marketing by design

Presents
Website Revival Kit eBook

2009

3859 Centerview Drive, Chantilly, VA 20151 (800) 308-8573 www.imageworksstudio.com 1

 marketing by design

Welcome...
to the ImageWorks Studio Website Revival Kit eBook. This eBook is designed to
provide you with helpful information on how to effectively market your organization, both
on-line and off-line.

ImageWorks Studio views the goal of your marketing website is to be a catalyst for driv-
ing the growth of your business. Inside well look at some steps you can take to make your
site more action oriented, which leads to higher conversion and ultimately more revenues
for your business.

3859 Centerview Drive, Chantilly, VA 20151 (800) 308-8573 www.imageworksstudio.com 2

 marketing by design

Contents
About ImageWorks 4

Our Web Development Process 5

Does a Website increase your chances of winning new business? 6

Does your brand image build value and trust? 7

The Cost of a Professionally Designed & Marketed Website 8

OK, OK, I get it! So what does a custom website design cost? 11

User Trust & Creditability 12

How long do I have to capture my visitors attention? 12

7 Elements of Highly Effective Web Design & Conversion Techniques 13

Should I go it alone? 16

What Should a Professional Web Design & Branding Firm Do For You? 17

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 marketing by design

About ImageWorks
ImageWorks differentiates itself from traditional ad agencies, web design companies, and
graphic design rms through our marketing rst focus. We is infused this principle with
our custom website designs, custom blogs, email campaigns, sales kits, custom logos and
throughout our entire brand rejuvenation process.

We were founded in 1995 by entrepreneur and marketing enthusiast Scott C. Margenau.

It was Scotts vision to create a company that provides highly effective marketing strate-
gies and creative services to ll the void between the mega ad agencies (mostly focused
on Fortune 100 companies and Retail) and small graphic & web design rms with limited
knowledge and experience in result-oriented marketing and branding strategies.

Today, ImageWorks uses in-house creative and technical talent as well as hand-picked
vendors to offer full-service marketing and branding services to small, medium and large
enterprises, as well as government agencies and non-prot organizations.

Our design and marketing services include:

Brand development/rebranding Graphic design, illustrations and 3-D modeling

Marketing and sales strategies
Web design and development
Online marketing
Persuasive copywriting
Interactive presentations
Logos and corporate identity
Exhibit design, hardware and management
Advertising campaigns
Direct mail campaigns
PR

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 marketing by design

Our Web Development Process

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 marketing by design

Does a Website increase your chances of winning new business?

Yes!
Your website impacts both your brand image and your bottom line.

Here is the fundamental question that we as business owners and marketers ask ourselves,
does it really matter? After all a website isnt really a tangible demonstration of your orga-
nization. Your clients dont go and open the doors to your website for a walk inside. They
dont interact with the cashier or speak with an expert. So does it matter?!

Yes. Heres why. Your website does something no physical location can do; it travels to your
customer. In todays marketplace consumers almost unequivocally visit your site rst to
learn more about you, before they pick up the phone and call, or get in their car and drive.
And heres the important part:

75% of users admit to making judgments about a companys creditability based on that
companys website design.
53% of consumers use it to research products and prices.
72% of consumers are more likely to shop with a business with a website versus one
that does not. Reason: easier interaction***

Well Im a B2B. A website isnt nearly as important to my business

83% of businesses use the Internet to research and nd potential vendors*

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 marketing by design

Does your brand image build value and trust?

It should!

As you can see on this chart the factors that most signicantly impact the perception of your
credibility are the look and feel of your site. The more professional in appearance - the more
credibility it haswhile the more amateurish it appears - the less credible it appears.

This feeling of professionalism is even more important than trustworthiness and exper-
tise. What this graph says is simple. It doesnt know matter how much you know or how
good you are at doing it - if your site looks like a rookie built it; you arent going to be taken
seriously.

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 marketing by design

The Cost of a Professionally Designed & Marketed Website

Like most things in life, good things dont come cheap. It isnt cheap to own and operate a
top branding and design rm, trust me. What it does take is the same thing a great website
needs - creativity, technical know-how, marketing skill, and a signicant investment in talent,
ongoing education, and infrastructure. Thats how you build an industry-leading Web site.

