with any marketing campaign. Hire professionals (not hobbyists), clearly define your content and purpose, optimize your site for the broadest possible audience, and test your site on the public when you are ready. Track usage and statistics, obtain customer feedback and reaction, then improve the site. Web site development and maintenance is a never-ending process due to the changes in technology and the ever-present public desire for new information, products, and services. To be successful, a company must approach web projects as long term operations and not expect immediate returns. The profit is in establishing another generally "untapped" customer base to expand your operations and improve customer service and access to your products. If your project is approached in this manner, you are much less likely to be disappointed in the results.

Part IX

Q. Web sites can appear very different depending on which browser you use. Can you briefly explain why that is? Also, What are the common ways pages change visually when they are viewed on different browsers? (color, table arrangements, etc.)

A. There are numerous reasons why web pages may appear differently in various browsers. This is why effective web design is such a challenge. It is extremely difficult to design for every possible equipment configuration that may be used to view your site. Some of the key factors include:

- What type of computer your visitor is using. If they are using a MAC rather than a PC, they will have different default color palettes to display the pages (8 or 24 bit color palettes accordingly). Some of your images may have been developed in 24 bit mode but the viewer is only capable of displaying them in 8 bit. The end result is that color definition and image clarity is sacrificed as the less capable monitor/browser attempts to display a range of colors and hues that it is not capable of presenting.

- What type/version of browser your visitor is using. Although there are established standards for basic HTML syntax, developers of web browsers often add additional commands to their products that are only recognizable in that particular web browser. A page developed exclusively in Microsoft Front Page will embed tags and other html coding that is either ignored or misinterpreted by someone using a Netscape product (and vice-versa). Things like tables, tabs, and other typographic features are interpreted differently as your html coding is translated into a viewable page on the screen.

- Different hardware and software also contribute to the confusion. Better-equipped, large screen, high resolution monitors and graphics cards will more accurately portray your web pages as you designed them. The problem is that many people using the Internet today are not equipped with the latest technology. Many still browse the web using 14 inch VGA monitors and no graphics card. Some have no ability to view Java and other new features like 3D VRML, Macromedia enhancements, streaming video or audio, and more. The site that is designed with a disregard for the low-end users is ignoring a significant segment of the viewing population. Special features such as Java menu systems, should always have an alternative method of presentation for those not equipped to take advantage of them. There are a number of other design issues but these are probably the most predominant factors.

Part X

Q. How can firms design a web site that will translate well across various browsers? What design elements should be given the most attention?

A. As mentioned before, accurately define your target audience (including what level of sophistication and user "experience you anticipate the average visitor to be at). Then develop the site to accommodate the broadest range of equipment and browser configurations within that target group. As a "general" rule of
thumb� you can design your pages to accommodate a 640x480 screen resolution and 99% of your audience will see the pages as you envisioned them (in terms of layout and proportions). As newer PC's and larger monitors become the norm, screen resolutions of 800x600 pixels are increasingly the standard by which designers develop sites. Even a small 14" monitor can display an 800x600 pixel page... they just do not display it effectively. By developing your page layouts as percentages of available screen space rather than fixed dimensions, you can, to a degree, automatically account for any screen resolution (there are drawbacks to this approach which I won't go into here).

The next step you can take towards compatibility is to ensure that your graphics are optimized to display properly within the limitations of web browser palettes (216 colors). By doing this, you not only offer potentially smaller file sizes for each image, but they should look identical in any monitor, at any resolution.

As mentioned earlier, strive to take the simplest path possible in getting your message across. Don't use Java, frames, animations, and exotic plug-ins (3rd party software interpreting modules for browsers) in your page designs just because you can. A simple text link is still the easiest way to set up a basic navigation system. Graphic buttons are the next best method (although they present certain penalties in search engine indexing of your site among other things). Clarity of content is almost as important as quality!

Finally, TEST your pages in a variety of browsers, screen resolutions, and connection speeds. There is no substitute for actually seeing how a page looks on another computer and how long it takes to load under good, fair, and poor connection rates. The more diverse the range of testing variables, the more accurate a portrayal of your true cross platform compatibility.

- end of interview -

Tom Speer has 22 years of experience as a freelance graphic artist and cartoonist (designing political advertisements at the early age of 15).
Tom also has earned a dual Masters degree in Computer Information Systems and Business Management. If you have a web or graphics design project that requires a personal touch, Fortress Web Design and Hosting can deliver! Thier rates are very competitive and an initial consultation is free so contact Tom for more information at [email protected] or just stop by his site and browse thru the excellent design lessons and examples.