Today’s newsletter is about developing your company brand. Many people think of a brand as a logo - the little graphic you see on a pair of sneakers or a T-shirt. The truth is, your brand is much more than that. It’s the overall impression people develop of your company through their interactions with your products, your services, your website, your employees, and, of course, you. Let me show you what I mean.

As some of you know, I’ve recently been working on a piece of writing. I’ve done a lot of research, and if you were to come over to my house today, you’d find piles of books and papers all over my dining table (which I’ve converted into a temporary desk because it’s bigger) and spilling onto the floor. With so many bits of related information, piecing it together has taken up a lot of my time. Finally, yesterday, I decided I needed to get some help.

I searched the Internet and found some mind-mapping software that could help me put all my ideas together and help me see the relationships and links between them. The software is appropriately called the Brain, and it has revolutionized how I organize my information. I’ve taken all the bits of information and categorized them into neat sections, all beautifully displayed on the screen and dynamically generated through the interactive interface. Now it all makes sense.

When everything is in its place and easy to find, it just feels good, doesn’t it? You know that feeling you get when the house is clean and the lawn is mowed. It just feels good to be there. The same is true for your website. If it’s messy, disorganized or stale, it creates an impression about your company, your ‘brand.’

Have you ever been to a website that has so much information crammed onto one page that you get a headache just looking at it? It’s likely got flashing arrows, blinking headings, or neon signs to tell you where to look. What’s your impression?

What about the site that seems broken? Some of the links don’t work, some of the information is out of date, and some of the images don’t load properly. What’s your impression?

I know these examples are extreme, but I wanted to show how easily impressions are created. Now what about a website that loads quickly, is easy to navigate, and has lots of interesting and helpful information. What impression would that give about the company ‘brand’?

Here’s my point: It’s important to pay attention to the impression your site is creating because it’s influencing your ‘brand.’ Consider the audience, then choose the colors, layout, navigation, and content that fit. Also make sure it is technically sound so that everything displays the way it should, no matter which browser or operating system your visitors are using.

Today’s newsletter is about website maintenance and a new offer for service professionals.

I usually love working in the garden, but lately I haven’t had much time to spend out there. And yesterday, as I looked out my window at the hot 30 degree weather, I noticed the weeds lurking in the yard and beds. Groan…that meant, I now had to do something.

I don’t know about your garden, but I’ve had a bumper crop of weeds this year. No matter how much I pull and swear and curse and dig, those pesky weeds keep coming back. So yesterday, I waited for the sun to go down so the heat wouldn’t be so unbearable, and then I went out to do battle with my weeds. “Why don’t you just use a weed killer?” one of my helpful neighbors observed. Well, because I’m stubborn, and I had promised myself I wouldn’t…you know the environment and all that… Anyway, I find it kind of satisfying to pull those suckers up with their roots and toss them in a bag for the trash.

Later, when I sat down at my computer to do some work that I actually get paid for, it occurred to me that weeding isn’t limited just to the yard. Websites need it too. There’s even a word for it: linkrot. According to Wikipedia, it refers to “links on a website [that] gradually become irrelevant or broken” and to “the effects of failing to update web pages so that they become out-of-date, containing information that is old and useless.”

The problem is that when visitors come to your site and find information that is old, or links that don’t work, they don’t just go to another site – they form an impression about your company based on their experience with your website. Sadly, this means that even though you may have been a perfect match for them, they may never come back and do business with you.

My point: just as maintaining a beautiful yard makes your house more inviting and gives visitors a good impression, so too, keeping your website clean, uncluttered, and free of ‘linkrot’ will invite Internet visitors to come in, stay awhile and find out more about your company. After all, isn’t that what your website is for?

Sweet Deal: New solution for service professionals

Lately, we’ve been approached by a number of people asking for a low cost website solution for service professionals. They don’t carry inventory, so they don’t need a big site, but they do like the idea of a custom-built site because these rank much higher in search engine results than cheap template sites. So we answered the call: perfect for this type of business person is our new two-page website - one page to provide details about the person and the service they offer, and one page to provide contact information and a contact form.

If you, or someone you know, could use such a site, please contact us. We’ll be pleased to provide you with more information about this offer.