A guy walks into a Subway and orders a foot-long sandwich. For whatever reason, he puts down a ruler and sees his 12-inch Turkey and Swiss measures only 11 inches. Using his cell phone, he snaps a photo and before he can even start in on his lunch, that photo can be seen all across the globe. Is this a joke? Subway probably doesn’t think so. Not with the attention it got.

Have you seen this one? A Burger King employee decides to see if his shoe size is the same as the lettuce trays. (Actually, I don’t know the real reason for stomping on the lettuce, but I figure mine has to be at least as good as his.) Out comes the cell phone and in seconds an untold number of Burger King customers might be having second thoughts.

If you’re at all squeamish, you should skip this clip of pizza delivery boy; needless to say, you don’t want this guy delivering your pizza.

Moving from America’s Funniest to “Incontrovertible” Evidence

For whatever reason (I’ll leave it to the anthropologists to say why), people love sharing embarrassing moments—usually other people’s embarrassing moments. Everyone loves a good joke or a funny story. Only today we don’t have to tell the story, we can show the video clip. We can even win lots of money doing it. But what about the stories above? Definitely embarrassing, but hardly a joke. What may have started out as a video prank can quickly become video evidence.

Seeing Is Believing

The compelling thing about images and video clips is that the evidence is right in front of you. The ruler shows 11 inches. The guy is wearing a Burger King uniform. I can see it with my own eyes. It’s hard not to accept it as fact. Even our best evidence of Bigfoot is a video clip! Television news is always showing video clips from security cameras or from the cell phones of people who were on the scene. The guy at the bank? His picture should be enough to land him in jail. It should also prove effective in alerting his wife, family, and all his friends that he’s a criminal. This is a good thing, right? The ability to capture and share important facts?

 Judge, Jury, and Executioner

I’ll admit, I’m no expert on Constitutional Law (I learned most of what I know from School House Rock), but after reading Amendment VI, I’m wondering if posting all those videos are such a good idea. Amendment VI talks about an “impartial jury” and having the right to face your accusers and having the right to counsel. No such thing on YouTube. The pizza guy is disgusting, I judge the owner to be negligent, and, as a result, I’ll never go there again and I’ll repost the clip everywhere I can. Case closed.

But let’s say I want to try to fight the negative perception caused by a video or image. Maybe the video was deliberately misleading or even downright false. What are my options? Not many, it turns out. When it comes to creating perception, “we” no longer control the message. CNN can’t compete with information that has gone viral. No single institution can. And even if you do rightly argue or sue or point out the fraud, it’s too late: we’ve all seen it, made up our minds, and we’re on to something else. Right or wrong, when video “proof” is readily available and everyone is an expert, there is little room for sympathy.

“50,000 Elvis Fans Can’t Be Wrong”

(If you didn’t know, this was a vinyl record…) It used to be that everyone thought the world was flat. With Wikipedia, we are moving back to that way of thinking. (Long live the King!) We don’t need experts or fact checkers; if enough people believe it’s true, it must be true. Public opinion isn’t being shaped by scholars, marketers, or statesmen; it’s being created through YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter. What do I think about any given topic? Ask Google. Or Wikipedia. Besides, it isn’t what I think, it’s what everybody else thinks—and now I can know exactly what that is, any time, night or day. Popularity was never more popular, because our traditional methods of disseminating information have been replaced by cell phones, tablets, and computers.

Welcome to the Collective

I can’t resist a Star Trek metaphor. Like the Borg, we are becoming a collective—a society inextricably linked by our smart devices. Our collective thoughts reside in tweets, images, and video. The dream of all human knowledge universally available from a cloud is becoming a reality.

Good or bad, this is the world in which we live. And like it or not, everything you do could potentially show up as a video or an image or in someone’s blog somewhere in the cloud.

When I was a kid, to make me behave my mother said that there was always someone watching. She was never more right.

In order to avoid inflaming a potential customer base, companies must execute excellent web designs that are user-friendly, attractive, and point to the answer (whether it’s a sale, information, or a more complicated Call to Action). Here are the most common pitfalls seen today, and how you can avoid them.

PITFALL: Bad Grammar
PROBLEM: Incredible to Readers
SOLUTION: Proofreaders

Image via Mr.Vaughn

A baker might get away with bad grammar and terrible spelling, because what the customer expects is perfect cake. However, if your product is anything more serious than buttercream frosting, then your web design must feel credible. Viewers interpret bad grammar as proof that the writer is incredible, lazy, and disinterested in the product. Is that the message you want to convey?

