As the web matures in sophistication, the technical demands from web designers have been increasing rapidly. Back in 2000 when most of us designers were simply concentrating on HTML and some javascript, its hard to ignore the demands of our clients for other services such as implementation of Content Management Systems (CMS), Blogs, Forums and other web applications and platforms. Of course, SEO and online marketing have become the norm in many web projects as well.
Stemming from the creative circle, I tended to shy away from such requests and instead, left the research and work to web developers, who were in a much better position than myself to be dabbling in such technologies.
So what's the big deal to web designers now? Loads when you have to seriously consider the advent of technologies like AJAX, and factor functionalities into your design. Its not just pure aesthetics (and should've never been in the first place, though many of my industry colleagues in the advertising field would beg to differ) anymore.
Getting into the game
Though we're trained designers by profession, that shouldn't stop anyone from upping their game and improving their net worth. Understanding the quirks and fundamentals of online marketing can seriously put you ahead over the next freelancer (or web agency). We are in the business of the web after all.
Thankfully for us less tech-savvy and mildly experimental sort, there are tons of web applications out there that have greatly aided us creative people in further pushing the envelope and delivering solutions, not just designs, to our clients. Incidentally, the easiest and most relate-able service we can provide to our clients is online marketing.
Not SEO, but SEO-friendly
Don't fight for the SEO pie with trained SEO consultants, that's not your game. However, you should know and understand the basics of SEO, and how to develop webpages that are SEO-friendly. This includes clean mark-up and knowing where and how to advise your client on their copy and keywords.
Not marketing but delivering the marketing message
Again, unless you're an experienced online marketer, its going to be pretty hard to sell your web copy writing skills and marketing campaign plans. What you should do is understand what is involved in online marketing campaigns, and offer services that are complimentary to your client's online marketing efforts. This can range from banner ad designs and simple media buying, setting up Google analytics for your client and giving them a brief overview on what to lookout for in the stats, as well as email campaigns and delivery. Your value will be evident to any organization.
More income
If you've been in the web business for sometime now, you'll soon start to realize (or already have) that its extremely inflexible and non-scalable in business sense. You drag yourself from one project to the next and slowly get paid by your delivery milestones. Though most websites change over time, they may not be changing as fast as you'd like to. Email campaigns, on the other hand, changes with each release. Newsletter contents change with each issue, as does design requirements for promotional campaigns. Besides improving your clients relationship with their customers or driving sales, an email design and delivery services are quick to turnaround and provide a great cashflow injection each time.
Organizations love it
There are tons of detailed articles and reasons on why email marketing works and is still very prevalent in the market. Your clients know and understand the benefits, and so should you, in order to pitch and deliver such assignments. Basically, they can be summed up in these points:
- Cost effectiveness: if you've been in print or other forms of traditional media, email really is cheap.
- Relevant: unlike mass broadcasting, email can be relevant through profiling and segmentation of your recipients.
- Real data:
means your client can forget external studies and surveys. Campaign performance data is accurate and near real-time. Your client can further analyze opens and click-through performances and work out their next campaign accordingly.
And next campaign = repeated business =)
After you have selected a couple targeted long tail keywords, the next step is to write some relevant and attractive ad copy and link the specific long tail keyword directly to the product page in your store. You want the transition to flow smoothly for the potential customer. For example, click on Captain Jack Sparrow Halloween costume Ad and it should go directly to the Captain Jack Sparrow Halloween costume product page on your store so customers can easily find the product they were searching for and the...
Posted by: | March 07, 2009 at 06:23 PM
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Posted by: | June 26, 2009 at 05:51 PM