January 9, 2004

Design for Marketing

by Brian Turner

This is a long article that seeks to help the business start-up realise some clear tips on looking to set up online. It covers issues from branding development, to technical challenges of online publishing:

In the beginning…
The Company Logo
The Company Slogan
Designing for the Web
Web design issues
Loading speed
Use of colour
Use of text

In the beginning…

Before everything else, before launching your business, before the ink on your business plans have even dried, you need to worry about your presentation.

It’s essential. You need to be thinking about this from the word go. After all, this is how you are going to sell your company.

Bad presentation suggests an amateur business ethic, and a good presentation suggests a professional business ethic.

The suggestion may not necessarily be true – bad companies can look professional and professional companies can have poor presentation. Your task is to do everything you can to transmit that good professional image.

If you can do that, you can hook the attention of potential customers, and keep them interested enough to look at what you’re actually selling. And so long as that prospective customer continues to trawl through that good professional presentation, you’ve done everything you can at that level.

Which sounds easy enough. Yet so many companies fail at this most profound of necessities. This section will deal with those necessities.

But you don’t have to follow any of what follows. You could even do exactly the reverse of everything – and still run a profitable business. Chances are, though, that you won’t be fulfilling your business potential.
Image is everything

Whether you’re planning to set up business, or already established, something you’ve probably had to learn as a mantra is the USP – Unique Selling Point. Advisors will generally direct you to think in terms of a particular “product” or service.

However, your business itself is it’s own Unique Selling Point.

Or it should be. That’s why you set it up, right? You had an idea for a business offering something a little different. That idea does not rest on a single sales item – it rests on the entire reason for that business existing, which mostly will be multiple “products” and/or services – or even method, such as a more efficient way at providing the same things as your competitors. You see room in the market, and you want to take advantage of that. It is in that thought where your Unique Selling Point – your business – is actually born.

And to help promote that USP – your business – you have to think about every level of how your business deals with the world, so as to sell convincingly to the required markets involved.

The first point of call is image.

Image is not simply a flashy graphic or logo – it’s the entire concept of presentation. Image is about projecting your company image, to state specific things about your company, and why the consumer should come to you.

The Company Logo

A company logo is a statement of that presentation.

The logo itself is a design concept that attempts to communicate something of your company ideals and aspirations using abstract language. Doesn’t sound like much, but abstract language deals with the subconscious of the customer and the subconscious is a powerful tool in the hands of a Marketeer.

This doesn’t mean to say that there is a secret symbolic formula that will instantly turn all of your prospective customers into obedient zombies – that’s the realm of fantasy, and we’re dealing with reality here.

More than that, a logo presents a marketing identity. This is an important element to note. You identity is your logo, and vice versa.

It should also be as unique as possible. It should make a statement about your company. The more original it is, the more memorable it can be, and the more easily your logo is remembered, the better your business can be remembered, either consciously or subconsciously.

In fact, logos are quite easily remembered. The problem is that logos don’t always say nice things about companies. What you may think looks professional may look amateur to a customer; what you think is original may look mediocre to a customer; what you think is attention grabbing may be repulsive to the customer.

Whether used for document headers and sales brochures, or simply as a header on a webpage, a logo must always be designed with care.

Unless you’re a particularly creative person then it is recommended that you don’t attempt to design it yourself. If you really feel that you must, then do ensure that you seek to make your logo as simple as possible. In fact, don’t think of it as a logo, as much as a simple and neat presentation of your business name. Note the key word here – simple. Don’t try to be over-ambitious, or your lack of skill in the area may show.

The best place to have a logo designed is to spend money through a design company or freelance graphic artist. They should charge fairly reasonable fees. Usually, you get what you pay for, so account for that.

Do ensure that when you have your logo designed that the graphic artist involved communicates with you about the precise message in the design – you need to ensure that your logo says what you intend it to say. Most graphic artists will be happy to share their vision. Sometimes, though, artists, being creative people, can become a little self-indulgent and treat such work a little too much like self-promotion, despite that it is supposedly for the promotion of your business. Artists don’t particularly like someone looking over their shoulder asking questions. But if you’re paying for it, expect to have some input into the process.

That is not to say be rough with graphic artists! These people rely on creative flow, and the skill to tap into such a process should never be underestimated. But you are well within your right to ask questions, and demand that the design be modified, or even completely reworked from scratch, if you’re not completely happy with it. As a customer it’s your right to get what you pay for. Do be aware that if you try to ask for too much, that you may be asked to increase the required budget.

