CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK In this book you’ll learn how to: While a pleasing website is essential for any modern business, creating it is only a small piece of the online strategy This book also discusses search engine optimization, using e-mail and RSS to communicate with customers and prospects, and advertising the corporate domain with paid search placement, online banners, text links, and more The primary theme is using your corporate website to market the business effectively, from designing intelligent product pages to writing compelling e-mail newsYour visitors come to your site because they are letters This book explores those ideas and offers interested in your business and are therefore potencompelling advice on how to take full advantage of tial customers This book covers taking advantage the Web as a marketing medium of that traffic by expanding the company’s story through a corporate blog and using testimonials, case studies, and other third-party validation to reinforce the marketing message With this knowledge you will be able to create and maintain a highly professional, polished business site Also Available ISBN-13: 978-1-59059-839-9 ISBN-10: 1-59059-839-3 53999 Potts he best business websites serve their readers with strong content, well-architected design, and a focus on usability, readability, and accessibility This book covers the fundamental aspects of building a website that works for the company, not against it It covers the essentials of strong copywriting, and then dedicates several chapters to designing user-centric About, Products and Services, and Support sections Web Design and Marketing Solutions Business Websites T for Implement best practices in corporate web design, with a focus on common sections such as About, Products and Services, Customer Support, and more Use e-mail and RSS marketing to stay in touch with customers and prospects Apply simple and effective search engine optimization techniques to push your website higher in search engine results Advertise the site through e-mail, paid search placement, banner ads, and more Write professional, accessible, and usable pages to make your site available to everyone Write strong web content Maximize your search engine marketing Learn how accessibility and web standards apply to corporate sites SHELVING C ATEGORY Web Design Kevin Potts US $39.99 Mac/PC compatible 781590 598399 www.friendsofed.com this print for reference only—size & color not accurate spine = 0.791" 416 page count 8393FM.qxd 8/8/07 2:45 PM Page i Web Design and Marketing Solutions for Business Websites Kevin Potts 8393FM.qxd 8/8/07 2:45 PM Page ii Web Design and Marketing Solutions for Business Websites Copyright © 2007 Kevin Potts All rights reserved No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the copyright owner and the publisher ISBN-13 (pbk): 978-1-59059-839-9 ISBN-10 (pbk): 1-59059-839-3 Printed and bound in the United States of America Trademarked names may appear in this book Rather than use a trademark symbol with every occurrence of a trademarked name, we use the names only in an editorial fashion and to the benefit of the trademark owner, with no intention of infringement of the trademark Distributed to the book trade worldwide by Springer-Verlag New York, Inc., 233 Spring Street, 6th Floor, New York, NY 10013 Phone 1-800-SPRINGER, fax 201-348-4505, e-mail orders-ny@springer-sbm.com, or visit www.springeronline.com For information on translations, please contact Apress directly at 2855 Telegraph Avenue, Suite 600, Berkeley, CA 94705 Phone 510-549-5930, fax 510-549-5939, e-mail info@apress.com, or visit www.apress.com The information in this book is distributed on an “as is” basis, without warranty Although every precaution has been taken in the preparation of this work, neither the author(s) nor Apress shall have any liability to any person or entity with respect to any loss or damage caused or alleged to be caused directly or indirectly by the information contained in this work The source code for this book is freely available to readers at www.friendsofed.com in the Downloads section Credits Lead Editor Matthew Moodie Technical Reviewer Brian Warren Editorial Board Steve Anglin, Ewan