Entries for month: October 2011
28 October 2011
On the Subject of Search: the Difference between SEO, SEM, and "Search"
Search… or do you mean SEO? SEM? S.O.S?
Many people instinctually use the words "search" and "search engine optimization" interchangeably. This isn't wrong, necessarily, but it doesn't allow for the wider range of meanings within the ever-expanding world of search.
SEO and SEM are fundamentally different marketing tools, and serve to organize, characterize, and make website content more easily found. Inbound marketing has opened a new door into the world of search that builds on the foundation these tools lay; content creation, link building, and social media are all now tangible aspects of search that can work in union with SEO and SEM to build your reputation online. However, when discussing search, the two biggest contenders are still SEO and SEM thanks to Google. Let me shed some light on the differences.
Search Engine Optimization
SEO is the most common buzzword in search and refers only to "organic search" efforts; that is, not pay-per-click (PPC). SEO means optimizing your website to make it "stronger." Strength is determined by keyword prevalence and relevance, and the optimization of on- and off-page elements. Best practices involve creating valuable website content, matching appropriate keywords to your topics, and assuring that you focus your efforts on the most relevant topics.
Accenture, a management consulting and technology
company, has their website organized into individual
pages that are each well-optimized for a specific keyword
related to a product or service. (Click to enlarge)
SEO is also not a short-term campaign, as SEM sometimes is. SEO campaigns start with initial foundation work – doing keyword research and optimizing your pages – but also requires on-going work that includes continuous research, measurement, analytics, and tweaks to constantly improve your site's relevance and thus strength.
For startups or new websites, SEO takes time to be recognized by Google and other search engines. The length of time a website is live, as well as the number of pages of keyword optimized content influence how you are ranked. In these cases, it can take a while for Google to consider your website strong enough to be ranked along your potential competitors.
The most important aspect of SEO is: Ensuring your website optimizes valuable content to strengthen your site and improve the quality and frequency of traffic.
Search Engine Marketing (SEM)
SEM refers to paid search: PPC campaigns through Google AdWords, and social media advertising through Facebook and LinkedIn. These campaigns are often segmented and differentiated, meaning that each keyword will engender a specific set of ads that are served up each time someone does a search query for that keyword, or a similar keyword, in Google. These ad groups target a certain keyword or placement that triggers the appearance of your ad.
A Google search for "rain boots" reveals the PPC campaigns
for that keyword of several large shoe companies,
including Zappos and DSW. (Click to enlarge)
SEM is advertising using keywords; it works to promote companies and products on search engine result pages (SERPS). SEM incorporates all of the keyword research and optimization done to improve your website in SEO and combines these elements with paid placement and inclusion.
The most important aspect of SEM is: Targeting appropriate keywords to find the best places on SERPS and sponsored Google pages to place advertisements, and to use these advertisements in conjunction with SEO campaigns.
Categories: Brand / Marketing · Web / Interactive
Posted by Paul Regensburg at 9:29 AM | 1 Comment
21 October 2011
5 Starter Tips for Mobile Design
As the mobile channel advances toward its tipping point, we are all learning best practices for mobile design, which are not always consistent with web design. Here are 5 key points to keep in mind with your mobile sites.
1. Simplify design
The best way to first approach a mobile design is to think, "simplify." Two big initial considerations are size and speed: mobile browsers, while getting faster, can still be irritatingly slow, and are only made slower by large files and sizeable amounts of content to load.
Additionally, with smaller screens comes less real estate for you to utilize. Branding becomes increasingly important here, because you really need to strip your content to its most basic purpose, and carefully choose and place elements to represent yourself in such a small space.
Some companies, like Spotify, a music
streaming service, really take the mantra
"less is more" to heart in their mobile design.
This isn't to say that it has to sacrifice design for functionality, just that the two need to live harmoniously. In fact, designing for mobile is a new challenge that invokes creativity in designers.
To see how each brand approaches mobile design, visit the gallery Mobile Awesomeness, which features good and bad mobile designs for inspiration.
2. Use a Single-Column Layout
The single-column layout works hand-in-hand with design simplicity. On a mobile device, many users are scrolling or flipping between landscape and portrait mode, so the easiest way to maintain user-friendly navigation is to keep it all in line: one line, that is. Similarly, when designing a mobile version of your website, it is best to convert your navigation to a vertical, single-column layout. If you have a particularly content-heavy mobile site, use a collapsible navigation that allows users to open or hide particular content.
3. Re-think Visitor Paths By Examining Consumer Needs
A mobile site is not necessarily just a miniature version of the website. Part of re-defining your mobile navigation process is to evaluate why a customer might visit your site on a smartphone or tablet. Often, it is to use or research your products and services quickly. Mobile design should cut out unnecessary content and immediately deliver an easily discoverable path for the visitor.
Take for example Amtrak's mobile site versus their desktop site.
Amtrak's desktop design is a pretty evenly divided between: buying tickets and organizing a trip, conducting travel research, and offers and promotions. It is fair to assume that someone visiting from their computer could be looking into any of these things.