AVOID THIS PITFALL:

Hire qualified proofreaders to review all content before publishing it to the web. While it may cost you a little money, it will spare you embarrassment, lost credibility, and a weakened customer base.

PITFALL: No Contact Information
PROBLEM: People Get Frustrated & Give Up
SOLUTION: Make Contact Info Apparent

Image via marialachica

Searching for contact information can be incredibly frustrating. If it’s not readily apparent on the page, a potential customer will quickly lose interest. Also, if a company fails to include a physical address along with the phone number and email address, then customers will (rightfully) pause before buying anything. Not having a physical address seems unprofessional and shady.

AVOID THIS PITFALL:

Include company contact information in the exact same spot on every page. Include the word “Contact” above this information, so that a user can search the page if necessary. If a page scrolls horizontally, then the contact information may need to be at the top and bottom of the page.

PITFALL: Browser Incompatibility
PROBLEM: Use Various Browsers Expecting the Same Results
SOLUTION: Test a Design in Each Popular Browser

Image via TechMynd

While it’s perfectly alright to hate certain browsers and refuse to use them, you must accept that various customers may actually like Internet Explorer, Safari, or Netscape (really). To figure out which browsers people are using, do a quick web search for the top ten popular browsers.

AVOID THIS PITFALL:

Test web designs in every browser to avoid alienating potential visitors and customers. While slight display variations are fine, drastic display errors or unavailability will be interpreted as unprofessionalism.

PITFALL: Bad Content
PROBLEM: Over- or Underwhelmed Readers Bail
SOLUTION: Hire Talented Web Copywriters

Image of Serene Naturist

Bad content is a missed opportunity. Imagine attending an important interview and answering the inevitable “Tell me about yourself” with unplanned gibberish. Content must be as thorough and carefully-crafted as interview answers, and just as engaging.

AVOID THIS PITFALL:

Hire an experienced web copywriter to create content that is clear and informative. If that is not an option, then follow these tips:

• Use complete sentences and good grammar.
• Break content into short paragraphs and bulleted lists.
• Outline content on paper before placing it on the page so that it follows a clear stream of thought. Never mish-mash varied ideas into one block of text.

PITFALL: Confusing Navigation
PROBLEM: Frustrated Visitors Leave
SOLUTION: Test a Page on New People

Image via Tallahassee Design

People think they like options, but in reality they like to know what to do next. Clear directions and limited options will lead users down a logical path of choices. Having myriad links and buttons, conflicting directions and streaming banners, will leave a person wondering what to do.

AVOID THIS PITFALL:

Just like your content must be organized and outlined, so must your web navigation. A visitor should intuitively know what to do next, where to go, and how to navigate throughout the site. In order to achieve this, create a site map before building pages. Follow a logical flow of information.

PITFALL: “So What?”
PROBLEM: There’s No CTA for Viewers
SOLUTION: Clearly Demonstrate What to Do Next

Image via Momentum Shift

Once you have good content and a logical flow of information for users to navigate, then you need to demonstrate what happens next. Otherwise, a visitor might be left nonplussed, wondering “so what?” If you have the best earmuffs in the world and demonstrate that, but fail to prompt the user to buy them, then you’re wasting everyone’s time.

AVOID THIS PITFALL:

Clear, concise CTAs (Calls to Action) should be carefully placed within a web design. For example, just after reading about the high-tech features of your earmuffs, the user should see a “Buy Now” button, or something directing them farther down the rabbit hole (such as a “See Demo” link).

PITFALL: Ugly Design – No Conventions Followed
PROBLEM: Colors or Layout Disenchant User
SOLUTION: K.I.S.S.

Image via Minority40

Every web designer should know what an invisible grid is and how to implement one. A web design should be broken into columns and rows, so that every item on the page looks like it was placed intentionally. Without an invisible grid, pages feel messy, and unprofessional.

Another key feature of web design is color; a scheme must be selected and used throughout the design. In the example seen above, the design could have been less offensive if the designer had stuck to just blues and reds, rather than introducing green, yellow, black, mauve, and turquoise.

AVOID THIS PITFALL:

By implementing free tools like Adobe’s Kuler, a designer can select a color palette that is complimentary and defined. Designers should also use invisible grids to create balance and symmetry within a web design.

