Writing for the Web, Part Two: Home Page Homilies

Entire books have been written about writing for the web. They have titles like, well, Writing for the Web. Also: Writing for the Web: A Practical Guide, Writing for Multimedia and the Web, and the nicely alliterative Killer Web Content. I imagine these books are used in Marketing courses, and I'm sure they contain many sensible words of wisdom. But honestly, it's hard to imagine anyone needing to study a whole book to learn a few basic principles.

For pretty much any home page, these principles can be summed up easily, as follows:

• Use concise, accessible language.
• Give the key information right up front. (Explain who, what, where, when, and/or how, as needed.)
• Get it right. (Don't allow any spelling or grammatical errors to get through your proofing process.)
• Make it easy on the eyes. (This is partially, but only partially, the web designer's responsibility.)

Here are a few examples of sites that get these things right and wrong.

1. Electrician

Let's say I live in New York and I want to find an electrician. When I search for "electrician new york," among the top entries is Altman Electric. Altman's home page provides the essential information right up front: where they're located, what types of customers they service, and how to contact them. It meets the four requirements described above: no technical terms or excess verbiage, key information up front, no grammatical or spelling errors, easy to read.

Now take a look at another top search result, Apollo One. This home page fails on most counts. It doesn't look good. The text is too low on the page and full of errors. There's no mention of their coverage area except for the phrase "in New York" at the top, which is ambiguous, as "New York" could mean Manhattan, all of New York City, any of a number of conceptions of "Greater New York," or even New York State. For all I know, Apollo One could be a better deal for me than Altman, but I won't be finding that out, because if I need an electrician fast, you can bet I'd call Altman first.

2. Database Developer

Let's say I need to hire someone to develop my company's FileMaker databases. I search the web for FileMaker developers and I find Scottworld. Their home page has most of the bases covered. The font size is smaller than it should be, but the essential information is right there in the first two brief paragraphs, explained in plain language.

There's one thing missing, though. How do you contact them? You have to scroll almost to the bottom before you spot a tiny "Contact Us" text link. It took me many seconds to find it, by which time my eyes were tired.

Now look at Excelisys's home page. This one has more serious problems. It's busy, colorful, loaded with logos. The key text is contained in a white-on-black box, which makes it a little hard to read, and it begins with a sentence that isn't even a sentence and is dotted with extraneous capital letters. The rest of the text suffers from grammatical errors and incorrect punctuation. While the site has a lot of material I could review to get an idea of what these folks do and how well they do it, I'm not likely to click through to see that material, because the home page has made a poor impression.

Search for anything you like, and you'll find examples of bad, better, and best-practices home pages. Make sure your own home page follows the simple principles outlined above.

Writing for the Web, Part One: Basics

If your business is so well established that you don't have to go looking for customers, great! Stop reading this and go have a drink. Most of us, though, have to make an effort. Part of that effort is describing what we do and why we are the ones you should hire to do it.

In the old days, these descriptions were written to be printed on paper: brochures, packaging, and signs -- collectively known as "marketing collateral." Paper media are still with us, of course, but websites now shoulder a big chunk of the marketing burden. Yet surprisingly, although websites and online marketing have been with us for years now, companies often give little thought to creating copy that's appropriate for the web.

What should be on your website for potential clients and customers to read? Here are some basic guidelines for getting it right.

1. Don't dump in everything but the kitchen sink. Your home page and sectional landing pages should contain clear, concise text -- more than slogans, but less than essays. Every business can be summed up in a paragraph. If you can't come up with a paragraph that succinctly and accurately describes what you do and why you do it well, you may need some outside marketing help.

2. If you have multiple lines of business, or several aspects of your product or service each of which needs to be explained, create separate pages for them, all linked from the main (home) page. If you're not sure what deserves its own page or section and what doesn't, there's one obvious and effective way to figure it out: visit competitors' sites and note which ones are clear and concise, easy to navigate and understand, and which aren't. Use the good ones as models for your own site.

3. Include words and phrases that will optimize your site for search engines. There are many sources of information available on search engine optimization (SEO). About.com has some articles on the subject, including "Website Optimization in Ten Easy Steps". (Your mileage may vary in terms of how "easy" the steps are. But despite what some advertisements suggest, you can definitely do your own SEO).

Next week, we'll look at some well-crafted sites and see what makes their textual content effective.

Networking, Part Two: Stranger Things

Talking to people you know and making new connections through them is a great way to market yourself or your business. But it has a built-in limitation: it depends on the people you already know. No matter how social you may (or may not) be, there are always going to be a lot more people you don't know.

There's also the question of quality: your friends and acquaintances may be great people personally, but they may not be connected in ways that are helpful to you professionally. It all depends on whether they have similar backgrounds or work experience to yours.

That's where organized networking groups come in. And no, you don't need to be a graduate of a prestigious college (or any college at all, for that matter) to take advantage of them.