Buckingham, Gary Cornell, Jonathan Gennick, Jason Gilmore, Jonathan Hassell, Chris Mills, Matthew Moodie, Jeffrey Pepper, Ben Renow-Clarke, Dominic Shakeshaft, Matt Wade, Tom Welsh Project Manager Katie Stence Copy Editor Damon Larson Assistant Production Director Kari Brooks-Copony Production Editor Laura Esterman Compositor Dina Quan Artist April Milne Proofreader Linda Seifert Indexer Julie Grady Interior and Cover Designer Kurt Krames Manufacturing Director Tom Debolski 8393FM.qxd 8/8/07 2:45 PM Page iii There are many things in life where the simplicity of the final product belies the intense process of creation Making sausage is one, writing a book is another Web Design and Marketing Solutions for Business Websites is the culmination of not only my time, but my family’s as well, which was largely spent wondering where I’d gone to for a year This book was only possible with their love My wife, who has dubbed the project “the other woman in my life,” has been supportive beyond the call of duty My three children, who are my sun and air, have shown a patience that is beyond their young years, even when demanding their evening bottle or asking to watch Cars with them for the 912th time I love you all, and this book—in its own technical, nerdy, plotless way—is dedicated to each one of you 8393FM.qxd 8/8/07 2:45 PM Page iv 8393FM.qxd 8/8/07 2:45 PM Page v CONTENTS AT A GLANCE About the Author xviii About the Technical Reviewer xix Acknowledgments xx Introduction xxi Chapter 1: Overview Chapter 2: Content 21 Chapter 3: Accessibility 37 Chapter 4: Architecture and Navigation 67 Chapter 5: The Homepage 89 Chapter 6: The About Section 111 Chapter 7: Products and Services 145 Chapter 8: Independent Validation 165 Chapter 9: The Corporate Blog 191 Chapter 10: Customer Support 221 Chapter 11: Contingency Planning 243 Chapter 12: Legalese 269 Chapter 13: Search Engine Optimization 285 Chapter 14: Outbound Marketing 315 Chapter 15: Online Advertising 343 Appendix: Resources 369 Index 377 v 8393FM.qxd 8/8/07 2:45 PM Page vi 8393FM.qxd 8/8/07 2:45 PM Page vii CONTENTS About the Author About the Technical Reviewer Acknowledgments Introduction xviii Chapter 1: Overview xix xx xxi What your website should Marketing Selling a tangible product Promoting services The whole branding thing Home as advertisement Support Providing extended information The community Customer love Corporate information News and press releases Contact information The corporate blog Redesigning your site Redesign justification Internal pressure Shiny new technology The branding mind-meld 10 Planning the redesign 10 Primary objectives 11 Secondary objectives 12 Tertiary objectives 12 vii 8393FM.qxd 8/8/07 2:45 PM Page viii CONTENTS Selling the redesign The research The cold hard facts The timeline The cost Website platforms HTML vs Flash Content management systems WordPress Textpattern Drupal ExpressionEngine Vignette Hosting considerations Summary Chapter 2: Content Chapter 3: Accessibility 22 24 25 25 26 28 28 28 28 29 29 30 31 31 31 32 33 34 37 Accessibility is not just for the blind Visual impairment Mobility impairment Hearing impairment Learning disabilities Epilepsy Accessibility benefits everyone Keep the doors open Stay out of the courtroom Optimize for search engines Karma 13 13 13 13 14 14 14 16 16 16 16 17 17 18 18 21 To compete, you need to be found To be found, you need to say something Writing better copy for the Web Avoiding corporate speak Have mercy on the thesaurus Write for your audience, not your ego Provide the whole story Short paragraphs Bullets Reading level Examples of clarification Design considerations for content Insist on copy—refute lorem ipsum Typography considerations To serif or to sans? Use common typefaces Consider contrast Summary viii 38 39 39 39 40 40 40 40 41 41 41 8393IDX.qxd 8/9/07 11:01 AM Page 377 INDEX 8393IDX.qxd 8/9/07 11:01 AM Page 378 INDEX Numbers and Symbols 200 OK status code, 246 301 Moved Permanently status code, 246–247 302 Found status code, 246–247 404 Not Found status code, 245, 248, 250 500 Internal Server Error, 250 A tags, 305 About section career opportunities in, 120–126 company culture in, 119 company history in, 118 company overview in, 116–120 Contact page in, 135–141 