Make strategy a part of your offering

Web design has reached a point of maturity where we should no longer simply be a collection of pages ripped from a corporate brochure. There used to be a time where as web designers we did little more than apply a splash of paint to an assortment of text and images. This was OK as simply having a website was significantly more innovative and forward thinking compared to your competitors. However now days anyone can have a website (and almost everyone does) and additionally it is not very difficult or expensive to get a website that makes you look credible (even if it is simply buying a template site).

Today on the web in order to really have an effective website you really have to think about all aspects of the site. Failure to do so means providing an ineffective solution, so every time you create a site or work with a client you should be considering:

• Who are the potential users?
• How you will get users to the site?
• What do users want when they get to the site?
• What questions will they have that you can answer?
• How do you lead them in the direction you wish them to go?
• How you will measure the success of the site?
• How you will continue to optimize the site?

This effectively is the strategy behind your website. This means that the site should be designed in such a way that you have thought about and planned every element described above.

With out going through the process of this planning you are simply slapping a coat of paint on a box rather than delivering a tool that is created to help the business/organization who has hired you.

How to go about it

Typically web design companies ask the client what they want to be built, ask for copy and photos to be delivered, create a visual image and build out the site. Working in this manor is akin to a construction company building a home using blueprints created by the non-architect home owners. Doesn’t sound like a great idea does it?

First you must research

The first step in this process is to do some research. I know, I know, most of us as creatives hate this idea and would much rather just create some stunning and well organized visuals. However this is a critical step that you must take.

The first aspect of research is working with the client to discover as much about their business as possible. This will include the target market, the typical sales funnel, who the clients are now and what their concerns are. Find out the goals of the site and what expectations the client has for the level of impact on their business.

Although the clients input is important it shouldn’t stop with them. Chances are they see their business in a very close up skewed manor, not that they are wrong or their information is not valuable. Rather it is more important to learn as much as you can from their clients.

Once you have learned who the target market is you can start asking them questions. Sometimes the client will be willing to give you a list of names and numbers of those who you could interview, if not you can always take a look at your own network of contacts and politely ask them if they would be interested in answering a few questions at their lesiure.

Crafting the questions

Every situation will require a different set of questions so I can’t give you a boilerplate set of questions. Ultimately you should look at the goals of the site and develop questions that will help you figure out how to encourage users to accomplish those goals.

The common scinereo would be a company that is looking for more sales/leads/clients. There are a wide range of questions that you could ask their target market to help you find out what is most important to them when picking a product/service provided. Here are some examples:

• What factors are you considering when you are looking to hire someone to do X?
• How would you rank those factors in terms of importance?
• How do you go about finding someone you wish to hire in this situation?
• Do you value (insert unique value of client here)? why / why not?

I am sure you can think of much much more once you get started.

Look around and see what else is out there

Once you have a good idea of what the target market wants and what your client provides it is time to do some competitive analysis. See how their competitors are marketing themselves and what sort of features or information they have on their website. You can get a lot of ideas in terms of “wow this is a convention we should include this” to “here is something that everyone is missing but really should have.”

Additionally this will help you develop a unique selling position for your client (if they haven’t already decided on one). By marketing themselves with a unique value that no one else is they will effectively attract more sales by people who really care about that value element.

Using the research to develop a plan

Doing the research is only half the battle, the second half is to develop a plan based on the research. Yes I do realize that first I am not only recommending that you do research (barf) but now advising you to also write a paper (double barf). I assure you that it is worth it and your business will grow as a result of it.

I break my plans into the following sections:

• Goals / Objectives
• Target Market + Personas
• Competitive survey
• Points of resolution (questions, concerns and desires of users)
• Unique value proposition
• User paths (how a user would navigate through the site to complete a goal)
• Objective support (how we will encourage a user to navigate through the site to complete a goal)
• Measurement and success criteria

You could probably take it further than I do, as I am continually improving my strategy document and process. However I find that the most valuable part of the document ultimately comes out of the user paths and support.

This is because it takes the information about and from the target market and incorporates the goals of the site, then strategies of how we can mesh the objectives of the user and the site owner together. Consider the diagram I crafted for a client recently as an example of how this could work:

As you work through the user path you not only discover what should have the most visual emphasis on every page, where you should have a call to action (and what it should be) but you also tend to discover the missing “what would they want to do next?” link.