When the graphic artist explains what ideas have been inserted into the logo, make sure you’re convinced by it. Expect to have compromised, but also expect to be surprised. After all, if you really knew that much about logos you could have done it yourself. Accept that the graphic artist is employed in such a service precisely because they are expected to have specialist knowledge and accompanying skills in that area.

Whatever happens though, remember that whatever your logo comes out like it is your business identity. You must like to be associated with it.

And if it doesn’t work, you must be prepared to drop it. This is a step that should never be taken lightly. We’ll deal more with that in the next section, though.

The Company Slogan

What the logo is supposed to state in abstract terms, the slogan states literally. The slogan is a blatant statement of company aim, ambition, and purpose – all rolled into a few short key words.

Often a business will have a company slogan. Smaller ones will tend to try and keep the same one, to help with ease of recognition. Larger corporations, however, will often attempt to reinvent their image every few years, and a new advertising slogan will become stuck to the company name until the next makeover.

The advantages of having a good slogan should be obvious in terms of marketing and generally selling a positive company image. A slogan should help compliment any logo, or simply the company name.

The disadvantages of having a bad slogan should also be appreciated. You should never try and create a slogan just for the sake of it. A poor slogan can reflect poorly, and make create a direct impression of a company that is inept or amateur.

Of course, a bad slogan isn’t going to make or break a company. At the end of the day, its marketing that’s all important. But as image is an essential part of that marketing, it needs to be quick and catchy, preferably original and memorable, to help retain casual attention from those who may yet by future customers.

So what should a slogan read like? Well, that depends entirely upon what sort of image projection you’re interested in – which in itself should be decided by the demands of your market.

If you do wish to create a slogan yourself, an easy way is to try and define your company in as few words as possible. Write down a list, play with it, see how the words connect. When you have some specific ideas then them out for others to comment on – do try to come within your target market audience, though. If you’re aiming for a general and unspecialised market then it shouldn’t matter too much who ask – what you really want is feedback so as to discover how potential customers may actually perceive it. After all, a slogan you think is professional may be considered as pretentious, and what you think is creative and clever may appear amateur and uninspiring to others.

And the end of the day, informal feedback is another form of market research (see Chapter 6), and can be very illuminating. Always take objections seriously, and try to counter them in some way, not through arguing your point, but simply by tweaking a term here or exchanging a word there, you may be able to satisfy the objectors.

Of course, it is your right to refute any objections – after all, it is your business. But never denigrate such an important resource as free comments. If you argue that such people are not your target audience anyway, you’ve really got to ask yourself why you even asked them in the first place – especially if you are simply going to regard such research as market inapplicable in the end. The contradiction there should be obvious.

Also make sure that you test your ideas for a logo and slogan together. It is pointless having two clashing design statements – for example, an antiques firm promising tradition in its slogan, only to have a sleek and futuristic design – unless you are specifically aiming at a market where you believe such practice isn’t simply acceptable, but also successful.

After all, your image needs to work, and although the logo and slogan are only a part of a greater whole of that concept, it’s essential to try and ensure that all such constituent parts work harmoniously together in conceptual terms. The only time you’ll get away with it otherwise is if you have a highly successful referral base anyway. But no new business is guaranteed such a luxury. That’s why it’s all the more important to help make that good first impression. First impressions last, they count, they are remembered. In fact, first impressions are the foundation for how your company will be viewed, period. And that’s how your business can easily be judged and condemned on that issue alone. That’s why the Marketeer must consider such seemingly small issues so seriously.

Designing for the Web

We’ve looked at the issue of logo and slogan – but these are only the starter points in your presentation. The next area you need to seriously consider – and I do mean seriously – is your layout on your website.

The type of web design that you can have is entirely dependent upon your turnover. The higher the turnover, the more likely you can afford a wonderful web page from a professional designer. The lower the turnover, the more likely it is that you’re going to have to utilise personal skills or free internet resources to construct a clean and clear web design.

Oh, you’ve got a good budget, can afford a high-priced website design, so you don’t need to read this chapter?

The hell you don’t. Graphic designers know how to deal with graphics. But if graphic designers knew proper marketing they’d be employed elsewhere on triple the salary. Bear that in mind very carefully. I have seen so much graphic design work that was utterly pretty and utterly useless for the target market.