content of, 113–141 investor relations in, 129–135 link to, 112–113 management profiles in, 118–119 news/press releases in, 126–129 purpose of, 112 services/products overview in, 117 absolute measurements, 265–266 access keys, 51–52 accessibility, 15 benefits of designing for, 40–41 color considerations, 47–49 Flash and, 59–60 forms and, 53–56 graphics and, 57–58 laws/lawsuits, 41–45 multimedia and, 58–60 planning for, 41 real-world scenarios, 45–57 resources, 371–372 search engine optimization and, 41 standards-based development and, 45–47 supplemental navigation for, 49–53 SWFObject, 59–60 tables and, 56–57 testing, 63–65 types of disabilities, 38–40 378 W3C guidelines for, 42–44 web design and, 38 accessibility statement, 61–63 accesskey attribute, 52 acronyms, 27 AdSense, 364 advanced search pages, 254 advertisements, in print-friendly pages, 265 advertising See online advertising advertising budget, 351 advertising channels, 350 advertising goals, for e-mail campaigns, 355–356 AdWords program, 353 alt attribute, 57, 303 AltaVista, 287 alternative text, 303 analytical software, 295–297 anchor tags, to reference RSS feeds, 340 anchor text, 305 annual reports, 132 Anti Spam League, 282 Apache servers, banning IP addresses on, 217 architecture, 38, 68 blog, 206–209 organization of content, 68–74 visualization of, 70–74 See also site design archives blog, 208–209 newsletter, 331 Arial typeface, 32 article sites, 306, 308 ASP.NET applications, hosting requirements, 18 Atom feeds, 338 audience, writing for, 28 Author link, 50 author meta tag, 301 awards, 167, 169, 175, 187 B Back button, 75, 77 banner advertising, 286, 350–352, 360–363 best-of-breed, 27 8393IDX.qxd 8/9/07 11:01 AM Page 379 INDEX billboards, 97–98, 104 blindness, 39 Blogger, 199–200 blogging policies, 215 blogging resources, 372 blogging software, 198–206 Bloglines, 336 blogs, 7–8, 99–100 adding to site menu, 206–207 architecture, 206–209 archive pages, 208–209 benefits of, 197 best practices, 205, 214–215 business processes information on, 195 comments, 206, 216–218 content for, 210–215 best practices, 214–215 original thoughts vs reactionary writing, 214 topics and themes, 213–214 writers of, 210–212 factors of successful, 192 growth of, 192 interface for, 209 moderation of, 216–218 personality and, 195–197 platforms for, 198–206 custom applications, 205–206 Drupal, 204 ExpressionEngine, 204 hosted, 198–201 locally installed, 202–205 Moveable Type, 202 Textpattern, 203 TypePad, 201 WordPress, 204 purpose of corporate, 193–196 risks of corporate, 196–197 board of directors, in About section, 118–119 brand exposure, 345–346 branding homepage and, 94 on Web, website redesign and, 10 breadcrumb links, 80 broken links, 244 browser windows, launching new for external links, 77 bullets, 28 Burnett, Leo, 344 business products-based, 146 services-based, 147–148 business goals, 345, 347 business-to-business (B2B) marketers, 316 C CAD drawings, 238 calls to action, 98, 160–161 CAN-SPAM Act, 321, 324, 357 captions, table, 57 tag, 57 career opportunities, in About section, 114, 120–126 cascading style sheets (CSS) adoption of, 56 CSS-based design, 10 e-mail newsletters and, 327 printing with, 263–266 typefaces and, 33 case studies, 158, 167, 170–174, 178 delivery of, 180–184 finding, 178 interactive, 184 listing, 178–180 story length, 184–185 client base, reaching out to, clip art, copyright and, 271 CMS Movable Type, 201 color blindness, 39, 48–49 colors accessibility and, 47–49 contrast, 33 Colour Contrast Analyzer, 47 comments, blog, 216–218 Common Look and Feel for the Internet standards, 45 379 8393IDX.qxd 8/9/07 11:01 AM Page 380 INDEX communication benefits of open, 192 via blogs See blogs one-way stream of, 192 Web and, 192 community, 5–6 community building, through forums, 231 company culture, in About section, 119 company history, in About section, 114, 118 company information See About section company overview in About section, 114, 116–120 on homepage, 92–93, 96, 104 company philosophy, in About section, 114–115 competition, 22–23 contact forms, 138–141 for resume submission, 124–125 for support, 235–236 contact information, 7, 115 Contact page, 135–141 e-mail contact, 138–141 information on, 136–138 layout of, 137–138 link