Having a college connection does give you a built-in "in" to alumni networking groups. Just Google "alumni networking" plus the name of your college, or sign up for LinkedIn and search for your alma mater, and you can easily find these groups.

But there are plenty of networking groups centered not on colleges but on professions, locales, or other commonalities. Start with your profession. Virtually any profession has societies that provide information and support; their websites often point to networking opportunities.

Are you a yoga instructor who just moved to Boston? Do you want to meet hip young high-tech workers in the DUMBO neighborhood of Brooklyn?  Chances are, whatever you do and wherever you are, there's a networking group out there that can cater to you.

Then there's the very structured world of Business Networking International, which has chapters in many regions, charges a membership fee, and has strict attendance rules. This kind of group brings together professionals with different backgrounds who might need each others' services or can act as conduits to their own personal networks. The idea is that each person you meet is a doorway to a roomful of other people whom you wouldn't otherwise be able to contact.

So you've signed up to attend a networking event. What should you expect? They vary quite a bit, from big cocktail-party type events in which everyone stands around wearing name tags, to smaller sit-around-a-conference table meetings. The best are those that provide both an opportunity to introduce yourself to the group, and some time to chat informally. In any case, keep these general guidelines in mind:

• Dress as you would for a job interview.
• Bring plenty of business cards.
• Prepare an in-a-nutshell statement of what you do and what you're hoping to get out of the group or session. Unless you're a supremely confident talker, practice your pitch at home first.
• In your statement, give enough detail to provide a clear idea of your skills, experience, and goals; but make it concise enough so you don't drone on and lose concentration, because that's a sure way to lose your audience!
• Listen carefully to others' presentations and to what they say in conversation, and take notes. Just as you're hoping to make contacts and learn useful information, so are they; you may have something of great value to someone else. Karma is good!
• Follow up! If you meet someone who might be able to help you, or vice versa, follow up with a phone call or an email.

Attending these events has the added benefit of getting you out of your routine, out of your office or your home, and into a fresh environment with new people. Meeting just one person -- one former stranger -- whom you can connect with on some level can make your whole day!

Networking Is Like Dating

This week's post comes from Elisa Peimer, one of Oren Hope's founding partners.

Networking - you either love it or hate it. Setting up a meeting or starting a conversation with a total stranger can be challenging, especially for those who are not particularly extroverted. It can be like dating - will they like me? Will they think I’m smart? Will they find my professional skills, er, attractive?

But the truth is, there's really nothing you can lose by networking, and a tremendous amount to gain. Especially in a down economy, knowing more people is a huge asset.

Being a good networker is a skill that, like most others, has to be practiced. Start small and easy. Network with your friends, people whom you already have social relations with, and who are either in, or tangentially related to, your industry. Ask them questions about their company, their projects. Try to discover if there's an opportunity that they might not have seen. Friends like to help. If you've had that "networking" conversation, then they'll think of you when an opportunity comes up. But if you haven't, they won't.

Once you've mastered the art of talking to your friends, it's time to step it up. Ask them if they can recommend anyone they think you should talk to. It can be anyone – movers and shakers in your industry, colleagues with job openings, or friends who hire freelancers. Try to pinpoint what kind of people you want to meet. The more specific you are, the more likely you'll jog someone's memory into thinking of someone you might like to meet.

Once you have names, make sure it's okay to use your friend's name when making contact. Assuming it is, use that to open up the conversation. A little flattery never hurts. Tell them that your friend had great things to say about them and you'd love to take them out for coffee and find out more about what they do and listen to any advice they might have for you. Ask them if they can share their expertise and perhaps give you suggestions about steps you can take to further your goals.

It won't always work. People can be busy and stressed and not have the time to meet with you. But it's surprising how often you'll find that people enjoy sharing their background and knowledge, and appreciate being turned to for advice.

Don't be pushy - if your offer isn't taken up, don't press it, and don't worry about it. Even if you're able to meet with only a handful of people, that's still a big number, because each one has his or her own network of connections -- and now you're connected to it.

It's the real-world version of LinkedIn. Everyone you know knows lots of other people, and chances are your next opportunity is going to come from a personal contact. Don't be shy. As with dating, your next big thing might be just around the corner.

Email Marketing in a Web 2.0 World

As spam filters have improved, the amount of junk email most of us actually have to look at has dropped. Still, nearly 90% of email messages sent worldwide are spam. Many represent scams, but many are real marketing messages, though they come from businesses all across the spectrum of legitimacy. Like spam, they persist because they cost so little that even a tiny response rate makes the whole campaign worthwhile.

Most of us aren't spammers, though. If you're reading this, you probably want to market your products, services, or expertise sensibly and in a fairly targeted way. You want to use email to get the word out -- without spamming. But it takes a lot of time and effort (i.e. money) to prepare an email campaign. You must carefully compose and target your message. The email has to look good. It must include an opt-out link, a link to your relevant web pages, appealing graphics, and text that's been optimized for the short form of an email (and, of course, carefully proofread).

