The process of designing a compelling website is 3 parts science, 4 parts design, and a just a pinch of dumb luck. But once the rain dance is over, it is time to put on the nerd hat and examining the data on how the website is faring. One cannot create a website and simply expect it to do well on its own. Just as a pilot would never fly at night without instruments, a website will not reach its full potential without quantifiable metrics in place.

Making a website is something anyone can do and everyone does. If your design is user-friendly and your content compelling, visitors will return again. But how do you get them to come in the first place? The answer is in two parts.

At Left Brain, Right Brain we ask two questions:

1. Where are the users coming from?
It is crucial to know how a site is fairing on key search engines. Unless the market is niche, our targets are Bing, Google, AOL, and Yahoo. Every month Left Brain, Right Brain checks our client’s website ranking for 10 keywords or phrases. From the data we extract from our program, we can chart a client’s progress on each keyword, whether they are going up or down. We can also see who else is ranking in the top 50.

This part is a key piece to the puzzle. Unless we see where a client is in their standings, we cannot analyze whether our website looks attractive enough to a search engine to rank them highly. This is called search engine optimization. SEO is simply the art of getting a website noticed by your target audience. It is crafting a website so that when your audience searches for something related to you, your website is near the top (or hopefully first).

The second question we ask is…

2. Where are the users going?
Vital data can be pulled from a user’s visit to a site, including pages visited; what got them to the site (also called referrer links); which pages they visited; how long they stayed; and if a search term was used, what it was. From this data you can extrapolate what pages are most popular, which ones are being ignored entirely, what search terms people are using to visit your site, and so much more.

I had a personal website where I blogged about local political news and one day veered off topic and posted a few images I took that were sized to popular dimensions for desktop wallpapers. From looking at the visitor data I discovered I was one of the top ranked in a certain dimension of wallpapers. So, in the interest of getting more visitors, I dedicated an entire section of my website to wallpapers that fit that particular size. The response was tremendous and in the end I got a few extra 10 thousand visitors and enough money from the ad revenue to buy a cup of coffee.

When these two questions are combined, it paints a clear picture of the health of a website. In subsequent posts we will be discussing what tools we use to find the data and how we use it to market our clients.

I work with them, play with them, and think they are all-round awesome, but the iPad’s advent failed to impress.  As a power-user (and most critically, an arts-fartsy designer) I’m not sure that I want or need a computer that does limited tasks.  So, I shrugged it off as something my grandmother could use (literally).

That is, until I prepped for a meeting with a potential client.  Presentations are tricky business.  Usually it involves me speaking with 2 or 3 people in a small room and they all begin with me showing them limited samples of our work and how we creatively solved unique problems for our customers.  I have always believed that our company’s best marketing tool is our portfolio and have worked to ensure everything that leaves our studio is something we would be proud to show to anyone.

Showing our previous work is integral but boring them is not. Hence the iPad.

The problem is not our materials — we have a vast collection — the problem is the presentation.  Usually groups are small enough to show via a laptop and that creates 3 issues.

1. Aesthetics
It also doubles as a backup work computer so I have projects up and, much like my desk, clutter is everywhere.  Before meetings, I have to neaten everything, reboot to ensure it does not lag, and then get the designs ready.

2. Timing
It is hard to read facial expressions and non-verbal cues as I give my shpeel to know if I am going too fast, boring, or showing the right material that interests them.  As I play this high-stakes guessing game, I usually ask questions that help me know if I am on track or not.  But it still is a crapshoot and the correspondence course I took on reading minds did not help at all.

3. Participation
A person talking at you with a laptop is just like the thousands of presentations they have endured before.  I try to keep it interesting, but let’s face it: you can only be so captivating.

Showing our previous work is integral but boring them is not.  Hence the iPad.

All I have to do is load a custom image gallery with our work categorised into the iPad and hand it to client.  Suddenly they have a beautiful, shiny 10″ screen (aesthetics) that does exactly what they want it to do (participation).  If they are tired of looking at a certain design, they can skip forward (timing).

The iPad has a brilliant user interface so it would not take long for a client to get a handle on maneuvering through it.  Selecting a gallery, swiping to the next slide, and pinching to zoom in and out is all they will need to do.  As a client peruses our work, I can give a narrative when necessary.  Most importantly, when they are bored and have seen enough, they control when it is over by putting it down.

So, that is my excuse on why I absolutely need an iPad.  While I probably need to schedule a few more visits with my therapist, I truly think it will work.  What do you say?  What is your excuse for getting an iPad?

At last count, there are 50 million tweets each day.  That equates to 600 per second!   Add well over 50 million blogs with 1.6 million posts each day and it is easy to realize that the field is more than a little crowded.

