Tag Archives: Web Design

Does Your Website Have the Strength to Be a Hero? Supercharge with Analytics!

Originally posted at Stickboy Creative, but written by me.

A bullet train is speeding quickly across the terrain, unknown to the dangers only a few miles ahead. In the middle of a long bridge lies Lois Lane, tightly tied to the tracks. At the end of the river span lays a case full of dynamite meant to throw the train and all its passengers down the chasm. Suddenly, with a flash, a red and blue blur zaps past the watchers-by on the train. Superman unties Lois and lands her safely in the plain, then blasts back to toss the dynamite into outer space. The day is saved!

Superman references are fun, and we are a creative design firm with a specialty in web design and development, so I’m going to launch this with a classic. Look in the sky! It’s a bird; it’s a plane; I don’t know what it is and it’s headed this way! Run! Ok, so that’s not the way it happened in the comics. Everybody automatically trusted Superman and the heroes, allowing them whatever freedom they needed to save the day. If only comic books were real life (of course, there might be a world-wide shortage of spandex if that were the case).

Just like the nice, neat wrap-ups that happen in every comic book story, we trust that our marketing pieces are ultimately going to win the day. But do they? Can you trust that? We believe in our heroes not because of spandex outfits and golden lassos, but because data tells us so. Case in point: would you trust a man dressed in a giant black bat costume walking through the shadows of the dark alleyway downtown? If your answer is yes, then I worry you may be under a spell from one of Scarecrow’s poisons.

Of course not! It’s our human nature to mistrust a person or a company until they’ve proven themselves. Building trust takes evidence; data is the answer. Thus, let me ask you this: are you collecting and interpreting data on your website’s success? Do you know how many visitors frequent your website? Where did they come from? How did they find you? Are they bouncing away from your site faster than Mr. Freeze could blanket Gotham City in ice?

If you do not know how to find the answer to these questions, then you cannot turn that data into solutions. All of a sudden you’ve loaded yourself down with kryptonite and don’t have the power to change anything. If you are aware there is no lead shield protecting you, then install Google Analytics for free (http://analytics.google.com) on your site and get yourself saved from the unknown. With knowledge comes power, and with great power comes great responsibility (thanks for the cross-over, Spiderman!). Make your website responsible, even responsive through actively listening to your customers. This is information your website itself can provide.

With this kind of information you will be able to change or adapt to best fit your target base. Do they prefer clicking on organic searches as opposed to paid ads? What should you invest in? Are people spending all of their time on your pricing page researching, but never contacting you? Maybe that means you are being shopped. With the proper information, you can make the changes necessary to ensure your success, both now and down the line.

We all long for that green ring of power, turning every desired thought into reality, but we are not Green Lanterns. There is no guarantee of success, no magical fairy dust that will fill your store to capacity each week. We must collect, analyze, and interpret the data so an informed, powerful decision can be made. We suggest Google Analytics due to the site being free and there being access and help through the site to get yours installed, though there are many services out there. And, as always, if you find yourself surrounded by enemies of confusion with no help in sight, we will be there to rescue you. Just don’t expect me to wear a cape.

Posted from http://www.superman-picture.com/

Websites and Houses | Why Generalists are Merely Adequate

As hard as it may be to believe, I, in certain ways, miss living in a house I own. This is only after a number of beers though; it comes slightly before I start missing Omaha, but only after I miss being an awkward adolescent. It’s at those times I look over and ask my wife if she thinks we should buy another house. It’s a good thing she holds her alcohol better than I.

All this reminiscing I’ve been doing during my reentrance into the web world has many people worried, most of all my dog Quimby (yes, we named him after the womanizing mayor of Springfield). Apparently I have him so worked up that now he’s afraid of water bottles. Ok, that may be a bit exaggerated (only a bit). The truth is, both worlds hold many similarities and I am therefore not completely crazy when I discuss the two of them over coffee (be really concerned if I start drinking coffee). It is actually quite easy to compare the world of home building to the world of web design. To help describe the similarities, I have asked an old friend back for an interview using the ever popular bold/unbold Q&A format.

Though it’s been a long time since Mr. Fix-it Guy has appeared in a column, he agreed to help as long as I don’t use any overly complicated words. Our original disagreement was over the use of the word juxtaposition…notice it was not used above. Or was it supralapsarianism?

