How does your business deal with change occurring online? We have written several articles about adaptation and change. There has been tremendous change online since the advent of the internet, yes? And the amount of change in this arena and in consumer response, while still in its infancy, continues to accelerate. So it is essential to adapt the online presence of your business to these changes with some sustainable development goals for your website design.
Have you ever wondered what makes a website truly great? So great that traffic is high, people are engaging with demand are off the charts, and many new customer relationships being built. The simple objective … turn marketing into content, not content into marketing.
How often do you find a new website that makes you stop and stare? It screams to you that it is a modern-day masterpiece. The aesthetic and user experience are off the charts. It’s new, innovative, and, frankly makes you wish you could design a web site for your business with all the great features of the one you are looking at.
Related post: Social Media Platforms … The Magic Every Content Marketer Needs
Think about what makes it stand out to you? Is it a beautiful, award-winning graphic design? A killer SEO strategy? Its interactive, cutting-edge user experience? Or is it simply tied to the amount of monetary investment? The bigger the budget, the better the website, right?
The heart of most marketing campaigns has been the website. The biggest problem with most websites however is that they are instantly forgettable. They say the same thing as your competitors. You see two possible results from this problem. The first is that most customers will quickly lose interest and click away from the site. The second is that, if they stay, they’ll find no reason to select you, because there’s no discriminating message. They click away with no reason to return.
So what is the magic of creating a potentially eye catching web site? Consider these 9 website design goals to build your marketing strategies around:
Make content a priority
Build your entire website design around your content. No exception. Make it efficient, accessible, and searchable. Make the interface easily adaptable for multiple platforms.
When starting a web project, many think about whom we are, what’s special about us, and how we should communicate our unique selling points.
But our readers aren’t interested in us, our business, and our products
They just want to know what’s in it for them.
Take the time to grab insights of all types from your customers. What keeps them up at night, both professionally and personally? What will they be worrying about at the time of your talk? Maybe they’re more concerned about what to have for lunch?
The center piece of your design should be the element of simplicity. This design goal interacts with most other of the design goals, so a change here will make improvements in other goals.
Sustainable development … clear description
Many websites fail to clearly and easily answer “Who I am,” “What I do,” and/or “What can you (the visitor) do here.”
If you’re a well-known brand or company (i.e. Apple for example) you can probably get away with not having to describe who you are and what you do; but the reality is, many enterprise businesses still need to answer these questions so that each visitor knows they are in the “right place.” If visitors can’t identify what it is you do or where to go to find what they need within seconds, they won’t stick around long.
Sustainable development goals … user centered design
With your design you should always take a user centered point of view. Employ good storytelling. Make the design scalable for easy additions later. And of course the navigation design should be intuitive … little thinking required.
All elements of your design should focus on mobile users, it is where all users are moving. Find a mobile app style and interface to imitate. It will simplify user experience for now and into the future.
Sustainable development … unification
Use consistency in both desktop and mobile design elements. This will reinforce your design simplicity and help make apps the center piece of your design.
Website design goals … responsiveness
User centered web fonts, typography, and icons are becoming widespread. Stick close to these pseudo standards and make your site as responsive as you can.
Embrace lots of new platforms
Experiment with new and different platforms as they are introduced. Make sure your interface design permits compatibility.
Remember … don’t talk about how great you are … tell your customers a story about how what you do well will make them look awesome.
It’s up to you to keep improving your customer engagement and relationship building performance and creativity.
All you get is what you bring to the fight. And that fight gets better every day you learn and apply new lessons.
When things go wrong, what’s most important is your next step.
Test. Learn. Improve. Repeat.
Are you devoting enough energy continually improving your customer service?
Mike Schoultz is the founder of Digital Spark Marketing, a digital marketing and customer service agency. With 40 years of business experience, he blogs on topics that relate to improving the performance of your business. Find them on G+, Twitter, and LinkedIn.
