Jeff's Blog

3 Essential Marketing Tools for Chambers of Commerce

Fri, 11 May 2012 00:00:00 -0400

Last week, I discussed 4 important content development tools to look for when choosing a CMS. Now that you know the best CMS tools for publishing content, the next step is to identify the marketing tools that will help your chamber lead website visitors down the sales funnel.

Your website is the backbone of your chamber?s marketing strategy. We are living in an age when ?Googling? has become a knee-jerk reaction and an organization?s website is the ultimate means of communicating with its audience. Maintaining a strong digital presence is vital to your chamber?s survival.

Choose a marketing-savvy CMS that will provide your chamber website with valuable communication tools ? particularly, an email marketing service, options for social media integration and daily statistics.

EMAIL MARKETING

One of the most effective and inexpensive digital marketing strategies is email marketing.

Be sure your CMS?s email marketing module is integrated with all of your other CMS modules, such as your forms, e-commerce, blog, newsletter, etc.

This integration will enable you to:

Increase top line revenue
Contact perspective new members
Better serve your existing members

(More on this subject later, when I post my Email Marketing series. If you?d like this topic sooner rather than later, let me know!)

SOCIAL MEDIA INTEGRATION

Whether they?ll admit it or not, just about everyone is on Facebook. And that makes social networking the perfect strategy for engaging your chamber website visitors.

Your CMS should include a social media module that integrates with all of your other CMS tools. For example, when you publish an event on your website, your social media module should automatically post the event link to your Facebook and Twitter profile pages.

STATISTICS

Marketing is useless if you can?t measure it.

That?s why your CMS must include a statistics module. In addition to measuring your chamber website?s daily visits and page views, your statistics module should also allow you to analyze metrics of specific content, such as banner ad clickthrough rates, top blog posts and email open rates.

CHOOSING A CMS: SERIES WRAP-UP

I hope you have enjoyed my series on ?Choosing A CMS.? In the last several weeks, you have learned about taking control of your web content management, the importance of CMS upgradability, and valuable CMS content development tools for your chamber website. Today?s post about CMS marketing tools concludes this series.

UP NEXT: CONTENT IS KING

Now that you have the expertise to select a CMS (and know how to use it!), it?s time to focus on the first step of your digital marketing plan ? creating content for your chamber website. The Content Is King series starts next week!

YOUR THOUGHTS?

What do you love or hate about your current CMS?
What is your biggest challenge in creating engaging content?

I respond to everyone who contacts me, so leave a comment or drop me an email!

Essential Content Development Tools for Chamber Websites

Fri, 04 May 2012 00:00:00 -0400

In last week?s post, I discussed three factors to consider when choosing a CMS for your chamber website. Today, I will continue to guide you in your search for the perfect CMS by identifying the most important content development tools for managing a dynamic chamber website.

Choose a CMS that simplifies the content development process by providing a unified user interface, a ?What You See Is What You Get? editor, and a few easy-to-use tools.

UNIFIED USER INTERFACE

It takes different CMS modules to create different types of content (blog posts, news articles, photos etc). For some CMS systems, this means you?ll have to pick and choose different plug-ins from different developers, and learn how to use each. This equates to having learn how to operate several different software packages to simply manage your website.

You can save yourself quite a bit of trouble by choosing a CMS that contains a unified user interface ? one where every tool is created by the same development team. Each module (blog, ecommerce, email marketing etc) should be consistent in the way it looks and feels. This will enable you to spend more time creating great content as opposed to racking your brain try to learn the way in which different modules/plug ins work.

?WHAT YOU SEE IS WHAT YOU GET? EDITOR

A WYSIWYG editor (?What You See Is What You Get?) allows a person with no HTML experience to create beautifully formatted web content. Rather than forcing you to decipher HTML code, a WYSIWYG editor allows you to work within an interface that closely resembles how the final product will look. And if at any time you do decide to tweak the coding, you can simply toggle over to the HTML view, then switch back to the webpage view when you?re done.

Now that I?ve discussed the importance of a unified interface and a WYSIWYG editor, I?d like to point out some content development tools to look for when choosing a CMS.

4 CRUCIAL CMS TOOLS FOR CONTENT DEVELOPMENT

Custom Directories

Your chamber must be able generate many different types of directories. As your website functions largely as a resource guide and, it?s important that your chamber?s CMS enables you to create custom directories when you need them. Further potential directories are listed below:

Staff directories
Board of directors directories
Coupon directories
Interactive maps of businesses
Business directories
Featured businesses
Restaurant guides

Blog

To rank higher in search engine results, you must publish fresh content to your chamber website on a regular basis. The easiest way to do this is with a blog. Look for a blogging platform that enables tagging, comments and RSS subscriptions.

