Years ago, when potential customers had to walk up hill both ways through the snow to find service providers, the concept of having a website that could be accessed at any time, from anywhere, was a major breakthrough in customer relations. As the market evolved over time, this concept went from novelty to expectation as people learned to rely on the internet for information. Technology has evolved so fast that now, the internet can easily be accessed on the go through mobile devices.

Mobile internet growth is off the charts

In 2007, Apple released the original iPhone. In doing so, they became the first manufacturer to provide a mobile device that could efficiently browse the internet in the same fashion as a standard computer. As the iPhone’s popularity grew and the price of the technology fell, more providers and manufacturers began selling similar smart phone technology. These devices began flying off the shelves. Globally, mobile data traffic will double every year through 2014, increasing 39 times between 2009 and 2014. Studies say that mobile data usage will comprise 87% of all data revenue for carriers by 2015, as voice revenue is on a steady decline. In 2009, AT&T announced that mobile data traffic on their network grew an astonishing 3000% over the previous 3 years and continued to grow exponentially.

The importance of designing for mobile

As you can see, these stats are amazing. As service and information providers on the internet, it’s our job to tailor to the needs of our users and potential customers. Just as technology evolved years ago and made the internet the standard source of information, it continues to do so by allowing the world to carry such a powerful medium in their pocket.

Mobile users are a unique bunch

A mobile version of a website is designed with different parameters than a normal site. With constraints like screen size, connection speed and screen resolution, it brings in the whole new world of user experience. The important factor to keep in mind above all, is context. Mobile users typically only view our sites for less than 10 seconds, and use them to check for on the go updates instead of in depth research. To account for this, we need to focus on what exactly our users are trying to achieve, what they are looking for, and eliminate the fluff that might slow down their experience and ability to accomplish their task.

By designing for a mobile device, it forces us to break down our content to the bare minimum of what a user will require and streamline their interaction with it. When you’re working with a screen that is only 3.5 inches (as seen on the iPhone 4), having an abundance of links that are too small to read or interact with deters user engagement.

An example of designing for context

Below you see a comparison of target.com, viewed through an iPhone in both the mobile specific version and the standard version. Notice how the menu, layout, link size, and navigation have all been modified and tailored to both the device and context of how a user interacts with the site. The top menu items have been reduced to tasks that users will be trying to accomplish on the go.

Stepping up to mobile

Whether we like it or not, it is imperative to evolve with technology. Providing value to our users in context is the next step to a quality experience. In time, it is likely that many sites may ONLY be offering a mobile version due to the context their customers may be trying to interact with them.

There is a common goal among any organization that creates a website. The tough realization is that since everyone shares this common goal, market share within it can be hard to obtain for those new to using the internet as a productive business tool. Literally millions of articles and books have been written on the subject which in itself can make it even more intimidating to tackle. But the truth is, anyone willing to give enough effort can turn their website into a valuable tool for generating business and achieving their goals. Here, I’ll try and outline the general principle and idea of turning your website around from an online brochure, to an exciting and productive engine to drive sales and market share.

In the 1990′s and early 2000′s the internet was an exciting time. Businesses exploded with profitability because they broke new ground in making things work on the web. If a business had a website, that was AWESOME. Complex interaction was extremely difficult and expensive to provide so just having a presence on the web was an impressive step forward for anyone. Basically, just having a website was a feat in and of itself.

Fast forward to today. The age of functionality has become obsolete, the norm. Users and potential customers are no longer impressed by a presence on the internet and are begging for something more. Something to relate with. If someone is looking for a provider its impressively easy to find and investigate multiple options in any market. For us to stand out as providers, we need to research and analyze what makes these potential customers tick. What makes them choose one provider over another? What makes someone fill out a contact form instead of just moving on? How do we measure that? Lets take a look…

Sales strategy / goal creation

Every business and organization services a purpose. Non-profits work hard to achieve awareness and donations. Businesses work just as hard for market share, increasing sales, decreasing costs, and driving up value. These basic principles haven’t changed in hundreds of years. What has changed on the other hand is how we go about doing so. Technology is moving fast, but what we’re trying to do at its most basic level stays almost the same.

Defining your goals for having a website and online strategy is the first step. If you’re a retail business are you trying to drive more customers through the door? Are you trying to sell online? Or, are you trying to encourage interaction between current customers and yourself?