It makes good business sense

This document will not only help your clients succeed (which will in turn help your company), but it will also become something that you can bill more for. I have yet to come across a client who has looked through one of my example strategies and said “No, I don’t think I would pay for that.”

Not only does it bring in more work per client, it also differentiates my company vs my competitors.

The importance of controling feedback and critique

Any designer who has produced work for anyone other than themselves knows how tricky the design feedback process can be. As designers we have very specific reasons for designing a site the way we do. We have expertise in rhythm, proportion, sizing, whitespace, grids and other graphic design concepts. Many times hours are spent trying different combinations, layout positions, usage of colors, etc… by the end of the work we know what didn’t work and what did.

When we present our work to a client / boss we have two unique and profound depths of insight that they simply don’t have. Communicating and being authoritative on the reasons you chose the design decisions that you did is a key element in ensuring that the client does not get in the way of themselves and end up with a weak design.

Every time I go through the process I think of new and better ways to approach it. To the point where I am currently developing a “script” of how to move from point to point.

My Feedback “Script”

1. Creative Brief

I start way before I even design. Before I even open up photoshop I write a creative/idea brief and deliver it to the client and ask them to sign off on it, to make sure that my thoughts and ideas on how the design should look and feel is in line with what they expect. This at least introduces them to my take on the design problem.

2. The introduction

I find the introduction is one of the most important aspects of the process. This is where it is important to explain how you are going to conduct the feedback and review process, what should be considered and why, and how to give feedback in a way that will benefit the design process rather than hurt it. The following list a general process of what I talk about:

1. We are going to review the designs, I will explain why I designed things the way I did. At this point please hold any feedback until you have conferred with everyone over a few days, and we will reconnect to talk about your thoughts. It is important to discuss feedback and revisions rather than firing off gut reactions.
2. Remember that design is subjective, everyone will like things differently. What is most important is that your clients / users like best. Think about things from a user perspective, not your own.
3. I rerun through my creative brief that was approved. We decided that we were going to design in this fashion because… remember that you agreed.
4. This is not just visual style, but more importantly what it communicates.
5. When you do give feedback tell me what does not work and why. Direction is counter productive, as one change alters the balance of the whole design. Let me what needs to be fixed and I can sort out the design problem.

3. The explination

I will walk through why I chose to design the way that I did for each design. I am learning that it is better to jot down notes during the design process and before the actual review, as I have a tendency to rush through it and miss many important details. Including all of the details is extremely important to help flesh the idea out in your clients mind as well as establishing yourself as an expert.

If the client gets the impression that you are just throwing paint onto a digital canvas they will have no reason to trust your design choices over their own, and why should they if it doesn’t sound like you had any reasoning behind the layouts.

4. Ask for questions

At this point I normally ask if there are any questions about the designs. I am finding it is best at this point to reiterate that we will reconnect for direct feedback in a few days, as this is often a point where it becomes hard to resist expressing ones opinion (and it is understandable).

I don’t normally get many questions, which could mean there is some optimization that could be done in this step of the process.

5. Getting feedback

When reconnecting for feedback I like to go through each item one by one, and have the client not only explain “what” by “why.” Not only does this give me better insight, but also forces the client to really think about the importance and context of the revision. That is not to say that the revisions are invalid. Rather that if there is a request that is not the best of choices it does set you up to say “You may not like the extra contact link, but a user who is 5 minutes late to a meeting and needs your phone number to call on the way to your office will sure appreciate it.”

6. Next Steps

Confirming what feedback and revisions you will act on and which ones were decided to be unnecessary (by the client and you collaboratively.) Sometimes if I think that one avenue is going down a wrong path and I can’t convince the client to agree otherwise I will ask permission to do two concepts to demonstrate my point of view.

How do you handle feedback?

I have yet to see a process that feels and works perfect anytime. Any thoughts/ideas/stories on how you go about handling the feedback and review process would be wonderful.

Working on working on work

When running your own business, especially a small one (meaning it is myself and two helpers) I often find that you can spend just as much time (if not more) on all the details surrounding work as the actual billable hours themselves.

When I say this I don’t necessarily mean doing all the non-fun things like accounting, paperwork, etc… Because if you get to a point where those things are really dragging down your billable hours it becomes profitable to hire someone to do it for you. Even if they bill at the same rate you do chances are they will get through it much quicker.

