When you first determine that your company needs a website or blog, unless you have an Internet Marketer, Designer, and Social Media Expert (and everyone seems to be one these days) on staff, you probably have no idea where to begin. That’s O.K., and it’s normal. Do you really think we all (those of us in the business of the internet) just sat down one day with wealth of knowledge right from the beginning ? We couldn’t have, this just started taking off in our lifetime, so we make it our business to know, just as you make it your business to know your field or expertise.
Many principles of Internet Marketing have survived because they work, and some are old notions that gained attention years ago during the initial boom that people still hold on to as fact like an old episode of 60 Minutes from the ’80’s.
Liz Schiavello of iMedia Connection (imedaiconnection.com ) penned a nice article “Your guide to creating an eye popping agency website” featuring examples of websites that work, but more importantly, why they work. Within it she climbed the proverbial mountain top and came down with digital scrolls detailing 17 commandments for every website and blog publisher. We have taken the most relevant, much like Mel Brooks in “History of the World Part. 1″ to give you these 10..10 commandments that any new company or organization should follow when contemplating their first website or blog: (I have added some notes to further make the point)
- Thou shall remember that skimming is the new reading. Lots of words are generally a bad thing. (But get to the point)
- Thou shall avoid the Flash intro. And by avoid, I don’t mean include a “skip intro” button.(nightclubs, music and movie sites follow different rules)
- Thou shall be honest, despite the fact that thou works in advertising. Be truthful about your company and what you do. It may be true that on the internet nobody knows you’re a dog, but everyone will quickly figure out if you’re claiming capabilities and successes you don’t really have.
- Thou shall not be antisocial. Unless, again, that’s part of your charm. Otherwise, at least set up a page on Facebook, (and actually respond to people).
- Thou shall go where thy audience goes. The internet’s a big place. Your website is one little pinpoint in that vast digital universe. Don’t think in terms of website. Think about all the obvious places — blogosphere, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Flickr and so on — where it could benefit your agency (and your audience) for you to have a presence. Your website is just one component in a content ecosystem with your audience, not you, at the center.
- Thou shall not bore. Unless being boring is your value proposition, and hey, I guess there’s a market for everything. But by the same token, don’t put something self-indulgent, self-aggrandizing, and indicative of your total lack of self-awareness. Unless, of course, that too is part of your brand value prop.
- Thou shall not be deliberately obtuse (or deliberately talk over the heads of perspective clients in an attempt to prove your worth and knowledge). Make sure a prospective client comes away able to describe to his boss what your company is and why he should be interested.
- Thou shall walk a mile in the shoes of thy audience. Can you honestly say you would voluntarily go to your own website, Facebook page, or anyplace else in your content universe? If not, well, you need to do something about that.
- Thou shall maintain thy finger on the pulse. It’s not just about keeping your content “fresh,” whatever that means. It’s about making sure that what you put up is relevant, that it reflects what people are talking about and concerned about today.
- Thou shall help thy audience understand the underlying beauty of what you do. Yes, they can simply look at a portfolio. And at a certain level they can decide whether or not they “like” your work. But unless you help them appreciate it, you’re assuming an awful lot of sophistication on their part. It’s like offering a guided tour of the Louvre instead of assuming your audience just innately understands the nature and importance of the works being showcased.
These basic tips can help you avoid some of the boredom and wasted space that so many companies take up on the Internet. Unless you are splitting the atom, there is really no need to put a thesis on your website.
People want to know who you are, what you do, how you do it, and how to contact you…you need to cover those bases first and foremost. The last thing you want is to have perspective clients and customers walk away saying “Nice website, but I have no idea what they do and I didn’t have time to look around to find out.”
Read the rest of Liz Schiavello’s article on iMedia Connection.com
