by Marcus Ledbetter | Nov 30, 2012 | Web Marketing, Website Design
Read Part 1: Tablet Centric, Part 2: Shrunken Heads, and Part 3: Spacing
We have previously looked at how the new USAToday design is leading the way in web design, much as it revolutionized newspaper design in the 80s. In today’s post, we’ll look at their use of 2 sidebars and whether that is a good fit for small business web design.
The left sidebar stays static, no matter the browser size. The right sidebar collapses when the browser width is reduced to a little “Right Now” arrow.
That right sidebar is reminiscent of Facebook’s scrolling latest posts and chat bar which disappears completely on narrow browsers. (more…)
by Marcus Ledbetter | Nov 28, 2012 | Web Marketing, Website Design
Check out Part 1: Tablet-Centric and Part 2: Shrunken Heads.
In Part 3, we are taking a look at how the new USAToday design is doing some innovative things to provide more white space and how we see this trend impacting small business web design.
For years now, the web design industry standard is to design pages with a width of 960 pixels. The USAToday design uses a flexible width which, when viewed in a browser at 960 pixels, actually has a content area which only measures 880 pixels. The “Right Now” right sidebar collapses which immediately provides more breathing room around the smaller content area.
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by Marcus Ledbetter | Nov 21, 2012 | Consumer Trends, Mobile, Web Marketing, Website Design
In Part 1, we discussed how the growth of tablet usage is going to effect small business web design in 2013. In the next few parts, we will take a look at the innovative new USAToday.com design which launched a couple of months ago.
What does USAToday’s design have to do with small business web design, you ask? A couple of points on that and then we’ll jump into an analysis of the new design.
- Much of web design already owes its heritage and terminology to the newspaper industry. In web design, we often talk about what is going to show up “above the fold”. That means what content is going to show up without the user having to scroll down. Newspapers used “above the fold” to describe the top half of the front page of the paper because newspapers sat in display stands folded in half. You had better get good content “above the fold”. Same thing holds true in web design. First impressions are crucial.
- USAToday turned the news design industry on its head in the 80s and they continue to lead the way today. Big bold color on the front page, daring use of white space in the page content, and have you ever heard of an infographic? USAToday pioneered the infographic which has carried over particularly well on the web.
Yes, there are some differences in objectives with news sites and small business websites, but there are significant shifts coming in web design and USAToday is leading the way.
Shrunken Heads
Small is the new big. Well, when it comes to the header, we see a trend towards reduction. Look at the headers for these three news orgs. We’ll talk logos later in the series, but you can see very quickly that USAToday is trying to get everything else out of the way and get you to the content (what you came to the site for) quicker. They had to make some reductions in menu choices up top to pull it off. Check out the number of menu items on the three sites . . . (more…)
by Marcus Ledbetter | Nov 16, 2012 | Mobile, Web Marketing, Website Design
This blog series will look at some trends in devices, design, usage, and social media activity and how those trends affect small business web design.
John Jantsch, author of Duct Tape Marketing and The Referral Engine, had some good things to say last Friday in his post 5 Trends That Will Shape Small Business in 2013. We find #5 particularly interesting . . .
5. Tablet optimization becomes the mobile standard.
We’ve all been rushing around the last few years talking about optimizing everything for the mobile device. The other day I witnessed three different women fish tablets from their purses while they were shopping.
The new generation of mini tablets are going to impact responsive design and what we’ve been calling mobile devices. Tablets and mini tablets will see a tremendous jump in server logs and become the de facto design standard for mobile content. That doesn’t mean mobile phone size browsers aren’t important, it means there will eventually need to be a divide in how we address tablets vs. phones.
Our recent study of web usage in the region showed that mobile web browsing has doubled in the past year. When we look at analytics for our clients, we are indeed seeing a jump in tablet usage.
So what does that mean for small business web design? We’re already designing websites that are mobile-responsive, but there is a big difference between viewing a site on a smart-phone and a tablet. We have to start considering a third usability layer with it’s own nuances. (more…)
by Marcus Ledbetter | Nov 13, 2012 | Inbound Marketing, Web Marketing
There are many, many factors which determine the success of a business. But there are only a handful which I would say are absolute must-haves. At the top of the list is a founder, owner, or marketer who truly understands their business. If that person can’t define their business clearly and quickly, in one minute or less, that business is headed for trouble.
A big part of business storytelling is knowing what to cut.
I have the privilege of serving as one of three judges at Startup Weekend Tricities which starts Friday. The weekend kicks off with a series of one-minute pitches by entrepreneurs. According to the website, starting at 6 p.m. “Participants will have one minute to pitch their idea in hopes that it will be one of the chosen startups to be launched in the next 54 hours.”
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by Marcus Ledbetter | Nov 9, 2012 | Consumer Trends, Inbound Marketing, Web Marketing
On my way in to work this week, I was listening to local talk radio. For several years, the owner of a car dealership has co-hosted a 30-minute automobile industry segment every weekday morning. It is a paid sponsorship with an advertisement for the owner’s dealership mixed in the other advertisements.
It occurred to me that this radio segment co-hosting is in some ways similar to Inbound Marketing. I’ll do my best to be objective about some of the similarities and differences as we compare the two below in Radio Co-hosting Sponsorship vs. Inbound Marketing . . .
Similarities
- Content Creation – We’re always quick to point out that “interruption advertising” has lost a great deal of its past effectiveness and therefore the ROI of ads of any kind, radio included, has to be carefully considered. Co-hosting a radio segment as an expert in the industry, however, is actually creating content that people are there to listen to, not interrupting another program. The dealer is creating the content, not interrupting it. (more…)