What I am talking about is the interaction and management of clients and potential clients.

Any project is going to require a dedicated amount of time to communication. Any potential new clients even more so. Now if you have experienced this at a high volume hopefully you have figured out that you need to account for and add it into your proposals. If you haven’t, now is a time to start…

Scheduling

As demand increases and you are required to become more productive to keep up, one of the first things that you will learn is that you really need to set a schedule of what work will be compelted and when. This will help you figure out and align your bandwidth and set realistic expectations for your clients.

What Scheduling Can’t Account For…

The client themselves. Now I have always hated how often people express an angry sense of “Me vs the client” syndrom, however this is a case where you simply can’t always predict, schedule, and account for the timing of a client wanting interaction.

Most clients you come across will have an expectation of getting a response fairly soon after they pose a question (weither it is via phone, or via email). However it is pretty easy to get into a situation where you are simply answering the phone / email all day long rather than making progress on the projects you have available.

How Do You Handle This?

You could hire someone to try and handle your communications. However they are unlikely to be able to do much beyond delay the onslaught of communication and the salary cost is nothing to sneeze at. Author Tim Ferriss recommends driving everyone to e-mail, setting up a auto-responder that says “I check e-mail at 10:00a.m. and 4:00p.m.”, and then only answering e-mail twice a day.

This is a good start. However you are still likely to have issues with those who just can’t help but pick up a phone, and bug you time and time again.

Be Clear Up Front, and Charge for Points of Contact

Lately what I have found to be effective is to be very clear up front that I… selll… hours. I don’t sell a product, so what you are paying for is the time of myself and my employees and contractors. This time is NOT just the time that anyone is directly working on the project, but also the time it takes to manage your project including phone calls, emails, etc…

Clients may not like this idea at first, however if you clarify it with “If I did not handle the business this way I could not realistically give you a clear picture of when your project would be done, or that it would be done on time.”

At this point there seems to be a bit more clarity in the situation. I usually go on to say “This is also the reason why it is important to understand that it may take up to 24 hours for me to get back to you. However this will most likely only been under extreme cases.”

Sometimes it All Crashes and Fails…

This last week it just didn’t work out. A very quick turn around project for a new group (Sustainable Solutions Alliance) while handle a few other Phase II / Phase III including some SilverStripe coding for Ann Arbor State Bank I had an onslaught of calls, emails, and problems, that I couldn’t really pass off. Being that some of the calls and emails were “things have broken” it is hard to explain to a client your 24 hour policy when it is the state of “emergency.”

I have yet to find the best way to handle this. As you start to acquire and aid new clients at some point you will run into a large portion of dormant clients (who are not regularly assisting your cash flow) who will have no problem knocking down your door when something goes wrong.

At this point I think raising your rates might be the best solution, but I am all ears. Anyone have any worthwhile suggestions?

We are all consultants

I have never been the type that has been overly pushy about my opinion. In a lot of ways that has helped me in regards to my business, as there have been times where I disagreed with a client I was able to quietly sit back and do things their way rather than offend them and potentially damage our working relationship. However this is to their disadvantage as well.

As web designers (regardless if we are part of an internal department or freelancers) it is pretty easy to fall into a “well I will build what you tell me to build” sort of mindset. Because people use the internet day in and day out they tend to gather a whole list of things that they think they want on their website, with out really much thought that goes into it.

The result is you get a list of items “We want blah, blah, blah blah, and blah…” of course the easiest thing to do is to simply nod, smile, and build it the way they want it. After all, battling and educating the client / boss / etc is really just unpaid time and frustration.

This is even more difficult when you are a freelancer, business owner, or sales person. As you could spend hours working out what the potential client really wants, only to have them take your spec sheet to a cheaper firm.

Despite some potential draw backs, we are all consultants when it comes to the web. We all have a much better understanding of what will work, what is/isn’t a good idea, and the best way to make a website a success than anyone who would be hiring us. It is our job to consult, recommend, and make suggestions every step of the way. Even if it results in unpaid hours now, it will further your career later.

I have found that several potential clients love the initial process of suggesting, recommending, and discovering what they really need in their website. It has helped seal jobs before, as they felt not only did I better understand their needs but I had a level of creativity that the other firms did not.

