Marketers are generally tasked with writing Web text. Additionally, increasing Web traffic and inbound leads are common marketing goals. However, most marketers aren’t familiar with the technical details behind Web design. This guide bridges that gap. The following tips will help marketing professionals in disciplines such as graphic design, communications, and product marketing to assist in optimizing their Web pages.

1. Make sure analytics are installed

• Additionally turn on the internal site search feature

2. Write for the search engine, as well as human beings

• Include headers and sub headers & make sure they are formatted as h1 and h2 etc.
• Include keyword rich titles and description fields
• Try to make your content engaging and interactive to promote bookmarking

3. Update your site with fresh content (search engines like it)

• Somewhere in the site, designate a place for frequently updated content.
• When posting something new on your site, focus on key terms that your visitors would use to find the content.
• Users LOVE top 10 lists! (Hey, top 12 works too!)

4. Select a new domain carefully

• Interior URLs are another great place for keywords

5. Keep site hierarchy shallow

6. Do not design a site with little or no content

7. Do not design a site all in Flash

• Search engines see nothing unless there is content within the Flash (indexed but not well), or the presence of alternative content

8. Make sound optional

9. Incorporate numerous points for lead conversion

10. Optimize to increase conversions

• Users can find content via search and come to a gate with limited form fields to access the desired info/asset

11. Increase in-links

12. Our guide includes a few bonus tips to forward to your Web developers

Research First
As BoxTone set out to engage with the mobile IT professional community, we learned a lot by conducting focus groups and studies. We sought to find out who would be most interested in a BoxTone community, what kind of content interested them, and how they preferred to consume that content. Many people were already participating in Facebook and were more interested in joining a community within that platform, so we built our community in Facebook.

Think about where your community is going. One benefit of Facebook and other existing communities is that people are already active there. They have already chosen community groups they are interested in, so I recommend taking advantage of that opportunity and trying to work within that world.

BoxTone also developed personas. Through this exercise, we learned about the ideal and typical people that would be interested in participating in our enterprise mobile management community. As we modeled those personas, we learned more about the types of content and interaction they would be most interested in.

Encourage Participation through Openness
As your community grows, look at techniques to increase engagement such as allowing people to ‘like’ content, vote, or post comments. With greater contribution mechanisms enabled, when someone in the community asks a question, another member can answer. The members have a natural affinity for the community and want it to be a good place. Therefore, a level of self-policing will emerge. The strongest and most powerful communities allow the unregulated, free flow of information; leave just enough controls on it while leaving it open.

In an ideal world, you can also engage some of your active community members to become community managers. As the community grows and more people participate, many start out as silent-watchers, but a culture of participation begins to emerge and “newbies” learn from others.

Involve Employees
At BoxTone, we took employees and made them figureheads by incenting employees to tell their stories and make regular contributions. Employees tell stories such as what they like about mobility or working in the mobile space. This makes BoxTone employees real to our customers, humanizes them, and makes them part of the community.

Keep the Content Fresh and Relevant
Keeping the content fresh and relevant is crucial. We looked at what engages people in conversation, as well as the variety of topics that interest our members. We make frequent postings into each of those sub-interest groups that were identified in our personas. BoxTone ensures we include those content items on a frequent basis. Through use of a content calendar, we make certain that every few days each topic gets a post, resulting in a good spread of content covering key topics of interest.

Take the time to ask your community about their topics of interest and they will tell you want they want. Don’t just ask what kind of content, as in what topics, but also ask how people want to consume the content. People like video and pictures as well as text. Pictures are one of the number one things on our site.

For more information, view the webinar replay:
Guide to Creating Member Communities: Designing a structure to bring order to Chaos

Webinar Platform Buying Guide
If you need to offer webcasts that will allow you to capture registrant (aka “lead”) information, in addition to recording your webcast for future use, then this guide is for you. Hopefully, you all may learn from my stumbles; it hasn’t been an easy journey. The following guide includes questions to ask of webinar platform vendors followed by additional information regarding what to look for, pros and cons of various options, benefits of various features, and more.

Lead Capture and Reporting

• How does webinar registration function?
• Can I tailor the registration form?

Generally the longer the form, the greater the risk registrants will drop-off. However, longer forms provide the opportunity to gather vital information. Your webinar platform should provide the capability for you to easily decide what best fits your organization and to customize the form accordingly.

• Does the platform enable me to capture lead info on my own site?