PITFALL: Too Salesy
PROBLEM: People Feel Used or Preyed-Upon
SOLUTION: Stick to the 90/10 Rule

Image via Small Business Trends

No one likes to feel bombarded by sales pitches. While placing a few key CTAs on a page will help the user understand what you want them to do, placing 80,000 flashing “BUY NOW!!!” buttons within a web design will offend the user. Overly pushy designs can be intimidating for visitors.

AVOID THIS PITFALL:

Let the product or service speak for itself, and limit sales pitches to a few carefully placed CTAs. Content should not feel sales-y; it should merely address the product or service in a very positive light. Nothing about a good web design should remind you of an infomercial.

CONCLUSION:

There are many common pitfalls to avoid when considering a new web design. One pitfall not listed here is arrogance: people attempting to create their own designs should carefully consider the consequences. Hiring a professional is sometimes the best option when your credibility is on the line.

Web design innovations are old news faster than internet memes; faster even than articles can be written. It is the nature of the World Wide Web to continually breed new generations of design, code, and social mediums.

Here is the evolution of web design, from 2000 through today. Please note that all dates are debatable, because development periods for innovations range from one day to decades: the dates shown are the post-beta testing dates of release.

2000 – CSS IS BORN

http://bit.ly/PdYg1h

Whereas style was once written into HTML line-by-line, which could result in many different styles on one page, CSS allowed web designers to write one overlying style sheet. This separated style from content, and made it easier to divide labor to those with appropriate skill sets.

THE GIST:

One page of CSS code could work for an entire site, leaving the designer free to spend time on more pleasant tasks.

HISTORIC MOMENT:

http://bit.ly/MvdZKs

In the year 2000 Internet Explorer version five was the first browser to fully support CSS.

2002 – ALL BROWSERS SUPPORT JAVASCRIPT

http://bit.ly/MFI590

Though Javascript had been around since 1995, server-side Javascript had not emerged until approximately 2003. Server-side scripting appeared first with Netscape Enterprise Server, was quickly adopted by Microsoft, and then became an industry standard.

THE GIST:

Javascript’s real-world application means designers can use Javascript to layout pages and include animation in the pages without using Flash.

HISTORIC MOMENT:

http://bit.ly/NCidPI

Javascript married CSS and became the dynamic web page that users experience today: this turned a two-dimensional browsing experience into an interactive environment where pages respond to users.

2005 – USER GENERATED CONTENT IS KING

http://bit.ly/NH03XZ

Advancements in web design opened the field to everyone. Customized profiles, journaling, blogging, and other forms of social media emerged in 2002, and became mainstream by 2005. An entire industry of jobs was created, mainly to market to the new web users.

THE GIST:

The wave of user generated content, or UGC, meant that the web included a much larger audience of people who needed user-friendly designs.

HISTORIC MOMENT:

http://bit.ly/O8dClo

Facebook was launched in 2004: today it serves more than 901 million users.

2005 – SEMANTIC WEB IS CREATED

http://bit.ly/c7rusP

The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) developed procedures to translate unstructured documents into a uniform ‘web of information,’ which will be processed easily by machines and humans alike.

THE GIST:

A machine would intuitively comprehend what tasks need to be completed and automatically do them (for example, translating text, finding lower prices, using the White Pages, et cetera—all without direction from a human).

HISTORIC MOMENT:

http://bit.ly/dOGM6N

DBpedia seeks to make all of the knowledge of Wikipedia sortable, filterable, and useable like an artificial brain of intelligence. Its applications are limitless for web architects.

2008 – “NETWORK AS PLATFORM” WEB 2.0 SPREADS

http://bit.ly/I8gbWo

Around 2008 UGC prosumers (producer-consumers) were actively creating their own environments through interactive instantaneous web design. This interoperability was made possible due to the sharing nature of social media, which encouraged users to interact with one-another through machines.

THE GIST:

Web design was no longer designer-centric: it became a race to provide the most user-friendly and attractive platform for users to implement.

HISTORIC MOMENT:

http://bit.ly/HwLQ0a

Refreshing pages became a distant memory, much like cassettes and video tape rewinders.

2012 – HTML5 REVOLUTIONIZES WEB DESIGNS

http://bit.ly/eZbVDN

Interactive designs like this one remind users of futuristic scenes in 90’s movies. HTML5 makes web browsing as effortless as thinking for users, and content management systems take the coding out of design for novice prosumers.

THE GIST:

This is an historic moment for web designers, who used to need to learn several coding languages: now these designers are able to design intuitively.

CONCLUSION:

Web design innovations will continue to evolve faster than any person can learn. However, with advancements like the semantic web, users will no longer need to know everything in order to implement the knowledge of every code and fact on the web.

