Panelist:
Craig Chapman, Founder and Creative Director - Rare Earth Interactive Peter Wattles, Owner – Loring Web Services
Mark Ossenfort, Owner – Crossroads Media
Moderator:
Janine Soika, Channel Marketing Leader – Verio
Expert Panel: Website Design
Best Practices
About Verio
Premier Web Hosting, Application Hosting and SaaS
applications vendor
Financially stable
o
Part of NTT Communications (world’s largest
Telecommunications company)
Owns the data centers and IP network
Award-winning services
Highest performance available
24X7 Technical and customer support
Industry leading Service Level Agreements
100% focused on channel
viaVerio Partner Program
Via 1 Partner Model
o
15% recurring commission on all customer sales
o
You do not have to provide monthly billing, technical or
customer support (Verio handles)
Via 3 Partner Model
o
Allows partners to purchase our services at wholesale prices
(nearly half retail pricing)
o
Resell services for a profit to end-customers
o
You provide monthly billing, technical and customer support
to end customers
Craig C. Chapman
Founder and Crea1ve Director ‐ Rare
Earth Interac1ve
About Rare Earth Interac0ve
o
Rare Earth has been developing innovative solutions for
SMEs, education and not-for-profits since 1998
• We have over 100 customers in 17 states
• We have been a proud Verio Partner since 1999
• We are marketers first, whose medium of choice is the Internet
• We pride ourselves in our track record of “turning around”
underperforming websites with a few simple best practices
• Virtually all customers see an immediate, positive impact from a
fresh Rare Earth design with increased conversions, better organic SEO penetration, and lower cost-per-click investments
• Chief among these best practices are four simple words that
Design Best Prac0ces
This is our #1 Maxim. What this means is:
• Any visitor to any of our customer’s websites
should be able to intuitively know what to do in 3 seconds or less
• Any point in the website should be intuitively
accessible through the site’s navigation
• Calls to action should be clear, obvious and
engaging
• Content must be well-written, with correct
spelling, usage, and punctuation
– to, too, and two
– there, they’re, and their
Design Best Prac0ces
Anything that gets in the way of a visitor’s
experience is bad! This includes:
• Websites built purely in Flash, or use Flash for
things that can be done using modern HTML development techniques
• Technologies that assault the visitor with
unsolicited audio:
– Self-starting videos with audio
– Unsolicited background music
– Those obnoxious walk-on agents
Design Best Prac0ces
“Don’t make me think” extends to search
engines, too:
• Websites built purely in Flash, can’t be indexed
very well, contrary to what Google and Adobe say - this renders content invisible to search
• Everything (or as much as possible) should be
in plain text, including:
– Your navigation menus
– Your page titles
– Text-based animation elements
• All images should have “alt” content
• Ignore the Meta Keywords tag - it’s worthless!
• Focus instead on your website’s Title tag and
Contact Informa0on
Craig C. Chapman
Crea%ve Director / President Rare Earth Interac%ve Design, Inc. h9p://www.rareearth.us/
Crea1ng innova1ve eBusiness solu1ons since 1998.
email: [email protected]
Toll-Free: (877) 883‐1601
Telephone: (716) 883‐1601
Peter WaIles
Market Shifts in Web Design and CMS
New versus Old:
o Web designer creates designs and adds content
o Shift - Install CMS template and content updates are ongoing o Client depends on Web designer for frequent updates
o Shift - Client is comfortable with online content tools, similar to eBay/Facebook
o Forms and database apps expensive to implement or change
o Shift - Functionality is easily added with a few clicks - front and on the backend o Website design and coding are time consuming and expensive
o Shift – CMS sets up in minutes and design and functionality can be dynamic
o Held hostage by my web company for updates and support (adversarial relationship)
Links SEO Analy1cs Content Sales Web Site Content updates Tech support /billing Google Found! Direct Referral Customers Customers Hos1ng reseller
Web Design Sells Web Design?
Marke1ng and
design crea1on Hos1ng Coding Hos1ng
Best Prac1ces for Design / Coding Hos1ng reseller Marke1ng Content Client or Marketer Backend stuff ecommerce other func1onality Verio / Network Solu1ons / Go Daddy Hos1ng reseller Non‐specific hosts sites can be hosted anywhere & easily moved start Old paradigm of selling the sizzle = frequent updates and redesigns = more $$$ Marke1ng and design crea1on Page‐specific SEO Keyword stuffing/ doorway pages etc.
Links SEO Analy1cs Content Design CMS Hos1ng Drupal Word Press Joomla Sales Web Site Modified Custom Free $$$ $$ $ Startup Cost = budget Free O.S. Content Manager
• Leverages OS plug‐ins
• frequent updates
• largest install base.
• low cost of ownership
Long term support For CMS / hos1ng Google Found! Social Networking Sites Push Content Direct Referral Customers Customers Customers Client or Marketer Hos1ng reseller
easy intermediate advanced
Training and support
CMS - Sells Hosting & Keeps Clients
Marke1ng and design crea1on / off‐page SEO work start Design in these FW Migrate Design to FW New paradigm of selling control = lower cost of ownership
Market Shifts in Web Design and CMS
Summary
o All web sites must have some kind of content management
o CMS – Provides these advantages: • Long term client retention
• Client empowerment
• Instant updates of content and functionality
• Look and feel changes on the fly using CSS controlled designs
Open source solutions like Word Press, Joomla & Drupal allow developers to leverage the open source community - improved functionality, testing and security for free. Very low startup costs and cost of ownership.
Web designers and coders become framework integrators, while still maintaining control over the applications as well as creative look and feel.
Contact Informa0on
Peter Wattles Owner
Loring Web Services
url: h9p://www.loringllc.com/
email: [email protected]
Mark Ossenfort
Use of Video – Tell Your Story
Tell your story within 60 seconds
o Introduction video
• More than one!
Go deeper
o Detailed videos
Why bother?
Alright – now
how much
?!
Now – how do
I
do this?
Website presentation
o Web page placement
Do not forget about your company!
Media - CMS
Video
o
YouTube and Vimeo – customers go outside/away of you
oNot simple for most companies
o
There will only be MORE video content
Audio
o
Messages/Teaching/Training
oAudio Blogging
Pictures
o
How are you currently handling this?
Open Source Solutions?
Keep It Simple! – KISS
Minimal first page
Use video to tell your story
o You can tell more in less time
Less animation – up front
Think like a store in a shopping mall
Like your visitors
o Make it a simple and clean experience
Help visitors focus on what you want them to
o Too many distractions and ‘show off’ items??
Remember repeat visitors
Contact Informa0on
Mark Ossenfort Owner
Crossroads Media
url: www.crossroadsmedia.us
email: [email protected]
