This month, I want to share a little success story with you.  As a website designer, I often get asked about the big Google and how to rank well in search engine results.  Those of you that know me well will know that I’ve always had a bit of a love-hate relationship with Search Engine Optimisation (aka SEO) – mainly because of the lack of control one has over the results (I don’t know, maybe I’m a control freak!).  I like to know that for a certain amount of effort, I’m going to get a certain result back.

And yet, maybe it’s time I reconsidered my stance.  Although the correlation between effort and results is not always completely linear, sustained input over time does produce results.

My challenge for my own website was to rank for the term ‘Oxford web design’.  Although a local term, it’s pretty competitive – over 8 million results.  Even worse, the nature of the game (i.e. web design) means that most of those targeting those key words know what they’re doing… which is always a bit of a pain.

But in the past few months, I’ve moved from a position of no-where (i.e. page 3 – 5), to no. 6 on page 1.  Granted, a position in the top 3 would be better, but this is a significant shift in a competitive area.

How?

By an entirely natural process of content writing and link building.  I resisted the urge to employ someone to build links for me.  I did spend some time writing articles for sites such as ezine etc, but this dropped off when I got more busy with work.  I believe the main reasons for this shift in rankings were a) continuing to build natural, high quality links in to my site, b) continuing to write high quality content on my blog – not as often as I’d like, admittedly, but often enough to prove to Google that I’m still around, generating unique content about my field, and not likely to disappear overnight, and c) the domain has aged – it’s no longer a complete newbie, treated with suspicion by Google.

This is an entirely non-scientific analysis, but it’s worth highlighting that it’s persistent effort over time that gets results.  It’s a slow burn game… so if you’re struggling to get your site ranked, don’t give up yet!  Yes, take a good look at what you’re doing, whether your site is properly constructed, and whether your keywords reflect the content of your site.

But perhaps more than anything – employ a bit of persistence – don’t give up!

Seems to me that people have a bit of a dislike of white.

As in white space.

I know it’s not really true – because so many people come to me and tell me that they love the clean, fresh feel of my websites – which often feature quite a lot of white space. I guess in reality, it’s more a case of people not being able to use white space to good effect. Or not even knowing they should use it. So many websites out there are too cramped, too cluttered.

Think of it this way. You probably have a couple of key goals for your website. Things you want people to do before they leave the site. So you might have, for example, some big graphical call out boxes which will hopefully take people on a journey in the right direction. But look at the difference in impact:

If you give people too many options, they’ll get confused and hit the back button. Yes, the illustration above illustrates two extremes. But it should give you the general picture – leave some white space around the elements that are important, and people are more likely to notice them and take action.

Good website design is not just about the looks, nor is it just about the techie stuff. Making your website clear and usable is arguably as important as anything else. Here are 8 ways you can make your website more usable.

1. Consistent Navigation Menu

I’ll start off with my pet hate. It’s surprising the number of websites that seem to have a different menu on pretty much every page of the site. Whilst there may be some instances where certain pages have varying sub-menus, I see no reason why the vast majority of sites shouldn’t have a consistent top-level menu on ALL pages. It makes navigating around the site far easier for the user & means there a lot less likely to feel ‘lost’.

2. Consistent Page Layout

Don’t make the user work too hard! Have a set page layout (or a number of set layouts for different page types) so that the user knows where to expect content to appear. Have your telephone number in the same place on each page. Have the main content in the same area. There are obviously exceptions to this rule, but hopefully you get my gist…

3. Typeface

The typeface you use on your website is an important component in the design & has a big impact on the personality your website portrays. But more than that, it also plays a big role in usability. Sans-serif fonts (such as Arial) are generally easier on the eye than serif fonts (such as Times New Roman). Ensure the font size is appropriate to the audience, and spacing between letters and lines is optimised to make the text easy to scan.

4. Colour

Wow, people make some mistakes here! Colour is probably the single most abused factor in web design. As a rule of thumb, have two or three main colours to use throughout the site, and apply them in a consistent way. Select colours appropriate to your business, and that match or support your existing branding. Resist the urge to splash every possible colour across the site in a rainbow effect (unless, of course, appropriate to your business!!). Dark text against a white or light background is far easier to read than white text on a black background.