Your goals should be written out and defined by both your marketing and business objectives. At first they shouldn’t even have anything to do with a specific medium. In one paragraph, you should be able to define exactly what you need to do to grow your organization. Once you have that established, you can then start devising a plan to make it happen. Since you already likely have a website in place, does it actively work towards those goals? How much traffic is being driven towards it, and how much of that traffic is converting into business?

Analysis and testing, creating a baseline

As the old adage goes, “In order to know where we’re going, we need to know where we’ve been”. In order to optimize an online strategy to reach your goals, its imperative to define exactly how you stand currently. Just like in science creating a baseline to measure against is the first step needed before attempting to take a step forward. There are a number of ways to do this and test how your online presence is performing. At the most basic level using services like Google Analytics is an easy (and free) first step. This will tell you how people are finding your website, what they’re interested in, and if your site is designed in a way to inspire them to engage with you.

Based on these findings we now have a baseline number for every metric that matters to the success and performance of your site, in a context that relates to your overall business goals.

Site Optimization: Lets Make it WORK

Now that we know how users are currently using your website, we can compare that to how we need them to be using it. Where is the gap? In order for your website to succeed, even before putting efforts in place to drive more traffic to it we need users to be encouraged to engage. There are a million possible factors in achieving this, psychology, sociology, use cases, needs, location, language, etc all play a role in defining what needs to be improved. Since we already know how these users are using your site, who are they and what triggers them? Investigating what your users are looking for and finding the best way to provide that for them is the mission. Once you have a handle on that, coming up with a few new ideas that might resonate with them is the next step. Do you need them to learn more about your business? For example if you are selling a premium or luxury service, you might try and investigate how people justify that extra expense and present them with information and content that fulfills that particular attribute.

Traffic Optimization: Come one come call

Its important to at least establish a baseline understanding of performance before putting forth effort into driving more traffic to your site. If your site isn’t performing well, driving traffic to it before fixing it won’t generate the results your ultimately looking for. Have you ever seen a commercial for a movie that convinced you to go see it, and walked away disappointed? Exactly. Once you have your site optimization headed in the proper direction, now its time to get it in front of potential customers. Whether you have dozens, or millions of people visiting your site daily there are always ways to pull in more.

Search engine optimization is a free and organic way of allowing people to find you online. This is the process of writing your content and designing your site to show up in search results for specific keywords and search phrases. Like site optimization, this can be an ongoing measurable process. Search engines use complex algorithms to determine the most valuable result to present to the person searching. Writing the content on your site to fulfill the need of users searching those keywords is the first step. Keeping fresh, updated, and relevant content available ensures that your site will never become obsolete or fall down in those search results.

Another option is targeted online advertising. There are many services that easily provide you the opportunity to show a small link or ad in areas extremely relevant to what people are reading and searching for. These ads, while NOT free, can be more valuable than you might imagine. For example if you provide high end landscaping services in a local area, you can target ads to be shown to ONLY people searching for landscaping online that are located in the area you serve. This greatly increases their interest in your service once they do find your site, and increases the likelihood of them converting into a new customer.

Wash rinse and repeat

Now that you’ve analyzed how your website is performing in achieving your business and marketing objectives, and have efforts in place to put it in front of the eyes or more potential customers you’re done right?

Nope.

Your website is an ever changing, and living being. Long gone are the days of one-and-done online brochures. Constantly watching, measuring, analyzing, and improving your most powerful business generation tool is an exciting and important part of this strategy. Always evolving and adapting to changes in both your market, and business plans is an opportunity that conventional strategies simply do not allow.

Putting it in action

So how is your website working for you? Do you know how many people are using it? How many of those people are converting into sales?

Its time to realize that the internet and how you use it as a tool to reach your goals is a golden and very available opportunity. The sky is the limit and you’ll get just as much out of it as you’re willing to put in. Everyone in the world is at your finger tips and looking to fulfill a need, and with a little work becoming the provider they choose is not only possible, but very achievable.

Lets make something awesome!

For many small businesses the web seems too impersonal and open to have a local impact. However websites are no longer the static online brochures we saw 10 years ago. Today there are infinite ways to get the information your customers want, in front of them efficiently. This not only drives business, but saves time and effort which means there is an instant return on investment.

