Branding With The Favicon

I get a wide variety of news letters. Many contain links to articles posted on other sites. It was one of these links that sent me to an article on CiO Zone.

The site defines itself as a social networking site for IT professionals. As the page finished loading - even before I read the article this -> <- caught my eye. It is the Joomla favicon. Instantly the site lost all credibility. A site that claims to be for IT professionals does not tell potential hackers what content management system it is using.

The favicon is displayed in the address bar on all browsers and in the tabs on browsers that support tabbed browsing. It identifies who you are and is associated with your brand.

Your favicon should be unique and, if possible, reflect your business name, product or service. It acts as a visual link between the page being displayed and your brand.

While small in size, only 16x16 pixels, the favicon is one of the many small things you can do to brand your site.

See my article on online branding for more information.

Target Display Advertising

There is a general trend to more targeted online marketing. This is something we have said all along. Particularly for display ads - which tend to be the most expensive form of online advertising.

As a small business owner with a limited marketing budget, you should use display ads sparingly. Display ads work best when they are shown to a highly targeted market. General interest websites and web portals are not the place for your display ads.

Focus on both the ad and the target market. Define your target market, create an ad that targets that market and then select a site that targets that market.

The chances of finding a niche site that caters to the product you are marketing are very good. Increasingly, there are sites and blogs on just about every topic you can imagine.

Check the site out before you put your ad on the site. And, initially do a short run to judge the effectiveness of the ad.

While getting good organic search results are still the best place to put you online marketing dollars, targeted display ads can be effective.

You Get What You Need

Mick Jagger studied at the London School of Economics. Which probably explains why he still owns the right to his songs. And is one of the biggest players in the music industry.

Of course that doesn't explain why I turn to the 'Stones' when ever I need some to do solve a particularly irksome problem. There is something about the music and the lyrics that lets my mind play 'connect-the-dots'.

One of the reoccurring problems every web developer faces is the customer who wants to tell you how their site should be built.

We all want client input. They pay the bills after all. But, when the client moves from giving input to taking on the design role the poor web developer is in a bind. They can give the client what they want and be blamed when the site looks like cr.. Or, they can risk losing the contract and give the client what they need.

I have a proposal to get ready for a potential client. The client wants the site to be similar to their competitor's. The competitor's sites a very elegant with lots of eye candy. Their marketing is focused on the lifestyle and experience that come with the product.

The client has a more practical version of the product. Useful and utilitarian. Their potential customers want product information.

Do I give the client what they want - or do I try and convince them we have a better idea.

Which is of course where Jagger comes in:

You can't always get what you want
But if you try sometimes you just might find
You just might find
You get what you need, ah yes...

Ah Yes . . .