to, 136 content clarity of writing and, 24–30 collecting and managing, 73–74 design considerations for, 22,30–33 keywords, 23 organizing, 68–74 rating, 45 search engines and, 23 text as foundation of, 22 see also Web copy content attribute, 310 content licensing, 278–279 content management systems (CMSs), 16–17, 198–206 Contents link, 49 contextual ads, 364 contingency planning doomsday page, 266–267 form errors, 257–261 introduction to, 244 380 for printing web pages, 262–266 for redirects and error pages, 244–250 site search, 250–257 contrast, 33, 47–48 conversion paths, 294 copy See content, Web copy copyright, 271–276 infringement, 273–274 on homepage, 105 registering, 273 work made for hire, 272 copyright meta tag, 301 copyright notices, 275–276 copywriting, 98, 320 corporate blogs See blogs corporate information, 7–8 corporate jargon, avoiding, 25–27 corporate news on blogs, 194 on homepage, 99 corporate websites functions of, 2–8 redesigning, 8–14 survey of, 103–105 See also websites cost per conversion, 355–356 cost per lead, 317, 347 coupons, 352 Creative Commons license, 279 CSS custom applications, for blogging, 205–206 Custom Search Engine, 252 customer acquisition, 316 customer appreciation, customer lists, 176, 178 customer profiles, 348–349 customer retention, 316 customer satisfaction, online support and, 224 customer support best practices for, 237–240 contact forms, 235–236 content for, 238–239 e-mail addresses for, 236–237 function, 5–6 8393IDX.qxd 8/9/07 11:01 AM Page 381 INDEX importance of, 222 instant messaging for, 234 internationalization issues for, 240 options for, 225–237 dedicated support contact, 234–237 documentation, 230 FAQs, 225–227 forums, 230–232, 234 knowledgebase, 227–229 phone numbers, 234–235 ROI of, 223–225 customers access to, through forums, 231 dialog with, via blogs, 197 finding and using, for third-party validation, 171–174 testimonials from, 174–175 Cynthia Says, 64 D description meta tag, 300–301 direct mail, vs e-mail advertising, 316 direct marketing, 316 directories, 306 disabilities, types of, 38–40 Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (DDA), 44 dividend history, 130 dmoz.org, 306 DOCTYPE, 46 documentation, in customer support section, 230 Domino platform, 205 doomsday page, 266–267 DreamHost, 18 drop-down menus, 79 form-based, 78 for site navigation, 56 Drupal, 16, 204–205 dyslexia, 40 E e-mail contact via, 138–141 for outbound marketing, 316 e-mail addresses concealing, in forms, 139 on Contact page, 136 for customer support, 236–237 e-mail advertising, 355–360 content of, 357–359 vs direct mail, 316 e-mail links, for resume submission, 123–124 e-mail lists, purchasing, 356–357 e-mail marketing, 317, 350–351 e-mail newsletters archives, 331 content of, 317–321 design of, 324–330 images in, 326–329 layout, 329–330 legal issues, 321 links in, 320 opt-out mechanisms, 321 for outbound marketing, 316–335 publishing, 331–333 reporting and metrics, 333–335 sign up for, on homepage, 101–102 structure of, 325 styling of, 327 subject lines for, 318 subscription management, 321–324 unsubscribing from, 323–324 writing style for, 320 earnings statements, 134 EDGAR database, 133 tag, 59 ems, 265 enterprise, 27 epilepsy, 40 error handling, in forms, 257–261 error messages, 245 form, 259–261 status codes, 245, 247–249 error pages, 244–250 executive blogging, 212 ExpressionEngine, 17, 204–205 eye-tracking studies, 107 381 8393IDX.qxd 8/9/07 11:01 AM Page 382 INDEX F F-shaped pattern, of user attention, 107 Fangs Screen Reader Emulator, 65 FAQs, content of, 225–226 in customer support section, 225–227 design of, 226–227 usability of, 225 fax numbers, on Contact page, 136 featured products, 105 Federal Trade Commission (FTC), 282 feed discovery, 340 FeedBurner, 338–339 fields in contact forms, 139–141 required, 55, 140–141 tag, 54 file compression, of large PDFs, 230 file structure, for Web site content, 73 financial reports, 132 Firefox browser, 65 first impressions, 90 First link, 50 Flash, 10, 14–16 Flash accessibility, 59–60 Flash-based navigation, 80–82 fold, 105–106 fonts common types, 33 serif vs sans serif, 31 Form 3, 133 Form 4, 133 Form 5, 133 Form 8-K, 133 Form 10-K, 132 Form 10-Q, 132 Form TX, 273 Form VA, 273 form-based