Establish Your Goal

Lets use a hypothetical situation to explain exactly what I mean. Say you are the proud owner of “Joe’s Cafe” nestled in a fairly commercial area in the suburbs. Every day you have a number of people coming in for lunch. You run daily specials to entice your customers to keep coming back, as well as invite some local musicians to perform on occasion. Currently you post your specials on the wall for customers to read when they come in, however you are looking for other ways to inform your customers.

Goal-Oriented Solutions

It can be hard to justify the expense of having a new website designed and developed without knowing exactly how you will see those funds return. For this reason it is absolutely crucial to decide the mission behind a new website. The internet is a tool for delivering information, and as such needs to be utilized in the most effective way. If you can update your website quickly and easily you will have more luck keeping visitors coming back right? So  as the owner of Joe’s Cafe a redesign that will allow you to update your website with your specials, events, performers, etc will give your customers a centralized place to learn about whats new. If you can also update photos from events, post recipes or cooking tips, you can turn your website into a fun little place where your customers (and potential customers) become engaged in your brand.

Sending Information Directly to Customers

Now that Joe’s Cafe can provide updated information to customers without requiring them to physically be in the store, the ball is rolling. But there is only one issue, we need to make this information as easily available as possible! Of course its already on your website, but we want them to be reminded about the delicious sandwiches you serve for lunch…

Coupling your new dynamic website with a service like Twitter is a perfect solution for this situation. You can send a text message (or use the web) to your Twitter account with your special of the day. This “tweet” is then posted to your Twitter page, and can be displayed on your website. The beauty of this is not only the ease of updating your website, but interested customers can subscribe to text message alerts on their phone when you send out your specials. After you promote this service, imagine having the ability to send a text message and personally notify 50% of your semi-regular customers and update your website at the same time. How much more likely are they to come in after reading “Pastrami and Swiss on special for $3.99 today at Joe’s Cafe!” while they are hungry?

Seems to me lately there have been a number of conversations around the design community pertaining to whether or not web design is considered art. Smashing Magazine had posted a few articles that inadvertently touched on the issue and it has caused quite a stir in conversation. I sat back and thought about it for a minute, and realized that I had never thought of web design as actually being art. Certainly it is an artistic field, the aesthetics and design of a site certainly require the person developing it to have a level of artistic ability to be a success. With that in mind, is what we do for a living actually art? Are web designers as a whole considered artists? Not to my knowledge. I’ve always considered myself a designer when it came to my career personally. But where lies the line between artist and designer?

What is Considered Art?

Wikipedia defines art as “The process or product of deliberately and creatively arranging elements in a way that appeals to the senses or emotions.” OK, that seems about spot on right? All famous artists create their work to express themselves thought their chosen medium. So far according to this information web design can be considered art. I have heard arguments against that saying art is an expression of the artist, while many times what we are creating is an expression of our clients. There is a very vague gray area, because I think everyone can agree that commissioned art is still in fact art. I think the preconceived notion about art is that it is almost always created specifically for its presentation. A painting, a song, etc are all created with the intent of expressing the emotion of the artist to be interpreted by an audience.

How Does Art Differ From Design?

Design according to Wikipedia is “the process of originating and developing a plan for a product, structure, system, or component with intention.” Which of course is a bit of a curve ball, because a piece of art is indeed created with intention, especially in the case of commissioned art. By definition then, a design is created specifically with functionality in mind first and foremost, to fulfill a need or purpose. So there is the difference, a design must function. Of course a designer is in a way an artist by definition also, just an artist with a purpose.

So is Web Design Considered Art or Not?

In my opinion, art is a large part of designing websites. However web design as a whole is not specifically defined as art. An artist is someone who creates pieces that express emotion which is part of a web designer’s day to day life. However, we take it a step further and turn our works of art into a functioning product to enhance the way our clients conduct business.

As web designers ourselves its understandable how many consider what we do as a whole, art. We look at other’s works through the eyes of artists because we can appreciate and interprate web design from a presentation stand point. However the websites we create are in fact structured systems created to fulfill a business’s need, a product. There are many websites that are “works of art” but if they do not meet the needs of our clients and enhance their business in a possitive way they become a failed design, created by an artist who gave web design a try.

Sitting down at my desk with a fresh cup of coffee in the morning is almost a refreshing experience. There I am, still attempting to wake up and ready to run through my morning ritual of checking all the usual social networking, news, and job related sites before I start my day of creating designs that will ultimately be helping clients out for years to come. This is what I do, this is what I care about.