A tricky aspect of this situation is a joint worry about scope / price creep. You obviously don’t want to do more work than you get compensated for and the client doesn’t want the price to rise indefinitely. Especially at the start of an engagement, it is very comforting to know that X dollars will be exchanged for X specific deliverables.

I have started a new process of engagement that protects the client and yourself from scope and/or price creep. The normal meetings and proposals are pretty typical and standard, I issue a price that states “If nothing else changes, this is exactly how much you will pay for these items. However we will do an initial kick off meeting to dive into your company, brand, customers, and needs that could change this scope to be larger or smaller.”

The reassuring factor for the client is that they know they can always just choose to do what was originally on the table. However if a great idea comes up in the kick off meeting they can opt to incorporate it as well. The reassuring factor for you, is that if you suggest a change you know there is an understanding that it won’t be free.

This also includes shrinking the scope, as needed. There have been times where I have suggesting removing pages, features, and functionality because it wasn’t going to make an impact compared to how much it was going to cost. A lower price is always a welcome surprise from a clients perspective.

So next time you are about to start a project don’t consider yourself the builder, consider yourself the architect. It is your job to use your expertise to ensure the website that is built is as effective and successful as possible.

Don’t Design for your Client, or Yourself

I recently did a presentation called “It doesn’t matter if you like it…” in which I talked to marketing professionals about how their is a fundamental flaw in the way many people go about designing, or having something design.

I often talk about how a large part of design is communication. With so many CSS Galleries it is easy to get stuck in a mindset where you simply want to create the “coolest” looking website rather than “the most effective” website.

The truth is that even beautiful design can be damaging to a site/brand/company if it is not “correct” design. Studies have shown that you have 10 – 15 seconds before a user has an impression about your website. Ten to fifteen seconds is not enough time for them to fully read and understand the history of your company, it is long enough for them to make some very detailed conclusions based on what your design communicates.

Why Our Approval and Design Processes are Often Wrong

What I am ultimately leading up too is that in most cases the design / approval process that we go through leads to work that does not communicate what it should to the end users.

This is a typical creative process of a sizable firm:

• Creative director to graphic designer: “It should say this”
• Graphic Designer: “Hmmm, I like it when it looks like this”
• Manager: “This looks off, why don’t you tweak that?”
• Creative director: “I don’t like this portion, fix it”
• Client: “I like the color red, use red”
• User: “I am looking for something high end, this looks cheesy. Goodbye.”

We often have people who are a part of the design process that alter the end work based on their own personal preference, and guess what… as designers we are one of them.

Now let’s look at it from a smaller firm / freelancer

• “Lets make a great looking interface!”
• “How do you like it?”
• “Lets make it POP!”
• “There we go, it looks really cool!”
• “Aghhh, I don’t want to go to a coffee shop that is this nutty”

Ultimately it doesn’t matter if you like the design, if you are serious about your profession than you shouldn’t be creating sites so that you can have another great looking portfolio piece.

As a client or website owner it doesn’t matter if you like design. If you are serious about your company or website then you should have the site created so the users like it, not so that you can brag to your friends about how cool your site is.

How can you change this?

There really are a few approaches to the process that can greatly alter the outcome in a positive way. The first step is our great friend… research.

RESEARCH

Anything you can do to get into the minds of the end users will result in a much more successful design. This can take the shape of client interviews, researching competitors, attending events that users may attend, or other forms of traditional market research (surveys, demographics, etc)

Research should be compiled and decimated into a few deliverables such as a competitive analysis, user personas, and a creative brief.

These deliverables will be key in the design approval process, especially if someone on the design committee says “Why don’t we make it blue?” With the documents you can now say “our research shows that red will make users feel how we want them.”

TESTING

Actually testing designs can be a great way to find out what works best for different users. A lot of projects don’t have the budget for this, but it doesn’t have to be incredibly high cost.

I will go into ways to test in future blog posts, but for now consider showing a user a design and asking 3 – 4 questions about how they would describe that design. You are not looking for feedback in terms of “use a different picture, color, etc” rather it is important to understand what messages does the design give off. Does it feel affordable? high price? exciting? calming? interesting? sturdy?

Additionally you can show a user a design for 3 – 5 seconds, then ask them to tell you what they remember from it. It will give you a clear idea as to what are the most prominent items on the page.