In today’s climate, consumers expect to see business advertising online, even seeking it out on occasion. Companies that choose not to market their services online not only miss out on an excellent opportunity to communicate with their client base, they also leave the door wide open for their competitors.

There are many different forms of digital marketing that are employed by successful companies throughout Utah and the rest of the world. Search Engine Optimization, or SEO, is one of the best forms of marketing services to the world. Through SEO, web page content is organized such that search engines rank that particular web page higher on Internet searches. SEO can be geared toward a particular product, location, or idea. Utah SEO helps companies and customers within the state connect with one another. This works particularly well for small businesses who are focused on the local economy, but large businesses that operate throughout the state should utilize Utah SEO as well.

Search engine marketing is a major factor in connecting with customers. When a consumer seeks a particular product or service, they often start by conducting an Internet search. Whereas search engine optimization improves the rankings of a web page, search engine marketing all but guarantees that potential clients will see a link the business. The most successful companies in Utah use search engine marketing to outshine all others. Utah online marketing that includes search engine marketing can truly be the difference between success or failure.

Another form of must have web marketing is Reputation Management. Reputation management helps by giving a company the best reputation possible on the web. With social networking services, personal blogs, and message boards taking over the online world, any consumer with a bad experience has the power to obliterate the excellent reputation of any company. A business that does not take their online identity seriously may have a bad reputation without even know it. Of course, small businesses suffer the most, which is why Utah online marketing services are greatly needed. A company like Utahwebservices.com can aid in reputation management in a way that businesses themselves simply cannot.

Whether based outside the state or inside Utah, online marketing is not just a step in the right direction, but a necessity for any business that wishes to continue to keep their doors open and revenue flowing.

• It loads quickly: Check.
• It looks clean and professional: Check.
• The color scheme is appropriate to your business: Check.
• It’s coded correctly and you don’t have too much Flash: Check.
• It has plenty of attractive and industry-appropriate images: Check.
• No one sticks around long enough to buy your products and/or services: Check.

Hey, wait a minute! That last one is problematic, isn’t it? What’s the good of having a well-designed, super-attractive website if your visitors aren’t sold on your products or services? The problem may lie with your content. Are you using the right words in the right places? Most website visitors have notoriously short attention spans: they want to know what you have to offer and they want to know it NOW without having to wade through a ton unneeded gobbledy-gook to find it.

5 Keys to Content Creation that Enhance Web Design Usability

Here are some guidelines: 1-2-3.

• It has to load fast: Besides the whole SEO thing, Flash sites are notoriously slow to load. In fact, they can be downright annoying. No one wants to wait anymore to access a site. No one. Even with a super-fast connection! So if your existing web design relies heavily on Flash, it’s time to contact the Utah web design experts at WIworks and make an immediate change.

• It has to be easily navigable: Your visitors need to find what they came for NOW. They need to be able to move around your site easily and access subpages from logical places. The navigation conventions that people expect must be an automatic part of your site’s architecture. If you sell products on your site, include plenty of product photographs and make your check-out system secure and simple. All the design bells and whistles in the world simply cannot make up for a lack of basic, down-to-earth usability.

• It has to be visible: SEO-rich content and an SEO-friendly layout are absolutely essential components of website design. The right keywords in the right places along with other strategies could mean the difference between ranking on Page One of search engine results pages or total failure. Most business owners haven’t a clue how to use SEO to their advantage nor do they keep up with the latest changes: with the help of Utah SEO, your site will have maximum visibility. And that’s the name of the game. Period.

You really can have an attractive and modern site without sacrificing that all-important usability. When you find just the right combination of both, the sky’s the limit!

The charity at the closing of the contest on May 31, 2010 wins a $10,000 web design package or SEO marketing program. In the space of only 5 weeks we have added over 1,700 (fans now likes) and the momentum continues to pick up. 4 charities are clearly competing for the top prize and way ahead of the other 24 that have been nominated. So far the friendly competition between them has been fun to be involved with.

Any business looking to find a way to increase their following can use very effectively this type of marketing, whether the contest is the cutest puppy, strangest place to use a companies product, best slogan submitted or marketing jingle or even a tip of the day or gift certificate give-away. Each of these marketing programs are designed to bring new fans, friends and followers to your Facebook site and then to your other corporate offerings and services.

Care needs to be taken however to resist the temptation of turning any of your social sites into spam or heavy self promotion programs. Friends, fans and about anyone will move away from you as fast as possible. Patience in this setting is truly a virtue that will pay off handsomely in many ways to the savvy business marketer.