Digital Spark Marketing will stretch your thinking and your ability to adapt to change. We also provide some fun and inspiration along the way. Call us for a free quote today. You will be amazed how reasonable we will be.
More reading on social media design from Digital Spark Marketing’s Library:
I like to read … why? To be entertained, to learn new things, and to stimulate thinking. Warren Buffett advice is a favorite reading of mine, especially when the articles deal with business innovation and leadership.
I have a set of six business leaders (Jeff Bezos, Steve Jobs, Warren Buffett, Jack Welch, Tom Peters, and Peter Drucker) that I selected over a decade ago to be my silent mentors … they mentor through their writings and presentations.
Warren Buffett is the newest of those mentors.
Warren Buffett.
Twenty years from now, you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did. Explore. Dream. Discover.
– Mark Twain
At a Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting in 2000, Warren Buffett spoke about the importance of choosing the right role models, saying that he often tells students:
“Just pick out the person you admire the most in the class, and sit down and write the reasons why you admire him… Nothing could be simpler than to try and figure out what you find admirable and then decide that the person you really would like to admire is yourself.
And the only way you’re going to do it is to take on the qualities of other people you admire.”
Related post: The Story and Zen of Getting Things Done
Yes … I admire and appreciate all of my silent mentors a great deal. They stimulate a lot of thinking and learning, but they both have a great knack for entertaining while they teach and silently mentor.
They also share many other common attributes that makes them such successful mentors for me.
I am a big fan of Warren Buffett and though I have been successful in the business world, the reason I am such a big fan is not why he was so famous.
Warren Buffett facts go way beyond his business and investing success.
To see his true wisdom and value, you must study the man. I group his wisdom and value into 7 interesting categories.
I will use these 7 categories to highlight Buffet’s true wisdom compiled from quotations and a compendium of lessons from many of his writings, articles, and presentations.
We use these thoughts regularly in our work with client teams.
One of the best qualities of Buffett from my perspective is that he is able to simplify complex ideas into quotes that stand the test of time.
He has spent his life dispensing advice to all who would listen, earning him the nickname of the Oracle of Omaha.
In the 1960s, this advice came about twice a year in letters to investors in his investment partnerships.
Starting a few years later, Warren Buffett’s wisdom was distilled through the Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting and the annual shareholder letter, and in the past 20 years, Warren Buffett has become a household name through appearances on TV and interviews in magazines.
In his profile, Buffett remarks, “I don’t work to collect money. I work because I love what I’m doing.”
Speaking of his vast fortune and why he will give most of it away to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, he adds: “I have no use for it. Society does have a use for it. And it so happens that I’m in a business where lots of money comes in when I do it right.”
Buffett has never cared about luxurious possessions, and he still lives in the modest house he bought for $31,500 in 1958.
Warren Buffett … simplicity
Numerous greats including Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, and Warren Buffett have attributed their success to focus.
Many people have long to-do lists and work on becoming more productive, when in fact, having a not-do list is more important if you want to do great things.
Warren Buffett examples … a simple solution
Warren Buffet, in an interview with CNBC, offered one of the best quotes about the debt ceiling:
“I could end the deficit in five minutes,” he told CNBC. “You just pass a law that says that anytime there is a deficit of more than 3% of GDP, all sitting members of Congress are ineligible for re-election”.
The 26th Amendment (granting the right to vote for 18 year-olds) took only three months and eight days to be ratified!
Why? Simple! The people demanded it. That was in 1971 – before computers, e-mail, cell phones, etc.
Of the 27 amendments to the Constitution, seven (7) took one (1) year or less to become the law of the land – all because of public pressure.
Warren Buffett advice … life
One of my favorite words of wisdom from Buffett:
“You only have to do a very few things right in your life so long as you don’t do too many things wrong.”
Buffett, who treasures his reputation for integrity, once told his son Howie:
“It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think that you’ll do things differently.”
