Importance of Web Design & Marketing for Small Startup Businesses

On Friday I had the awesome opportunity of entering Barnes & Thornburg LLP in Downtown Indianapolis to attend TechPoint’s series “New Economy New Rules” with a talk titled “The New Entrepreneurs: Creating & Building Technology Companies Today.” The format of the event was a panel discussion by three presenters who each had 20 minutes to talk about their new startup. The three compnaies were MyFarms LLC, StatRaptor, and Remember.com.

Something I learned about presentation was simplicity. Keeping ideas that are clean, well communicated, and succinct have the most impact. How well a startup company brands and markets itself has a direct impact on its potential success.

Clean

Design must be clean. This doesn’t necessarily mean bare, but clean. Eyes follow a layout easier when it is clean and well put together. Placing calls to action in appropriate places and content that suggests action is just as important. Matt Gordon’s presentation was extremely simple. It consisted of very small phrases and pictures that represented his ideas. One of the reasons Apple appeals to so many people is greatly due to the sleek design. Web design should be the same.

Well-Communicated

When information becomes complex, it is especially important to communicate clearly. Using appropriate phrasing and wording to explain an idea is half the battle, yet a very important aspect. Designing that content to display your communication is just as important. A very good example applies to marketing, especially Email Marketing. Something I learned very quickly the other day about sending out an email is spacing and wording. No one wants to read a bunch of text without any images. Cleaning up content, perhaps

• using
• bullet
• points

can emphasize key topics. A picture speaks a thousand words, so if introducing images is effective, then do it!

Succinct

No one likes to listen to someone talk forever about themselves. Engage the user, give them what they want, get what you want from them, and then leave them alone. This is very important if you are going to run a Search Engine Marketing campaign. When someone searches, they have a very small attention span and will continuously search until they find an answer. Applying the same concept to web design is very important. Web sites can have many uses and functions to individuals, companies, and communities. But being succinct when possible and linking to longer content can be very effective. KISS, or Keep It Simple Stupid, is a principle that is a good idea to follow.

So…

The characteristics of clean, well-communicated, and succinct can apply to many areas of life. Applying them to web design and marketing for a small start up is one of the smartest directions one could take.