drop-down menus, 78 forms accessibility and, 53–56 contact, 138–141 customer support, 235–236 error handling, 257–261 382 print-friendly pages and, 265 problems with design of, 258 required fields, 55, 140–41 submission of, 54 testing, 258 forums administration of, 232, 234 in customer support section, 230–232, 234 platforms for, 232 purposes of, 231 Forward button, 75 founders, in About section, 118–119 FreeMind, 72 front-page billboards, 97–98 G Georgia typeface, 32 global navigation, 49, 74, 76, 104 globalization, 22 GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL), 278 Go Daddy, 18, 212–213 goal conversions, 151, 356 homepage and, 93–94 tracking, 354 Google, 41, 353 Custom Search Engine, 252 importance of, 289 myths about, 287 Google AdSense, 364 Google Analytics, 296–297, 335 graphics, accessibility and, 57–58 H header tags, 304 hierarchical breadcrumbs, 80 hierarchical diagrams, for site architecture, 72–73 history feature, 75 Home link, 49 homepage anatomy of, 95–105 billboards on, 97–98 branding and, 94 8393IDX.qxd 8/9/07 11:01 AM Page 383 INDEX company overview on, 92–93, 96 corporate blogs on, 99–100 corporate news on, 99 featured products and services on, 100 functions of, 91–93, 95 goal conversions and, 93–94 impression created by, 90 lead conversions and, 294 login option on, 102–103 navigation and, 92–95 newsletter signups on, 101–102 press releases on, 99 search field on, 96–97 subscription link on, 321–323 survey of companies’, 103–105 testimonials on, 101 usability considerations, 105–108 hosted blogging platforms, 198–201 Blogger, 199 WordPress.com, 200–201 hosting considerations, 18 htaccess file, 217, 246–247, 249 HTML, valid, 46 HTML 4.01 spec, 56 HTML form, search box as, 253–254 HTML format, for case studies, 180–184 HTML platform, vs Flash, 14–16 HTML site maps, 84 HTML tables accessibility and, 56 design of, 131–132 HTML tags, correct use of, 53–57 HTML-based forms, 139–141 HTTP status response codes, 245–250 I IBM, idea mapping, 70–72 image maps, server-side, 78 images alt attribute for, 57 alternative text for, 303 in e-mail newsletters, 326–329 high-resolution, 156 product, 155–158 slideshows, 157–158 in-text advertising, 364 inaccessibility, 15 incoming links, building, 305–309 individual product descriptions, 150 individual product pages, 154, 156 industry circle, 308 industry news, on blogs, 194 information corporate, 7–8 provided on website, providing needed, 28 information repository, forums as, 231 inline links, print-friendly pages and, 265 inline styles, 327 instant messaging (IM), for customer support, 234 intellectual property, 270–272 interactive conversations, interactive demos, 158 interface, for blog, 209 internal pressure, for website redesign, internal search function, 252 introduction pages, 107–108 invented words, 27 investor relations, in About section, 115, 129–135 invisible navigation, 51 Invision Power Board, 232 IP addresses, banning on Apache servers, 217 IP.Board, 232 J jargon, avoiding, 25–27 JavaScript drop-down menus and, 79 forms and, 78 nonintrusive use of, in forms, 56 job entry listing, in About section, 122 job lists, in About section, 121 job openings, in About section, 125 383 8393IDX.qxd 8/9/07 11:01 AM Page 384 INDEX K keyboard shortcuts, access keys and, 52 keyword research sites, 291 keywords emphasizing, 304 levels of, 290, 292–293 for paid search, 354 placement of, on page, 304 search engines and, 23 for search engine optimization, 290–297 in title, 299 in URL, 302–305 keywords meta tag, 301 knowledgebase, in customer support section, 227–229 Kontera, 364 L tag, 53 landing pages for case studies, 180–184 for online ads, 365, 367 for products and services, 150–54 language barriers, customer support and, 240 Last link, 50 lawsuits, accessibility, 41 layers, 238 lead generation, 347 leaders, in About section, 118–119 learning disabilities, 40 legal issues, 270–282 copyright, 271–276 intellectual property, 270–272 privacy policy, 280–282 terms of use, 276–280 work made for hire, 272 tag, 54 leverage, 27 tag, 49 links to About section, 112–113 breadcrumb, 80 broken, 244 384 to Contact page, 136 e-mail, for resume submission, 123–124 global, 74 to homepage, 92 inbound, 293 incoming, 305–309 inline, 265 labels for, 82–83 