Great Website Design Article

This is a great article which describes and explains what is needed for current, professional websites.

15 Key Elements All Top Web Sites Should Have

Totem Media, L.C. will help your company start a creative evolution with an interesting, well-designed website!

We have designed, maintained, and updated the following company websites, meeting our clients' needs and budgets:

www.windsweptlandscape.com/portfolio.asp (Online Gallery)

www.rushcon.org (CMS customization, Content Maintenance)

www.johnclassenphotography.com (Online Gallery customization)

www.bikehouston.org (Content Maintenance)

www.blacktiecompany.com (Website Design & Maintenance)

www.hypnomike.net (Website Design & Maintenance)

As you can see from our current work, we can work with a variety of companies, styles, and budgets. Our work meets or exceeds industry ethical standards.

We can develop and implement any or all of these elements for your company's website. E-mail Totem Media, L.C. today!

AV eddy Goes to the Dark Side!

Whoa! What's up with the black background? I'm updating (slowly) my web assets, and one of the changes is a black background. I typically prefer black text over white, but haven't found a template or even a revised template that looks right, so I'm going with this look for now.

It's Time for Your Business to Start a Creative Evolution!

Most companies have the basics: business cards, letterhead, sales brochure, and a website. Except for a simple contact form or e-mail link, all of these communication methods are one-way - impersonally telling potential customers about the company and its products.

Many websites are not visually connected with a company's branding, are not visually engaging, or are difficult to navigate.

Online stores often feel generic and although the customer is interacting with the website, the shopper can come away with no impression of the company.

As companies explore "social media networks" like MySpace, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter, as well as the good ol' mailing list or blog, many will misuse the community they build by spamming, staying too impersonal, overposting, being too repetitive, being too unprofessional, or not interacting at all.

(Wikipedia has a list of many social media networking sites.)

Don't let the wonderful opportunities now available pass you by!

1. Have your website designer and company graphic designer work together to display your brand correctly and elegantly on the World Wide Web.

2. Make sure your website has current content your customers want and is easy to navigate.

3. Make sure your website doesn't contain malware or blackhat SEO (Search Engine Optimization). This is a sure way to be banned by search engines, like Google or Yahoo and abandoned by your site's visitors.

4. Make your online store a favorite shopping site by having clear descriptions, high-resolution pictures, fast and friendly customer service, and a unique look so it will stand out from other stores.

5. Only join social media groups that pertain to your company's products, services, or industry.
Have a clear purpose and plan for every mass e-mail, blog post, or update. Make sure it relates to your company's mission and contains interesting content.

6. Update your website and social networks regularly with positive, on-topic content.

7. Never, ever spam.

8. Never, ever spam. (It's worth saying twice!)

As you are evolving your company's marketing, take the time to update your contact list! It is not only a waste of time and money to send materials to uninterested people, you build a bad reputation by continually e-mailing or posting to people who don't want to be contacted by you.

Don't build backlinks to your website by going to every blog and social network and commenting or posting only so you can add a link to your site. It's obvious to site owners you aren't really engaged with the people or topics, and when your name keeps popping up with uninformative or empty words, you will develop a bad reputation.

Both of these bad techniques will lead you to be banned from sites, blocked from pages, and your e-mail will be automatically deleted or will bounce back.

We'll discuss other multimedia options for your Creative Evolution next time!

Totem Media, L.C. will evolve your marketing and communication through the effective and professional use of multimedia and audio-visual technologies. We believe in well-planned growth and development of your company's image.

Who are You Watching? Who is Watching You?

How recently have you updated your website, business cards, letterhead, digital presentations, sales videos, and other marketing materials?

If it's been more than a year, now is a good time to do a top-down review with your graphic designer and marketing director.

Do your marketing materials stand out, yet fit in, with your industry's general look and style?

You may think going for something completely different will help you be more visible to your customers, but it is more likely to confuse your customers and make them think you don't offer what they want to buy.

For instance, if you sell sleek high-tech culinary ware, using soft pastel colors and pictures of fluffy kittens may not inspire confidence in your customers, and may even make them pass by your website because they think they've followed a wrong link!

When did you last explore multimedia marketing?

Prices have dropped on computers, software, cameras, video equipment, etc. This may make it easier for your company to explore self-produced videos, digital presentations, and audio files.

If media equipment/software is affordable, why do we need a professional multimedia consultant?

In a word: experience. At Totem Media, we have almost twenty years experience in video production, sixteen years in presentation development, and eleven years in multimedia marketing design. We know how to whip your presentation into shape, making it worthy of your most valued client or most critical Board of Directors.

We can offer our knowledge and advice to improve your multimedia assets from early conceptualizing through final production and distribution.

It's time to make your multimedia ready for the world to see, because You Deserve to be Seen and Heard...and you never know Who's Watching!


TOTEM'S RECENT PROJECTS

- Edit and Insert Video into a PowerPoint presentation

- Edit a PowerPoint design and layout

- Convert videos into Flash for web

- Web design

Branding isn't Just for Cattle

When you are developing your company brand (overall look or design), be sure to include your multimedia assets. Branding isn't just logo, letterhead, and business cards. It is important to have a consistent look for all of your materials, both tangible and electronic.