Warren Buffett … makes you think
Buffett always believed in sticking close to your strengths:
“Stick Within Your Circle of Competence”
This intense focus on playing to his strengths — and largely ignoring everything else — lies at the heart of Buffett’s success.
He once remarked:
“You have to stick within what I call your circle of competence. You have to know what you understand and what you don’t understand. It’s not terribly important how big the circle is. But it’s terribly important that you know where the perimeter is.”
“Hang out with people better than you, and you cannot help but improve.”
Over the years, Buffett has spoken eloquently about how much we’re influenced — both for better and worse — by the people around us.
In a fascinating interview with Gillian Zoe Segal, author of a new book entitled Getting There, Buffett warns:
“If you hang around with people who behave worse than you, pretty soon you’ll start being pulled in that direction.”
Buffett’s greatest role models were his father and Ben Graham, who taught him at Columbia University and became his mentor. In Roger Lowenstein’s book Buffett: The Making of An American Capitalist, Buffett remarks:
“The best thing I did was to choose the right heroes. It all comes from Graham.”
One of my favorite life-changing pieces of advice:
“always to live your life by an inner scorecard, not an outer scorecard.”
Buffett illustrated this by asking:
“Would you prefer to be considered the best lover in the world and know privately that you’re the worst—or would you prefer to know privately that you’re the best lover in the world, but be considered the worst?”
Warren Buffett advice … reasons for success
One essential secret to Warren Buffett’s success is that he continuously learns. Buffett is a far better investor today than he was 50 years ago.
As Charlie Munger, his lifetime partner has explained:
Warren Buffett has become one hell of a lot better investor since the day I met him, and so have I. If we had been frozen at any given stage, with the knowledge we had, the record would have been much worse than it is. So the game is to keep learning, and I don’t think people are going to keep learning who don’t like the learning process.
In his profile for The Great Minds of Investing, Buffett speaks candidly about the most important reason for his success: the love and support he received from his father, Howard Buffett, a U.S. Congressman whom he revered.
“My dad believed in me. What I basically got from my father is unconditional love. Unconditional love is huge in this world… Whatever I did, he was all for it. It didn’t matter how much money I made or anything like that.
It was just, ‘Do your best in whatever you take on.’”
My best piece of advice from Buffett was to commit yourself to a lifetime of learning.
Warren Buffett quotes … memorable wisdom
“It is not necessary to do extraordinary things to get extraordinary results.”
“What we learn from history is that people don’t learn from history.”
“There seems to be some perverse human characteristic that likes to make easy things difficult.”
“I don’t look to jump over seven-foot bars; I look around for one-foot bars that I can step over.”
“Diversification is a protection against ignorance. It makes very little sense for those who know what they’re doing.”
“I tell college students when you get to be my age you will be successful if the people who you hope to have loved you, do love you.”
Warren Buffett has spent a lifetime studying conventionally successful people. It’s important to hear that at the end of the day, money is not the thing that matters most in life.
What are people from our history your favorite heroes? Any stories to share?
It’s up to you to keep improving your motivation. And your ability to share your knowledge.
Need some help in capturing more improvements in your staff’s leadership, teamwork, and collaboration? Creative ideas in running or facilitating a team or leadership workshop?
Call today for a FREE consultation or a FREE quote. Learn about some options to scope your job.
Call Mike at 607-725-8240.
All you get is what you bring to the fight. And that fight gets better every day you learn and apply new ideas.
When things are not what you want them to be, what’s most important is your next step. Call today.
Test. Learn. Improve. Repeat.
Are you devoting enough energy continually improving your continuous learning?
Do you have a lesson about making your learning better you can share with this community? Have any questions or comments to add in the section below?
Mike Schoultz is the founder of Digital Spark Marketing, a digital marketing and customer service agency. With 40 years of business experience, he blogs on topics that relate to improving the performance of a business. Find him on G+, Twitter, and LinkedIn. Please bookmark his blog for some great articles as well as stories.
