A Kickin' Blog

It might sound like a simple design issue.  But this is a question that will have longer lasting effects than the color of towels you pick for your guest bathroom.  Are you going to go with white text on black background or black text on white background for your new website. Decisions, decisions, decisions…

First off, I admit it may not sound like a big deal at all.  But, start surfing the web – you will find it is. How many websites do it one way, and how many do it the other? Which ones are eye-catching, and which ones are easy to read?  Before you go reading through this whole post, do you even know which ones YOU prefer? See what draws you first, and that might be a good start.

Okay, so it’s white text on black background!  Yeah! Now, If you decide to choose this option, everybody is going to say to you (come on y’all, all together…) “It is too hard to read!”   Tell them to “nuh uh!”  It is not. No proof, and they are probably old fuddy-duddies…seriously!

Alright, we admit – for some users this is true.  FOR SOME USERS – being the key part of that statement. The inverse is also true for some readers, not everyone’s eyes feel delightful after staring at black text on white screens for 11 hours either. In fact, find me one person who doesn’t have a slight headache after being a screen jockey for 40 hours a week!  Show me!  You can get some serious eyestrain from staring at black text on white background – or even pink text on green background – no questions there.  But truth is no optical association is damming either option either…yet.  You won’t find one doctor who will give you a concrete opinion either way.

To understand the real tussle over white text on black background, you have to go back well before the interweb to the long-forgotten, ancient world of print advertising! Ogilvy on Advertising by David Ogilvy was the hallmark how-to publication that all publishers, printers and advertisers followed – to the letter.  Ogilvy HATED the use of white text on black backgrounds, except in the extremely rare cases of using it as an attention tool.

Because Ogilvy’s opinion carried so much weight, we standardized this practice.  Plus, newspapers were BLACK type on WHITE paper.  We didn’t have any choice, and it became common, “correct” and accepted.  This lead to generations of readers adapting their eyes and synapses to accept black type on white backgrounds.

The habit carried over onto the Web during its infancy and before anyone had thought to conduct research studies on the viewing of CRT or, today, LCD monitors. But that is just what it is, a habit.  No basis in science or fact, so again, smile at your elders, be polite, but know your choice is not “wrong.”

Grandpa, and his like, are part of the black text on white medium generation.  Many users and viewers today are part of that early adapting computer generation from the early 80’s and 90’s.  Back then, in the ancient days of computes like the TRS- 80 (sniff-sniff, I miss that old thing, computers displayed lighter text (that pukey green) on dark screens.  Some of us have burned our eyes out on bad video games, and we NEED/CRAVE/DEMAND some eye-catching textual feats to get our attention.  So the whole thing isn’t just personal preference, it’s a bit of a traditional matter, and there are some generational politics thrown in there too.  Regardless, it is your decision!

If you are choosing a lighter color on a darker background, there are some special style tips to consider.  Important things to remember when doing this, so your “mature” viewer’s retinas don’t burst out of their heads are as follows:

• White text on a black background is a higher contrast to the opposite, so the letterforms need to be wider apart, be lighter in weight and have more space between the lines. This will make it easier to read.
• Too avoid the drama, maybe go with brown text on a light pink background, or yellow text on red background?  Maybe?  Just a thought…

The advent of such crisp and clear color monitors for computers has allowed designers to really expand their gamut.  Websites should NOT look like newspapers, ever.  They should be colorful, exciting, enlivening, fun, happy, and most importantly: INVITING.    Everyone might tell you that black text on white is the preferred method – the TRADITIONAL – but is that what you are looking for?  Do you want the unusual, the unique, off-the-edge?

Once you have realized the debate over black-on-white or white-on-black has nothing to do with optometry, you realize it is mostly all about design.  It’s a matter of personal choice, a decision that is up to taste.  And while you want to consider your tastes, you need to also consider the tastes and perceptions of your clients, customers and the visitors to your site.

Over the years, we have all watched Google grow from a simple search engine, to the ultimate information broker.  These days, businesses and organizations live and die by their Google ranking, and average everyday citizens occasionally Google themselves just to see what is being said…Heck, I’ve used Google to find out information on friends, old classmates, and enemies of all sorts! Now, the big G is taking that kind of personalized search to a new level by adding information from what Google calls your “public social graph.”  This new development makes Google smarter than anyone you know…Smarter than Hawkins, Einstein, Obama, and maybe even smarter than your Mama! (ok… not your mom, we are sorry we said that!)

