Inbound Marketing Blog

The public relations business is always changing and evolving.

Not that long ago, experienced PR firms focused their efforts on television and print media. Using websites to reach a broader audience was barely a thought when the Internet was in its infancy.

Things have changed dramatically. Print media is on a downward trend – although it’s still a valuable PR tool – and reaching a wider audience through social and digital media has taken off like a rocket.

Unfortunately, just having a website to promote your brand isn’t going to be enough. Across the world, there are millions of companies vying to gain online attention, and possibly thousands of companies directly competing against you in your industry or an adjacent one.

How do you turn your website into an effective PR tool?

The foundation of a good website content strategy is an outline of the website pages, sometimes known as a sitemap. One of the most important aspects of creating this document is determining the items in the main website navigation menu.

Why is the website navigation menu important?

Did you know the human attention span is shorter than a goldfish’s?

Goldfish = 9 seconds

Humans= 6-8 seconds

Your website has a lot of work to do in a short amount of time.

Sometimes, business people think of their website as an ornament or an accessory. Everyone else seems to have one, so they decide to get one too.

They build the website—or they hire someone like us to build it—and once they have gone through it with a fine-tooth comb and analyzed all the minute details to make sure it is absolutely perfect, they take it "live." The average length of one of these website build projects is about 12-16 weeks, though sometimes it can last much, much longer.

After the site languishes on the internet for a year or two or five, these business owners might decide to update it. So they start from scratch (trends and user behaviors change a lot in half a decade). They throw away the old and start the whole 12-16 week process over. The new site goes live again and and sits for another stretch of time. And then the process starts all over again.

As you may have sensed already, there are some major problems with this approach to web design. Here are some things you should know about your website and what it means for your business.

Oh, this is fun. Two of my favorite things in one awesome title.

Okay, we, lamentably, aren't talking about food (the most perfect food) but we are actually talking about navigation on a website. You've seen it around… usually you'll see this menu structure in mobile views of your website but we are starting to see this more and more often in desktop views as well.

The real question is, "Do people know what these really are?"

I know, I know. That title makes it seem like I'm telling you that the only marketing agency you should hire are those where your budget will explode. But, that's not the case at all.

When shopping for web services (web design, web development, digital marketing, search engine optimization -- you get the idea), you might find it nearly impossible to compare providers. You'll have one provider that will build a website at $700, another at $7,000, and yet another at $17,000. You'll have an SEO provider suggest that they can get you all the business in the world for $100 per month but someone else might say that $1,000 is the minimum.

Over the years, I have thought a lot about the right way to offer web services to our clients. How should we make sure that we charge the right amount for the services that we offer?

As you think about web marketing, there are some key considerations for your online presence. 

Here are the top 10 things that I think you should make sure that your website design and marketing strategy includes. If your web developer can't provide all of these things... make sure that you find one who can. 

I hope you won’t be surprised when I tell you that, as a web designer, I like it when things look really, really good. What was that cheesy ‘80s commercial quote?

“If you don’t look good, we don’t look good.”

And since I have been a designer specializing in web design for more than a decade, I also really, really care that your site works well and makes sense for the end user. So when I say these things make me sad, I don’t mean I’m personally offended; I’m just bummed I don’t get to give you the best design to meet your objectives.

Here are a few things that will stand between you and the best possible web design, or at least prolong the process:

We've all seen those cliche stock photos floating around the internet, littering blog posts and low budget websites. It's time to stop. In case you have a hard time recognizing these awful pictures, here are some great examples.

Over the last decade, a new term has arrived in website design. That is "hero banner" or "hero image". 

I have noticed a few different ways that a hero banner has been defined. Some have defined it as a home page or a main call-to-action, but that's really not what it is. It is part of a home page (or other important landing pages) and should usually contain a phenomenal call-to-action. So, why should you be concerned with this aspect of design?