Step 1: Your website design cost starts by establishing a realistic marketing budget.

Your marketing budget, depending on your industry, should be between 3% and 12% of
GROSS sales. That means a $1 million company should set a budget between $30,000 to
$120,000 (depending on industry) to build and market a brand.

Building your brand should be factored in as part of your start-up costs. The web-based
brand building alone , without any advanced application development.generally runs
between $30,000 to $75,000 for key components such as logo, collateral, custom web site,
presentations, blog, email campaigns, SEO, basic PR, etc.

Here is a good article that gives more details on how to set an effective marketing budget:
http://www.imageworksstudio.com/client-lounge/articles-tips/setting-a-marketing-advertising-
budget.html.

You can nd detailed website design costs and marketing budgets in publications by orga-
nizations such as SCORE and the USSBA. These benchmarks are based on real statistics
and actual business case studies. Venture capitalists use these benchmarks, and they are
the reason why VCs often require a reasonable marketing budget. Start with a realistic
overall marketing budget, and youll be ready for the next step.

Step 2: Building a brand and determining Web design cost for your Industry:

Budget for the full scope..Your Web site is not a stand-alone marketing tool. It is, in many
cases, a prospects rst interaction with your brand. It is also the place visitors go to form
and validate an opinion about your company - before they decide to take the next step. It
is the most important element of your brand image and sets the pace of your conversion
process.

There are many necessary steps to building a highly effective web site. Just getting to the
design phase requires an in-depth marketing discovery and strategic web marketing plan.
To build a site without this plan is like building a house without a blueprint its going to fall
apart.

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 marketing by design

Here are a few of the basics that need to discuss with a marketing professionals. You
should try this with talent from outside of your internal team to add perspective.

Your marketing goals and objectives measurable, specic, and realistic. (If we dont
know where were going, how will we know if weve arrived?)
Your value proposition from the customers perspective and how best to reect that value
proposition in the Web site strategy.
The step-by-step conversion process from entry to conversion and everything in be-
tween. Consider the four major personality types and their varied buying processes.
5 Forces & SWOT analysis: how the strengths and weaknesses of your company, com-
bined with the opportunities and threats, affect your Web site strategy.
The current AND desired position of your brand in relation to your competitors, and how
that affects your Web site design strategy.
An analysis of what your competitors are doing and how you can outperform them.
A clear assessment of the benets conferred by your products and services. Features are
cool, but people buy benets.
Your value proposition why should people buy what youre selling?
Calls to action how will you get prospects to act and what actions do you want them to
take?

Ah, now youre ready to start designing something almost.

Step 3: Understand the full scope of your true needs.

To be successful, your Web site will need to include some of the following components and
media. To build a site without them is like going game hunting with a pocket knife: its just
not smart.

Components and media needed for an effective online brand and to help determine a realis-
tic website design cost:

A branding blueprint (marketing strategy as outlined in Step 2).

A Web outline that fully integrates all navigation and makes it completely user-centric.
Visual direction and messaging aligned with your marketing objectives.
The physical design of your Web site home page based on agreed-upon visual direction
and messaging.
Physical design of an interactive subpage template that will inform your visitors and
guide them through your site while maintaining brand identity.
Professional copywriting or content optimization (yes, you do need it) that allows pros-
pects to scan information that will pique their interest and drive them toward your calls to
action.

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 marketing by design

Flash animation to stimulate interest and communicate key points without crowding the
page.
Custom-designed blog. This is critical: Its todays free PR machine and a SEO staple.
E-mail template design that matches your new online brand. This is the best ROI in mar-
keting a must-have!
Online downloadable PDF brochure, something your prospects can forward to a deci-
sion maker or read on the Metro, with easily digestible information. Yum!
Online forms why make it difcult for someone to contact you? Interactive forms make
inquiries a breeze and data capture automatic.
Internal search engine. Forrester Research says that users abandon sites when they
cant easily nd what they are looking for. This was a top abandonment complaint in
2007. A Web site search tool enables users to quickly nd the information they want,
without hassle.
Search Engine Optimization Your Web site should be designed in a way that is search-
engine friendly. By thinking ahead, youll have a site that is well-positioned for SEO
results.
RSS Feeds Theres no easier way to provide your visitors with fresh content than
through RSS feeds not to mention the SEO value!

