Don’t Let Your IT Department Hold Your Website Hostage

Posted on May 28, 2010 in , Search Marketing

sstn30lAs an internet marketing consultant, I have had a lot of experience working with the world’s IT departments. Having a good IT department is so important – these guys will keep your company running from day to day. Respect what they know and how they can help you. But, also recognize that bringing the IT department into your website marketing decisions is a really bad idea. This is one of the biggest mistakes made by Fortune 500 companies and small businesses alike. It happens when decision-makers don’t understand the difference between IT skills and marketing/internet expertise.

Here are some ways that misusing your IT department can negatively impact your business.

Wannabe Marketers

The worst decision a business can make is to involve the IT department in making marketing decisions. IT folks get into a very powerful position in a business, especially if they have worked there for a long time. It’s awful to see these guys leverage their position to hurt a business’s SEO and PPC goals. The worst scenario is when the IT department pretends to know SEO and PPC, and influences decisions that affect the business’s overall marketing and sales strategies. That’s when we know that a client is not going to win online.

Paranoid Hosting Practices

I always strongly recommend that websites be hosted off corporate networks. Keeping websites in the dark where the Google rankings sun does not shine can kill a business. Furthermore, multilingual websites should be hosted locally (in the target market) for SEO benefits. I have seen so many paranoid IT folks who will not let their websites be hosted in the right location in the name of “security.” I always point the IT department toward the best hosting solutions under the sun (and moon). They refuse to move things because, for them, control and security have become synonyms. The funny thing is that their “secure” hosting is often easier to hack into than taking candy from a kid.

Clunky CMS Syndrome

I did a post on why many websites don’t need a CMS, which was very well received. However, when a CMS is needed, it’s important to keep it simple. Instead, I’ve seen IT folks  either create their own Frankenstein CMS or run a 3- to 4-year-old version of an open-source CMS system. I am stunned to see how many IT guys never bother to update anything, while someone non- IT like myself has to shake them into action. Example: One genius was running a 4-year-old version of a CMS that did not have provisions to put a unique meta tags on each page of their website! Guess what: 500 pages with the EXACTLY the same title tag and meta description/keywords on every page… you could smell Google success from a mile away (NOT).

Priorities

It’s a rare day when IT guys are not playing superhero and saving your company from a complete tech meltdown disaster. On the other hand, internet marketing revolves around consistent and sometimes urgent updates to content, title and meta tags, 301 redirects, sitemaps, etc. Scenario: Your IT guy is working on the following right now: updating system-wide VPN security; troubleshooting email problems, Blackberry and iPhone hiccups; setting up workstations for 15 new employees; plus, the CEO’s laptop caught fire during the morning meeting. What does this mean for your list of internet marketing tasks? In our world, it means that it will take our client 5 months to implement something we could have had done in 7 days all because Mr. IT was too busy, and too paranoid to have some “outsider” access the servers. Sadly, “better late then never” does not apply to internet marketing!

Remember, your IT folks are responsible for three main things: support, security and standards compliance. They are not internet marketing people, which is actually a good thing. Please don’t mess up your web presence and marketing strategy by putting them in charge of something they are not supposed to be doing.

Here is how you take charge.

Fix the IT disaster in your organization in three easy steps.

  1. Set Your Website Free.
    Release your website from clutches of IT. There are some stellar hosting options that offer better security than the Department of Defense! Stop buying the “security threat” BS. It’s 2010, and nobody is 100% secure. A reliable hosting environment that affords access to your search marketing team will give you the best of both worlds: security and effective online marketing.
  2. Marketing Owns The Website
    Marketing department should take over your website and online marketing initiatives. IT department is not be be bothered to implement changes. If your marketing department does not want to take responsibility  you can either fire them or hire  someone who can offer you basic website IT services to back up your marketing department.
  3. Set Goals and Prosper.
    Set goals, control and monitor analytics, and start making some moves on the search engines. Grow rankings and conversions NOW, without letting the IT guys stand in your way.

Evisionary’s Top 10 Posts in 2009: Did You Catch Them All?