Lets reverse this and think of it from a clients perspective. I’m willing to bet that they are doing the same thing we do in the morning, but checking news and resources related to their industry without a single design related word read in the morning. Who’da thunk it?

So how to we get our clients to not only understand, but take an interest in what we are creating for them beyond if it works and what it costs? It can be extremely difficult to ignite a fire with wood that is already saturated with the water of disinterest. The trick is education and perspective.

Gaging Interest

Everyone is different, especially those who hire designers. Some are very understanding and excited about what we are trying to do for them, others have little desire to be involved and just want the finished product yesterday. Unfortunately we can’t make them all care. Those that show a sign of interest are the ones that are fun to work with, you have to nurture that and keep them involved. Even if a client doesn’t want to be bothered and just give their critique of a design and move on it means they do care, its just how much they understand about good design that needs to be worked on.

Teaching While Creating

This can be tough depending on the situation. In all projects there is a process of making sure the client understands what they’re getting in return for their money, the conception, creation, completion, etc. Somewhere along the lines of making sure the client understands what the agreement is, its important to teach them what seperates the good from the bad. I love to have a conversation with clients that inspires them by showing them similar things out there that were well executed and explaining to them why they are so good. There is nothing wrong with explaining to a client what you do and how you do it in terms that they will understand. They will automatically have a picture in their head of what they’re looking for, which is fantastic! Its up to us as designers to create that image by interpreting their words, thats our job right? What if we have a conversation that changes their image in a way that will improve the project, establish us as the expert designers they’ve hired, and opens their mind to something a little more “out of the box”?

Start From The Beginning

As a freelance designer one advantage we have is controlling our sales leads and where they are generated. Small business owners working with freelance designers can work together on a very personal level, which is a huge key to success both for the project and both parties involved. Building trust with them is the first step. There are many ways to do this of course but building relationships with potential clients beyond “sales lead” alone can change the way a client will relate to you. Contact local business groups, get involved in niche advertising circles, offer to do presentations or seminars for business owners, all of these will improve relationships with potential clients before they even consider your services for future projects.

Be Professional

As the old saying goes “it takes a long time to build a reputation, and a moment to ruin it”. These are words to live your professional life by. All the hard work you may have put into not only getting clients, but GOOD clients that have confidence in you can be lost relatively quickly by missed deadlines, careless spelling mistakes, and the like. Misspelling a company’s slogan on a rough design comp is never a big deal to us because we know it can be changed, but to the client it comes across as careless and disrespectful.

Be Available

Keeping clients engaged in a project keeps momentum. Momentum in turn makes things much more enjoyable, keeps ideas flowing, and keeps the project on schedule and everyone wins. Sometimes this means that you have to be available to your clients at (virtually) all times. Make sure they feel free to email you, or call you if they have any questions or concerns and follow up with them as soon as possible. People like to feel important and a lot of times they tend to forget that we may be working on a dozen or more projects at a time. This can’t faze you, it just means you will have to be your own customer service representative along with every other hat you must wear as a designer.

Is this all more work? Yes.

However, we can all agree that a great client means a successful project and pride both on their end and ours. I believe it is worth the extra effort to make the process more enjoyable, more often.

We’ve all been there as young designers. Sitting on our parent’s computer, playing with the latest edition of Photoshop Elements trying to figure out how these design rockstars create those amazing websites we find on Most Inspired and The FWA. But what does it take to become a design rockstar? Where do you start?

We all envy the best, its the competitive nature that is preprogrammed into our brains that gives us that desire for something more. Unfortunately for all but a select few there is a long road ahead before people will be envying your work, though not impossible. As a young kid at a computer I spent hours playing with a copy of Photoshop 3 and Microsoft Frontpage. I thought it was incredible that something I make can be seen around the world and I wanted it to look the best I could make it.

1 – Don’t be Afraid to be Yourself

There are more designers out there than you could imagine. The first part of learning to develop not only your design skills but your name in the field is to be yourself and let that reflect in your work and reputation. The nice thing about the design industry is that we are never expected to show up to the office in a suit and tie and push paper all day. We’re creatives, we’re weird! Almost every design department I’ve set foot in has people that wear over colorful clashing clothes, have tattoos, wear shorts and those old school Converse shoes, etc. Keep in mind that being yourself and being professional are two very different things usually. When it comes to designing for clients its OK to have a personality, but being responsible with projects is where the bottom line is drawn.

