How to Create an Effective Site Map for Your Web Site

As I struggle through a 527 line Excel spreadsheet that I need to coerce into a coherent site map, I decided to write up some of my thoughts on developing an effective site outline for a Web site.

In no particular order:

1. The home page doesn't get any sub-navigation. Don't ask me why, it just does. Move along, nothing to see here.
2. A site map's purpose is to tell you where pages exist within the structure of a Web site.
3. A site map's purpose isn't to list every element of each page, especially repeating items like "search box" or "email signup box." That goes somewhere else, like in an Information Architecture document or a checklist of "things it would suck to forget."
4. A place for everything and everything in its place. Think of the site map as a tree. If you have a page that doesn't connect to the rest of the site what you've got is a dead branch. The only pages you don't need in a site map is Not Found and Thank You (landing page for contact forms.)
5. "About" should be one of the last items, not right after "Home." Web sites for individuals may be the only exception to this rule, and even then not very often.
6. If you've got to the 5th level of navigation, you've gone too far. Carol Anne - listen to me. Do NOT go into the light. Stop where you are. Turn away from it. Don't even look at it.
7. Every line in the site map = one Web page. If you've got a Resources section that includes Links and FAQs, you still need content for the Resources overview page.

Any other suggestions?

Rich Brooks
Site Maps for Dummies

The 11 Biggest Mistakes Small Business Bloggers Make - Revised!

Back in 2005 I wrote an article called the 11 Biggest Mistakes Small Business Bloggers Make.

It was based on nearly a dozen mistakes I had made as I jumped into the blogosphere with both feet, and I hoped I could save others from repeating my mistakes.

The article was a big success, and I found myself written up in the Wall St. Journal, interviewed on Larry King and hosting Saturday Night Live.*

Recently, as I prepare for a couple of speaking gigs at BlogWorld, I reviewed the article for the first time in a while. Although a lot of the material was evergreen, other things had grown old and stale. So I sat down and revamped the article with all the new information that I've learned over the past few years.

So what is the new material? What are the 11 biggest mistakes that you, the small business blogger makes? Download the free article and find out! (Email registration required.)

Rich Brooks
Small Business Blogging Expert

*None of these claims have been substantiated so far.

Getting More Out of Twitter

Lately I've become slightly addicted to Twitter, a microblogging tool that gives you 140 characters in which to update your status, send a message, network with like-minded people, post a link, or pontificate. (For more on using Twitter for business, check out How to Use Twitter for Business.)

I had been on Twitter for a while but found it pretty static. I'd be at Twitter.com and see 20 or so of the latest "tweets" from me and the people I follow. I might respond to one, and every once in a while I'd hit refresh, but it just wasn't very engaging.

If this is how you view Twitter as well, and feel like you're missing out on the party, I'd recommend downloading one of the other Twitter clients. My personal desktop favorite is twhirl, although others use Twitterfeed, Twitterific, or Tweetdeck.  Each has unique features, but all basically let you use Twitter outside of Twitter.com.

Twhirl is a desktop application (outside a Web browser) that pings the Twitter servers every few minutes, returning new posts. I've configured it so that it alerts me with an alert if any of the tweets are to @the_rich_brooks (my handle) either as replies or direct (private) messages.

In this way I can have Twitter running in the background (so I can ignore it and get some work done), but I still don't miss any important messages.

Yes, it's true! Some people use Twitter to communicate with me. In fact, now that I only check emails a couple/few times a day, Twitter and Skype are often the best ways to get my immediate attention. (Shoot. Maybe I should have kept this secret.)

In any case, I recommend setting up a Twitter account and downloading one of the clients for your desktop (and for your iPhone or other mobile device) and trying it out. It turns a very static Web page into an interactive experience.

Rich Brooks
Twitterholic

SEO Metrics: Are You Measuring the Wrong Things?

Have you been measuring all the wrong things when it comes to your SEO (search engine optimization?)

Stephan Spencer has a great article over at MarketingProfs called The Latest SEO Trends and Metrics: What's Hot, What's Not.

He talks about metrics like "Brand-to-Non-Brand Ratio" and "Keyword Yield" that may prove to be more indicative of the health of your search engine marketing plan than PageRank or other "tried and true" metrics.

One thing I'd like to see in a follow up article is some tips and ideas on how to improve a Web site's standings in these metrics; I mean, if my Visitors per Keyword is low, what--if anything--should I do? If the old metrics are out-of-style, does that mean that our tactics need to be thrown out as well?

Rich Brooks
Maine SEO

Beware, Austin, Texas! Canadian Invasion Imminent.

Today we say so long and good luck to Jonathan Braden, who has been working with our clients, maintaining their sites and pressuring everyone at flyte to use more Google apps since he arrived about 22 months ago.

Jonathan has always been a person with huge ideas, so it only makes sense that he would relocate to Texas...Austin specifically.

It's hard to believe that when Jonathan came to us he wasn't a Mac guy, as these days he'll beat up people on the street with Windows laptops. Good times, good times...