local, 74 logo, 104 in newsletters, 320 outgoing, 304 placement of, 75–76 to product images, 156 to Products and Services section, 149 to RSS feeds, 340 secondary, 76 to shopping cart, 159 to third-party validation, 169 underlined, 48 See also navigation loading times, 15 local menus, 74 local navigation, 76, 79 login option, on homepage, 102–105 logo blitzkriegs, 177 logo links, 104 long tail, 22 longdesc attribute, 57 lorem ipsum, 31 Lynx browser, 65 M mailing address, in Contact page, 136 main sections, of website, 69 marketing blogs and, 193–196 direct, 316 e-mail, 317, 350–351 outbound, 316–341 search, 287–288 third-party validation, 166–188 See also online advertising 8393IDX.qxd 8/9/07 11:01 AM Page 385 INDEX marketing collateral, 158 marketing function, 2–4 marketing resources, 373 markup semantic, 47, 53 valid, 46 Markup Validation Service, 64 markup validators, 46 measurements, absolute, 265–266 Media Temple, 18 menu design, best practices, 77–78 mergers, corporate, 10 meta tag, 299 metadata importance of, 298–301 navigation aids, 49–50 in XML files, 85 mind mapping, 70–72 Mint, 296 mobile Web, customer support and, 239–240 mobility impairments, 39 moderation, of blogs, 216–218 modifiers, 27 money savings, from online customer support, 223–224 monochromacy, 39 Moveable Type, 202, 205 multimedia, accessibility and, 58–60 N name exposure, 345–346 navigation adding blog link to, 206–207 best practices, 77–78 breadcrumb links, 80 drop-down menus, 56, 79 Flash-based, 80–82 global, 49, 74, 76, 104 homepage, 92–95 importance of, 68 labels and, 82–83 local, 74, 76, 79 obtuse, 78 organization of content and, 68–74 placement, 75–76 print-friendly pages and, 265 redundant, 79 search-oriented, 96 secondary, 76 site maps, 83–86 supplemental, 49–53 See also links navigation aids, 49–50 navigation design, 74–83 navigation levels, 74 news delivery, via blogs, 193–195, 197 news releases, 7, 105, 126–129 newsletters See e-mail newsletters Next link, 50 Nielsen, Jakob, 77 O tag, 58–59 online advertising banner ads, 360–363 campaign tactics, 344–352 channels for, 350 compiling advertising program, 350–365 creating effective, 352 defining goals for, 345–347 e-mail advertising, 355–360 introduction to, 344 landing pages for, 365, 367 paid search, 353–355 target demographics, 348–350 text links, 364–365 online habits, 251 Open Directory Project (ODP), 306–307 Opera Software, community portal of, organic results, 288 organization, of content, 68–74 outbound marketing, 316 e-mail newsletters, 316–335 RSS feeds, 335–341 outside contractors, copyright and, 271 385 8393IDX.qxd 8/9/07 11:01 AM Page 386 INDEX P page content invisible, 303 visible, 303 See also content page ranking, improving See search engine optimization page title, 299 paid search results, 350–355 paragraphs, length of, 28 tags, 58 Parsons, Bob, 212–213 patents, 270 path breadcrumbs, 80 pay-per-click (PPC) ads, 287 pay-per-click model, 354 PDFs, best practices for long-format, 230 personas, 349–350 philanthropic activities, in About section, 119 phone numbers on Contact page, 136 customer support, 234–235 PhpBB, 232–233 pixels, 265 press release sites, 306–308 press releases, 7, 105 in About section, 114, 126–129 about products, 158 content of, 128 for third-party validation, 167, 170–174 on homepage, 99 listing, 126, 128 purposes of, 126 for third-party validation, 167, 170–174 Prev link, 50 principals, in About section, 114, 118–119 print-ready Web pages, 262–263 printing, Web pages, 262–266 privacy policy, 280–282 Privacy.org, 282 product announcements, on blogs, 193 product descriptions, 154 product documentation, 230 product images, 155–158 386 product information, 158 product landing page, 152–154 product pages, individual, 154–156 products, 146–147 featured on homepage, 100 linking to shopping cart, 159 related, 158 selling online, and services, 148–149 products overview, in About section, 117 Products pages designing, 150–159 unique selling story and, 162 Products section, 149–150 project requirements, 69 proof-of-concept diagram, 68 prospects, online customer support and, 224 public forums, 5–6 public relations, 344 publication schedules, for e-mail newsletters, 331 publishing platforms, for e-mail newsletters, 332–333 PunBB, 