This is helpful if you’d like registrants to be entered automatically into your CRM system for follow up. Additionally, it is nice to drive the traffic to your own site to strengthen the association with your brand, encourage visits to other pages, and assist your search engine optimization efforts.
Alternatively, you may benefit from a service that manages this for you. In either case, it’s an important decision criterion.

• Even if the registration form can appear on my site, do registrants need to register with, and accept the terms and conditions of another organization?

Some services provide embed code you can include on your site to enable registration with the webinar platform to occur transparently.

• Does the platform offer attendance reports?

While it’s important to gather the information of all those who registered for your webinar, it’s equally vital to know who subsequently showed up. Additionally, the length of attendance at a given webinar is important & should be recorded and readily available

• Does the service consolidate registrants and attendants?

You do not want to have to manually de-dupe this info yourself, trust me! Receiving one .csv file with registrants and another with attendees is not fun.

Webcasting Functionality

• Does the platform offer audio through phone, computer (VoIP) or both?

I was using a platform that offered only phone audio and received a few complaints. One would-be attendant emailed me that it was “very ‘90s technology.” I must admit, I see his point.
According to On24, they’ve held more than 32,000 webinars in 2009 and although they often offer both options, approximately 93 percent of attendees selected VoIP audio. As a webinar attendee, it happens to be my personal preference as well, so as a webinar platform purchaser, I consider availability of VoIP more important than phone.

• What is the chat functionality like?

Flexible chat features enable you to offer better customer service to your webinar attendees. I consider it crucial to have the ability for numerous people to reply to chats, as well as the ability to reply via chat to one individual attendee. Attendees typing, “I can’t hear the audio/ see the slides,” is inevitable. You will encounter this complaint – and you don’t want your presenter disturbed with this sort of house-keeping. Nor do you want to interrupt the flow of the presentation, for example, to explain again that the slides will be e-mailed out tomorrow.

• What’s the actual presentation platform like?
• Can I offer polls to attendees and record responses?
• Are there limits to the number of polls I can present and the number of options per poll?
• Can I share a file that I must upload first or show my entire desktop?

The latter is helpful for certain types of presentations, such as walking attendees through navigation of a software product or website.
Consider the look and feel of the actual webcast windows. This is where I’ve seen the least variation amongst vendors. Personally, R2i doesn’t consider the ability to dynamically highlight items on the screen very important. But, hey, it’s nice, so it warrants a bullet.

• Does the platform have multiple presenter capability?
• Can numerous people in numerous locations present?
• If so, what is the maximum number of presenters?
• How does this work and is it clear who is ‘driving’ things by pushing slides?

Recording and Subsequent Promotion

• Am I able to easily, seamlessly record the complete webcast (slides along with audio)?
• Am I able to obtain a file with the recorded webinar for use in other locations, such as YouTube?
• Does the webinar platform provide a promotional venue? Can new leads find my content by exploring webcasts within an existing community?

While this may not be a primary goal of purchasing webcasting services, it is a nice advantage when available.

• Do you offer automated sending of e-mails to remind registrants of upcoming webcast sessions, and e-mail the recording after the session?
• If so, do those e-mails contain an Outlook calendar file?

Pricing, etc.

• Is there predictability in pricing?

I’ve seen extra fees charged for items such as per-minute, per-user phone access, extra webcast attendees, extra webcasting minutes, video files of webcast recordings – or extra fees for particular formats and more.

• Customer Service

I submitted an online info request form twice now for a Platform-Which-Must-Not-Be-Named: once in October, once in April. I have not yet received one return phone call or e-mail! This company is no longer in the running here at R2i.
Technical questions seem to be inevitable. Responsive and helpful contact people are an important buying criterion. I’ve also granted bonus points for those who offer me best practices tips. Likewise, I’ve deducted points for charging “training fees” upon set up for what should be a user-friendly technology.

Now a unique business proposition has arisen. Various web technologies have provided brands with the ability to become publishers and many have done so successfully. Among the most successful members of Twitter are Ashton Kutcher and Lady Gaga; certainly best classified as “brands” rather than “publishers.” Now that celebrities have achieved huge numbers of engaged followers, other brands are taking notice and seeking to pay to advertise within their newly created communities. In other words, celebrities are brands, and these brands have become publishers, and also in some cases have now become paid advertisers. Tweets from celebrities can be considered personal endorsements and therefore represent a potentially lucrative advertisement platform.