Posted on December 27, 2009 in Analytics, Hospitality & Travel, Online Branding, Search Engine News, Search Marketing, Website Design & Usability

With 2009 coming to an end, it’s a good time to round up the top 10 posts of the year. Here are the posts that were most read, discussed, and emailed in ’09:

  1. If Your Hotel Booking Engine Sucks… It’s Time to Wake Up!
  2. Google Analytics vs. Omniture
  3. Using Facebook Business Pages to Promote Your Brand
  4. Google Brand Update 2009: Vince Flushes the Cesspool
  5. Top 5 Reasons Not to Put Music on Your Website
  6. Top 10 Ways to Boost User Confidence in Your Website
  7. The End of the SEO Rankings Era, aka The Rise of the Universal-Social-Mobile Search Trinity
  8. Social Media Disaster Aversion Program (How Not to Ruin Your Reputation)
  9. Top 10 Funny Blunders From Multilingual Marketing Campaigns 
  10. Reasons Not to Have Your Website Designed in Flash

We plan to send some awesome content your way in 2010, so stay tuned!

Happy New Year!

Reasons Not to Have Your Website Designed in Flash

Posted on November 22, 2009 in , Website Design & Usability

noflashI have been asked to comment on this topic on many different occasions by many different sets of people (managers, owners, students, and conference/lecture attendees). Here is my list of reasons for not using Flash to build out your website.

Bad for Search Engines and Rankings

Although Flash websites are now starting to be indexed by Google, Flash can never match the superior ease of use that HTML tags have to offer. Search engine robots love simple websites, as it saves them time and energy. (Remember: Google pays the electric bill for sending bots to your sites, so efficient, quick-to-read sites are always better for them.) In fact, Google has just announced that they will consider website load time (the time it takes for a website to load up) as one of the factors for ranking in 2010.

I know that some designers say they can design “highly efficient” websites in Flash. But at the end of the day, there is no match for a simple HTML website.

Sets You Up for Mobile Failure

Smartphones like iPhone, Blackberry and Droid are surging in both popularity and usage. But here’s your moment of Zen: Mobile web browsers not only have no Flash support, but it’s almost impossible to pull up your Flash website on a Smartphone due to the lack of bandwidth signal and processing power. (It’s a phone, not a supercomputer!) There’s no point investing in a flashy websites if it is not available to your mobile audience. You’ll have to shell out extra money for a mobile version of your site; until you do that, you’ll be alienating your savvy mobile web users.

Not Good for the Planet!

I like to use the phrase “green browsing” to describe someone who is surfing the web efficiently by consuming less power, internet bandwidth and time. Flash websites take longer to load and really stress your computer’s CPU, making it consume more electricity and bandwidth. Some informal studies have shown that we can conserve electricity by not enabling Flash on our browsers. Even if you are not a die-hard environmentalist, it’s something to consider. While browsing Flash websites, you are consuming more power, Internet bandwidth, and more of your time! Now think of the time wasted globally while people everywhere wait for Flash-heavy websites to load….oh, the humanity!

Usability Disaster!

Poorly designed Flash websites (of which there are way too many) are missing some basic usability elements. These issues can really annoy your website visitors. Here are some top ones:

  1. One URL. If the entire website is one URL, it’s impossible to bookmark or track with analytics.
  2. Back button missing. Always makes for a bad web browsing experience.
  3. Fixed fonts. This means users cannot adjust fonts, which is especially bad for visually challenged visitors.
  4. Too edgy. Reinventing everything can alienate traditional users.
  5. Long loading time. Cannot be streamed like a video, so users have to wait for the load (or give up and leave).

The Horror of Splash and Intro Pages

Flash is the reason we all have to endure the horror of  splash and intro pages on websites. The amount of time the world has spent locating and then clicking the “skip intro” button should be documented for posterity. And for those geniuses who want to offer a Flash and non-Flash version of your website: please be aware that the longer you take to deliver your content to the web user, the more chance you have of losing their attention. I hope that someday “Flash Intro” pages end up in the internet museum of bad ideas.

Makes Content Consumption and Sharing a Challenge

A Flash website makes it harder for users to share and consume your content. Simple things like copy-and-paste, or changing fonts & sizes do not work. Right click, screen readers for disabled users, and keyword shortcuts are all useless on Flash websites. Content should be something you are eager to share with your website visitors. Don’t make it impossible for a visitor to paste your address into Google maps or copy good content and send it to another potential customer.

I hope that the points I’ve outlined above will encourage my readers to go out and seek simpler, less flashy websites. I encourage all of you to put emphasis on the content. That’s what your visitors are looking for.

5 Reasons Not to Put Music on Your Website

Posted on November 2, 2009 in , Website Design & Usability

No Music, PleasePutting music on a website is a cringe factor we continually deal with in our web development and consulting business. The web is a great place to be creative, but some creative types forget all about usability when implementing their vision.

