Site Identity

When your customer arrives on your site, they usually want instant gratification. (Remember, they’re searching for specifics). Can you provide these as soon as the customers have landed?

Where am I / What is this?

I’m going to click on, there must be something more relevant elsewhere.

• Company name, Logo
• Customer-focused tagline
• Headline identifying what’s there for the visitor

Company Information

Who is the company? People do business with people; build trust.

About Us: What it means to the visitor

• Contact information (not just a boilerplate form)
• Footer to enhance legitimacy:
  • Company Name
  • Physical address
  • Phone
  • Live link to email
  • Privacy Policy link

Content Strength:
Clear

As I said at the start, when your customers land they decide in seconds whether to stick around or not.

• What the company does
• Why it offers the best solution
• How to find…
• What to do (most people need to be led).

The most critical page elements should be visible “above the fold” – the first screen the visitors see (laptop-tablet)

Content Strength:
Customer – Focused

Keep in mind… People are on a mission when they’re online. They’re often searching for answers, solutions.

• Use WII FM – focused language that explains the unique benefits of your products and services. ( download my FREE “Essentials” report to discover WII FM)
• Explain how you solve their needs with appealing persuasive copy
• Speak to “one” visitor at a time

Content Strength:
Competitive

The content offers reasons to choose THIS company / product / solution over other options.

• Make the reasons obvious from the outset.
• Also helps search engines identify your pages as having enough information to help the searcher on Google.

Content Strength:
Enough copy

Give visitors enough information to understand what you do, how you solve a “NEED”.

• 500-600 words at a minimum
• How much is too much? Whatever it takes to guide to action
• Ample content also helps search engines identify your pages as having enough information to help the searcher on Google
• Keep adding content! (Blog, ideally)

Content Strength:
Easy to scan, absorb

Content is formatted in a flow and hierarchy that guides reader along.

• Relevant, solution-focused headlines (Avoid welcome or labels)
• Short paragraphs
• Benefit- rich, benefit- first bullets
• Summary: recap why the visitor should choose this now
• CTA: strong, clear call to action

Content Strength:
Inviting

Make sure the content is inviting the visitor to engage in some way:

• Watch a demo
• Sign up for a newsletter
• Join a Facebook Fan Page, Twitter page and other social media communities as appropriate, with icons in an obvious location
• Participate in a survey

Content Strength:
Current

• Provide current, fresh content that’s topical and timely to the user’s interests and needs
• Give the reader reasons to come back for new information, and make sure you don’t have outdated or irrelevant content.

Content Strength:
Smooth flow, no disruptions

• Make sure advertising DOES NOT DISRUPT the primary goal your visitor is hoping to solve or accomplish on your site
• The same goes for testimonials, photos, charts, etc. They must be supporting the main content flow

Content Strength:
Consistent

• Voice, tone and flow are consistent on each page; nothing disjointed
• If you’re linking off the site or to a different style, let the visitor know
• Maintain consistency in all content areas: captions, surveys, etc.

Content Strength:
Conversion Optimized

It’s very clear what you’re promising the visitor will get and how to get it

• CTA (call to action) include 2 things
  1. Big benefit
  2. How to act
• Text links or better … a big,bold button
• “Get my” language
• Specific and clear: DO THIS!
• Easy (No major hassles to proceed)

Content Strength:
Links

• Help visitors find links with blue (standard) and perhaps underlining them for color impaired visitors
• Use in-text links sparingly so readers aren’t too distracted by them
• Be specific! Not “click here” or ” learn more” – instead “Download for free Cat Diabetes Guide now” ( notice key phrase)
• Indicate where visitors are going ( PDF, video clip, audio clip, email window, etc)

Content Strength:
Navigation

• Make sure your primary navigation runs across the top of the page or down the left, never on the right ( the right is reserved for special promotions, news, and credibility factors.
• Group similar items together
• Use standard naming conventions: Home, About Us, Contact Us, Don’t use made up or “clever” words for button names.
• If you have a shopping cart, place its access buttons in the upper right- hand side

Graphics Best Practices for Reader

• Avoid Flash: it creates a slower load time; some browsers and users don’t support it, so it’s invisible or must be downloaded
• Optimize graphics to web-appropriate sizes (large files slow down page viewing and annoy visitors)
• Use relevant, content-supporting photos, not just as decorations.
• Use real-people, real company photos (avoid stock)
• Add captions to photos for helpful descriptions and SEO content

Video and audio

• Should be in the off position
• Give the visitor the option of turning them on with a clear PLAY button
• Include the MUTE button for the sound
• Watch the “freeze” image (try to avoid awkward face) or off putting image

Fonts (reader-friendly)

• Limit font styles to two or three maximum per site. Over-designing the site can be distracting.
• Use special font styles sparingly (such as uppercase letters, bold, and italics)
• Use black type on a white background for easy reading… especially for the body text where there’s lots of copy.

Mobile-responsive

It must be mobile-responsive, meeting prospects where they’re looking

• Google penalizes websites that aren’t adaptable to smartphones and tablets
• Short headlines are best
• The most important information first
• Follow the other rules of appealing, inviting content with calls-to-action.

Accessible

• “Web content should be accessible to the blind, deaf and those who must navigate by voice, screen readers, or other assistive technologies”.
• No clear requirements, BUT… best practices include transcripts, PDFs, etc.
• Tested the site on ADA website compliance checker

SEO Essentials:
In the Content

Make sure every page of your site includes keywords in these “power positions” within the content for Search Engine Optimization:

• Headlines
• Subheads
• Bold text
• Link text
• Captions

SEO Essentials:
In the tags

Make sure every page of your site includes keywords/keyphrases in these behind-the-scenes elements for Search Engine Optimization:

• Title tag: 60-70 character/spaces maximum; real sentences are best
• Meta description: Up to 150 characters/spaces in an inviting/intriguing benefit paragraph
• Alt tags (to describe charts, photos and other graphics that aren’t text) using keywords/key-phrases (also helps with accessibility)