5 Critical Things You MUST Ask Your Web designer

March 28, 2011 By 12 Comments


Web design is big business. Every company out there seems to need a website.

At Jontus Media we are often approached by independent consultants looking to develop their web-presence. Either they already have an existing website or are looking to invest some of their precious marketing budget in a new site.

When new clients approach us we always get them to complete a detailed form that, amongst other things, asks them to define their business goals, target audience, and key value proposition(s). Our aim is to understand the client’s needs as much as possible so we can tailor the work to their specific needs. We then discuss this with the client and outline in writing exactly what we will deliver.

Recently there have been a spat of approaches from small businesses with an existing website looking to make the transition from a site that a friend (amateur) has done or they’ve run into problems with their previous designer.

A Lack of Understanding

One of the problems we face is that clients don’t always understand the amount of work that goes into developing a successful web presence. Because a friend or family member has created something that they thought worked quite well, they get a shock when we identify a stack of weaknesses when we audit the site prior to making a bid for the work.

Often we come across problems with SEO, a lack of back-up facilities as well as more specific design issues relating to conversion.

It amazes me just how many consultants have no idea, in particular, about Search Engine Optimization or how it’s necessary to back up a website.

Personally, I believe it’s a designer’s or agency’s duty to address these issues from the outset. What goes on under the graphic interface of a webpage is just as important. Google doesn’t distinguish between an ugly design or an outstanding one; but it does reward good code.

So in this week’s podcast I talk about 5 critical things to discuss with a prospective web designer – particularly if you’re a solo entrepreneur or consultant:

  • Business goals
  • Conversion strategies
  • SEO
  • Back-ups, performance optimization
  • Google Analytics (data)

Resources mentioned:

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Filed Under: design, Podcast Tagged With: , , , , ,

The Most Crucial Thing to Remember When Building a New Website

March 1, 2011 By 3 Comments

Dear Business Owner,
Please do me a favour and think for a minute before you go out and hire a web designer to create a spanking new website for you.

Don't let design wag the dog!

Time and time again I come across businesses who, together with designers, have got carried away with the branding, the look and feel of a site, without actually thinking strategically about how it will work with the content you’re going to create in the future.

After you ask yourself:

  • What do we want the website to achieve?
  • What key function will it have in helping our business achieve our goals?

You need to think about the content you’ll be creating:

  • Is there space in your new design for new stuff?
  • Will you be able to easily add new, varied forms of content (think audio, video, slide decks, etc) without having to go back to your designer and ask for help, which will cost you?
  • Do you understand how to juggle around things like newsletter sign-ups, call-outs and widgets?
  • Do you have splash or squeeze pages optimzied to achieve your goals?
  • Can you make tweaks to the site for split-testing, again, without having to go back to your designer?

It’s so important you don’t tie yourself into a set-up which will require you to go back to your designer every time you want to tweak your content.

As someone that deals with online content marketing on a daily basis I want you to try and think about your goals, the content that will help you achieve those goals and then where the design fits in.

It’s not that I’m saying design isn’t important. On the contrary, it’s an essential part of delivering your content. But just don’t let the tail wag the dog, because if you do you could end up with the equivalent of an online white elephant!

Why not talk to us?

Want a new website that looks good and is a great platform for your content marketing as you go forward? Email or call Jon.

Filed Under: content marketing, design Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Why Your Web Designer is Ruining Your Business

February 25, 2011 By 8 Comments

As I said in yesterday’s video, I’ve been thinking about Landing Pages most of this week. The kind of page that encourages you to book an appointment, purchase a product, elicit leads for follow up or requests for more information about your services.

My concern comes from the many small businesses, in particular, that I talk to who just don’t get how important this kind of page is.

Is your funnel smoking?

Case Study

A friend worked hard to increase their overall traffic to their site. They’ve done well in a relatively short period of time, increasing unique visitors to the site by 60 percent since the autumn. They’ve achieve this primarily through content marketing: three blog posts per week, a daily presence on Twitter and the launch of a weekly podcast.

In spite of the significant increase of traffic only just under 4 percent of overall visitors are making it to the landing page – a page where the business is selling a worthwhile and extremely professionally put together product.

Although I don’t know the exact figure, I do know that conversion on the landing page itself is also poor and the business owner is beginning to wonder whether the whole venture is worth it.

Shoot the Designer

My instinctive response to this having seen the site, even though I’m not a designer myself (the other guys handle that!) is that although it’s very nice to look at with some great branding it so doesn’t work hard enough to make a sale.

The key problems are as follows:

  1. There’s no clear channel for visitors to homepage to get to the landing page. Sure, it’s there. But you need eagle eyes to spot it.
  2. The call-to-action on the homepage, despite being above the fold and smack in the middle of the screen, doesn’t have a link to the landing page! The link is one a button “hidden” underneath the call out image (Buscall exits to bash himself over the head in astonishment!)
  3. When / If you get to the landing page itself, the page doesn’t work hard enough to convince you to make the purchase. The call-out for the sale comes as a jolt immediately after you arrive on the page, without building any trust or persuading you why you need the product. You don’t even get to “see” or “demo” the product.

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Filed Under: design, marketing Tagged With: , , , ,

How Are Your Landing Pages ?

February 24, 2011 By 3 Comments

I‘ve had landing pages on my mind this week so instead of scribbling a post about it I got out the video camera and grabbed a minute after dropping Mr Teen off at Danderyds sjukhus.


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Filed Under: design

If You Don’t Audit Now, Your Visitors Will Leave You

February 9, 2011 By 7 Comments

When was the last time your website had a good seeing to? No, not that kind of seeing to; I mean a website audit.

Here at Jontus Media we believe every business should periodically review their website. You might do this annually, or maybe quarterly. A lot depends on the resources you have available.

You are NOT your audience

Every successful communication activity has a distinct awareness of its target audience at its very core. But when we’re actively building a website or business blog, producing daily content in a variety of formats, it can be quite easy to lose sight of what first time visitors might experience.

Now whether you get someone on your team (or yourself if you’re a solo business) to conduct the audit or hire an agency to do it, I personally believe you need to make sure your audit should focus on five key elements:

Design

Does the site still reflect the brand? Does it reflect and enhance what you’re trying to achieve. Is the overall site design dated (like all those web 2.0 style sites that are steadily ageing!)?
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Filed Under: design