LARGE SCALE SURVEY

This is currently being done with the Drupal project. Designer Mark Boulton is getting feedback from a community of tens of thousands. What he has found is that over the personal preferences trends emerge, and those trends provide a huge amount of insight and value that can be worked into the next design iteration.

IT DOESN’T MATTER IF YOU LIKE IT

Yes it doesn’t matter. Some of my most effective and successful designs from an analytics/statistics standpoint are not ones that I particularly like. That is because I am not the user, and I think and interpret visuals differently than psychology scholars (or any other given user base)

Writing for Personality Profiles (Optimizing Landing Pages, Part 3)

“Optimizing Landing Pages” is an on going series that will total 20 posts. The series is written by 3.7 DESIGNS and Ross Johnson to help web professionals build sites that achieve specific business goals. This is post 3, and the topic is “Writing for Personality Profiles.”

As much as us designers would like to think that conversion is heavily based on visuals and aesthetics, the truth is that the content of a site is really where you get an opportunity to persuade users to convert or take action. Now that isn’t to say visuals isn’t important, the visuals are extremely important; it is just important at different stages.

Points of Resolution

When a user comes to their site they are always going to have questions that need to be answered before they take the action that you wish them to take (or in other words convert). These questions are called “points of resolution,” and as a web site strategist it is your job to anticipate these questions and answer them.

Some typical points of resolution could be:

• Does this site offer what I am looking for exactly?
• Does this site offer a solution to my problem?
• Can I trust this site with my information?
• Can I trust this situation will work?
• Will I be able to establish a long term relationship with this site?

Personality Profiles

The tricky part of this process is that users are going to have a variety of different questions, and all of those questions will need to be answered despite the fact that they will be different.

To simplify the development of content and prevent the need to stuff the page with more content than anyone will read we look to personality profiles. Using personality profiles we can anticipate the majority of questions that will be raised, and how to answer them in an efficient way.

Methodical

Some people just want the hard facts, and these people are often described as “methodical.” Where others want to know that they will be well taken care of, the people on the phone will be nice, etc… Methodical people are not those types of people. Instead they want data, diagrams, facts, proof. They will sit and read through detailed copy about how your product or service will solve their problem and they could care less about anything else.

Spontaneous

A spontaneous person wants excitement, acceptance, they are flexible and open to new suggestions even if it doesn’t feel like the perfect fit. They are much more likely to make a purchase or action based on the idea that they will gain a higher status or fit in because of it. Reinforcing a strong brand or establishing high credibility through testimonials can really catch the attention of a spontaneous user.

Humanistic

Humanistic users value other peoples needs before theirs. In most cases they are looking for evidence of being able to establish a long term relationship with a company. They don’t want to have to hunt for a new company to work with every time they have a need, they want to have their contacts with in a company and know that they will be taken care of. Consider the use of testimonials to show them that previous customers have been delighted with your service and approach.

Competitive

Competitive people want to win. They are controlling and goal oriented. They are looking for accomplishment, and your product or service needs to be the key to their accomplishment or they are looking elsewhere. They want a guarantee that what you provide will work, no questions asked. Even if it is a personal guarantee it means something.

Putting it all together

Of course you won’t know exactly what type of user is going to be viewing your site, so the trick is to write for all users in an engaging way. That way the user will self select what portions of the copy are most important to them. Further, you can provide in-text links to let them click to more detailed information and answers to their point of resolution.

For example:

You will be excited to know that all of our search marketing strategies use a time tested strategy that ensures success for every client. The approach has helped thousands of companies succeed, and we are equipped to meet any objective that you may have. Beyond the strategy to make it work, we are your partner in success. We are not happy until you see results. You will be accomplish your goals, we guarantee it.

As you can see even if you were to scan the text you could pick up on the important details, and click the in text links to learn more and have your questions answered. No matter what personality type (or mix of personality types) you have the opportunity to get your concerns answered so you can move to the next step and take action.

Design Discovery Document, What I Use to Learn More About Client Needs…

I recently posted about how to improve your creative process, and one of the core elements of that process is learning everything you can about what the client wants, expects, and needs to gain from the creative deliverables. Really the core of this learning process is asking the right questions and guiding the client in answering them, this way you get a clear idea of what you are to be communicating through your design.

I built my design discovery document through observing and reading about what others had put on their questionnaire, as well as trial and error (finding holes in my creative briefs and then writing questions that would help fill those holes). So to keep giving back to the community I wanted to post a quick rundown of the typical questions I ask during the client kick off meeting.