After all, if you don’t have the kind of visibility on Google, Bing or Yahoo that allows new buyers to find you: you’re done! Game over, doors closed, and the vultures start circling. You need to get in the game!However, SEO in Utah is like any growth industry in that there seems to be an “EXPERT” on every corner. From the recently-laid-off guy who likes the internet and thinks he understands it, to one of your employees who built his own computer so he must be an expert in marketing. Effective SEO is not for amateurs: it is a science that requires experience in order to be done correctly. Even high-end website design companies are not necessarily the best choice for SEO service if it is not their area of expertise. In the SEO world the meaning of the term “BUYER BEWARE” becomes painfully clear if a poor choice is made up front.

No matter what your motivation, it is a given that the Internet is now the preferred vehicle of choice for finding everything from heavy equipment to bobby pins. Every industry is now being impacted by the net. If you’re not playing the game well you may end up as a very real casualty. Reality check: your Yellow Page ad is not the draw that it used to be. It hasn’t been for a long time, and this holds true for most traditional forms of advertising.

It’s time for every business to create a viable and well thought-out internet strategy. Part of that process is finding the right advisor. Ask around, consult with trusted clients or vendors who have had success online, or use search engines and select from the web marketing experts that are found on the first page of results.

Bottom line – DO YOUR HOMEWORK. Your future is at stake!

There really IS such a thing as a poorly-written blog, and whether your blogs are good or not depend on much more than just whether you have decent grammar skills. WIworks is a Utah web design company that specializes in helping businesses large and small make the most out of their blog page.

Here are our 10 quick tips for success.

1. Don’t be overly promotional: Though your entries should always include one or two references to your company, being too focused on YOU will turn off readers and send them elsewhere.

2. Make sure your title is keyword-rich: When search engine crawlers read your blog’s content, the first place it will check is your H2 header. So put your important keywords front and center right from the start.

3. Make your title specific: Overgeneralization in a title will not help your readers know what your topic is right from the get-go. Keep your title short and sweet and absolutely clear. Note: people love titles that refer to a numbered list (see our title to this blog above).

4. Your content should be interesting: Make every effort to create something totally original and completely relevant to what’s happening NOW in your industry. Draw on current events as much as possible.

5. Talk to your reader: Use “you” and “your” a lot to draw your audience in and help them see how the topic relates to them personally. Speak in the language of your target audience at all times or you’ll lose them. Common sense tip of the day: make it interesting and fun, and your entry will attract more readers!

6. Grammar matters: Most readers know misspellings and other grammar mistakes when they see them. Text that is full of mistakes will decrease your credibility with your audience. Period.

7. Hire out if necessary: If you are not good at writing (and not too many of us are, frankly), hire an SEO firm like WIworks that employs professional content writers. All you have to do is feed the company topic suggestions or articles about what’s hot in your industry right now, and let the pros take it from there.

8. Use the right keyword density: Major search engine crawlers are “smart,” and will blackball blog entries that contain a disproportionate number of keywords. A good rule of thumb is you want to keep keyword density at about 4% of your total number of words.

9. Include your most important keyword or phrase in the opening and closing paragraphs for added emphasis.

10. Have fun!

SEO blogs are a great tool to help get your site noticed on a crowded information superhighway: make the most of it!

• Modify your existing content to provide up-to-the-minute, timely new information
• Share images
• Write reviews
• Upload videos
• Post to blogs and other forums
• Add plug-ins such as photograph carousels, ecommerce check-out systems, and more
• Add just about any feature or Joomla module you can think of with ease

Why We Use Joomla

At WiWorks, we don’t believe you have to pay an arm and a leg for fancy customized web design. By utilizing a Joomla template instead, we can create a professional-looking, high-function site at a fraction of the cost you might pay elsewhere. The sites that are made using the service have a built-in linking system that attracts the attention of all the major search engine “crawlers,” making it much more likely that your site will be indexed and ranked.

If your website hasn’t had a new look in years, you probably are not getting the amount of traffic it takes to become truly successful. Yet, in these difficult financial times you probably cannot afford to pay thousands of dollars for an update. When you place your trust in WiWorks, you can be sure you are getting a visually striking, SEO-friendly, easily expandable site while still staying within a reasonable budget. In this day and age, that’s something of a miracle yet we are doing it for scores of happy customers all over the nation. Contact us today, find out why we love Joomla, and see what this great service can do to help you develop the strong online presence you need to succeed.