Twice in the past week I heard of this phenomenon. The first instance was the infamous Andy Dick stating on The Howard Stern Show on Sirius XM Satellite radio that he has 55,000 followers on Twitter and was offered money for his tweets. I believe the sum he mentioned was $2,500 (although I may be remembering incorrectly). Next, again on Sirius XM, I heard that Limp Bizkit front-man Fred Durst tweeted that he too was offered money for his tweets. Apparently dismayed at the prospect of becoming a walking advertisement, Durst stated that he is leaving Twitter for good.

At this news, my colleague stated that he would imagine a smart advertiser would approach a celebrity covertly and offer a fee in exchange for subtle, occasional endorsements of their product along with silence about the existence of this arrangement. I certainly agree. Such a deal would have a much higher probability of success. Considering the logic of such an advertising scenario, it is entirely likely that it is already occurring. The only reason we are aware of such specific examples is because Fred Durst declined the offer and subsequently informed his followers, and Andy Dick, well, I can’t attempt to explain his behavior.

So, this leaves us all in doubt. If a celebrity happens to profess fondness for a particular product, we have no way of knowing if his opinion was influenced by several hundred thousand dollars. I can tell you, if I was responsible for marketing a B2C product targeted toward women, getting onto the “Oprah’s Favorite Things” episode would be a goal of mine.

These diagrams and meta dictionary will help other organizations understand the DNN architecture and save development time. Given that DNN Community Edition (CE) has several versions we reverse engineered the latest 5.42 (and for reference 4.95) versions to create the ERD and meta data dictionary. In addition there is additional reference defining the database differences between the versions.

DNN Community Edition 5.12 to 5.42

• CE 5.42 ERD Data Model (pdf)
• CE 5.42 Meta Data Dictionary (xls)
• CE 5.12 – 5.14 ERD Data Model (pdf)
• CE 5.12 – 5.14 Meta Data Dictionary (xls)

DNN Community Edition 4.95

• DNN495_ERD (pdf)
• CE 4.95 Meta Data Dictionary (xls)

It’s not hard to convince people that mobile technology is ubiquitous. With more than 33 million iPhones sold and more than 80,000 applications available online, devices like these have transformed consumer awareness of advanced mobile features. Mobile platforms, and the applications they run, constitute a channel for brand-consumer interaction that cannot be ignored.

That stated, my motivation for attending the Mavens’ event was purely market research. I wanted to understand the challenges facing web managers with regards to mobile; I wanted to get a feel for how many—if any—have conquered mobile, how many are like me in research mode, and how many are at ground zero. I was a bit surprised by what I found.

It seems nobody has come close to conquering mobile – even panelists from organizations such as Politico and National Geographic admitted they are learning new things every day and continually revising their mobile approach. The majority of attendees at the event were still at the beginning stages between ground zero and research mode; they were trying to find the answers to the “why,” “what,” and “how.”

The group agreed that the mobile age is upon us, and that many of the lessons and best practices we have learned over the last decade of web development are shaping mobile conversations. Questions from the audience ranged from mobile ROI and metrics to ad networks to mobile content management systems. The group also believes that the rate at which mobile development will mature will be much faster than what we experienced with the Internet.

So what was the big take away? Simply this: If developing a mobile strategy for your organization is on your list of things to do but you’re not sure where to start or where you want to go, know that you are not alone. The next time you get an e-mail from a mobile event organizer reading “only a few seats remain,” believe it, register, and join the mobile conversation.

Together, we can conquer mobile faster.

WAP vs. Native Application Decision Matrix

The first generation iPad is a revolutionary personal media device. Individuals like me who consume media such as magazines, newspapers, videos, games, and books, can do so in digital form wherever they want, whenever they want with the iPad.  The first version iPads, however, are basically receiving devices and not necessarily creation devices like our laptops—at least for now.

Because the iPad is now a receiving device, count on the creation of an entire Internet-based or e-based advertising platform around it.  This will usher in a new era of services offered by digital marketing companies, ad agencies, brand managers, and more, and you will actually witness a new advertising model evolving very quickly—not unlike the advertising paradigm that evolved on laptops with the first generation of Internet publishing.

Once there is some maturation of the content distribution process, you will see ad messages on the pages of your iPad. There will also be advergaming, advertising as you download and read books, advertising as you peruse photos, advertising on your videos, and many other business applications and models in the advertising space.

The next generation or subsequent versions of the iPad may be more of a creation device when Apple builds out or improves the keyboard, increases the iPad’s computing capabilities, and the unit’s software becomes more powerful. The question will then become whether I should bring my iPad OR my laptop.