And the list goes on

Since most of the above items cost $1,000 to $5,000 or more each, you can quickly see that
building a highly successful online brand and custom Web site is going to take a serious
investment. Yet, a Web site that is built correctly will grow revenues and awareness of your
brand more than you can imagine.

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 marketing by design

OK, OK, I get it! So what does a custom website design cost?
The web design cost should easily t into the budget guidelines mentioned above. The big-
ger your company, the more you should invest in your online brand and the more features
and functionality you can afford to enhance your online presence. If you invest the way a
$5 million company does and youre a $45 million company, youre going to fall behind your
competition and fail to impress your customers.

Madison Avenue and other high-prole agencies will charge mid-six gures and more to
build an online brand. On the other hand, you could hire a freelancer or a small Web design
team to build something for less than $3,000. But that would be more likely to hurt than
help. Putting the right assets in place to build an effective brand is costly, but the rewards
are substantial and ongoing.

Our (ImageWorks Studios) web design cost as of 2009 runs $5,000 - $7,500 (xed, so no
surprises!) for all graphic design, treatments, effects, advanced menu design, visual direc-
tion and messaging, sub page design and the design of interactive areas (for converting
prospects).

We put A LOT of time and thought into our creative direction and designsthey are de-
signed to attract customers and persuade them to interact. Additionally, when combined
with the right content and interactive features you can make such an impact on your cus-
tomers that they may already be sold before the even contact you!

Our web development cost (separate from web design cost) includes implementing your
new site design into a leading CMS (Content Management System) that has many custom
features that will help with online marketing and site management. This cost ranges from
$5,000 and up pending the size and functionality of your site.

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 marketing by design

User Trust & Creditability

Why is creditability so important?

Well there are some obvious answers to this

one, but whats the one that means the most
to your organization. Its the difference in
nding or losing an opportunity.

What does that mean?

Higher Credibility = Better Conversion - Better Conversion = More Revenues

Higher Credibility = More Revenues

Heres the stat that should keep you up at night:

Web sales are lost due to the websites failure to build trust and credibility with the
visitor46% of the time

How long do I have to capture my visitors attention?

7 seconds.Yes youre reading that right. In 7 short seconds your visitors will make a deci-
sion about your website. In that 7 seconds they will:

Evaluate your visual design

Scan the homepage for the information they are looking for
Look for your value proposition and decide if it ts their need

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 marketing by design

7 Elements of Highly Effective Web Design & Conversion

Techniques
1) Create a Powerful Homepage Message.

Your homepage message should be a targeted, benet-oriented statement that outlines

what you can do for the potential customer. In order to properly draft an intriguing homep-
age message, you will need to identify the inherent benet to your potential customer base.

No one wants to hear that you are the best; customers want to hear why your product/ser-
vice is different and what it means to them. Put more simply, customers are asking, What
can you do for me? Answer them.

2) Focus on Clarity.

These days, with so many people searching online for products and services, your homep-
age should clearly identify who you are, what you offer, your core competitive benets, and
your supporting textall in a clean and easy-to-navigate user interface. Use graphics and
pictures to help illustrate what service or product you provide, and how these benet the
customer.

However, the homepage should be a no-uff zone. A good rule of thumb for the homepage
is less is more. Make it easy for the user to understand what you do. Too much verbiage,
images, and graphics will only confuse the user. White space is good. Clutter, bad!

3) Make Effective Use of Secondary Messaging.

After you have presented your homepage message, you will need to incorporate secondary
messaging on the homepage. This includes any additional messages that will be used to
help clarify and drive home the points made in the primary message.

Secondary messaging should also entice the user to take certain stepsthat is, it should be
a call to action. These calls to action could direct the user to e-mail the company for additional
information, phone the sales rep, download a white paper, read a recent success story, etc. A
good marketer will know how to choose a penetrating secondary message.