NOTE: Some of these questions are web design specific, others are more generic, and some I leave out depending on the scope of the project

PERCEPTION

1. What are 3 emotions or feelings a user should feel when they visit the site. Rank them 1 – 3 in terms of importance? (example: excited, calm, happy, etc)??????
   
2. What are 3 characteristics you want your site to portray? Rank them 1 – 3 in terms of importance. (example: professional, innovative, reliable, etc)???????
   
3. Do you have any brand colors? If not, what colors could be used to accomplish the feelings and characteristics from questions 1 & 2???????????
   
4. What types of images or illustrations could be used to communicate the feelings and characteristics of questions 1 & 2?
   

Content + AUDIENCE + TASKS

1. What are the primary tasks that a browser will use the site to complete? (example: register for more information, purchase a product, etc)???????
   
2. What are 2 – 3 goals you would like the site to accomplish? (NOTE: Goals are measurable tasks such as “increase sales”, or “improve brand recognition.” Putting content on a site is NOT a goal, ie: “Have a photo gallery”)???????
   
3. Describe a typical site visitor. How often are they online, and what do they generally use the web for? Give basic demographics: age, occupation, income level, purchasing habits. (Use as much detail as possible in profiling your target user. Profile more than one type if appropriate)??????????
   
4. What are the key reasons why the target audience chooses your company’s products and/or service (cost, service, value)?
5. What will be the primary navigation items on the site? (example: home, about, contact, etc)
   
6. Will there be any secondary navigation? If so, on what pages will they be on?
   
7. What utilities should the site have? (example: search / sitemap / help / etc)??????
   

MARKETING + UPDATING

1. How do most people find out about your product/service or website? What kind of triggers prompt a contact?
   
2. Briefly, what are your short-term marketing plans (specifically, for the site redesign and the 6 to 12 months following launch)?
   
3. Do you have an existing or planned marketing strategy in mind to promote this site launch? If so, please describe.
   
4. Do you intend to keep the site updated? If so, how often? Who is responsible for updating and providing content?
   

HOMEPAGE INFORMATION?

1. What content or information should be included on the homepage??????????
   
2. What elements on the home page will need to be updated frequently????
   

You can also download a sample of our discovery document here.

As designers we need to use more adjectives in our work…

Adjectives? Wait am I confused? Should I be talking about copy writing? No no, I assure you I am in fact talking about design. Like many of you I am always browsing through galleries and assessing new web site launches, because I am interested in seeing what type of working is being done outside my Michigan network. Like me, you may come across designs that are stunning and beautiful, but don’t seem to do a think to enhance the subject matter.

It seems there is a stage that some designers easily bypass, and others tend to get stuck in. That stage is caring more about making something beautiful, over making something that is beautiful in the right context. A marketing professional that I have worked with before by the name of Joe Radding once said “Everything is marketing. A blank piece of paper is marketing. Everything gives you an impression…” This could not be more true when it comes to design, which in turn creates a problem when your number one goal is to make something visually stimulating.

Of course making a design visually stimulating is important and can have great benefits, after all you have on average 3 – 5 seconds to impress a user and convince them they are at the right place before they leave. However you can give the wrong impression, with the wrong design, regardless of how great it might look. The classic example of this is a bold black background white text design, high in contrast and high in impact… used on a site that is trying to communicate higher level knowledge, education, etc (for example, a database consulting firm.)

This is usually the result of not understanding the brand or an ineffective (and sometimes non-existent) design discovery phase. A well done design discovery phase will leave you with adjectives. Oh wonderful adjectives, and they will make your designs sing. These adjectives will describe the FEELING of the design. How should you FEEL when you are creating it? How should you FEEL when you see it? What emotions will be associated with the brand, and what emotions will the user FEEL when they view it?

These are the good adjectives, and they will often be words like:

• Excited
• Bold
• Unique
• Consistent
• Organized
• Open
• Contained

From those adjectives you can derive DESIGN adjectives. It is important not to let the client skip to design adjectives. Your job as the designer is to make that connection, not them. Design adjectives might be –

• curvy
• sharp
• boxed
• rounded
• dark
• light
• clean
• structured
• simple
• minimal
• photographic
• rich
• earthy

If needed use some sort of mind mapping techniques to really break out what the design should feel like and why. What adjectives should be associated with the design, what feelings should be associated with it… then think about how you can connect those feelings and adjectives with visual representations.