The company's mobile site, however, is much more straightforward, and assumes that the visitor is coming this way for one reason: to easily and efficiently map out a trip, right now. They eliminate the research portion and deals section to streamline the process according to consumer want, and make their mobile site a tool for the visitor to quickly accomplish this goal.
4. Think In "Taps" Instead of "Clicks"
One of the biggest physical usability differences here is that mobile design users tap where desktop users click. This means that small, numerous links on your website need to be revisited and reformatted as big, tap able buttons, yet another way to reconsider the content that is provided in each format. This also means that there is no option for hovering – a feature that is often used in desktop web design to reveal content.
5. Make Your Original Website Available
The best mobile designs allow for options, and sometimes visitors really do want to visit the original desktop website. Making it easy for them to access it represents best practices when it comes to mobile design.
Zatarain's, a supplier of New Orleans-style food products, smartly places their "view full site" link next to a newsletter sign-up call-to-action. While the link is in standard web formatting (more "clickable" than "tap able"), it is placed exactly where the visitor's eye would go to find the link: in the footer.
Categories: Web / Interactive
Posted by Paul Regensburg at 2:17 PM | 2 Comments
12 October 2011
What Is HTML5 and What Does it Mean for Web Design?
HTML5 is the current buzzword in the design world; what does it entail? Should we use it? What features can it provide?
HTML5 is the newest version of a standard language for presenting content on the Web, and is revolutionary in its features that simplify the incorporation of:
- Video
- Audio
- Fonts
- Graphics
- Animation
- Drag-and-drop
HTML5 makes content easily readable, and is backwards compatible, meaning your old website designs in previous versions of HTML will work the same. Essentially, the most visually important ramification of HMTL5 is that it will eliminate the need for Flash in video and graphic design aspects. As long as you're using an up-to-date browser once it officially launches, websites that use HTML5 won't require additional plug-ins to view content, making enhanced web browsing a more seamless user experience, no matter what device you use to access the Web.
That's right, no Flash, Silverlight, or Java.
Apple is certainly on this bandwagon, as every new Apple mobile device, Mac, and its Safari web browser supports HTML5 web standards, which are being developed by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). Since Apple denounced Flash, all of its iOS devices have been limited to "less heavy" websites. With the introduction of HTML5, tablets and mobile devices will be able to access previously inaccessible Flash-oriented content, such as a video on YouTube. The television industry is also working on ways to use HTML5 for media streaming and home networks.
Who is using it?
Pandora is the latest Internet bigwig to launch its redesign in HTML5 when it introduced "New Pandora" in late September. The personalized Internet radio site traded in Flash for HTML5 for the re-launch.
The Greenhouse, an environmental sustainability company, also has a nice HTML5 design that features graphics, videos, and photos.
Diablo Media uses HTML5 for its one-page website that has scrolling transitions and creative graphics.
Should your website be designed in HTML5?
Resources are already available to test HTML5 compatibility, specifically which browsers support HTML5. However, because not all browsers support it, redesigning your website in HTML5 now is premature. If you're on the line in considering a redesign and specifically want to utilize HTML5, wait a while on pulling the trigger. Consolidate a list of design elements you want to incorporate into a redesign, and use that to guide you. Ask:
1. Are there any elements of my redesign that I need or want HTML5 for specifically?
2. Am I OK with my website not being accessible to all web visitors?
3. Do I just want HTML5 because it seems like the hip new thing?
Maybe that last question isn't necessary, but take a look at what you want to accomplish in your redesign and how it aligns to HTML5 when considering the new language. W3C expects the standard to be final in two years and industry analyst ABI research recently estimated that 2.1 Billion HTML5 browsers will be on mobile devices by 2016.
What do you think of HTML5?
Categories: Web / Interactive
Posted by Paul Regensburg at 11:37 AM | 7 Comments
06 October 2011
Steve Jobs and John Lennon
I called my wife after leaving an after-work event to ask her to boil some water for the pasta. “I can’t believe… Steve Jobs,” she said in the middle of my request, having heard nothing.
The last time I felt like this was the day my best friend called to tell me John Lennon had been shot. We were living in New York then, just out of college. Lennon was a founding member of the soundtrack of my life, and was always a part of my world, even as his star had faded some. The next morning, in a silent vigil with over 100,000 people in Central Park, I shared the emptiness of not having his presence in the world, the only sound being the news helicopters circling overhead.
My feeling for Steve Jobs may be a bit less personal than it was for John Lennon, but I hold him in as much awe, respect and admiration. Maybe more. When I reflect on how one individual changed the world — across generations and cultures— in so many profound ways, I almost can’t wrap my mind around it. So much has been and will be written about Steve Jobs, which isn’t really my goal here. It’s just a bittersweet moment to reflect on human greatness and mortality. Both men died too young, both live on.
Categories: General
Posted by Paul Regensburg at 7:43 PM | 13 Comments