Your website should have the same colors, fonts, layout, and imagery as your printed promotional items. The idea is for potential clients to instantly recognize your company when they look at your brochure and your website.

All digital presentations (PowerPoint, etc.) and videos should include these same elements. For a consistent look throughout your company, develop templates, a font and image library, color scheme, and a rule sheet for usage. Then, make your employees use them. The best branding progam won't work if your staff are allowed to vary as widely as they choose from your set standard.

At Totem Media, we understand that consistent branding is an important part of successful marketing. We work with our client's graphic designers and development managers to maintain consistent branding in a company's multimedia assets. We also can provide graphic design services for companies who want or need this service. We have the software, knowledge, and skills to provide elegant and professional videos, websites, and digital presentations, as well as printed materials (letterhead, business cards, and brochures).

www.totem-media.com

Five Easy Ways to Ruin Your Life Without Leaving Home

While scouting the 'Net for interesting tidbits to share with the Totem Media community, I found several examples* of how easy it is to ruin your life via the Web.

1. Associate your real full name with your Net identity. Although many people may know either your real name, personal nickname, or Net name on various boards/lists, very few should have all of that information. It isn't about lying to "online friends," it is about protecting yourself from people you really don't know - and who may be lying to you.

2. Share your family/spouse/kids/pets names and photos with everyone. Get ready to open your wallet and hand over your hard earned cash to scammers and con men when you list all of your vital family statistics in one place. Identity thieves don't have to steal your postal mail or "phish" your e-mail. They can find out everything they need to steal your identity and credit by going to your non-password-protected family history and photo album.

3. Give out your state/city/neighborhood. This one is more difficult to prevent, especially if you're discussing local events or politics, but try to limit how many boards, sites, or lists have both your city and state information. People in major metropolitan areas may feel more secure because they're just "one amongst millions," but the local phone book, tax records office, and other public information is online and easily accessible to criminals.

4. Show off your wealth (ego). We all know people who bolster their income to impress their friends or family. It's unneccessary and annoying in real life, but can be dangerous online. You might think, "No one would kidnap me or my family," or "No one would steal from me," but criminals aren't the smartest or hardest working people and if they think they've found a rich and easy mark, they could put you and your loved ones in harm's way. Plus, if you're actually wealthy, you don't need to boast about it to millions of anonymous people.

5. List all of your education, business, personal history. Your curriculum vitae should only be available to potential employers and your family. Con men and identity thieves can use information you provide about your alma mater, previous or current employment, and private history to impersonate you. Much more common is when begrudged former friends pretend to be you so they can destroy your online reputation.

If you have no desire to ruin your life, be aware how easy it is from the comfort of your office or den and take steps to reduce your exposure. Speaking of exposure,...

BONUS!! 6. Use your well-known Net identity or e-mail on an adult website. See our May 19 entry to learn how easy it is to ruin your business!



*It is scary how quickly and easy it is to find examples. In fact, I found examples of the first five items on one web page! I won't list the URL, because online criminals don't need any help from me!

Is Porn Hiding in Your Business Website?

I was recently checking out a particular business' website. It wasn't very professional, so I wasn't impressed. Not only did the website utilize poor design concepts, the content included poor grammar, useless information, few examples, and at least one unfortunate link.

The link was under the company's client list. I call the link 'unfortunate' for two reasons. First, the client company is apparently defunct, and has been for a few years. Second, the client's e-mail address is one he uses for personal messages. A quick search on this e-mail address led to his profile on an adult website.

If I want to learn more about a company's clients, the last thing I want to discover is some failed entrepeneur's perversions. The poor decisions made by this first company ensures I will never refer my clients nor use their services.

This is an extreme example of how bad external links can negatively impact your business.

It is a good idea to review your external links at least twice per year. Businesses open, close, move, change names, change websites, and change vendors. Ask yourself (or your web administrator) the following questions:

1. Are the links correct? Many websites use similar domain names. For instance, my company's domain name is totem-media.com, not totemmedia.com.

2. Do the links reflect your newest clients? Depending upon how often you add new clients to your roster, create a regular update schedule.

3. Do the links contain former clients? There is no need to waste your valuable webspace promoting companies that are no longer your clients.

4. Where do the links lead? Do the external link websites/e-mail addresses lead to a place you want potential clients to see? As in the example above, I don't want to end up in a business-inappropriate website while I'm working. Another issue is if the client's website does not reflect a professional, successful business. Potential clients want to feel that you will help their business grow. If all they see are low-end struggling businesses, they are likely to find a vendor with better business ties.

As employers are checking potential employees personal websites and looking for info on web search engines, so are your potential clients. How does your website, and the links therein, demonstrate you are the right business to hire?

For more information or assistance with your website, contact a multimedia consultant at Totem Media, L.C., because we know "You deserve to be seen and heard!"