Big Brother – errr, I mean Google is building a database on you from several sources.  They are taking everything they know about you from your Google profile, determining your connections with people and websites from various social networks (Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, etc), and then producing personalized search results for participants.

Why the heck does anyone need, want, or have any use for all this minutia?  Have we become a world of busy-bodies?  Well, businesses are salivating at the idea because this will add a very personal slash to SEO, finally fully linking the social media monolith with marketing and money.

Let’s explain it in some really basic terms:  You are in Philadelphia and want to go out for a bite to eat.  Using social search, you can find out what your friends have to say about local restaurants. Social search will look at who you are connected to, find out their comments on Twitter and other sites, and give you those thoughts.  Instead of calling up Uncle Joe, social search will find his archived statements.  The idea is that you and your friends (social connections) have similar tastes – so who they like will be someone you will like…

Before you begin to jump up and down/panic, Google can’t access any of this information without you and your social network’s a-okay. If you don’t want people to be privy to all your thoughts, opinions, ideas, and musings – you don’t have to sign-up. To be seen in others’ social search results you will need a Google account and profile, and add actual connections within your Google Profile. The more links you add, the more exposure you might potentially receive, proving that being popular does pay-off.  By including the big three (FaceBook, MySpace, Twitter) and any personal sites, like your own website or blog, you will be diving into this big info-soup and making your opinion known to everyone! When adding these links, you are allowing Google to track your connections on the Web.  You are giving them access to your biz-ness – so don’t come crying later!

Most people have the notion that Google Social Search will allow advertisers a greater ability to reach their target audience.  If 9 out of your 10 tweets are about your love of ice cream, then that it’s fairly probable that you will be seeing some ads for Butter Brickle or Tutti Frutti (and hopefully, some ads for a few gyms too…) This happens a bit now with FaceBook advertising, but Google’s new scheme will undoubtedly unleash the whirlwind.

If Google integrates Social Search into the main search results, the number of online connections you have established will clearly impact any search results. The more connections you have, the more rich and potentially relevant the data you will be getting back. That’s why it is important right now for any person or business – who wants to be part of this information revolution – to build a strong social network profile. Make yourself the “Big Man on the Internet Campus” – find all your coworkers, classmates, cronies and codependents.

Google Social Search also encourages businesses and organizations to interact more with consumers via social media.  If your restaurant or retail operation has a solid and engaging presence in social media – it will only increase the discussion amongst your friends, fans and followers.  This will in turn bring the business higher up in search results, especially if it is connected with as many fans and followers as possible.

Your friends have dragged you kicking and screaming into the 21st century, the Attention Age!  You’ve come up with a witty avatar for yourself, and you are ready to take Web 2.0 by storm.  To avoid you falling smack on your pretty face in front of the world’s information mavens, we have some finer points for you to memorize before you start tweeting.  We call it Tweetiquette.

Listen First

1)    Listen First!  Don’t start talking till you have heard the conversation.  Listen to what people are saying, how they say it, and what their tone is.  There are people talking about every topic on Twitter, listen good and learn. Remember that thing they talked about in school between listening and hearing.

2)    Be Polite.  Don’t start acting the fool on the first day. Make a good impression and let people get to know you before you start whipping out the sarcastic putdowns and witty repartee. All things in time, and start off on the best foot first.

3)    Attribute when appropriate. Twitter is a huge exchange for information and entertainment.  It is yours for free (better be!)!  But, if you are retweeting (reposting information provided by another tweeter) then you better give them a shout out, a via, a hollah!  Something!  People will notice, and will get peeved.  I will!

4)    Don’t spam us silly.  Even if you are promoting your company, blog, charity, crazy mantra, whatever – don’t pound it out all day long.  Talk about what people want to hear, and slip that marketing message in every so often.  You will find your followers respond to it.  Say stuff we want to hear!

5)    Be yourself! Don’t be me, honestly – one of me is enough.  Don’t try to be Ashton or Oprah.  Don’t try to appeal to the masses.  People are out there who will talk to you and interact.  It might take time, you might have to do some introductions and you might have to keep trying – but eventually, you will find some amazing online friends!

