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Week 3: Understanding & Developing Content for the Web

by Susan Rich

In our last post we explored the role of navigation in providing a structure or road map for your website. Sticking with the road map metaphor – content is the destination.

Content is a range of items; text, photos, drawings, charts, graphs, videos, links to other websites, bulleted information, testimonials from customers; the list goes on. To put it simply: content is all the information that will be on your website. Navigation gives your audience access to your content in digestible, purposeful amounts and sequence.

Content is how you communicate with your visitors; how you appeal to them emotionally and express the character of your organization. It is also how you provide sought after information.

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Week 2 : Website Navigation Basics

by Susan Rich

Website Navigation Basics

Navigation Should Be Intuitive

The navigation on your website exists to make it easy for your visitors to engage with your content. Because the aim is to make the experience frustration-free, website navigation is not the place to get creative and try to “break the mold.” Instead, navigation should be rooted in web convention  and based on the habits of how we use the internet.

Navigation Should Be Simple

Once we consider that we have a only fraction of a second to grab and hold the visitor’s attention it becomes clear how we can potentially lose users if they can’t find what they are looking for. It’s best to keep things simple when it comes to web page navigation. There are  some basic standards that capitalize on expected behaviors and anticipate how we read websites that make certain your site is simple and easy to use.

Let’s take a look at a few standard website navigation principles:

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Understanding Web Design – Breaking Down the Elements on your Webpage

by Susan Rich

Web Design Blog IntroductionOur web design team at Synerge Marketing is excited to announce a new blog series in which we’ll take a look at the different components of website design and break down the process we use to determine and prioritize different elements on your website. Our hope in expressing these steps in understanding web design, will give you a sense of the shape projects take as they evolve. This series will also make it possible for you to organize your vision and ensure that your website meets your—and your audience’s—needs.

To start, we will look at each different area of a website. Understanding user expectations, conventions, and opportunities for innovation will help ground our process in a focus on user experience. We hope to illustrate how each piece of design reflects your goals and your web presence. Most important to your website are on the goals of your individual business, and we hope this overview will help you begin to prioritize and plan for your new or updated website.

Over the next few weeks we will cover the areas listed below in individual posts. Use the links here to access topics as they become available.

Week 1 : Introduction
Week 2 : Navigation
Week 3 : Content
Week 4 : Photography
Week 5 : Footer
Week 6 : Call to Actions
Week 7 : Social Icons
Week 8 : Fonts
Week 9 : Colors
Week 10 : Overview of Visual Hierarchy
Week 11 : Your website – what do I want people to do next?

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Synerge-marketing Launches Wesson Energy Rebranding Effort

by Randi Brawley

Wesson Energy New Website Design, CTSometimes an established company needs a new brand — one that highlights how the company has changed and is growing with the times. At the same time, it’s important to give due credit to the past. For example, this might mean emphasizing the company’s longevity and its hard-earned reputation for exceptional products and services.

Wesson Energy, based in Watertown, Connecticut, is such a company. Founded more than 70 years ago, Wesson management decided a few years ago that the business of the company’s future was to sell its customers less fuel and more services, including Connecticut energy audits, alternative energy installation and home performance contracting. In other words, Wesson needed to be viewed as a company that provides energy-efficiency services that “Save More by Using Less.” This change in approach was not reflected in the company’s old website, which focused on Wesson’s traditional oil delivery services.

To help bring its website and branding in line with the company’s new approach, Wesson enlisted Synerge-marketing earlier this year. The result is a new website that was launched earlier this week. The new wessonenergy.com includes a brand new web design and structure, a new look and even a new logo — all centered around Wesson’s focus on improving home efficiency.

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Three Search Engine Marketing Tactics That Have Surged in 2012

by Jason Lancaster

Search engine marketing tools and tactics are in an ever-changing state of flux. Search engine juggernaut Google regularly announces significant changes to their algorithms (they announced 40 changes to their various search engines earlier this year, followed by the Penguin update in  April). On top of that, powerful new search engine marketing and optimization tools are launched almost daily and existing tools are routinely enhanced.

How can you keep up?  Get on board and add these three tactics to your online marketing strategy this year:

  1. Guest Blogging – This time last year many in the search engine optimization (SEO) community were still reeling from Google’s first infamous Panda update. Panda – Google’s code name for a massive search algorithm change also known as the Farmer update – fundamentally altered the SEO landscape by placing tremendous importance on quality content. Read more