I am inclined to wait until these changes happen before purchasing my iPad, but I will keep a close eye on how this remarkable technology and its applications develop.

Here are three simple Web design principles that should be applied to any site development project:

User Experience Study
Conduct a User Experience Study. This will divide your user base into each type of key constituent according to the types and priorities of the things they want to accomplish on your site. For members, prospective members, and other associated networks and groups it lists the information they seek and the elements of the brand value they want to experience at each stage. For instance, if they are looking for external resources on a topic, do they perceive fairness in the selection of links or pointers? Do they find the opinions of their peers present when evaluating your services or products? During interaction with your brand, did the environment you provided help them feel at ease? Did the navigation guide them quickly and directly to their destination? Were they provided alternatives? Is follow-up personalized to their interests? Lastly, how are they passing along their experiences and opinions?

Putting these into action will take the form a Persona creation, the site Persona’s will articulate the site stakeholders, desired actions, reasons for being on the site and give your team clear direction of the entry points on the sitemap for unique site visitors.

Information Architecture & Wireframing
Only after a proper user experience study can the layout and navigation structure of the site begin. This should start not with colors, logos, and pictures, but with the layout of most basic divisions of visual real-estate in grayscale. This helps design stakeholders focus first on functionality – making sure that the customer is served – and aesthetics second.  The importance of this should not be underestimated. Everyone has their own sensibilities when it comes to style, but there should be greater unanimity when satisfying navigational logic and message placement. Can each type of visitor quickly identify where to go? Can they move around the navigation intuitively? Is what they see consistent with their profile?

Skipping this step is one of the most oft-cited reasons for organizational disagreement and discontent during Web site design.

Technology Roadmap
Coming up with Web site design ideas is one thing, mapping it to a technology roadmap and functional requirements will really help determine the level of effort and scope associated with an enterprise level Web site re-design. Gaining a full understanding of the connection points, usage of content management tools, connections to your association management system and related connective tissue of your Web site up front will give you the plan you need to get the site designed, built, and deployed. This phase will help you determine “build vs. buy” for many of your desired features and determine what items can be phased in and what are mission critical for the launch.  For every hour of design allocate one day of development effort. This  simple gauge will help you determine how involved each feature and request will be on the final build schedule and budget.

Summary
The 3 steps listed above will help set up your association for success in its Internet strategy. The more front end work done will ensure a successful and future-proof project.

Brands depended on a publisher’s ability to reach those communities and paid to have their content delivered to those groups. The role of the brand was passive and non-participatory.

Enter the Internet age, where the roles and appearances of publishers and brands are not so distinct. The online world is fragmented. Internet search technology has not only empowered consumers to seek data and opinions from multiple sources, but also to share and voice their own. Instead of being served or organized by publishers, communities of interest are self-organizing, appearing all over the Internet on social networks, blogs, discussion boards, et al.

For this reason, brands no longer need to rely on publishers as the primary communication conduit to communities. Brands are now developing their own Web content and experience-rich places where they have direct access to and can control interaction with consumers. The Internet as a research and buying engine—and changes in consumer behavior—has turned brands into publishers.

Bearing in mind the need for a complete and well-designed strategy, there are a few simple actions brands can take to help start this transition.  

First, brands need a way to publish. Brands should identify and establish platforms for the delivery of community-oriented content. This would include a CMS and other tools that can simplify regular content updates and customer interaction as well as other community-centric functions such as blogs, discussions, wikis, membership, etc. Third-party networks must also utilized Facebook and Twitter are the most familiar examples of existing social platforms with little barrier to entry that brands can leverage to publish their message.

Once the platforms have been established, brands must fill them with engaging content that focuses on the interest of the community, not solely on brand products or services. Editorial objectivity is often the toughest new challenge for brands as publishers. The content must be useful and unbiased to avoid appearing promotional and self-serving, while still conveying, or relating to, the brand values.  

Next, brands must connect with communities by facilitating dialogue and sharing within them. For instance, discussion forums should be places where people may share freely, leave readable comments, view comments from others, and exchange information. Brands must also be active participants, not merely moderators. They should respond quickly to issues and requests, demonstrating to the individuals and the community at large that they are responsive and involved.

Lastly, brands must understand what is happening in their community and responding accordingly. By doing so, brands are able to make adjustments to their offerings and image that will keep the community involved, while simultaneously attracting new members.