The goal of your blog should be to teach your public about your chamber, its programs, its benefits and its significance within the community. Your community has little idea of the role your chamber plays, so educate them in an engaging and entertaining manner.

Newsroom (Your Online Media Room)

Your chamber website serves as a news source for multiple audiences. A good ?Newsroom? tool will, to borrow a phrase from David Meerman Scott, allow your chamber to create multiple Online Media Rooms (Member news, Community news, etc) that feature multimedia content (including text, photos, video and audio).

The concept of an Online Media Room, as opposed to the old newsroom, is that it functions as your very own publishing space, designed for the media. You, as a publisher, control the wealth of your content, and should include audio, video, photos, news releases, background information, financial data, contact information and anything else that would interest and benefit a journalist looking for a story.

When anyone, not just journalists, want to know what?s current with an organization, they go to the Online Media Room to find out. Turn this room into a marketing tool, update it often and make sure that it is easily navigable, searchable, and visually appealing.

Interactive Calendars

Keep your members informed of upcoming events by maintaining an interactive event calendar. Look for a calendar tool that also includes a ?lister? that posts upcoming events on your chamber home page. Your calendar tool should also allow you to include event details ? not just when, but also who, where, why and how much.

An interactive calendar is a great tool for making your chamber website user friendly and intuitive.

UP NEXT: CHOOSING A CMS, PART 3 - MARKETING TOOLS

I hope today?s post demonstrated how the right CMS can empower you to create dynamic, original content for your chamber. Next week, I will continue my discussion on choosing the perfect CMS by pointing out the most important marketing capabilities that will enable your chamber to draw in its target audience.

What do you think so far of these features? Can your chamber utilize them?

Accrinet for Chambers

3 Factors to Consider When Choosing a Chamber CMS

Fri, 27 Apr 2012 00:00:00 -0400

3 Factors to Consider When Choosing a Chamber CMS

I am a frequent flier, so I?m always comforted when I notice the airline going to great lengths to ensure a safe flight.

The best safety measure is planning ahead, such as ensuring that the plane will make it to the next stop without running out of fuel. Likewise, you should plan ahead for your chamber website by choosing a CMS that won?t run out of capabilities.

To select a CMS that will benefit your chamber website for years to come, choose one that has these 3 capabilities:

Continue reading at Jeff Kline Online...

Accrinet for Chambers

Web Content Management 101

Fri, 20 Apr 2012 13:00:00 -0400

When you watch TV, would you rather be the person holding the remote control, or the person begging to turn off Dancing with the Stars?

I?m guessing you?d prefer to be the one in control.

You should also be in control when it comes to managing your chamber website content. Now that we?ve covered best practices in designing your website, it?s time to switch gears and begin discussing the process of filling your chamber website with content. To do so, your CMS must be powerful and flexible.

Continue reading at Jeff Kline Online...

Accrinet for Chambers

User-friendly navigation for your chamber website

Fri, 13 Apr 2012 11:35:00 -0400

User-friendly navigation for your Chamber website

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The time I spent backpacking in Yellowstone National Park was one of the most incredible experiences of my life. The entire trip, I relied solely on color-coded trail markers to guide me through the primitive Wyoming wilderness. I emerged ten days later, dirt-streaked and enlightened ? and realized I had never once needed to use my compass.

Likewise, web users shouldn?t need a compass to navigate your chamber of commerce website. Your website navigation design should be just as visible as the trail markers that guided me through Yellowstone. Today I will cover exactly what constitutes valuable chamber navigation form (as opposed to function): Top/sub-level design, intuitive placement, style, and color.

Continue reading at Jeff Kline Online...

Accrinet for Chambers

Thu, 05 Apr 2012 00:00:00 -0400

How to use eye-tracking to test your chamber website

After reading last week?s post, you should have a basic understanding of the principles of web usability. Now it?s time to put your user interface to the test with a method called eye tracking.

The goal of eye tracking is actually very simple: it determines where your website visitors are focusing their attention.

Knowing where visitors are looking on your website can give you tons of clues about the effectiveness of your chamber website. If visitors aren't looking at the right things, they're not interacting, learning or buying.

Continue reading at Jeff Kline Online...

Accrinet for Chambers

How to build a user-friendly chamber website

Fri, 30 Mar 2012 00:00:00 -0400

How to build a user-friendly chamber website

Think back to the last time you bought a car - when you first sat down in your new driver?s seat, did you need an owner?s manual to figure out how to start the ignition? Of course not. Instead, you relied on previous driving experience to get your new ride rolling.