Here is my list of usability (common sense) reasons not to put music on your website:

  1. It’s not 1999. This music on websites business was a pretty big deal when the “Interweb” (internet) was in its infancy. Now that the web is all grown up, the  idea of putting music on a website is passé and will make your website appear older than it is.
  2. You’re wasting bandwidth. Why slow down the entire site? Adding music files increases your website’s load time. Some may argue that in the world of high-speed internet it really does not matter. But I disagree. Anything you can do to increase your website’s efficiency – and avoid trying the patience of potential visitors – should be considered. Every millisecond counts. Think like the Olympic swimmers and competitive cyclists who strive to shave off every extra millisecond to set new performance records.
  3. You’ll alienate visitors who are on the job. The majority of web browsing is done at work. This fact alone is a major caution against putting music on your website. The last thing you want is for a visitor to regret that they dared to visit your website because you surprised them with an annoying song that alerted your coworkers or your boss of your activities.
  4. You can’t please everyone. Your website is serving many different users, each with their own music tastes. You can’t make everyone happy with a website. Adding music only serves to further segment your web users into those who like the music, and those who don’t enjoy it or understand how it fits with your content. Some people may just plain hate the music you have chosen and never return as a visitor/customer. Simply not worth it.
  5. If it was a good idea, iTunes would be doing it. iTunes is the world’s best known brand selling music online. Guess what? There is no music on their website. You can click to sample anything in their entire library, but when you are on the iTunes home page, it stays silent. I rest my case.

Emily Dickinson said it best-  “Saying nothing…sometimes says the most.”

Social Media Disaster Aversion Program (How Not to Ruin Your Reputation)

Posted on October 23, 2009 in , Social Media Marketing

zippermouthSocial Media “Gurus” have thrown out some tremendous statistics illustrating how everyone needs to embrace social media in order to succeed. As a result, one business after another is jumping on the social media boat and drifting away into the unknown. For those lost at sea, here is a disaster aversion plan that might help you save face. (And by the way, these are all things your mother told you.)

LESSON #1: Stop Trying To Be Edgy (Mind Your Manners)

Acting out your frat boy fantasies is not going to help you with social media marketing. Just because one risqué iPhone app did well with the masses doesn’t mean your saucy approach is a good idea. You need to remember that you are dealing with a diverse group of people in Social Media Land, approximately half of which are women.

Women deserve respect, which should be a part of our upbringing. If you’ve reached adulthood and you still think you can get away with offending women, you have missed some important lessons. For now, suffice it to say that they are very active in the social media/app world.

Pepsi, a billion-dollar company, just pulled out its “AMP Up Before You Score” app.  Let this be a lesson to you: don’t kill your marketing apps on the altar of “edginess.”

Pepsi Model:
iPhone App Development: $100,000
Marketing “Gurus” Who Approved It: 250,000
Cost of Damage to Brand Image: Priceless!

LESSON #2: Don’t Go There…

There are some brand suicide areas you need to avoid. No matter what your Guru is telling you, stay away from PRRGNS = Politics, Religion, Race, Gender, Nationality, Sexuality. These topics have always been a house of pain, and can quickly throw things severely out of your control. Remember, brand building and controversy usually don’t go hand in hand. Once damage is done by commenting on one of these forbidden topics, there is usually nothing you can say or do to make it better.

LESSON #3: The Thumper Rule

For those of you who need remedial Disney, this means, “If you can’t say something nice…don’t say anything at all.” Personal attacks and negativity will always make you look like a child, so resist the urge to go Ape Shitake (Thanks, Guy) on someone. Take time to think before you type. Twitter and Facebook are not going to shut down in the next five minutes, so please relax and clear your mind before responding with negativity. Going code red on every comment you receive is only going to increase the risk of untimely death for you.

LESSON #4: Don’t Give In to Peer Pressure

Just because you have a friend or competitor engaging in various types of social media, that doesn’t mean you need to jump in. The important question is: Do you have something to say?
Answer = YES: Go ahead…Make my day. Start tweeting right now!
Answer = NO: Please get back to working on real world things, like improving your business to a level at which you do have something to say. Once you establish how you are different from everyone else, guess what? You will be ready to join the social media revolution.

LESSON #5: Don’t Waste Your Time!

Don’t you have some real work to do? Twitter and Facebook can be good tools, but put some limits on the time you spend there. Tweeting and Facebooking away your entire day makes your personal and professional life suffer. Your time is valuable – make sure you are allocating your time where it counts the most, and not getting wrapped up in endless social media spirals.