Notes and Links for 2/19/2008 Webinar
Before you build or re-launch your website, uncover your personal brand. First! The most important element of your website -- what you are communicating -- requires zero technical knowledge.
Why? How are you going to stand out from among many thousands of career-management professionals online? How are they going to find you? When people Google your name or business name, are they going to find what you want to convey about your brand? To define your personal brand, consider:
- How do others describe you?
- What are you passionate about?
- What do you value?
- What makes you differentiated from your competition? What can only come from you? Is it your expertise (industry, topic, market), personal empathy with your clients, etc.?
- Who is your target audience? (With whom do you most love to work? Who benefits most from what you offer? What problems are you best equipped to solve? Can you make a special connection with a particular population?) Think about target audience demographically and psychographically.
Write your brand statement/tagline and have this be the basis of your design brief. What's the major idea that you want to communicate in the design? Read Orange Goldfish page on this site and Chapter 13, Get a Visual Identity, in Career Distinction for more insight and a sample design brief.
Examples of Well-Branded Websites for Career Professionals:
http://debdib.typepad.com (just soft-launched, will be executivepowerbrand.com)
http://www.careerbychoice.com
http://www.jedaenterprises.com
Use blogging platform to create (or expand) website:
- Serves as your content management system - you can update your own website and it is as easy as sending an email
- Blogs are search-engine friendly
- Anything you can do on a traditional website, you can do on a blog
- They look more current
- The medium is very flexible - you can easily add pages, etc.
- You can (and should) use custom banner design. Read this (but, use a professional designer!)
- Budget friendly - less design work needed, inexpensive hosting
- If you must do it yourself, there are some design constraints and nice templates which keeps it from looking ugly
- Content is already RSS enabled
Read what John Jantsch has to say about this approach. He endorses WordPress. I think that TypePad is a bit easier for less technical folks, but both are great options.
What is RSS?
Really Simple Syndication (RSS): underlying code that allows people to subscribe to your content using a Newsreader. Newsreaders are often built in to web browsers or are web-based programs like Bloglines. RSS pushes desired content to subscribers without having to go through email. Subscribe to blogs and websites with a newsreader to get inspiration for your own blog and ensure that you get the updated content that you care about receiving. RSS can enhance your productivity.
Should you have a Podcast?
A podcast is a media file (e.g., MP3) on a syndicated site (like a blog). You can submit your podcast to iTunes and people can subscribe to it. It can be a great way to attract people who wouldn't otherwise know about you. It can be time consuming to produce a podcast and you have to do regularly, so ensure that it is a smart way for you to reach your target audience. Podcasting is good if you like to talk and hate to write. You don't have to create all content yourself because you can interview other experts. Need to have a strong point of view.
Do you need a shopping cart?
Not unless you have products (not services) that you want to sell passively.
It's a very good idea to have an autoresponder service because it will help you to easily keep communicating with your website visitors. It's worth the investment because it can act as your virtual assistant. Once you set it up, you don't have to do anything. Shopping carts like 1shoppingcart.com often have these built in. You can start with just an autoresponder service and upgrade when you have products. When you are sending out email blasts to your subscribers, you must use an email broadcasting system that is white listed with the major ISPs and ensures that you will comply with CAN-SPAM regulations. Before selecting autoresponder/broadcasting technology, think about your long-term goals for your site because it's challenging to migrate your contacts and customers from one system to another.
Good example of autoresponder here:
http://www.threshold-consulting.com
What really optimizes your site?
- Differentiated keyword phrases in all the right places (metadata, page titles, headers, blog post titles, body copy)
- Inbound links from relevant sites (the higher ranking, the better)
- Maintaining and growing your site
- There is more to search engine optimization than this, but these are easy to implement things that can make a big difference in your ranking
- Check out resources at searchmarketinginsider.com
Critiques
http://www.bookcareers.com/develop/suzanne.htm
Great niche! Nice use of color. Looks too DIY. Create a fixed width page since it is hard to read long lines of copy. Streamline navigation (company info vs. resources). Can make cleaner and easier to read (aligning content will help). Make it clear where visitors are on the site. Keep fonts and link styles consistent. Use a professional photo.
http://www.treececonsulting.com
Communicate brand/niche at beginning of site. It's differentiating (in the careers profession) and interesting that you went to medical school. Make the most of this. Get to most important points faster. You only have a few seconds to keep people on the page, so don't start with a boring dictionary definition. Make body copy area white and darken copy on page. Increase font size and use consistent link colors. Create a multi-page site that will increase your ability to be found in search engines.
http://aturningpoint.com/NewWebpages/index.html
Great that you created a product and are featuring it. Focus target even more. You have created a proprietary process that you can communicate more strongly. What's the benefit of your process and your expertise? Use colors that are consistent with your brand and that will appeal to your target audience. What would evoke the tone that you want to set? Select images that visually convey who your target audience is or what they really care about. Is there a more emotional, less expected way to communicate turning point? Aim to use differentiated images that don't scream stock photo. Consider having a designer create a book cover that will work more powerfully when scaled down for the Web.
http://www.salarynegotiations.com
Great professional photo of Jack! Excellent benefit-oriented tagline. Clear specialty. Keywords in domain name. The video tip is powerful and professionally produced. After watching that video and getting so much value in just seconds, I'd buy! The audio testimonials (using Audio Acrobat) are great. This is a super example of using audio and video to allow your visitors experience your brand.
You are initially selling the value of coaching on the coaching page rather than the value of retaining you. Many coaches sell coaching this exact same way, so it is not differentiating. Some aspects of the site are too salesy (discounts, long-form sales letter) for my personal taste and just don't seem necessary given the value that you are providing.
What's annoying?
- Flash. A touch is fine, and it's GREAT for audio and video. But use Flash sparingly.
- Automatically launching music or video!
- A long list of links without text (creates "holes" in site that can lower your search engine rankings)
- Too many images - search engines cannot see images, so copy is important.
- Too much/poorly planned navigation. User doesn't know where to start or where to go next. Lead people through your site with clear calls to action.
- Hard to read text. In other words, small text or worse, small text that is also too light in color against an even lighter background. Contrast is a good thing.
Assess your brand online:
http://www.careerdistinction.com/onlineid
Measure your results:
www.google.com/analytics
Answers to questions posted in Webinar chat:
Is it a good idea to have a blog attached to a website?
Yes! If you already have a website, you can create a complementary blog where you can include evidence of your thought leadership and other content that changes often - like upcoming events, news about you and your business, articles, etc.
Is a blog searchable? Can the content that I put on it be found on the Web?
Unless you make your blog private and password protected, the content will be indexed by search engines and be a part of your public online identity.
How can I blog in private?
You can create a private password-protected blog with TypePad. You can choose to share the login with certain people. This can be good for creating a private client area. You can also use a social networking blog approach where only friends that you invite can see your profile and blog posts. Examples of this would be Vox and Facebook. Be sure to go beyond the default settings of the application you choose so that you can control who will see what.
What is Web 2.0?
I often loosely use the term to mean "next generation Web." This is the definition. There is also a design style that is associated with Web 2.0. Google "Web 2.0 design" to learn more.
Special Offer only for ACP Intl. Independents' Forum Members
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