5. Images

I often say that images can make or break a site. Good quality images are invaluable in supporting a professional brand. Aside from that though, if used cleverly, they play a big role in making a site more usable. Examples include image menus – people can immediately ‘see’ where they’re going before they click; blog posts – giving people an idea of what the post is about before they even read it; helping to separate up big chunks of content and hence make the text more readable.

6. Paragraphs/Readability

The vast majority of users to your website will not read the text on each page word for word. They will scan read, picking out the bits they think are important to them. As a general rule therefore, it’s crucial to split text up in to relatively small ‘chunks’, perhaps with key words or phrases highlighted in bold. Break the page up with headings, so a user can quickly find what they’re looking for. Consider using bulleted lists rather than long paragraphs – if appropriate for your content.

7. White Space

One of these days I might do a whole blog post on white space. People seem to be afraid of it, and yet the ‘less is more’ concept is very true. Don’t be afraid to leave (planned!) white space – give the user’s eye a rest! This is particularly important around elements that you want to draw the user’s eye to – don’t clutter with so much junk they miss the important bits!

8. Contact details!

It really frustrates me (and everyone else I talk to about this), when I look for a telephone number or email address on a website and it takes me ages to find it. Or even worse, I don’t find it at all. For the vast majority of small businesses, if someone is looking for your telephone number, it’s a good thing – they want to talk to you! Don’t make it hard for them – have it in a consistent location on each page. And include a page with your full contact details if they want to email or snail-mail you!

In the effort to drive more traffic to your website, it’s so easy to get absorbed in the world of online marketing, and completely forget about the opportunities you have in the ‘real world’!

As a general rule, wherever you have information about your company, your website address should be there too. That way, if you catch people’s interest, they’ve got something to reference, somewhere to get more detail, before getting in touch directly.

The following list is a starting point – 10 places where you can shout about your website in the real world. The list is by no means exhaustive, so do add a comment or let me know if you have more ideas.

1. Business Stationary

   Ok, let’s start with the obvious – I’m hoping you’ll have this one sorted already. Ensure that any literature that leaves your office has your website address on. That includes business cards, invoices, headed paper, promotional leaflets, brochures, the list goes on… Make it prominent, and give people a reason to go and look at the website.

2. Email Signatures

   Think about how many emails you send out each day. Add a signature (in Outlook, go to Tools -> Options -> Mail Format to set up a default signature), and as well as your name and telephone number, include your website address. If there’s a particular service you’re promoting, or you’d like to get more people signed up to your email newsletter, include specific links to the relevant pages.

3. Adverts in local or industry specific press

   Offline advertising can be incredibly expensive. But depending on your business type, advertising in the local village magazine, or in industry specific publications, can be a valuable way of gaining new business. Make sure you include your website address in your ad – so people can go away and find out more about you!

4. Networking Events

   Face to face business networking can be an incredibly valuable way of building up your business, as well as gaining support and a good supplier network at the same time. But depending on the format of the event, you may not to get to speak to each and every person in the room. If you get a chance to do a 60 second pitch, consider mentioning your website. And where appropriate, make some promotional literature available for people to take if they wish – with your website address on!

5. Sponsorship & Charitable Work

   You may decide to sponsor a local event, do some charitable work, or similar. See this as an opportunity to get your name, brand and website address out there! Make sure when you are referenced, your website is referenced too.

6. Van Livery

   Particularly for trades people, your name and brand can become very well known in the local area, simply by virtue of it being on your vehicle. Make sure each and every vehicle is professionally sign written, and give your website address a prominent place.

7. Office Signs

   This is particularly relevant if your office is in a busy location. Have your office signs include your website address, so people passing by can go away and find out more.

8. Stickers anyone?

   This idea came from seeing a servicing sticker that our local plumber had left on the boiler. It’s a reminder of when the boiler needs servicing again, and as well as a phone number, why not include the website? This could be applicable to any manner of businesses who do recurring work for clients – leave some literature behind with your details so they can find you again when they need you.

9. Any freebies you give out

   This is an obvious one, but if you attend trade fairs and events where you distribute any sort of freebies – make sure your website address is included!

10. 10. Press Releases/Features

    Great! You’re featured in the local paper, trade publication, industry magazine….. oh, wait a minute…. you mean to say there’s no website address in there?! It’s an all too common problem. Make sure all press releases include your website address. When interviewed, request that it be included. If possible, give people a good reason for going and taking a look.