So how do you make enough noise to cut through all the chatter of your competitors and reach your target audience?  Here are a few tips that transcend mediums.  Whether you use them for Facebook, Twitter, or web, they all work:

1. Quality content

Imagine you were given control of a mountain stream and it was up to you keep the water quality high enough for the villagers in the valley below.  What if you infrequently allowed impurities through?  What if sometimes someone would get sick?  It would not take long before the villagers looked for another stream.

Every Tweet, Facebook update, and blog post is the same.  Unless you consistently provide information that your target audience wants to read, then it will not be frequented.  The principle is simple: quality content consistently provided trumps flashy tactics and Get-10,000-Visitors-In-2-Weeks seminars.

Sure, there are 600 tweets each second, but a study by Pear Analytics (PDF of report) found that 40% was “pointless babble” and only 8.7% had enough “pass-along value” to be retweeted.  You can be sure that users who look to Twitter for meaningful social interaction experience frustration wading through the inane as they search for interesting information.  If you diligently manage your information stream, you will quickly develop a reputation for quality content.

Consider the Drudge Report.  As a designer, I am offended by the layout, font choice, appalling lack of colors, and deprecated coding (did I mention the terrible font?).  But Matt Drudge is a sensational Internet success regardless.  Why would millions frequent his page each day?  Love him or hate him, the reporter who broke the Clinton/Lewinsky scandal cannot be beat when it comes to interesting headlines.

That, and he provides daily what people are looking for.  Which brings us to the next point…

2. Consistency

Not only does your stream need to be pure, but it needs to be consistent.  For blogs, that means posting on certain days like clockwork.  Studies show that when an author posts on a consistent basis instead of leaning on inspiration to strike, they have a higher rate of return visitors.  Like pavlov’s dog, a reader will think, “oh, it’s Friday — let me check their website.”

This may seem like a daunting task for those of us not bearing laudable writing talent, but it is doable.  The key is to not overcommit.  Start small with one post each week.  Studies show that Wednesday at 2:00 PM (I know, right?  Someone really researched this.) is the time to send a marketing email.  Once you are able to manage one post a week, move to two: Wednesday and Friday, the next best day to write.  Then move to three.

Every market is different, so Wednesday and Friday may not be peak times for your target audience.  This is where a quality website statistics tracker earns its money.  You can experiment with days and times and it will let you know what is most popular.  Do we do this with our client’s sites?  Oh, yeah.

Writing should be daily for Twitter and Facebook.  Facebook has unwritten rules of etiquette for status updates.  If you post too often, you begin to annoy.  That line, unfortunately, is not a set variable.  I doubt anyone would update too often anyway, but keep it under 4 per day.  If you feel particularly vocal, Twitter is for you.

3. Dialog

Monologs are unhealthy.  If someone takes the time to comment, you should reciprocate.  Start a conversation with them.  At the very least, say thank you.

4. Timeliness

The world has recently been focused on the Olympics, Lost final season, Oscars, economy, etc.  Take those topics and integrate them into your posts.  If you are a musician, talk about the music of the Olympics.  If you are a travel agent, discuss getaways that are like the Lost Island (without the scary black cloud of smoke and perpetual feeling of impending doom, of course).  A little creativity goes a long way.

•••

What do you do to attract visitors?  Have you found a killer tip that has made the difference?

First, a story. I began to notice that our company’s workload would dip significantly after a busy period so I researched to figure out why. It turns out that when we were unusually busy with our client load, we would not be as active with our social interactions and marketing strategy.

It was my fault. As High Protector of the Brand and the guy responsible for turning our marketing strategy into reality, I would get distracted from our company’s needs. The cobbler’s children were going barefoot. So I implemented a 2-part plan that goes something like this:

1. Every morning I work on our presence on Facebook, Twitter, write the blog, send emails, and make phone calls. At the most, this takes an hour each day.
2. Every Friday I spend quality time with the activities that are more time consuming: our promotional designs, articles for the next week, and website updates.

If we were all honest, I am sure we all are guilty of ignoring our business at times. It is easy to do. Marketing and social networking do not reap an immediate return and the immediate need sidetracks the future.

So take a moment, grab your pad and think about these questions:

1. What did you do this week to attract business to your company? What happened? Did it work?
2. What are you going to do next week to attract business?

Is it that simple? Yes and no. Thinking and planning will not get you far, but you cannot begin without first reviewing yourself.

In the hustle and bustle of providing a service for clients, businesses do a disservice to themselves by ignoring (or, heaven forbid, never creating) their marketing plan. Don’t be one of those. Take time today to evaluate your company and you will see growth.

Watch the video in high resolution on YouTube.