It’s a Matter of Time

When you have GTI build your website, after the site goes live, we provide training on the Content Management System (CMS) that is standard in sites that we build. If your team doesn’t have the bandwidth to make site edits, we provide Website Maintenance services.

What is a CMS?
It is the tool that is password protected in a secure environment where you will have access to make content changes and swap out graphic images.

What does the CMS look like?

When you login to the CMS this is what the landing page looks like.

Each folder (gold icon) represents an Index section with multiple pages. Each file (blue icon) represents a page.

How do I make changes?

For this post, I created a Test CMS Page (see the grayed row in above image), which shows up within the Content Editor Tab. You would click into that page, and then would see this:

You will see three rows of icons and fields that looks pretty much like a Word .doc menu of items. The blue highlighted icon in the first row indicates a left margin. The highlighted blue icon that looks like a paper clip is what you would click on to add a file like a .PDF document.

To swap out graphic images, you would click on the image itself, then click on the icon in the second row that looks like a landscape scene. This would take you into the area where you can browse for the graphic image you want as the replacement.

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When a new website is built there should be a content management system, which will give you capabilities to update your site with fresh content and swap out images. (Making content changes on the site is very good for Search Engine relevance, but we will go into that in a subsequent post.) Even with having access to a very robust CMS, our clients may choose to have GTI make their website edits. Simply put – it’s a matter of time.

In running your business, your in-house staff might be so busy that they don’t have time to also manage edits on the website. Therefore to follow are just a few (among many) maintenance services that we provide:

Standard Website Maintenance:
Content updates
Image swap outs
Add PDF’s with hyperlinks

Then there are higher-level change requests that we do:
Add a new page
Add landing page for a promotional campaign
Add a new banner
Provide Copywriting

Check back with us for another post about SEO and Website Maintenance. Or subscribe for the RSS feed.

Thanks for checking in with us!

Viktorya

One thing I’ve experienced as the lead sales person and president here at GTI is the never-ending subjectivity of individual tastes when it comes to designing a website or print collateral.  Several times in our design review process, clients tend to focus on one aspect of a design that they do not like and for no specific empirical reason other than “I really don’t like that.”  At times, they will also focus on something that just looks “cool” to them, but has no true impact on the overall user experience.

I agree that one persons’ specific tastes matter because they are the client, after all.  We always provide the client reasons for why we do what we do, the majority of the time being based on industry best practices.  Even then, at times our consulting advice just does not work and we end up moving forward with what the client wants.  The hardest part is about six months post launch, the client comes back questioning why their website is not performing to their expectation.

This is not always a standard at our company, but at times it does happen.  We always do our best in applying usability best practices, coupled with aesthetically pleasing functionality to combine for a very successful web project.  Our focus is always ensuring that our clients needs are met from a marketing, messaging and branding perspective.

Just remember that sometimes, when a client thinks something looks cool, or they want a design to be very specific, then it’s up to us as the professionals to guide them through the process, explaining the compromises they are making in order to have something that is cool, or they think looks good.  Subjectivity can get in the way of success at the most inopportune moments!

When a user lands on your website, do they find what they want within two to three seconds?  If not, ask yourself why is that?  Is it because your website design was driven by subjectivity?  What I mean by this is this:  Was your design lead by someone who really omitted marketing into the usability, and focused more on what was “pretty” to that one individual, or group of individuals?

Any type of design, whether it be a website or the interior of a home starts with a plan.  What are the goals and objectives of the site (or the space to be designed), what should an individual do once they land on the site, and what should they take away when they leave?

A website is now considered to be the highest qualifier for leads and direct sales through efforts such as Search Engine Optimization, Email Marketing, Paid Advertising and even more so, Social Networking.  A website is a direct extension of a business’s brand, their philosophies, and client interaction.  There are some very simple rules we implement when building a website:

1)    Carry through branding from traditional print material and any advertising

Since branding and recognition is a direct function of marketing goals and objectives, a website should carry through a consistent tone, message, color palate and offerings.  This gives a seamless experience to the user regardless of which marketing platform presenting the company information

2)    Integrate Call to Action messages to drive the user directly where they should go

The number one rule of thumb is “don’t make them think” so a website should be architecturally designed to lead users where they need to go, quickly and easily.  Call to action    messages can change based on internal promotions, newsworthy items, or a “product or service of the day”

3)    Focus on multiple points of navigation

We know there are 3 different types of learners:
1)    Visual
2)    Auditory
3)    Kinetic

Each type of learner looks for the same product or service in different ways, so it’s important to meet all users needs and expectations.  Conversion results are much greater with this tactic

These are not all the elements we look at when building a website, but a sampling of what we include in our process.  The bottom line is that a website NEEDS to be thought of as a marketing tool while managing the users’ expectation.  A website typically has about 2-5 seconds to gain enough confidence in the user to encourage them to take further action, don’t let your website be an afterthought.   Plan your budget and resources accordingly to turn it into a true revenue generating channel!