6)    Have fun!  Don’t be afraid to screw up one of my above rules. These are not the 10 Commandments of the Internet.  (I am as handsome as a young Charlton Heston, but that is where the comparison runs to an end…)  It is okay to make mistakes, to learn as you go, to put your foot into your mouth, and to fake it till you make it…

Now feel free to contact me on Twitter if you have questions or concerns.  I’ll try to be your mentor if I can – but I have a feeling you won’t need it.  The online world is filled with a lot of great people – weird people, but all great.

Fred Sexton, of Mouse and Man, interviews Brandon Uttley of Web Business Freedom and Scott Hepburn of Media Emerging. This is a higher level discussion about internet marketing, social media, and online marketing strategy.

FYI – YES, I’m working on the iTunes Feed. I’ve just submitted to Apple. Any idea how long this takes to get approved? I’ll get this up there asap.

 

 Point/Counterpoint | Online Marketing Interview with Brandon Uttley & Scott Hepburn: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Fred Sexton, of Mouse and Man, interviews Katie Morse of Ripple6. They help run social network platforms for larger companies revolving around affinity based communities…essentially people with similar interests that want to get together online. Think about it like your own company Facebook network times 100. We talk about some successful case studies of these communities and why they are so important. I know many people that say they work in the social media arena but was really impressed with the breadth of information that Katie brought to the interview. Maybe they could create a social network for all the little mice? More on this later…

Fred Sexton, of Mouse and Man, interviews Chris Harkey of Web Entertainment Promotions Inc & Dave Evans of Creative Entertainment Solutions LLC. Both Chris and Dave are pretty big players in the online flash gaming industry, one of the faster growing markets on the web.  The first thing that struck me when I met them was how they viewed online competition. They view their competitors not as someone to battle Google with or try to out rank them but rather as partners working together towards a common goal of increased traffic. If they can trade equal traffic with other sites (same value in as out) then they can really grow their online business through their ad impressions.

Balance Wheel

Success Chart

So, how do you market/spin the current hot news story, Swine Flu. First off, some may question the ethicalness of doing so… but any news is good news, isn’t it?

Well, if you were a company that offers a (free) way for people to connect for meetings over the internet, perhaps you would view this as an opportunity. This is what Mikogo did.

So, let’s evaluate what they are doing and how it could perhaps be improved.

Mikogo just released a blog post and accompanying press release.
As well they are tweeting about what they do…but not really about this swine flu opportunity.

But what if people are searching for what they can personally do to prevent the spread of the virus. Well, ideally anyone who does a google search on swine flu prevention, the mikogo site would come up. To do this, they would need to employ a better SEO strategy. For instance, the <title tag> for their blog post does have the keywords ‘Swine Flu’ in it. But they have the word infection and not keywords related to ‘prevention’ (which I believe it what they really want). And keywords are at the end of the title tag. Ideally your keywords should be at the beginning of the title tag. Also, with the PR they did use the keywords “Swine Flu Prevention” but again the keywords are at the end and only one result comes up when you Google News search for them.

So, yes they could do a better job with onsite SEO, however they’ve really not done anything to build external links to their site/post.  I’d recommend getting backlinks to their this specific post from other blogs. They currently don’t have any inbound links regarding swine flu. Here are a couple places that I’d look at for getting backlinks:

• Tecnorati search for swine flu prevention
• Blog search for swine flu prevention
• Blog search for swine flu prevention
• Blog search for swine flu prevention
• Delicious search for swine flu prevention

Also, I’d recommend a Twitter Search for people tweeting about swine flu prevention. You can even setup a RSS feed for this specific search and automatically get notified when someone tweets about this keyword. To even take it to the next level, you can setup a program to auto-tweet anyone who tweets about your targeted keyword.

On a personal level, I love using Mikogo and use it almost daily. I wonder how they stay in business though…does not look they make any money. Anyone have insight into this?

I can’t remember if it was a college professor, or the guy with the “THE END IS NEAR” sandwich board who stands outside of my drycleaner that said, “Content is king!”  It’s true, even if the crazy guy said it. It’s not necessarily how much you say, when you say it, or where you say it – but HOW you say it that matters.  The right content can take a sweet site into the stars, while the wrong content can have your users scurrying away like rats.