In any case, we plan to continue to working with Jonathan through the power of Skype as he designs and develops sites outside on a laptop under the wi-fi cloud that the forward-thinking people of Austin have established. (Come on, Portland, Maine! Get with the program.)

Jonathan, I and the rest of the flyte crew wish you the best! Skype you soon!

Rich Brooks
Maine and Texas Web Design

Learn Internet Marketing in Maine This Fall

For those living in or near southern Maine who are looking to learn more about using Internet Marketing to grow your business, you may be in luck.

I'll be teaching a 4 class course on Web Marketing for Entrepreneurs and Small Business at the University of Southern Maine. I've taught this course a few times before, and it continues to evolve. This time around there will be more time given to social media and how you can use it to leverage your brand and connect with prospects and customers. We'll look at YouTube, Flickr, Facebook, Twitter, MySpace and more.

As in the past, we'll also spend time on what I consider the building blocks of Web marketing:

• Search Engine Optimization: how to improve your search engine visibility through keyword rich content and incoming links.
• Business Blogs: how a blog can increase visibility, improve rankings, and establish you as an expert.
• Email Marketing: how to build a subscriber base in a world that has too many ezines already.

And we'll look at traffic reports (analytics), podcasting, and building a Web site that converts prospects into customers.

Dates & Times: 4 Mondays, November  10-December  1, 6-8 p.m.        

Cost: $205 (8 contact hours/ 0.8 CEUs)        
Place: Abromson Center, 88 Bedford Street, USM Portland campus (directions)

Register Now!

Rich Brooks
Small Business Web Marketing Expert

Google Analytics for Beginners: How to Make the Most of Your Traffic Reports

When flyte launches a Web site for a client we usually configure a copy of Google Analytics so that the client can get accurate reports on how his or her site is performing.

However, as friendly as Google Analytics (GA) seems to us, some of our clients feel overwhelmed by the sheer amount of information and reports it generates, or just don't know how to get started with it.

To help solve this problem this month's flyte log is entitled The Beginner's Guide to Google Analytics. It reviews the dashboard, looks at a few of the most important reports, and has click-em-and-they-grow screen captures of each report we discuss. If you have Google Analytics installed--or even if you don't...yet--this is a great place to start learning about all the tools GA can offer you.

To avoid missing any future issues of flyte log and to stay a step ahead of the competition, go ahead and subscribe now!

Rich Brooks
Google Analytics for Small Business

How to Get a Small Business Web Site for Nearly Nothing

In today's Small Business section of the Wall Street Journal is an article called Creating a Successful Site for Almost Nothing by Vauhini Vara. (Link will expire soon for non-subscribers, so click now!) And unlike a lot of similar-themed articles for mainstream media, this one is pretty well researched and written. If you've never had a Web site before, following the instructions in this article is a great start.

You'd think this would make me nervous, being a Web designer and all. I mean, look no further than travel agents to see a job title that's been almost erased by free tools on the Internet. Do free and nearly free Web sites mean the end for your local Web designer?

Ummm...no. Although many travel agents closed their doors after Expedia and Travelocity became popular, others chose the value-added route and became wildly successful. Like any service professional, the best will focus on services that can't be automated or outsourced abroad.

Business owners who are looking for free and nearly free Web sites aren't my target audience. Cheap is not the same as valuable; in fact, the two are usually diametrically opposed. As the article states,

[The hosting companies that offer free hosting] often make money by charging for premium services or running ads on your Web pages.

I mean, what business would have free ads on their Web site? Probably the same ones who hand out business cards that say "Learn how you can get your 50 free business cards by calling..." It doesn't reek of professionalism.

Now, when I started out I designed my own business cards and printed (yes, printed) my monthly newsletter on my dad's printer/copier to save money. I remember the startup days. But if you're a serious business, you shouldn't be trying to create a free Web site, you should be trying to build an effective Web plan that includes search engine optimization, email marketing, blogging and maybe even a social media strategy.

Rich Brooks
Small Business Web Sites and Internet Marketing

The Art of Perception

How I see myself:

How others see me:

Rich Brooks
Am I Really That Gray?

Lessons from Vacation

We just got back from a week's vacation here in Maine and didn't see a truly sunny today until today, at which point we had until 10am to clean the house and checkout.

Luckily because of last-minute planning, the only available pickup all week on our boat rental was mid-afternoon today. Got about five prime hours on the pontoon with the family floating in the sun-dappled lake, walking on sandbars, watching the loons dive for lunch, and throwing back a couple of tall PBRs. Amazing how a strong finish can change the entire experience.

Here's a few other plusses to the week:

1. Saved a lot of money on bug spray and suntan lotion.
2. Greatly improved my jigsaw puzzle skills. At this point they're now skillz.
3. Didn't spend nearly as much on gas for the boat as I thought I would.
4. Finally saw "Step Up". Now will add "Step Up 2: The Streets" and "Step Up 3: Son of the Streets" to my Netflix queue.
5. Schooled my four- and six-year-olds in Guess Who? and Littlest Pet Shop Game.

Rich Brooks
Wrinkled