Just as every car is built with certain operating standards, so too are chamber websites. How well your website has implemented these standards greatly determines its level of usability .

Just how usable is your chamber website? Continue reading at Jeff Kline Online to find out. Don't forget to sign up for a FREE usability assessment!

Accrinet for Chambers

Tackling Typography

Fri, 23 Mar 2012 00:00:00 -0400

What famous couple would you consider to be the greatest pairing of all time ? Romeo and Juliet? Brad and Angelina? Or how about Helvetica and Garamond?

When the perfect typeface match is made, sparks fly. But how do you find the two typefaces that are destined for each other ? and appropriate for your chamber website? In today?s post, I will share some typography best practices that can be applied to your chamber of commerce website.

Typeface combinations

When deciding on header/body combinations, pair serif typefaces with sans serif styles. Never use two serifs or two sans serifs together ? opposites attract! I suggest you check out Design Shack?s guide to combining free typefaces from Google Web Fonts. If you already have one typeface in mind, check out this tried-and-true chart or Will Harris? Typefaces That Work Together list to find your typeface a soul mate. Bonfx.com is another great resource for choosing typefaces, and they have even developed the Font Combination app.

Font size

Headline font size should be the largest and boldest on your website to encourage scanning, but be sure to avoid a large size difference between your two fonts. When the headline is significantly larger than body text, people often skip the smaller text.

Therefore, the suggested body text size is approximately 50% smaller than that of the headline. So when your headline size is in the recommended 18-24 point range, your body text should be at 12 points to encourage actual reading and the absorption of the material.

(If 12 point seems large, consider that 12 is the font size for most printed material and that the visual comfort of your visitor is a top priority.)

White space

Did you know that adding white space between paragraphs increases comprehension by almost 20%? Here?s a quick guide to getting it right:

? Provide comfortable right and left margins.

? Use a line height that is 1.5 times the font size.

? Paragraphs should be no longer than 6 sentences.

? Keep spacing between paragraphs at 75% of line height.

? Use headings, subheads, and bulleted lists to provide variety in line length.

? Maintain high contrast between the font and background colors.

? Avoid a large visual break between the headline and body text, as this may prompt readers to ignore the bulk of your content. This means no underlining!

Capitalization

When it comes to writing your headlines, avoid the ?up? style (the capitalization of every important word in a headline) as this reduces reading comprehension. Write your headlines as you would a sentence ? capitalize the first word and leave the rest of the phrase lowercased. If you want a bolder look, use the ?caps lock? style, as I do here at Jeff Kline Online.

Legal issues

The best way to avoid a lawsuit is to simply stay away from licensed typefaces. I strongly urge you to only download free fonts from trustworthy websites. The safest site by far is Google Web Fonts, which provides free Open Source fonts that you can share, customize, and use on your website.

But if you do decide to purchase the rights to a licensed typeface, you should first speak with an intellectual property (IP) lawyer. Better to be safe than sorry.

These are my team?s favorite free typeface websites:

? Google Web Fonts

? Font Squirrel

? The League of Moveable Type

? My Fonts

The style, size, layout, and typeface compatibility of your text are integral factors to the legibility of your chamber website. The goal of great typography is to support your content by providing a visually easy read. What typefaces have you found to be the best for your chamber website? If you have any typography tips or ideas, please leave a comment or send me an email!

Sign up for a FREE typography assessment from one of our digital strategists. Please fill out the form and we will get in touch with you!

4 best practices of chamber user interfaces

Fri, 16 Mar 2012 00:00:00 -0400

?A picture is worth a thousand words. An interface is worth a thousand pictures.?

-Ben Shneiderman, Computer Science Professor, University of Maryland

Your user interface design (UI) can make or break your chamber website. Done right, your User Interface will allow visitors to easily navigate through your site and gain quick access to your content ? regardless of whether they are connecting with the 27-inch iMac or the latest Droid smartphone.

Before you begin to build or redesign your chamber website, I suggest you check out Shneiderman?s ?Eight Golden Rules of User Interface Design,? and consider how you can optimize your User Interface to better suit your audience.

I would also like to share with you four best practices for User Interface design that I believe every chamber should follow:

Simplicity

This may seem elementary, but too often chamber websites fail by trying to do too much. Make sure your site is clean and crisp. You don?t want crazy colors, animations or pictures to compete with your content. The goal should be to support your content by making it prominent.