Your first priority should never be to make a website pretty. Your first priority should be to make it targeted. The second is to make it functional. And if you want a functional website you especially need to take the third element into account SEO – search engine optimisation.

Let’s check that again:

* Targeted
* Functional
* Optimised

Let’s explain why:

1/Targeted

If you are selling pink elephants, then your website should make that pretty clear at the very beginning. Of course, you don’t need to even show a pink elephant no your site, but if it means the casual surfer will get the message quickly, then do it. I’ve spoken to company directors who want abstract branding – not a sign of their product on the page. Beware of that approach on the internet, because the internet is about

fast

information

delivery

If you don’t deliver the information fast enough, people will get confused. That’s why you need to emphasis your products/services as quickly as possible, and make sure people know exactly who you are, and why your sales item is so great for the surfer.

If the surfer isn’t interested – fine, let them go. You won’t make every visitor a client, and not every client will make a sale when you want them to. Just make sure you have the presentation to capture the potential customer in a targeted manner.

2/ Functional

Great! You’ve snagged a surfer who is interested in your product or service!

Now what?

Further information, contact information, and how to proceed with an order are essential items on a commercial site. Obvious? You’d think so, but not every commercial site does.

Or, put it another way – just because something is obvious to the webmaster, doesn’t mean to say that it’s obvious to the targeted client.

For example, anyone who has ever run a directory will know that no matter where you put the “add URL” link, you will receive e-mails from people asking where the add URL link is to submit their site. You could have the links flashing in a size 50 font at the top of the page, and you would still get those e-mails. Why? Because a directory targets webmasters, regardless of ability or experience. And that’s an important lesson for any sales site.

You must make it as easy as possible for any surfer of any ability to locate how to proceed with a sale of your product or service. Because the less easy you make it, the more easily the potential client will move on and not make a purchase.

Be simply in your sales steps – repeat your contact information through the most important sales pages, rather than expect the inexperienced consumer to spend ages exploring through your beautiful but illogical later navigation bar for the same information.

3/ Optimised

Another point is to make your website visible and indexable for search engines.

Why? On the one hand, it’s because increased visibility on search engines should lead to an increase in sales. After all, do you want your website on the equivalent of London’s Bond Street? Or would you rather be placed in a field out the back way of the village of Wetwang in North Yorkshire?

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is it’s own subject and field, and this article will not describe it – you can find further information here ***link***. But webmasters should be aware of the issues of making their sites search engine friendly. Those who don’t will lose out to competitors who are.

An especial point to make here is that far too many quality web design companies know squat diddly about SEO – and all too often will create a well presented dynamically-driven website that has the commercial visibility of the field out the back way of Wetwang. There’s no point being beautiful if you cannot even be seen.

Web design issues

We’re going to run through some of the absolute basics of web design. We’re not going to learn HTML code here, or CSS, Java, ASP, or PHP. All we’re going to do is deal with the design concept. Because this is where so many businesses go completely wrong. I kid you not.

We’re going to try and empower you with a simple, yet profound, understanding of designing for the web. Regardless as to whether you’re designing your site yourself, or else having one constructed especially for you, it is essential information.

Much of it is completely obvious. But as with all the simplest things in life, people often can’t see the wood for the trees.
Layout

How would you like your site presentation? Horizontal? Vertical? What shapes – curved lines, boxed lines, diagonal shapes, what?

Your use of layout is really an aesthetic issue with few notable rules. In other words, so long as it harmonises with your general design concept, then there is little to specifically worry about here.

A notable exception is that you should avoid the user having to scroll pages as much as possible. Certainly on a web page, anyway. You should never expect prospective customers to have to trawl through a five-page scrolling dissertation on why what you sell is great.

But the same with the design concepts – even if the information is cleanly and concisely presented, don’t allow your actual site layout to sprawl. After all, your layout is intended to concentrate attention to the Unique Selling Point that is your company. But that presentation will fail if a user has to scroll horizontally and vertically to see it manifest.

Do also be aware that users on the web are, in majority, split between people who have their computers set to a screen resolution of 800×600 pixels, and those with a screen resolution of 1020×728 pixels. Therefore, when looking at your design layout and website template, do ensure that it can be clearly and properly viewed at a resolution of 800×600 first, and then ensure it also works at a resolution of 1028×728.