232–233 purchases, 151 Q qualified leads, 294 QuickTime videos, 158 R Rackspace, 18 reading levels, 29 reading patterns, of Web users, 107 Really Simple Syndication (RSS), 206, 316, 335 See also RSS feeds recognition, 175, 187 redirects, 244–250 referring sites, 293, 306 rel attribute, 264 reply/remove technique, 323 resources, 370–374 resume submission, in About section, 122–125 8393IDX.qxd 8/9/07 11:01 AM Page 387 INDEX reviews, 167, 175, 187 robots meta tag, 301, 310–311 robots.txt file, 311–312 ROI (return on investment), of customer support, 223–225 RSS (Really Simple Syndication), 206, 316, 335 RSS 0.91, 338 RSS 2.0, 338 RSS feeds, 335–341 adding to site, 340–341 content for, 336–341 implementation of, 338 for marketing, 337 for website, 337 S sales, increasing, 346–347 sales goals, 346 sans serif fonts, 31 screen readers, 64 screen resolution, design considerations and, 106 search behavior, 288 search boxes, 253–255 HTML for, 253–254 placement of, 254 search capability, in knowledgebase, 229 search engine marketing (SEM), 287 search engine optimization (SEO) accessibility and, 41 building incoming links for, 305–309 directing search engine traffic, 310–312 introduction to, 286–289 keyword selection, 290–297 metadata and, 298–301 as part of advertising campaign, 352 quality writing and, 303 referring sites and, 293 resources, 373 ROI and, 293–294 strategy for, 289–290 strategy review, 295–297 tactics, 297–310 URL structure and, 302–305 search engine positioning, blogs and, 197 search engine results page (SERP), 287 search engine spiders, 310–312 search engine traffic, directing, 310–312 search engines, 250–251, 286–287 being found by, 23–25 myths about, 287 organic vs paid results from, 288 submission to, 309 website platform and, 15 search function on homepage, 96–97, 105 indispensable nature of, 250–251 as navigation complement, 251–252 Search link, 50 search marketing, 287–288 search pages, advanced, 254–255 search results, 255–257 search-oriented navigation, 96 SEC filings, 132–135 secondary navigation, 76 Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act, 44 semantic markup, 47, 53 semi-blindness, 39 SEO See search engine optimization serif fonts, 31 server-side image maps, 78 services, 147–148 in About section, 117 featured on homepage, 100 and products, 148–149 promoting online, Services pages, 149 design of, 150–151, 159–161 naming, 150 unique selling story and, 162 shopping carts, 3, 149, 159 site architecture See architecture site design color considerations, 47–49 content organization, 68–74 display of tabular data, 131–132 F pattern and, 107 fold and, 105–106 387 8393IDX.qxd 8/9/07 11:01 AM Page 388 INDEX homepage, 95–105 navigation design, 74–83 Product and Services pages, 150–161 redesigns, 69 supplemental navigation, 49–53 usability considerations, 105–108 site maps, 83–86 function of, 83 linking to HTML, 84 XML, 85–86 site navigation See navigation site search, 250–257 site traffic, blogs and, 197 Site Valet, 64 site validation, 63–64 slideshows, 157–158 solution, 27 sorting tables, 132 spam, on blogs, 217–218 splash pages, 107–108 sponsored search results See paid search results sponsorships, 350 standards-based development, 45–47 semantic markup, 47 valid HTML, 46 Starbucks website, marketing on, status codes, 245–249 200 OK, 246 301 Moved Permanently, 246–247 302 Found, 246–247 404, 245 404 Not Found, 248, 250 500 Internal Server Error, 250 stock information, 129–131 stock photography, copyright and, 271 strategic alliances, for links, 309 style sheets printer-friendly pages and, 263–266 use of, 56 See also cascading style sheets (CSS) subject lines, for e-mail newsletters, 318 subscription management, for e-mail newsletters, 321–324 successes, in About section, 114 388 Suckerfish Dropdowns, 79 summary attribute, 57 supplemental navigation, 49–53 access keys, 51–52 invisible navigation, 51 navigation aids, 49 tab index, 52–53 support See customer support SWFObject, 59–60 Sybase, 205 syndication, content for, 336–341 T Tab key, for navigation, 52–53 tabindex attribute, 52–53, 79 table headers, 56–57 table of contents for large PDFs, 230 for newsletters, 330 table ruler, 131 tag, 57 tables accessibility of, 56–57 display of, 131–132 sorting, 132 target