But now that people are getting more and more of their information through social networking (Facebook, Twitter, etc.), are they still reading their emails? Here at Oren Hope World Headquarters we've observed some "email fatigue" going around. With increasing dependence on social networking for informal communication, and with other distractions multiplying, some of us find ourselves trashing most emails without looking at them, even when they're newsletters we signed up for or campaigns we opted into.

Some of our clients report website hits jumping significantly following an email newsletter. For these companies, email messaging is working. We've noticed, though, that they tend to be companies with fairly devoted followings. Brand loyalty seems to be in short supply these days, so if you don't already have a fairly loyal -- or at least a large -- base, you might be wasting your time with email marketing. Is your email list heavy with previous customers and/or top prospects? If not, an email campaign might not be the best use of your resources at this point.

But what do you think? Is email still a viable marketing tool for smaller companies that aren't yet well-established? Use the Comments section to let us know your perspective.

Your Friend Twitter

This week's post comes from Elisa Peimer, one of Oren Hope's founding partners.

I’ll be the first to admit that I just didn’t get Twitter. What good was posting a little blurb about yourself and what you’re doing that was no more than 140 characters? Quite honestly, I thought, who cares?

But I got sucked into marketing peer pressure and joined up. I found a couple of friends and colleagues and started following them. The first couple of days I spent thinking “what am I going to post on Twitter?” like it was some kind of school assignment. But as I eased into it, I’ve found that I’ve started using it like a tap on the shoulder, a simple “here’s what’s going on,” without having to write a whole blog entry about it. It’s allowed me to keep our company, our blog, and myself at the top of people’s minds. And I actually think that’s the biggest benefit of Twitter. We all know how bombarded we all are with messages and information. Twitter is a simple, quick, and relatively unobtrusive way to keep yourself in the mix.

Some companies have been able to use Twitter in really inventive ways. When I first joined up, my friend @sharongoldman, a marketing/writing colleague, suggested I check out the Twitter feed of Tony, the CEO of Zappos. Zappos, the online shoe store? Why would I care what he had to say? It turns out Tony has over a half million people following his Twitter feed. His tweets have a good combination of information about his company, interspersed with general comments about his life. It puts a real face on the head of Zappos, and makes you feel like you know him. Which, in turn, makes you more likely to check out his company. It’s marketing, but it’s not done in a dry, “marketing” kind of way. It’s personal and social. And fun to read.

Another fascinating Twitter story is what happened to @davepeck when he was trying to fly out of Austin after SXSW on Jet Blue. The flight was delayed and @davepeck twittered his frustration about it in the airport. @jetblue got back to him to try to help — through Twitter! When wi-fi issues and technical problems ensued with Jet Blue, @southwestair stepped in — again through Twitter — and tried to get him on one of their flights. And everyone who subscribed to all these Twitter feeds was seeing the whole conversation. Jet Blue came out a little the worse for wear, but quickly made amends via a follow-up email, and Southwest Airlines looked like a hero for trying to come to the rescue. All in real time, and all completely public. And all in under 140 characters.

And just so you know, before I started typing this post, I twittered about it at @elisapeimer.

The Business of...Life?

We didn't name this blog "Marketing: The Business of Life" because the phrase has a poetic ring. We called it that because of the entrepreneurial attitude that more and more of us have been taking.

Thanks to modern-day systematization of how business is done, looking at oneself as a "product" that needs to be "marketed" has been an increasingly popular attitude for years. Now, with the economy in a ditch, businesses reeling, and more and more people lacking steady work, the entrepreneurial spirit has of necessity been flowering like crazy.

Life isn't a business any more than it's a highway, a game, or a bowl of cherries. But so much of what we do requires thinking like a marketer. And in this over-commercialized and hyper-communicative society we're more aware of our image than ever.

People have always dressed and made themselves up to make a good impression on a date. But self-marketing is kicked up a big notch when one has to create a profile on a dating website.

Companies have always advertised and promoted their products. But now they have to be your "friend" too, designing, planting, and watering social networking gardens all over the web, blogging like babies who won't shut up, tweeting like birds in the trees.

For younger generations growing up never having known a world without the Internet, this all comes fairly naturally. But many of us maturer folks were raised to believe that tooting one's own horn is gauche and impolite. For us, re-training is in order. Values have changed.

It goes deeper than simply giving yourself, your work, your company, or your products a positive spin. It's taking a fundamentally market-oriented approach, making sure everything you do is presentation-quality.

A pain in the butt? Sure. But there have always been things we have to do even though we'd rather not. Flossing, quitting smoking, going to funerals. You're adding one more, that's all: marketing. If you're lucky it comes naturally; maybe you even enjoy it. If not, suck it up and go in there and floss.