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Evo Launches WordPress-based Website for IntelliCyt

Author: Ray Gulick; Published: Nov 27, 2010; Category: Content Management System, Design/Development, Marketing, WordPress; Tags: CMS, Communication, Marketing, WordPress as CMS; No Comments

Visit intellicyt.com»

IntelliCyt Corp. is an interesting biotech company in Albuquerque. They make high-throughput flow cytometry equipment and software, with a unique patented process. We were fortunate to do their first website (and their logo) in 2007 while they were still a very small startup. They are still considered a startup (and are attracting funding from venture capitalists), but they’ve grown quite a bit. We’ve watched them go through stages of product development and definition, and it’s been interesting.

Recently, they realized they needed a better online platform for marketing than their static website (in 2007, we didn’t know anything about WordPress, and their budget would not have supported the custom Content Management Systems we were building at that time). While they were hesitant about the whole blog thing, as many companies are at first, they decided WordPress would provide a better means of providing current information to their customers and prospects, and a platform for some two-way communication. WordPress gives IntelliCyt more control over their online communications, enabling them to update their site quickly and easily.

The site is built on Evo4 CMS WordPress theme, developed by Evo for business websites with integrated blogs. The design is meant to impart a clean, high-tech, uncluttered feel, in keeping with the biotech industry.

WordPress was recently voted the best Content Management System in the 2010 Open Source Awards. Little by little, people are recognizing WordPress as a powerful and easy-to-use content management system suitable for business websites.

Why Bad Websites Happen to Good Companies, Part 10: Not Hiring a Writer to Get Clear, Crisp, Compelling Copy

Author: Ray Gulick; Published: Sep 29, 2010; Category: Bad Websites/Good Companies, Communication, Design/Development, Information Architecture, Marketing; Tags: Communication, Information Architecture, Marketing, writing for web; No Comments

There’s a myth in website design that “no one reads the copy.” It’s not entirely true. While most of the people who visit your website will not read most of the copy, the few visitors who are really interested in what you have to offer will. If they’re really interested, they’re your best prospects. And even casual visitors scan your content (quickly), looking for a reason to get interested. If they don’t find it, of course, they’re gone.

Unless you have too much business (I don’t know anyone in that position right now), how can you afford to communicate with website visitors with anything less than clear, crisp, and compelling copy?

Building a great website requires several different skill sets

People tend to think of website design as either a technology project (for which they need a programmer or coder) or design project (for which they need a web designer). There is no doubt that both of those characterizations are partially true, and that people with those skill sets are critical to producing a great—or even adequate—website. But no matter how great it looks or how well it works, without clearly communicated and compelling messages, the site will yield disappointing results (you’d like some results, right?).

Many people pride themselves on their ability to write well. But writing for distracted and non-commital website visitors is a skill few people possess. In addition to being clear and compelling, a web writer must be concise. Using too many words to express a thought chases away all of your casual visitors and all but the most determined of your best prospects. A writer who can develop strong messages and write clear, compelling, and concise website copy should be on your speed dial.

You are not the best example of someone in your market

You’re an expert in your field. Few of your website visitors know a tenth of what you know about your products and services. Because of your expertise, you will make assumptions about what’s important to talk about on your site that won’t match up with what your visitors want or need to know. Website content should be organized and written for your visitors, not for you. It might be more elementary than you would write, but it’s important to communicate with your visitors in a way that helps them quickly understand what you offer. If they understand, they’re more likely to take action.

If a website visitor doesn’t take action, you’ve probably lost them

A skilled web writer can organize your content (information architecture) as part of creating a strategy for moving visitors toward action. That action might be registering for an email newsletter, downloading a whitepaper, or placing an order. For non-profit organizations, it might be making a donation or volunteering. Most people do not arrive at your website with the intention of placing an order or taking the next step toward becoming a customer. If they do so, it’s because the information on the site convinced them. If they’re not convinced, the likelihood that they’ll return to check you out again is small.

A good web writer is good at organizing and delivering copy that convinces people to act. As Elvis Presley once sang, “a little less talk and a little more action.”

A caveat: blogging is different than “writing for the web”

Beyond the ability to write clearly, writing blog posts does not require the same skills described above. Blogging is more of a conversation, a chance for people to get a sense of who you are and what you think. If you’re a bit wordy, no problem. If you want to talk about things only experts in your field will fully grasp, go for it. Lots of successful bloggers cannot write copy that leads website visitors to take action other than leaving a comment. That’s OK because that’s not the goal of (most) blog posts. Just don’t assume that, because someone has a blog and writes “on the web”, that they can write “for the web.”

It’s Time for “Old Marketing” Types to Come Over to “New Marketing”

Author: Ray Gulick; Published: Jun 26, 2010; Category: Marketing, Zeitgeist; Tags: Communication, Marketing, New Rules, Zeitgeist; No Comments

Old Marketing used to just be “marketing,” before there was “new marketing” to serve as a comparison. Old marketing—which includes Yellow Pages adverstising, newspaper advertising, and all forms of broadcast advertising—is still valid for a lot of businesses. And an entire industry (advertising) came into being to support that kind of marketing. But it’s no longer the only game in town.

Since the internet became a place in which people could connect, marketing opportunities have sprung up in that space. As you well know if you’ve opened a browser in the last 5 years, all of the marketing on the internet is not being done well. In fact, some of it is pretty awful. But what would we expect of a medium in which the barriers to entry—in terms of cost and expertise—are so low? Often, it’s marketing by the lowest common denominator for the lowest common denominator.