demographics, for advertising campaign, 348–350 tag, 57 technical documents about products, 158 technological advances, website redesign and, 9–10 templates, for press releases, 129 terms of use, 276–280 testimonials, 101, 104, 158, 167, 174–175, 185, 187 text, as foundation of Web, 22 text link ads, 350, 364–365 text links, 351 Textpattern, 16, 203, 205 tag, 57 tag, 56–57 tag, 57 third-party media, displaying, 135 8393IDX.qxd 8/9/07 11:01 AM Page 389 INDEX third-party recognition, 169 third-party validation, 166–188 case studies, 178–185 content acquisition, 170–175 context of, 169 delivery of, 167–169 designing, 176–187 nomenclature for, 167 positioning of, 167, 169 thumbnail images, of products, 156 title attribute, 57, 303, 305 title tag, 299 top-level navigation, 49, 75 trackbacks, 206 trademarks, 270 triangulated irregular network (TIN), 238 type attribute, 264 typefaces, 32–33 TypePad, 201 typographic considerations, 31–33 U underlined text, 48 unique selling story, 162 URL structure for blogs, 207–209 SEO and, 302–305 usability considerations, 15, 244 for contact forms, 141 homepage design and, 105–108 usability studies, 77 utilize, over use of, 27 V valid HTML, 46 validation services, 64 Verdana typeface, 32 Vibrant Media, 364 Vignette, 17 visitors, strategies to entice, 365–367 visual impairments, 39, 48, 57 W WAI (Web Accessibility Initiative), 42 Watchfire WebXACT, 64 WCAG 1.0, 42–44 WCAG 2.0, 42–44 Web competition on the, 22 importance of, to business, organizational model of, 286 Web Accessibility Tools Consortium, 47 Web analytics, 335 Web browsers, display of website in, 325 Web content See content Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), 42–44 Web copy bullets in, 28 clarity of writing for, 25–30 paragraph length, 28 reading level for, 29 Web design architecture and, 38 content and, 30–33 planning of, 68 resources, 370 text as focus of, 22 See also site design Web forms, 138–141 Web hosting considerations, 18 Web pages, printing, 262–266 Web presence, for branding, Web searches, 23–25, 286 Web traffic patterns, 295 website accessibility See accessibility website design See site design website development, standards-based, 45–47 website platforms, 14–18 content management systems, 16–17 HTML vs Flash, 14–16 website redesign, 8–14, 69 cost of, 14 justification for, 8–10 planning, 10–13 389 8393IDX.qxd 8/9/07 11:01 AM Page 390 INDEX primary objectives for, 11 secondary objectives for, 12 selling the, 13–14 tertiary objectives for, 12 timeline for, 13 websites for banner ad placement, 361–362 functions of, 2–8 importance of well-designed, increased sophistication of, submitting to search engines, 309 WebTrends, 295, 335 word choice for content, 24–27 for text link ads, 364 WordPress, 16, 204–205 WordPress.com, 200–201 work made for hire, 272 World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), 42 accessibility guidelines of, 42–44 390 X XML site maps, 85–86 Y Yahoo, 306 Z zebra tables, 132 zoom layout, 48 8393IDX.qxd 8/9/07 1-59059-543-2 11:01 AM $39.99 [US] Page 391 1-59059-518-1 $39.99 [US] 1-59059-542-4 $36.99 [US] 1-59059-558-0 $49.99 [US] EXPERIENCE THE DESIGNER TO DESIGNER™ DIFFERENCE 1-59059-517-3 $39.99 [US] 1-59059-651-X $44.99 [US] 1-59059-314-6 $59.99 [US] 1-59059-315-4 $59.99 [US] 1-59059-619-6 $44.99 [US] 1-59059-304-9 $49.99 [US] 1-59059-355-3 $24.99 [US] 1-59059-409-6 $39.99 [US] 1-59059-748-6 $49.99 [US] 1-59059-593-9 $49.99 [US] 1-59059-555-6 $44.99 [US] 1-59059-533-5 $34.99 [US] 1-59059-638-2 $49.99 [US] 1-59059-765-6 $34.99 [US] 1-59059-581-5 $39.99 [US] 1-59059-614-5 $34.99 [US] 1-59059-594-7 $39.99 [US] 1-59059-381-2 $34.99 [US] 1-59059-554-8 $24.99 [US] ... PM Page i Web Design and Marketing Solutions for Business Websites Kevin Potts 8393FM.qxd 8/8/07 2:45 PM Page ii Web Design and Marketing Solutions for Business Websites Copyright © 2007 Kevin... 11:59 AM Page 16 WEB DESIGN AND MARKETING SOLUTIONS FOR BUSINESS WEBSITES For these reasons and more, traditional HTML is usually the best route when it comes to corporate information websites The... serve you better Web Design and Marketing Solutions for Business Websites is for those who want to improve the performance of their business site through better writing, stronger design, effective