SEO 101

Everyone involved in creating a website should understand the basics of search engine optimization, including the designer. That being said, SEO is not some secret sauce you pour on your website that will make you rich. All it does is help people find you.

I like to work with organizations that are honest and truthful about what they offer. Turns out, that is the best start for good SEO. On the nascent internet of the turn of the century, you could game search engines by stuffing meta tags with repeating search terms. Those days are long gone, and search engines actually work very well now.

As with all marketing, the most important task is to identify your target audience. Who are you talking to? Write your content with a specific visitor in mind. You are better off with one hit from someone truly interested in your business than 100 hits from people who are not prospects. As you craft your message, use words that your target audience will be searching for. Don't be boring! People are not looking for a string of keywords, they are looking for a connection. Show that you understand who they are.

Now, make sure that your page titles and your headings contain keywords that define the essence of your organization. Words in these places carry more weight with search engines, and are also seen by visitors before they read the paragraphs.

One of the best ways to raise your ranking is to have other reputable websites link to yours. This is also the hardest to accomplish. You must have relevant content and take the initiative to ask other websites to add a link to yours. It also helps to have links on your website to reputable outside sources.

Website structure with short, clean URLs and a sitemap are also helpful. For more details, this is a great article: http://blog.kissmetrics.com/seo-guide/

The Law of Focus

I am revisiting a book I read called The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing. The law that I think is most important, and the one I keep emphasizing to my students, is the law of focus. The more narrowly you can define your audience, the more effective your marketing will be. If you can give your ideal customer a name and a story, you have started to personalize your marketing (thank you Anderson Wiese @2wav for introducing me to this process). Focus also applies to what your business offers.

"The essence of marketing is narrowing the focus. You become stronger when you reduce the scope of your operations. You can’t stand for something if you chase after everything.”

—Al Ries & Jack Trout, The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing

The authors suggest owning a word. For example, Volvo owns “safety.” Crest owns “cavities.” Coke owns “cola.” Many of their examples are now dated, and refer to only fortune 500 companies. I think that smaller companies can also benefit from focus. Stake out your niche and own it. Become the best of class in your narrowly defined category. What word are you going to own?

It occurred to me that most of my clients consider themselves best in class. I work for the best water treatment company in the Chicago area. And the best mediator in Illinois. And the best farmland auction company in the Midwest. And the best independent gynecologist in the region. And the best state university in the country. It is this drive to be the best that makes attention to every detail essential. That includes professional design. You know when something looks well-designed, even if you don’t have the words to explain exaclty why.

The book presents a lot of ideas that are counter-intuitive, and I like that. The authors suggest that presenting reasons that your brand is better won’t work as well as creating a new category and being the only choice. What is the one thing that only you can provide? That is where your marketing focus should be.

The Psychology of Color in Marketing and Branding

A friend sent me this link to the FastCo article about choosing color for logos. I am including the infographics here. The original article has an introduction and additional links.

The Dictionary of Brand by Marty Neumeier

Wow, just found this beautiful little book (thanks Alfredo Muccino of Liquid Agency) presented on SlideShare. Simple and to the point. It explains branding concepts in the form of a dictionary, with lovely illustrations. I wish I could get this book in print.

Opportunities in Social Media Marketing

Social media has created an opportunity for companies to connect with their customers on a more personal level than ever before. Useful Social Media has compiled a series of articles identifying how businesses can best take advantage of social media trends to improve marketing strategies.

Mass advertising is losing efficacy as consumers begin to demand more engagement from companies. Traditional “push” marketing now has a response rate below 2%. But brute force isn’t necessary with social media marketing, which creates “pull” markets of self-identified customers who seek interaction. Now businesses can receive comments directly from customers and style marketing strategies to target individuals rather than demographics.

These consumers are not interested in just coupons and deals. They want content, information, and conversation. Twitter has become the venue for customers to engage companies, allowing for immediate, public discourse. Not only does this communication provide invaluable feedback, but a thoughtful and prompt response increases brand advocacy among all viewers.

Effective communication requires company-wide coordination. Because customers want to have a conversation, businesses need to respond to comments with a consistent and human voice. Customer relationship management (CRM) systems keep track of individual customer interactions and distribute it to all employees and departments, eliminating the alienating “selective memory” effect. A comment alert system and clearly defined roles for social media representatives will lead to quick and relevant responses.

Over time social media may produce a daunting amount of unstructured data. But its precise nature allows marketing tailored to individuals and the ability to anticipate future needs of consumers. Analytic tools exist to help businesses organize social media data.

Developing a new social media community takes time and commitment, and results may come slowly. Staying active in the community is essential. Customers will return only if interesting, relevant content continues to appear. Communities should be built on transparency and trust, and with clearly defined goals in mind.

Where Do Quality Typefaces Come From?

You may not have heard of them, but you have seen their work everywhere. For over 25 years Jonathan Hoefler and Tobias Frere-Jones have designed typefaces for the world's most iconic brands, publications, and even candidates.

Named one of America's forty most influential designers by I.D. Magazine, Jonathan Hoefler has produced original typefaces for publication giants including Rolling Stone, Harper's Bazaar, and Sports Illustrated. He opened The Hoefler Type Foundry in New York City in 1989 and partnered with Tobias Frere-Jones ten years later. He has since broken new ground in type technology by producing Hoefler Text, a typeface designed for Apple Computer that automatically incorporates complex typographic features.

Honored for his innovation in type design by The Royal Academy of Art, Tobias Frere-Jones has produced over 700 typefaces since earning his BFA in 1992. Among his world-famous clients are The New York Times and The Boston Globe. He worked for 7 years as Senior Designer at Font Bureau, Inc. in Boston before partnering with Jonathan Hoefler in 1999. His experimental designs draw worldwide acclaim, and are permanently featured at The Museum of Modern Art in New York and The Victoria and Albert Museum in London.

During their partnership (which has ceased as of January 2014), the two produced some of the most ubiquitous typefaces of our time. Keep an eye out for it and you'll likely spot Archer the next time you flip through a magazine. You've probably seen more than one blockbuster movie use Gotham for its title. And you may even recognize Whitney as the "museum font."

A well-chosen typeface can evoke as much interest from consumers as the text itself. That's why smart companies trust professionals to design with typefaces that lend quality and credibility to their marketing.