Any, and all, content on your website should mirror your organization or businesses personality. I don’t recommend being too edgy if you’re a physical therapist or banker. Those might be occupations that would benefit from plain, simple, in-english-please bits of information about services and opportunities that you offer. Remember, your audience may not have, (or want) the degrees or knowledge you do.  People are going to click off your site if  they find your site too preachy, uppity, or uber-educated.

Now, if your company likes to think of itself as a cutting-edge, or sophisticated, or avante guard operation – then your website better express that as well. Content is again, key.  Witty writing and clever banter between employees or top clients, artsy pictures, and links to topical and fascinating news items will help you express yourself and your corporate image. If you can’t find the write people in-house to generate the “right write”, then ask around and find a writer who scrawls the way you speak.  Humor is perfect in just the right dose, and accessible style and snap always makes people remember you.

Don’t overload people with too much extraneous information.  One to three blogs on your site or topic are smart, and give people choices and different voices. But beware of saturating your portal with way to much noise.  Even with different contributors or writers, make sure there is a common thread that empowers your business and doesn’t distract from your core values. Daily updates on your toy train collection just aren’t cute on your CPA site… making your site fun is one thing, but business is business!

Fresh content should be added regularly, don’t be stale. The first couple times you attempt to update, you might find yourself suffering from writers block or a lack of imagination. It’s totally common, so sit back and let your mind wander. Or ask the intern to do it!  Your family, friends, and coworkers all might have interesting insights and ideas that can bring some zing to your site. Don’t be shy about hiring outside help. Our fine colleges kick out plenty of gifted writers every year, and many will work for peanuts! (Sometimes even real peanuts…or cheese)!

Think about the websites that you read regularly, and use their format and style as inspiration. Read other people’s sites for ideas, but make yours as original as possible. If you find something on another site that is interesting, link to it – as long as they aren’t a competitor! If you’re running a gym, talking about nutritional tips and linking to sites that talk about food makes sense. It’s not your content, and you might be sending people “out to eat”, but your still providing your loyal readers with news. Keep your content, and your linked items fresh and hip, and people will quickly make you their one-stop shop. They’ll thank you by coming back for more.

Ten years ago, when the World Wide Web was just a small e-village of geeks, nerds, and early adapters, it was possible to have a no frills vanilla website. Nothing special necessary, just throw up your contact information, some catchy phrases, and perhaps a logo drawn by your neighbor’s art student son. Now days, everyone from here to Estonia has a website. You’re not just competing for customers with the folks in your town, your battling people all over the world. Every website needs to fly, pop, and explode off the screen.

How could you not like this photo?

Check out any brokerage house, insurance company, or drug manufacturer’s website. Usually they are pretty staid and businesslike, with few bells and whistles. That’s fine – if you’re a brokerage house, insurance company or drug manufacturer. They are great – but they aren’t always “kickin”. If your Internet schemes extend beyond these three classes, you will probably want to make your site a bit more exciting. Nobody’s suggesting naked dancing girls (or boys…We don’t judge…), but a little sugar and spice might not hurt your site. A memorable website is the first step into imprinting your organization’s mission on the net surfer’s mind. People have the attention span of mayflies, so to get the attention of the ADD generation, you have got to reach off the monitor and grab them by their retinas. Look at us! Look!

The basic tenant in all Web development is to avoid boring your visitors to tears. If people are only using your website as an Ambien substitute, you might have some issues. Don’t be afraid of bright colors, animation, music, blogs, interesting content, pictures, bios, links to images or clips of your work, or even videos. The Internet is a rapidly evolving place, so adapt, change or die. We aren’t suggesting you detract from your base business or idea. If you’re developing a site for your dog walking company, then make it THE site for dog lovers. Make it something people will forward all over the web. Cute puppy pics? Easy! A page/tab for FAQs on mutt lover’s best dog food pics? Why not! Debbie the Dog Walker’s video doggie-diary! Holy Youtube Yes!

Perhaps this sounds overwhelming, and way beyond your capabilities. That’s fine; I can’t change my car’s tire to save my life. Thankfully for both of us there are great people out there who you can hire to do it for you! Don’t fool yourself into thinking it’s a cost you can’t afford. Your website is oftentimes your first chance to make a good impression to the world. Don’t make the public cringe they find your site, make them want more.