So of course, the new marketing space is often ridiculed (largely an expression of misunderstanding and fear) by people who make their living in old marketing. Those people need to get over it. The internet is a legitimate marketing space for one reason: that’s where a large part of a lot of companies’ markets are spending their time, rather than reading newspapers or the Yellow Pages or listening to the radio or watching television (all declining industries).

Old marketers have some useful skills that could be put to use on the internet, once they take the time and go to the effort of learning the new rules. Once learned, these rules can be broken for specific reasons. Break the rules without understanding what and why they are, and crashing and burning is the likely outcome (Oh! The humanity!). And, of course, that’s what usually happens when old marketing assumptions are brought to the internet.

The opportunities that exist for companies and old marketing types on the internet exist not only because that’s where people are, but also because it’s not often being done very well. Better concepts, better copy, and better images that communicate better would be raise the bar for online marketing.

But I’m not challenging old marketing types to come over because they’re needed on the internet. Frankly, they’re not.

I’m challenging old marketing types to become knowledgeable, competent, and comfortable with internet marketing because if they’re not, they’re doing their clients a disservice. Presenting clients only with old marketing solutions is a little like being a caddy with only a driver and a wedge in the bag. And it’s also a good way to watch your own market shrink.

Having a website? Meaningless. Using a website? Priceless.

Author: Ray Gulick; Published: May 12, 2010; Category: Business, Communication, Marketing, Zeitgeist; Tags: Blogging for Business, Entrepreneurs, Zeitgeist; 3 Comments

Most people think having a website has value. They’re wrong.

Lots of people and businesses and organizations have websites (although as recently as a year ago, only 37% of US small businesses had one).

But having a website is sort of like having a hammer. Just because you own one doesn’t mean you’re building a house, or even putting up a shelf. If the hammer sits unused in the toolbox, you might might as well not have a hammer, for all the good it’s doing you.

Websites are like that. They’re tools. Used properly, they can help you build a business or start a movement. Left un-utilized on your webhost account (never updated, no interaction with readers, etc.—you know the type), they accomplish nothing.

Primarily, websites are comunication/connection tools. Once you’re good at using your website for communicating and connecting (as with most tools, some practice is required for you to use it effectively: expect an occasional sore thumb), your website can also shoulder some of the burden of sales and delivery of goods and services. But first, you have to successfully use your website for communicating and connecting. (FYI, websites make very poor “look-how-impressive-we-are” tools, though that’s primarily how businesses use them.)

Most of us are reasonably good at dreaming and talking about what we would do if we had the means. We’re not nearly as good at following through when the means is right in front of us. “If I had a hammer,” the old folk song used to say.

Websites, particularly those on platforms like WordPress, are tools that provide us with the means to pursue our goals. But they have to be used. Ladies and gentlemen, pick up your hammers and let’s “hit it.”

Throwing the Yellow Flag for Improper Use of Images in a Blog Post

Author: Ray Gulick; Published: Feb 22, 2010; Category: Blogging, Communication, Design/Development, Marketing; Tags: Communication, Design/Development; 4 Comments

One of the best things you can do to set the tone of a blog post and encourage people to read beyond the heading is to include an image. Most bloggers understand this, because an awful lot of them use images in their posts. But “misuse” of images is more common than “use” of images, if you have the perspective that the purpose of an image in a blog post is to communicate.

Here, then, are 6 rules (I could have called them guidelines, but then no one would argue with me) for using images in your blog posts which deserve a yellow flag when violated:

1. One image per post.

Blog posts are usually short; 300-800 words is a commonly suggested length. That small amount of text simply does not create enough screen real estate to accommodate several images without looking cluttered and unreadable (you DID want people to read your post, right?). The idea of "less is more" has never been more applicable. In cases where multiple images are truly called for (e.g., you have a series of photos showing attendees at an event), you can use one anchor image with a link to launch a Thickbox slideshow (or similar). This is also a good technique to use when you need a large image to show critical detail.

2. Put the image at the top of the post.

Put the image where visitors can see it immediately, right below the heading of your post. I personally like to align the image to the right at the top of the first paragraph: the image is where they can see it and connect it to the heading, but it doesn’t block their entry into the post text as it might if it were aligned left.

3. Make sure the image relates to the heading of the post.

An image should not leave your readers wondering what the connection is with the post, either before or after (or if) they read it. The image should immediately and clearly support or illustrate an idea in your post heading. Most people view disconnects and non sequiturs as annoying, rather than intriguing. If you can’t find an image to relate to your heading, consider changing your heading.

4. When looking for images, bring along your sense of humor.

A little humor or irony in an image (as long as it’s obvious: reread no. 3) can draw people into the post. It’s a bit like telling a little joke before a speech. Of course, if the "joke" is inappropriate or misleading, then you’ve created another issue. So don’t do that.

5. Crop and size images appropriately before uploading.

Any time you see an image that seems to take forever to load in a post, chances are you’re looking at a big image that has been scaled to fit, rather than sized to fit (i.e., the blogger uploaded a 1200-pixel-wide image and scaled it down to 220 pixels wide in the blog editor, instead of resizing the image to 220 pixels before uploading). Get an image editor and learn to use it to crop and size images, at minimum.

6. Don’t use clipart or stock photos. Unless they’re pretty good.

A lot of clip art and stock photography is trite and awful and over-used. But some of it is clever and very good and it perfectly illustrates your concept. Put your photo-editor hat on and refuse to use the former. Under no circumstances should you use an image of a multi-ethnic and gender-balanced group of young people with perfect teeth dressed in business casual gaping in awe at the screen of an open laptop in a brightly-lit conference room.