Anyway, thank you, Mr. Fix-it Guy for coming back and sharing your brain smarts with us.     It’s not for you “buddy”, it’s only for your fine readers out there. Besides, it’s too hot to bicker now.

Agreed. Can you explain why it’s important to have multiple professionals work on a building project?     Actually, no. The whole notion that says it’s better for a team to work on a project don’t know what they’re sayin’. Just because one person can’t be an expert at both the creative world and mathematical world doesn’t mean they can’t design a house and also wire it electronically.

I’m not sure I understand what you mean. Please Explain?     No.

Ok, not for me. But for the readers?     I guess. Old wisdom has always said that it is better to use multiple experts on a project as opposed to a generalist. This is because one person cannot be an expert in everything. The skills that it takes to be creative are the exact opposite to the skills it takes to be programmatic. Someone who can wire electricity and handle all the minute details of a fuse box is probably not the best person to be giving interior decorating advice. That’s the old way of thinking. The new way, which I subscribe to says, “Sure, I can do that.” After all, who wants to share money? Isn’t it better to keep it all yourself?

Hmmm… That’s a good question, Mr. Fix-it Guy.     That’s why I became a generalist. Why be the best at something when you can be decent at everything? I don’t like to share money.

You make a good point. It sounds like your sales are going pretty well.     Well, not so much.

What? Any idea why not?     I have no idea.

That’s too bad. I was hoping you would help me describe the similarities of home building with website design and development. Basically, the same kind of idea – how the design part is more like creative artistry and programming is all math. And don’t even get me started on coding languages.     What? Now I’m lost in your silly cyber space. And I haven’t landed a job in years! Any idea why nobody has been building new houses lately?

So What? I Enjoy Hitting Myself on the Head with a Hammer! | Why Do It Yourself Websites Don’t Work

Originally posted at JM Web Designs.

As much as I would enjoy writing another column focused on undergarments, there is only so much material I can cover. Underwear, as one might say, is only part of the outfit. The question is, do you dress yourself, or does someone else pick out your clothes for you?

Actually, that is not the question at all. Today’s question is directed at those “so-called” home improvement experts that believe you can hang your own drywall, even though the only help you have is your wife who is just over five feet tall trying to hold the drywall against the ceiling while standing on a swivel chair. Don’t worry, mine had only six weeks of rehabilitation after the accident.

What exactly is the point? There is a reason people go to school and train to be good builders – THEY ENJOY THE WORK. I don’t and yet I do it anyway. If we are honest, how many of us figure that if we do certain tasks ourselves, we can save money by not hiring a professional? Allow me to tell you a story.

I thought it would be a great idea to renovate my basement. 1970s paneling was still a few years away from coming back into style and I wanted to make sure I was trendy, so I decided one day to pull off the paneling and re-finish my basement. That was ten weeks ago and I have not had a good Saturday since. Smashed thumbs, dust filling up my lungs, the gentle aroma of the landfill – all things I could have lived without ever experiencing are now my normal weekend routine. Why? Because I was greedy and wanted to save cash. Thankfully, the only people that are forced to look at my basement are my wife, myself, and the friends that I tricked into helping me paint.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OZxh8rZ3rWA&feature=player_embedded

This analogy holds true when building a website. In fact, there are a lot of similarities between home and website construction. For example, do you want one person building an entire home? [No one is allowed to answer, “Yes! Bob Vila!”] There are lots of different specialties that go into building a house – architectural designing, framing, plumbing, electrical engineering, etc… A properly built website requires designers (graphic artists), coders, developers, researchers, marketers, and programmers (guys who sit in the dark and chug Code Red Mountain Dew all day long).

Now, there are people who are better at working with their hands and for most projects a little “imperfection” is acceptable, but not always. When publicly presenting your company do you want to put your best foot forward or allow your potential customers to see the cracks in your drywall? A poorly constructed website can actually cause more damage to your company image than not having one at all. Are the few dollars you might save by constructing a website yourself worth the headaches, frustrations, and eventual throwing of the keyboard?

As my television mentor (Homer Simpson) once said, “If at first you don’t succeed, stop trying.”