Earthy will likely be organic shapes, earth color tones, and an open unrestricted layout (ie: no hard borders). Where structured will likely be a design with a strong visual grid, clear boxes of content, and hard edges.

Take some time to develop a set of questions that you can use to extract these adjectives out of your clients, and then practice developing those adjective keywords into feelings, design adjectives, and design concepts.

Ever experienced this in the creative process?

Hate to say it but it hits pretty close to home. Anyone else? I have found that the more active I am in explaining and defending design decisions the better the whole process goes, but sometimes you just run into these nightmare situations.

Optimizing Your Landing Pages, Part 2 – Copy Basics

“Optimizing Landing Pages” is an on going series that will total 20 posts. The series is written by 3.7 DESIGNS and Ross Johnson to help web professionals build sites that achieve specific business goals. This is post 3, and the topic is “Writing for Personality Profiles.”

Pay Attention To Your Copy

After you have thought about and planned your landing pages sales funnel (as seen in “Optimizing your Landinag Pages, Part I,” you should take a careful look at your website copy. The copy and content of your landing page is going to make or break it, so it is important to consider a few things right off the bat.

MAKE SURE USERS FEEL LIKE THEY ARRIVED ON THE RIGHT PAGE

Have a high bounce rate? Chances are users end up on your site, don’t get a good impression that it is the page/site they were expecting, and press the back button. The first thing your copy should address is ensuring that the users are at the right place. Users often take less than 10 – 15 seconds before they make a judgment to read further or keep hunting.

Here are some ways to do that:

• Make sure the first headline matches the link / source they clicked on
• • Advertisement
  • Search Ranking
  • Print Ad
  • TV Ad, etc
• Have a supportive picture that illustrates how they are on a page that has what they are looking for.
• Bold, or link any relevant text to the topic/niche

At a glance the users should know definitively that your site has what they are looking for, and it is not a waste of time to hunt further.

MAKE SURE COPY IS SCANABLE

The next major step to optimizing your copy is to ensure that it is scanable. Until the user has a very clear sense that you offer what they are looking for they are not going to read, they will simply scan. If you read the previous article you will know you are trying to move them from the attention phase to the interest phase.

Ways to make your text scanable:

• Break up large blocks of text with headings and sub headings
• Anything you can break up into lists (bulleted or numbered) do so
• Bold relevant keywords, ideally you should be able to read all the bold words in a sentence and know what the paragraph was about.

FORGET ABOUT FEATURES, TALK ABOUT BENEFITS

All too often people get caught up in talking about the features their product or service offers. Forget about the features. Features are what the providers are interested in, the end users don’t care about features they care about what they will be getting out of it.

Examples of features:

• 250 Horse Power
• Built on Open Source Technology
• Monthly Reporting Provided
• Built using XHTML / CSS

All of these sound great right? Only if you know what the benefit of those are. The average user isn’t going to have a clue why XHTML/CSS is better than anything else. Instead talk about the benefit they will get.

Benefits of above features:

• 250 Horse Power
  • Enough pick up and speed to get around town safely and still have fun
• Built on Open Source Technology
  • Built using open source technology, which keeps costs down, and you will never have trouble finding someone who can work on your system.
• Monthly Reporting Provided
  • See and monitor the progress and improvements month after month so you can prove to the CIO and CEO how smart this decision was.
• Built Using XHTML / CSS
  • Built using the latest coding practices so that the pages load quicker, are search friendly, and take less time to update and maintain.

Sounds a lot better right?

KEEP THE COPY INTERESTING

When you do get the reader interested enough to read through your copy reward them. Dull copy is hard to read, and if the user doesn’t read they will never desire your product. While every landing page and brand will require their own twist of a brand voice, work with in what leeway you have to spice up the copy so its actually becomes worth reading.

Keep in mind that the headline should make you interested enough to read the first line of the paragraph, and the first line of the paragraph should make you interested enough to read the rest.

ADD A CALL TO ACTION

When you have finished your copy, spell out what you want the user to do. Often times you can get a user interested, and get them to desire your offering, only to leave them wondering what they should do next. Make the call to action a clear link on the page, and specifically tell them what they should do.

Example: Get started by filling out our order form

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