Wednesday, October 25, 2006
Getting Real
The team over at 37signals embrace the new web design 2.0. They start with the interface and then work backwards. The interface is what the customers/users see; make that the best it can be and then add the functionality.
It seems to be working just fine for them, Basecamp, Campefire and Backpack all seem to be doing well.
They recently released a book on their philosophy of "smarter, faster, easier" web applications. After the first chapter, I'm hooked. Check it out for free online at: http://gettingreal.37signals.com/toc.php
From the first chapter:
Getting Real starts with the interface, the real screens that people are going to use. It begins with what the customer actually experiences and builds backwards from there. This lets you get the interface right before you get the software wrong.
Effective email marketing
I was recently asked to present on what makes HTML messages effective. It didn't take me too long to come up with my top list, so I figured I'd share it with you. This list is based off my experiments and from industry standards.
- Provide a strong from and subject line
This is the first line your reader will see. As more and more email is being sent, it is going to take a lot to break through the clutter. This is your first impression, make it work. Oh, and do it with less than eight words. - Get to the point
As with web sites, you have 0.2 seconds to get a readers attention. They have opened your email, tell them why they should continue reading. Do this in a short amount of text. When I was asked what an appropriate amount of text is, I replied "about 1/3 what you would put in a paper letter." - Avoid gimmicky language
Refrain from the salesman-like approach. As email becomes more sophisticated, so do the readers. A quick turn-off is the obtrusive sale. - Present a call-to-action
Ask the reader to take the next step, whether it is clicking on a link or replying to the message. You can't expect any measurable analytics if you don't ask for some sort of action to take place. - When a user clicks on a link, take them to the link they clicked on.
This may sound natural, but too many times I have clicked a link and been required to search for more information. Give the user what they expect. - Write for readability
Writing on email and the web is different than print. On the web (and email), users scan content and very rarely read every word.
- Use bullet points and lists
- When necessary, use headings
- Single space at the end of sentences, hotmail, yahoo and gmail all add funky characters for the nbsp;
- Don't send attachments
For mass campaigns, emails with attachments will be blocked. Provide the attachment as a download on your website and put a link in the email. - Follow SPAM legislation
This is very important. Don't give email marketers a bad name.
Wednesday, October 18, 2006
Finally, someone is willing to share the Holy Grail!
A press release came out today announcing the launch of a new website, www.makemoney101.com. What a joke. The website makes the promise to provide "the webmaster the tools to keep those 5 steps ahead of the competition". Wow, finally we are going to be five steps ahead! Why stop at five, why not ten? Or twenty?
The press release goes on to promise "'the full package'". Everything we have been using in the past is only a partial package, so it's good to finally get the real thing.
It seems lately the make-money-quick trend has been refuled. The Web 2.0 cycle has now set in, so the scammers are coming out to take advantage of the prey. All the "experts" will try to sell the tools needed to become a millionaire. A few schmucks will be taken advantage of, so more crooks will come out. I would love to see this come to an end, it only polutes the market and gives the real marketers a bad name.
By the way, when I went to www.makemoney101.com, I got the "server not found" error. Sounds like some great tools!
Help make Gmail better
Google has posted a small form which allows you to add feature requests to help make Gmail better. A few of my complaints (which are really only minor) have been the automatic insertion of contacts when I send email, and the lack of ability to remove parts of conversations. It is nice to see those are listed.
Another nice feature for us email designers is better support of CSS. It would be nice if my fonts looked as nice in Gmail as they do in other services.
Monday, October 16, 2006
Free Lasik -- if you can see
I heard on the radio today that a local eye doctor's office was giving away free Lasik sugery to one needy individual. All you have to do is fill out a form on their website. Being a wearer of contacts and having a desire for Lasik, I figured I would look into it. It turns out the practice has a very long form on their website with a required essay. Even though it sounds better than the do-it-yourself Lasik option, I opted to not fill out the form.
After a closer look at this site, I noticed it fails miserably at accessibility, especially for vision-impaired individuals -- their primary audience.
All images lack the alt attribute - the main reason for the lawsuit against Target. The top navigation involves text inside an image, something which a screen-reader won't be able to understand. If a user is able to see, but has an issue with contrast, the left side navigation is next to impossible. Good luck finding your way through this site if you have a vision-impairment.
The major issue with accessibility is not that it is tough to implement -- all these changes can be corrected in twenty minutes -- it's that too many designers don't understand. If a contractor were to build an office for these doctors, the office would have wheelchair accessibility and Braille signs. But when the web designer is contracted, these rules are discarded. In the end, the business receives an incomplete website with a possible pending lawsuit. I hope they saved a lot of money by going with the cheap designer.
Google/YouTube - What's Next?
It seems the majority of the coverage on Google's acquisition of YouTube attempts to dissect where the ROI is. Will YouTube start to offer personalized ads based of tags for each video? Or will pre-rolls become a part of the viewing experience? Maybe YouTube will track user behavior and integrate this information into advertising.
YouTube is a powerful brand. One of the main reasons for this is its community-driven network. Sharing videos has never been easier. Finding videos has never been easier. The popular videos are based off consumer demand; even if it involves a regrettable scrum at a recent sporting event.
Could the aforementioned ideas work? Sure. Could they fail? Absolutely. What is the solution? I'm not sure even Google has that figured out, but I can only imagine it will be a collection of many different approaches. You can also bet it will take a few years to figure everything out.
How about taking advantage of YouTube's strength -- a conduit for viral marketing? I would assume users are more likely to click on a video under the "related content" than an approved advertisement -- which may be *related* to the video. What if an advertiser hopped onto a particular "tag" and started loading videos related to this tag. In time, with the help of some votes, their viral ad/video/entertaining clip would become part of each tag. Brand awareness is made with each impression. Soon a company could "own" a tag without anyone knowing.
This would be an inexpensive, viral approach. It would take time and a specialized video spot. But how does Google generate revenue? By providing a quick way to the top, sell the tags (just like keywords). Instead of traditional ads, companies would generate viral videos. The higher the popularity of the videos for each tag, the higher on the related list it is shown.
Perhaps Google could sell the thumbnail image as well. Currently YouTube scans each video and takes a random screenshot to be used for the thumbnail. If a marketer could choose which still was used for the screenshot, it could generate more clicks. Think about it, which would produce more clicks: a close-up of Farmer Bob, or a shot of Farmer Bob being chased by a donkey?