A simple solution to the resolution issue that many web designers adopt is to simply box up the majority of the content within a centred table, that either entirely or mostly fills a monitor screen displaying in 800×600 – but also include a background colour, or “wallpaper” graphic – so that when viewed on higher resolutions the entire layout is represented within a simple but aesthetic frame, as like a paper upon a tablecloth.

In general, seek to keep everything clean and simply presented, and as succinctly as possible. That means try to make maximum use of space for presentation. By that I don’t mean utilise every pixel, as much as ensure that what you want the user to focus upon is exactly what the user will focus on.

The notion of picture focus really requires a long explanation from the text-books of art theory, which have no place in this book. So what I’ll advise is that you look around a number of websites as a process of market research – which you should really be doing anyway – and try to remember where your eyes are drawn to first on each site. That way, althought you may not develop a complex and conscious understanding of the complexities of abstract notions such as focus – you may get an intuitive feel for it. Doesn’t mean to say that you’ll be right. But so long as you keep alert to the issue, you’ll find yourself working with focussing elements that may yet integrate successfully with your general design concept.

Loading speed

There is an oft bandied statistic about the internet that within seven seconds of your URL being clicked on, you lose one-third of your visitors. I’ve seen this on my own weblogs.

Therefore your main concern for your website, no matter what sort of design option you opt for, is the speed at which the your webpages load. It must be fast.

As the majority of internet users still use dial-up modems – and not necessarily all as high as 56k – then this means use of a Flash animation intro page is a no-no, and the use of graphics should be kept to a minimum.

Of course, there is a necessary compromise here – after all, a text only homepage is going to fail to present a professional presentation of the company. Graphics, use of simple colour and textures, and javascript, can all help enhance that image – but they will all slow the loading of your pages.

The point here is to use common-sense in your approach. For starters, graphics should be kept to a minimum, unless seen necessarily otherwise. For example, a graphic design site could try and get away with a graphically intensive homepage, on the grounds that they are using themselves as a showcase.

For the most part, though, simple use of colour accompanied by small graphics files make for excellent ingredients in a more general site. Careful use of tables for presenting text can also help with the overall presentation.

At the end of the day, a business using the internet has to accept that the internet has limitations. The key is to work within those limitations. The sooner you can show off your wares, the better chance you have of attracting customers.

Don’t let yourself be talked into accepting a Flash site from a design company, unless you’re absolutely certain that your target market will tolerate it. Flash sites make for great presentation on websites with an established following, but as a business tool should be either shunned outright or accepted in small increments and with great care. At least, until the majority of internet users are broadband users.

An additional concern on the loading speed of your site is your webhosting company’s connections. We’ll get into that in the later section: Finding a Host.

Use of colour

In general design terms, a hard and fast rule is to stick to the least amount of colours. This applies not simply to the internet, but material products and brochures as well. The reason? Simply put, it’s for ease of presentation.

Simplicity is the key here, because the human eye is drawn more quickly to contrast. Use of many colours drown out the contrast, and so can spoil your presentation.

Three colours, including for text, is a good starting figure to work with, though sometimes companies will use a fourth colour for highlighting purposes.

If you don’t believe me then look out for non-food products – check out the items in your bathroom, for example – you’ll see this rule being enacted in most cases. With transparent toiletry containers, the actual contents will often constitute one of the design colours, as a balance between contrast and aesthetic use of colour is sought. Also note where a fourth colour may be used for highlighting certain aspects, whether a logo or actual “product” description.

Bear such things closely in mind with your website.

If you remember what I stated about logos and slogans, you should now realise that this applies here. Not every logo requires minimal colour – some seek to revel in colour. But for general usage, less is best.

You’ll also now realise that your logo really ought to harmonise with your website colouring scheme. There’s no point designing a site with three colours, only to introduce yet another three in your logo – because the latter will very probably look entirely out of place.

Use your logo to define the website colour scheme. After all, as we saw in section 1, your logo is a statement about your company. Therefore, that statement should extend into your actual web design. There is absolutely no point in making up a pretty colour scheme for your website, and then deciding that your whimsical choice should therefore decide your company statement via the logo – unless it actually makes a statement about your company in the first place. In which case, it’s going about the issue by different means, but reaching the same ends.

So now that you’re looking at a colour scheme, and considering the idea of three potential colours, which colours do you chose?

