Internet Marketing - Matt Bailey [211]
Just because this is a blog does not mean that the rules of credible design and persuasive content don’t apply. In fact, they are even more important when communicating in this very social medium! The purpose of the blog, the benefits to the reader, and explicit calls to action need to stand out and be clear. Don’t get caught up in using a template and assuming it does what you need. You still need to engage the visitor and show that you have their needs in mind in your design.
Just as in marketing a website, there needs to be a clear purpose, clear credibility, and a clear benefit to the blog. Otherwise, it comes across as a mash-up of content all competing against itself.
Unclear Conversion Points
Just as with any other kind of business website, having clear conversion points is a key marketing principle. A business blog isn’t just a method of communicating information; it is also business development. Too many business blogs go with the default setup of the blogging software and seem to completely forget that the blog is a business tool. Too many businesses are getting a lot of visitors to their blog, but they forget to advertise the business. They provide valuable information but no conversion or call to action to learn anything more about the business. As a result, the visitors are “stranded” on the blog with no clear way to interact with the business or go to the business website. E-commerce blogs often share information about products and applications for products, which gets them a lot of visitors, but then they neglect to link to the products. Similarly, businesses often talk about their research and benefits but then forget to put lead forms on the blog.
The way to defeat this trend is to simply evaluate your blog based on the established goals for your website marketing plan. If the goal is to increase leads, sales, and registrations, then the blog needs to reflect the same business goals as the website. The default settings will not do this, because it will take customization and testing to ensure that you are meeting the needs and expectations of the visitors and persuading them to take action.
The blog Pinch My Salt is very well designed and keeps one of its primary monetization strategies well “above the fold” (you don’t have to scroll down to see it). The graphic link to the store is in the upper right and in a clear visual space for the reader to find (see Figure 17-13).
Figure 17-13: Pinch My Salt keeps the conversion point clear.
Poor Navigation and Contrast
Contrast is a specific point of design consideration throughout this text. However, it seems as though people tend to forget the guidelines of good web design when adding a blog to their website. Some of this comes from the ability to find thousands of blog templates that can be easily used to change the design and layout of the blog.
Just because the template is available online does not mean it is designed well or considers standards and accessibility. Anyone can submit a CSS blog template to the list of available templates, and the designs need to be evaluated based on the same standards as websites. Contrast, layout, typography, font size, and color scheme (see Chapter 9) are just as important in creating credibility on the blog as they are in creating credibility on the website.
The same issue is seen in navigation preferences on blogs. Simply because your chosen template has a navigation style does not mean you are locked into that specific navigation scheme. The beauty of blogs and the extension of widgets allow you to customize your content and build navigation that makes sense to your readers and furthers your business goals.
The blog typically covers more information territory than the standard website and also presents it in vastly different methods. Many people do not realize that they are even visiting a blog when it is designed well, has clear navigation, and has easily findable topics. Your site may need a navigation bar with Related