2 – Learn the Industry

The world of design is a strange and quirky place. Clients don’t understand what we do, money is tight, and the competition for projects is vast. Before starting to approach any kind of organization about a project you’re going to need some experience with the production process, client relationships, and how those clients think. There are plenty of places on the internet to get an idea of how projects are typically handled, even by freelancers. Don’t worry about pricing yet, but develop guidelines for yourself to follow when starting a new piece. (Try A List Apart)

Another good resource to learn from is the very people that work in the design world. Find out who the leading design firms are in your area, look up who their Art Director or Senior Designers are and call them. Be extremely polite and understanding of their time, explain who you are what you want to do, and ask if they would be willing to meet with you at their convenience to answer a few questions and critique your portfolio. Most designers will be more than willing to help out!

3 – Learn the Difference Between “For Fun” Work and “Pro” Work

There is a huge difference between what you might find most enjoyable to design and what potential clients are looking for. Not to say that designing professionally isn’t fun, its just well…different. Clients are in business for a reason, and they need a website designed to sell that reason to their customers. As cool as the Firey Text effect you accomplished after school might be, your local bed and breakfast will have little interest in such an ability. When thinking of businesses and organizations that you could possibly approach, do some research on similar businesses. Find out what works for them and how you can accommodate those requirements. When a client hires a designer, it is crucial to remember that we are working for their success not ours.

4 – Do Charity Work

This is honestly one of the best ways to learn and gain real world experience without asking a client to gamble on you. Every community in the world has small grassroots charity organizations that will be glad to take on volunteers to improve their image both in print and on the web. You might end up designing fliers, small websites, brochures, etc for free but you will learn to work with real world clients and projects for your portfolio. The most important part of doing these pro-bono projects is to treat them as if they are your big break into the industry because they very well could be! Charity organizations are usually tied to local businesses that sponsor their efforts, if you make them happy the word will spread quickly!

5 – Stay Humble and Know Your Abilities

The latest edition of he GAG’s Pricing and Ethical Guidelines might say that a small eight page website is worth thousands of dollars but you’re not quite there yet. To be able to reach such levels is a long road and a hill you’re going to have to climb. There is nothing wrong with that however! As a young designer starting out you have a huge advantage to those larger firms and older freelancers, a major lack of overhead. They have to worry about payroll, rent, insurance, equipment, software licenses, utilities, etc and need to adjust their project pricing accordingly. Without all those responsibilities you can work just as efficiently for a much lower price. When talking to a potential client, there is nothing wrong with asking for their budget on the project.

In addition to the price you can work for starting out, you need to know your abilities. A freelance designer wears many hats, so you need to prioritize which you wear best. My suggestion for a beginning web designer would be to stick to basic static sites or skinning simple Content Management Systems. This will keep your code work minimal and your time management more efficient. Many possible clients will ask you to design the next YouTube (I’ve personally had this request) and even though you might be able to find a script online that lays out the framework for you, it is very likely that you will paint yourself into a corner halfway through the project where you might be in over your head. Situations like this can quickly hinder your growing reputation.

6 – Show Off Your Stuff

When I first started looking for clients I designed fake websites and print projects that showed a variety of styles, layouts, and applications. I took these fake designs along with any charity work and showcased them on a simple website, as well as printed them out and organized them in a binder. This not only gave me something tangible to back up my claims as a freelancer but I also had something I could show prospective clients as examples of what I could do for them. I literally went door to door asking for business owners and managers to see if there was any interest in a service that I could provide. Being young many thought it was impressive. With out any pressure on them to start working right away I would thank them for their time, ask them to keep me in mind and leave them with a business card. It worked better than you might expect!

7 – Network! Network! Network!

This is just a general necessity in business but for good reason, it just plain works. After you have gotten your feet wet with a small variety of projects and feel ready to start talking to paying clients you need to get your name out there. Hopefully after successfully completing some charity projects they were happy enough working with you to talk about you to their friends and sponsors. Don’t be afraid to ask the heads of these organizations of they know of any sponsors or local businesses that might be interested in talking to you about your services. Have clean and well designed business cards ready!

Also there are tons of local business networks, both free and paid memberships that you might want to join. Don’t be afraid to approach business owners and just explain what you do, you never know who will be interested in throwing some small projects your way. After all, you’re a young kid that can provide a legitimate service to any small business; how cool is that!?