No Flash

Once the pinnacle in website design, the use of Flash is now in decline. Flash increases load time, which can result in lower search engine rankings and frustrate visitors to your chamber website. Flash is also a product (rather than a web standard), which may result in it being more prone to bugs.

Segment your website visitors

While many of you understand the concept of audience segmentation in marketing and business terms, I encourage you to also apply this strategy to your website visitors and the design of the website. If your chamber has multiple types of important website visitors, create multiple points of entry for these visitors. This will allow them to find your information more efficiently.

The Jefferson City Chamber of Commerce does an excellent job of accomplishing this with their website. Their home page is extremely simple and creates a clear path to their three main topics ? economic development, chamber and community visitors (see below.)

(for more examples, visit our Portfolio)

Usability

Make sure your website design encourages intuitive navigation. I will discuss usability more in-depth in a future post, so stay tuned!

I hope that my suggestions regarding the user interface of your chamber website inspired some great ideas. Remember, a good User Interface design will augment your content, but a bad design will detract from it. Your goal is to build an interface that allows users to quickly and easily access your valuable content.

I hope you enjoyed my post on chamber User Interface design. Next week, I will discuss some of the best practices in typography for your chamber website design. In the meantime, I?d love to hear from you, so please feel free to leave a comment or send me an email!

Chamber Website Design Trends 2012: Your Inner Artist

Fri, 09 Mar 2012 12:00:00 -0500

When was the last time you picked up a paintbrush? Or a colored pencil? Or a Crayon?

Unless you?re a designer or an artist (or the parent of a young child) chances are you spend the majority of your day planted in an office chair without these flair-inspiring tools.

But it?s Friday, so for the next five minutes, I?m going to give you something a little more creative to think about.

In last week?s post, I discussed how IKEA can inspire us to develop websites that are functional, well-organized and pleasing to the eye. Today, I would like to go a little more in-depth on the subject of ?eye pleasing? by sharing with you some of the latest trends in chamber website graphic design that I believe will greatly enhance the look of your site. So crank up the right side of your brain ? it?s time to channel your inner artist!

(Thank you to Web Design Ledger for inspiring this post.)

Menu items

One of today?s most popular design elements is the multi-column menu (a.k.a. mega menus). Rather than a typical navigation bar, these menu items look like a grid of cells. There is only one level of dropdown, but that level can contain additional multi-columns with headings for each section. This is a dramatic style that departs from what most chambers would consider standard - but don't let that intimidate you! Below is an example of how this bold look can enhance a chamber website.

Banners

To increase click-through rates, rethink the way you are presenting traditional elements such as banners, bookmarks and buttons. Create a banner that is visually integrated into your chamber website design. That way, in addition to promoting your latest offering, it will also add to your website?s style.

Images

Currently, large images are all the rage. Images attract the eye better than text does, but remember: an attention-grabbing image is only effective when the visitor is offered intuitive and clear guidance on what to do next. Always include menu options or a call to action to move the visitor through the conversion process.

When determining how to display your images, consider using the ?it shape? of the season ? the circle. According to Web Design Ledger, circles and rounded edges have made quite a splash in recent months. So, if your website has been feeling a little drab, try using some circle-framed images to freshen up your look.

Many people claim to be visual learners, which could be a big reason why infographics have become so popular. Infographics present text and data in a very creative and easy-to-follow way. These graphics are highly shareable, especially on Facebook and Twitter.

Layout & Theme

Today?s most popular layout style could best be described as ?minimalist.? To achieve a clutter-free look, incorporate heavy white space into your website design. White space creates a welcoming, clean and crisp look that encourages a visitor to stay and explore deeper into your site.

While minimalist styles are clearly in, don?t be afraid to introduce some vibrant colors into your website design. Cartoons have made a comeback into the professional sphere, and these illustrations pair nicely with minimalist designs and brighter color schemes. Use vector art to ensure the best quality.

I also suggest experimenting with textures to give your design some depth. According to WebDesignerDepot.com, you can achieve a great retro theme by introducing some texture to simple geometric shapes. What colors, shapes and textures can you combine to create a unique look for your website?

***

I hope this two-part series on website design trends gave you a lot of great chamber website design ideas and got you excited about planning your new look. These days, premium online interaction is assumed, regardless of the device used to connect. Your chamber must remain on the cutting edge of functionality and presentation.

Next week, I will cover 4 chamber website design best practices which will help you decide how to implement the trends for 2012. If you have any opinions or thoughts about this post, I?d love to hear from you. Leave a comment or drop me an email!

Accrinet for Chambers