Simplify the Web

Most people don't know how to design websites.

There are millions of people who know how to make a website, but very few who know how to design one. Because that's true, two new industries exist:

• the pay-per-click advertising industry
• the search engine optimization industry

In the early days of the web, before the search engine became the primary mode of transportation for surfers, big businesses noticed something odd. They weren't listed at the top of the search results, despite being the biggest player in their industry. Rather than working on their websites so that they were ranked appropriately, they paid the search engines to prominently place their ads instead. They took a shortcut, and it paid off. Of course, they had the money to throw around.

In the not-quite-so-early days of the web, businesses with less money and more sense decided that they'd work on their websites. They were being smart. They hired people to add code to their websites so they could be ranked appropriately...or, in many cases, inappropriately. They took a shortcut and 'gamed the system' and were ranked well despite not deserving it. They were later punished for taking shortcuts.

The search engines finally got it together and changed their ranking systems so that unscrupulous webmasters couldn't bend the rules. They created new algorithms that would only include relevant ranking criteria and they gave different weight to different elements of a web page. They were being smart.

Flash forward to the future. Thousands of people make a living from this seemingly never-ending dance. They charge substantial fees for their services because they're experts...and because, without their help, most folks would never be found on the web. A single page can be optimized for search traffic at a rate between $100 and $5000 per page (depending on how competitive your industry is)...and that's not a one-time process. It's a recurring charge! Unfortunately, most of what they do is also a shortcut. It pays off for them, but not for you.

I have good news for you, small business owner. I have good news for you, non-profit director. You don't need to pay an SEO specialist to reach your goals!

If your website is designed with valid and standards-compliant HTML or XHTML, uses server-side includes, uses CSS extensively, and has reasonably decent content, you've got a good website. If your website doesn't make use of those things, you probably don't have a good website. I'm not talking about how pretty it is...some of the best-looking websites are the worst at helping you reach your goals.

Here's how to succeed on the web:

1. Write compelling content
2. Surround it with a good-looking design
3. Use great code to turn your content and design into a web page
4. Review your content regularly to make sure it's up to date and well-written
5. Measure your website's traffic and, if you want more, write content to attract them.

That's 90% or more of a great website. Sure, I could talk about user interaction, information architecture, accessability, and xml schemas...but that's the icing on the cake. The cake itself is as easy as pie.

Need help with your website? Yeah, we can help.

A question often asked when speaking with someone who wants a new site or a refresh of an old design is "how long will it take to get this up and running?" It's a pretty straight forward process, however, some people don't think about it, so here's a simple guide to help you get your site up and running quickly.

1. Have an Idea

There are plenty of people that can make a website today. But can they make YOUR website. Your site will ultimately reflect on you as a busines and/or individual. Don't let someone tell you how they think your site should be, keep in mind what you like. Ultimately it's your decision and you should only seek what you like and not have to settle on anything.

That doesn't mean you shouldn't be flexible. Understand that a good designer will ask questions and will give you advise on how best to structure your site for best results and optimal results in SERPs (search engine result pages). Someone who doesn't ask you for more info probably shouldn't be helping you, you'll only extend the process that much more.

2. Know Your Content

Before or shortly after the design process starts you should have your content ready. Your content impacts your design, just like print in a newspaper. If you have a lot of images, that could impact how the designers builds the site and its look. Without knowing what you want to say, the site will only take longer.

A new site can't be launched without its content, and unless you're using some service that already has the content pre-packaged for you (which is website suicide, as all the other clients they have would be saying the same thing and you'll only be lost in the mix), you should definitely know what you want to say. Even if it's short and sweet, something is better than nothing.

3. Be Prepared To Pay

This doesn't mean it's expensive, it only means that asking a designer to start on something without an upfront payment is not the norm in the industry. Most will have you pay something upfront and then pay the rest throughout the whole process, usually a lump sum in the end. Don't think you are going to be special.

If you approach the project with expectations of not going to pay until delivered, then you'll be waiting a long time. Money talks, be prepared to speak.

4. Keep The Kreep At Bay

One of the biggest problems with new site owners or revamps is Scope Kreep. Coming up with ideas on the fly will only slow down the process to get your site online. Be upfront about your ideas and let them make it online. You can always add more afterwards and make corrections as needed, but waiting for a perfect site with all of your expectations will take longer and ultimately keep you from being found.

5. Know Your Vertical

If someone is helping you with your content and optimizing it for the Search Engines, then knowing your content and your vertical is huge. Anyone can optimize for anything on any page, but that doesn't mean it will help you in the end. Know your clients. Know your industry. With that then you will know what keywords would be useful to include in your content, otherwise you'll spend a lot of time trying to come up with content that will only take longer for you to deploy.

Ultimately it's up to you to make sure your site moves along in design and development. Designers will do what they are told to do, if they are told to use their artistic freedom to come up with something that represents you as a person without any direction, they'll do just that, but it will take a long time. Work WITH your design hand in hand. Know that as he/she is working on your look and feel, you are working on your message and what you want to do. Without it, you will only wait longer for it all to come together.

Let's face it, there are tons of shops out there that are willing to write any number of websites for you. They are more than willing to step up and even write the content for you. Are you sure you should allow that?

When we talk about being found on the Internet, we talk about your content. Your website should visually reflect who you are, but it should reflect who you are in the content as well! You know who your demographic is, who your choice customers are, so why would you leave the content, the message you're trying to tell the world, up to a company that doesn't know who you are?

We hear a lot of people state that they don't know what it is they should write or how they should write it on their sites. Then they ask us to write it for them. There are plenty of content writers on the Internet, and if you want to get a ton of traffic about a said topic that doesn't reflect you as a company, feel free. However, if you take a bit of time to think through what you want to convey, then all you need is someone to help you optimize that content.

You should make the effort to build your site to represent who you are and make sure that your site doesn't get in its own way with poor code, the rest is just details!

If you don't know about A List Apart, you've been missing out. They're a group of web professionals who know - in my opinion - more about the web than any other group of web professionals. I read most of their articles, and learn something valuable virtually every time.

They're also the creators of one of the most important surveys for web professionals in the past 100 years. That's right...it's a big deal. It's The Survey for People Who Make Websites 2008. If you haven't taken part in the survey, you should. Click the image below to go there. If you haven't seen the results of past surveys, you should. Click the image below to go there.

Click the image below to go there.

There still seems to be a popular opinion that websites need to have Javascript enabled drop down menu trees in order to be successful. That's not the case. Mega Menus is what the term is used here in this article on Webmaster World. Seems Google can tell when you're stuffing your site with links, don't do it.

It's like we've said before, keep it simple and chances are you'll get it right. Keep your menus easy to understand with the most popular in your menus. Have a sitemap for the more obscure things like specific landing pages etc for Search Engine Optimization.

Ultimately, keeping your site simple and easy to read, both search engine friendly and user friendly, people will be able to get what you want to give them, information. Keep it simple, keep it real and you will find your site does more for you.

Mega Menu Article