Digital Spark Marketing will stretch your thinking and your ability to adapt to change. We also provide some fun and inspiration along the way. Call us for a free quote today. You will be amazed at how reasonable we will be.
More reading on mentoring from Digital Spark Marketing’s Library:
The secret to learning, knowledge, and imagination? Probably not to Einstein. No stranger to sharing knowledge and advice with young minds with Einstein letters.
Einstein letters help reveal the man.
Everyone is a genius …
But if you judge a fish on its ability to climb a tree,
it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.
– Albert Einstein
We are fans of Albert Einstein, there is no doubt. There is probably more to Einstein and philosophy outside of science than in his world within science and many great stories.
Related post: Never Give Up Your Dreams
As an example … Einstein’s views on life were most interesting. A focus on simplicity was one of his main tenets and though his skill in physics was renown, he believed everything that can be counted did not necessarily count and that everything that counts cannot necessarily be counted.
He believed in being a giver… only a life lived for others was a life worthwhile. Einstein was often frustrated with the state of his times and felt that the world would require a substantially new manner of thinking to survive. He felt that the world was dangerous not because of evil people but because of people who recognize the evil, yet do nothing about it.
His characterization of the age was that world leaders had developed a perfection of means yet had a significant confusion of ends.
This article will give you a great background on Einstein’s wisdom. A man ahead of his time. This letter exchange will then have more meaning.
We recently read a very interesting article from Brain Picking’s Weekly. Have you ever read from this weekly? Always chock full of interesting reads. Certainly, the case here, especially since we are such fans of Albert Einstein. It is a story we will share.
From Dear Professor Einstein: Albert Einstein’s Letters to and from Children (public library) comes the following exchange between Einstein and a bright, witty South African girl named Tyfanny, who reminded Einstein of his own granddaughter and with whom he exchanged several letters despite being at the height of his career and cultural prominence.
In a letter dated September 19, 1946, Tyfanny writes:
I forgot to tell you, in my last letter, that I was a girl. I mean I am a girl. I have always regretted this a great deal, but by now I have become more or less resigned to the fact. Anyway, I hate dresses and dances and all the kind of rot girls usually like. I much prefer horses and riding. Long ago, before I wanted to become a scientist, I wanted to be a jockey and ride horses in races. But that was ages ago, now. I hope you will not think any the less of me for being a girl!
Sometime between September and October 1946 — a snappy response time by the day’s standards — Einstein replies:
I do not mind that you are a girl, but the main thing is that you yourself do not mind. There is no reason for it.
What is most amazing to me is the fact that most of his wisdom is more applicable in today’s society than it was in his. He was always considered ahead of his time, wasn’t he?
Einstein was never short of good ideas. And his best ideas were perhaps those ideas not limited to science.
Remember … stay curious; keep refreshing your sources. What we see depends on what we look for.
Need some help in capturing more customers from your marketing or advertising campaigns? Looking for creative ideas to help the differentiation with potential customers?
Call today for a FREE consultation or a FREE quote. Learn about some options to scope your job.
Call Mike at 607-725-8240.
All you get is what you bring to the fight. And that fight gets better every day you learn and apply new ideas.
When things are not what you want them to be, what’s most important is your next step. Call today.
Test. Learn. Improve. Repeat.
Are you devoting enough energy to improving your enthusiasm?
Do you have a lesson about making your motivation better you can share with this community? Have any questions or comments to add in the section below?
Digital Spark Marketing will stretch your thinking and your ability to adapt to change. We also provide some fun and inspiration along the way. Call us for a free quote today. You will be amazed at how reasonable we will be.
More inspirational stories from Digital Spark Marketing’s Library:
Mike Schoultz is a digital marketing and customer service expert. With 48 years of business experience, he consults on and writes about topics to help improve the performance of small business. Find him on G+, Facebook, Twitter, Digital Spark Marketing, and LinkedIn.