There is no hard rule about this at all – it depends entirely upon such concerns as what sort of design style you are opting for, and what exactly you are selling. A fan site about black and white films may opt for strongly contrasting greys, whereas a horror site is likely to considering using black and red. But do ensure, whatever colours you use, that they do contrast. Otherwise, you are missing out on the chance of your website making a strong impression on the user.

Use of text

As stated above, your text colour should be counted among your basic design colours. But your background to the text must ensure a strong contrast.

Market research indicates that black text over a white background is the easiest to read. This is due, in no small part, to the maximum contrast these colours offer.

Of course, if every website simply used this basic principle, you would have a lot of uninspiring but easy to read sites. That’s where a strong third colour with a mid-contrast – green, blue, yellow, purple, for example – come into their own to help enhance presentation.

But you also do not need to use black text on a white background – merely be aware, and try to utilise the principle of contrast that it illustrates.

For example, a light grey background will still uphold a strong contrast. The use of subtle “wallpaper” – background – graphics, can also enhance the aesthetic appeal of a webpage, yet also maintain a high degree of contrast.

What you absolutely should never do – unless you intentionally wish to make your site illegible – is use close contrasting colours – black text on a dark blue background, for example. You’d think people would realise this, but a random stroll through search engine results will soon open them up.

Now, you’re probably using some text to describe whatever you’re selling – but you’re also likely to be looking to use text on a navigation bar – for navigation buttons, perhaps.

The same principle of contrast works here as well, but you can be a little more merciful with colour use. After all, navigation bars are not simply intended to be useful, but also present an aesthetic design element into your website presentation.

However, another concern for your site in general, that must be realised, is the use of fonts.

There’s absolutely no point in using exotic fonts for your site if most users will not have it saved on their hard drive. Why? Because their internet browser, not matter what it is, will render your exotic font into something much more mundane – likeliest, Times New Roman. The immediate danger here is that over zealousness in a decorative fancy would lead to uncontrollable variables in your presentation.

If you feel you have to use exotic fonts, and you know they will in majority be rendered down to a serif font like Times New Roman, then you really have to ask yourself why you would use that exotic font in the first place.

Another important point on this whole issue is that Times New Roman, although extensively used and appreciated in many forms of printed media – such as books, magazines, and newspapers – doesn’t necessarily look good on a website.

The reason being? Reading on a monitor is far less pleasant than in a book, magazine, or newspapaer. For a start, such articles do not have a bright light shining through them. The light of your monitor screen will result in a reduced attention span, as the eyes will generally fin the experience uncomfortable, and try to avert. Also, it’s less user friendly – with a book you can simply move your eyes to the appropriate place, but on a monitor screen you’ll often find yourself having to manually adjust screen properties, such as by using the scrolling bar, before you can move your eyes to the intended area.

In other words, the computer is not an ideal medium for reading. That’s why on a web site you need to ensure that your text is a readable as possible. This means that you should really consider using such fonts as Arial and Verdana – simple monotype fonts that lack the decoration of other font types, and are thus easier to read.

Also note that on the same theme you should avoid using any more than two different font types on the same page. You can push this limit to three if your logo utilises a more decorative font, but leave it at those numbers. Otherwise the user will find themselves continually having to readjust to each font used, which will cause some element of cognitive discomfort. The result will be that the person viewing the site wanted to leave it more quickly than normal – no matter whatever wonderful design features you have.

Use a basic font for your main sales pitch, and consider maybe using a second font for headers or navigation buttons. But frankly, with the different ways you can stylise a font – italicise, make bold, underline, etc – coupled with the ease with which you can change text sizes, distracting from a single efficient font is moving dangerously close to gratuitous design.

Also be aware that you don’t necessarily need to have all of your explanatory text running in the same area – you can use tables to distribute text – perhaps for different sales items or services – to separate them into far more easily digestible pieces. The mind likes to take in details in small amounts – give the user that and you’ve got a good presentation ethic in action. Create a site abounding with a confusing mix of colour and font styles, and you may as well be asking the user to perform cognitive calculus.

As stated before, be clear and concise in every aspect of your design. That means explanations to a minimum, perhaps accompanied with a link for further information, and that sales talk should be simple and quickly delivered. Remember, every second counts when it comes to internet presentation. The more quickly your website can deliver succinct but detailed information, the more likely you’ll keep prospective customers interested in what you’re selling. Sounds obvious. But like so many things, it is advice far harder put into practice.

Questions? Discuss this in our Internet Business forums for help and advice

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