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 marketing by design

4) Integrate Imagery and/or Flash to Emphasize Your Core Message.

Imagery and ash animation are important parts of your homepage. To help illustrate your
companys core competitive benets, both strategies help customers visualize how you can
meet their needs and requirements. Most people are visually oriented, so your imagery/
ash will quickly convey and emphasize your message.

Be consistent with what you are telling your potential prospects. Align your messaging with
your visual strategies. Images and ash are also great ways to eliminate clutter; by adding a
visual component to your website, you are alleviating the need for additional reference text.

5) Drive Toward a Specic Call to Action.

You have already heard a little bit about calls to action, but it is such an important strategy
that we have also dedicated a specic section to it. Failure to convert online potential cus-
tomers into sales leads is mostly attributable to homepages that lack primary and secondary
calls to action.

A call to action can be as simple as a link that states, Contact us for more information or
Tell us more about your needs and we will schedule a conference call. Statistics have
proven that if you can guide web users along your sales process, you will convert more of
them into customers.

6) Know Your Audience, and Know the Audience Within Your Audience.

OK, so maybe you dont know who Carl Jung is, but chances are, you either have taken or
soon will take a Myers-Briggs personality test. Most people can clearly state whether they
are an introvert or an extrovert; your website should cater to these and other personality
types. Develop your website not only for an audience that requires what you can provide,
but also for disparate personalities within that audience.

Some people prefer to pick up the phone to nd out more information about your products
or services. Some may prefer to e-mail you instead. Others may want to schedule a meet-
ing. Your website should cater to as many of these personality types as possible, or else
you will lose conversions. Make it easy for the web user to contact you . . . using whatever
method they choose.

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 marketing by design

7) Make Your Homepage Easy to Navigate.

You must lay out your website with easy-to-navigate options and buttons. If you are a ser-
vice-based company, then put an XYZ . . . Services tab on the top navigation bar. If you
sell more than one service, then enable a pull-down menu showing options for your custom-
ers. Allow them to select the page that they want to researchwithout having to click rst to
nd out more (a big no-no!).

Another strategy is to use sidebars to help users navigate as they read your content. You
will also need to ensure that your homepage uses an interlinking strategy, so that if web
users hit the wrong button, they can easily get back on track and nd the information they
seek.

The Bottom Line

Make it easy for a prospect to nd out more about your products and/or services. Create
a homepage that takes the guesswork out of it by guiding web users through the process,
from understanding the message to taking action. Statistics have shown that the more clicks
it takes for potential customers to nd what they seek, the higher the rate at which they will
abandon the website.

These guidelines will not only create a more satisfactory website experience for the end
user, but will also convert some of that scrolling web trafc into genuine sales leads. And as
we all know, the more sales leads, the more $$$. Give your website the much-needed at-
tention it deserves. Your website should be your companys most effective

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 marketing by design

Should I go it alone?
The decision to go it alone or not is really a decision that only you can make. There are ele-
ments that you should take into consideration before making that decision however.

#3: Lack of expertise within your company

Dont invest valuable time and money in building a website on your own without the skills
and expertise to do it right. An amateur site is a DEAD END for your business.

#2: Myopia

You view your website differently than your customers do. An outside, impartial, and expert
viewpoint may uncover something crucial in terms of design and usability.

#1: Cutting Quality Means Cutting REVENUE

Your website is the prime conversion tool for all your products and services. The more you
invest in your website, the more return youll reap from.

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 marketing by design

What Should a Professional Web Design & Branding Firm

Do For You?
Work with you to determine business goals and decrease the amount of time it takes to
reach your online business goals

Show you what works and doesnt work online in your specic industry which goes
beyond just visual design.

Build your online brand with a marketing rst focus, increasing awareness, raising inter-
est and growing revenue.

Lastly
Thank you for downloading our eBook. We hope that you nd the information helpful as you
go forward with your marketing and web initiatives. Please call or email us with any ques-
tions. We love what we do and we love to share what we know.

Scott Margenau
Founder
ImageWorks Studio
scott@imageworksstudio.com
(800) 308-8537 x102

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