I’d been pondering lately how hard it can be to describe what online marketers and web site designers and developers do for a living. Ask 10 of us what we do and you’ll get 10 different answers. It gets even more complicated if you run into someone who is cross trained or specializes in combinations of skills from the marketing and user centered design camps. Way complicated.

What came tumbling out under pressure last week is Why Blending Usability & SEO Really Matters. At my last check, it had been Tweeted 716 times. I think that’s a record for anything I’ve written for SEL. Or anywhere.

The comments and social signals indicate the article has been making rounds. There is much more acceptance of holistic SEO and UX practices today than ever. It’s been my lead topic of writing for 15 years and basis for all of my work. While I continue to see and experience evidence of severe ignorance by companies about making the user experience vital, I’m encouraged that the movement to unite SEO and UX is not only out there, but kicking ass.

We all benefit from this.

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What if you have the chance to build your own house? You’ll hire an architect who listens to your goals, likes, dislikes and dreams. From that a plan is established. From the first shovel of dirt to the last drop of paint, it’s built with you in mind. You’re the mental model. You’re the person or family who will be using the final product.

Pretend, for a moment, that you are The Creator. You want a tree. Where do you put it? What kind should it be? Who is it for? What does it do? If you want birds to use it, what might they need from the tree?

Underneath a tree is its information architecture. We don’t see it working in the background, but it’s there. It controls how the tree grows. It relies on input from above ground for its sustenance, such as water or interference from a close neighbor tree that makes it harder to find. This is “findability”. Our tree wants to be found by its “users” such as the birds who need it for their nests or a hot and thirsty human who needs its shade. The Creator knew in advance that this tree would be popular. It was designed to be talked about. With some pruning of branches, good soil or perhaps a tire swing for a visiting grandchild, it could certainly be talked about and referred to by others who found and love the tree. With enough social networking and marketing, the entire planet could be populated with trees.

Information Architecture is Your Canvas

My favorite artist likes to work on blank white 8 x 6 feet canvas and larger. When he performs live art with music for an audience, he enters a zone where he is the creator. From the outside, the paint splashes and brush strokes look chaotic. It’s only when you stand a few feet away when its finished that you see he’s painted a street in New York’s Times Square, by memory. People feel drawn inside the canvas. They often feel emotional. Sometimes the details he has added, that weren’t obvious at first, trigger a memory or a moment, similar to how we might feel when a certain song comes on the radio.

Can you imagine building an online store where visitors arrive and are emotionally moved to make a purchase? We’re not there yet. Sometimes in the effort to provoke feelings, a site will rely on videos, rotating images and artistic Flash presentations designed to lure you into the web site. Despite how fun this is to build and watch, the distraction, download time, and typically strange navigation make completing a task frustrating. Information architecture covers many areas.

For persons looking for how it used for search engine optimization or user experience design, the emphasis is on organizing information so that tasks can be performed, pages are easy to find and index and will appear at the top of search results.

This is a tall order and absolutely not easy. I have notepads on my desk of sketches where I try and work out the entire foundation of a web site and organize it for navigation, searchability and easy task completion. Every element I put on the page, from a link label, to an image, to where a navigation link makes the most sense is attached to a round of questions in my head.  Who is the site for? What are the products and what is the best way to organize and present them for people and search engines? Do I need hubs or groups and if so, how do I connect them to other levels? Where do I put the lead task, once I understand what that is. It’s goes on and on…

You can spot a web site that has not had a proper information architecture prepared for it. The homepage shows everything at once. It’s crammed with products, ads, redundant navigation (based on the fear principle that says, “If they didn’t find this earlier on the page, here it is again and again.”), no breadcrumbs on inside pages and overall feeling you get while looking at it is sheer exhaustion.

This may be a factor in the increase of persons seeking expert help with blog setup and design. Much of the foundation is already finished.

Fear Not – IA Help Is Here

There has been a spike in interest, so the following are our recent writings for you to choose from:
When Good SEO Becomes Bad Information Architecture by Shari Thurow

Site Navigation & Information Architecture Fundamentals For SEOs by Kim Krause Berg

Key Information Concepts Every SEO Should Know by Shari Thurow

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I won’t divulge who they were. I never do that with client work because for starters, they had the brains to find me and get help. But what I found illustrated what I often find on corporate, famous brand web sites. There seems to be this arrogance that says, “We have the brand. We don’t need to optimize.  Who cares if people come.”

Fashionistas

Certain brands have an interesting way letting you know that you don’t meet their user standards. Take Prada for example. Unless you have Flash loaded and your computer has speakers, their web site is completely useless.

This is what it looks like without Flash installed.

This is what it looks like if you have Flash, JavaScript and sound.

It’s really cool. It loads a video with catwalk music, which immediately shows their new line being modeled. This is different than images with click to enlarge. Prada wants to create an environment. A vibe. A la-te-da. It does this beautifully. However, this is what Yahoo cached:

If I could afford a Prada shoe versus the ones I get at Famous Footwear for under $20, I would search Google with my perfectly manicured pink fingernails for “prada shoes”. And this is what I would get:

My pretty little head would be thrilled to find all the sites that sell them or have rip-offs or offer  them on sale. I never have to go to Prada’s web site – which by the way is somewhere down there in the SERPS. Google found the homepage but no inside pages. Certainly no shoes!

But hey, it’s Prada. It’s a select market. No dial-up user or sight impaired person buys from them, right?

Too Posh to Care

When searching for a place to hold a wedding or fancy gathering, this web site hopes to God you know about them before you go searching on the Web. If you have ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder) or flickering movement will cause you to have seizures, do NOT visit this web site.

If you know the business phone number, you win their challenge because by golly, their domain IS the phone number. (Click the image to view.) If you don’t know what the site is about, join the club, but I warn you that if you click a link to an inside page, you may be stuck there. I couldn’t find the back “home”. Leave a comment if you found it.

Just for jollies, check out the source code. It’s an SEO’s nightmare. There is no title tag. No meta anything. No content. At all. The entire site is AJAX driven, so no matter where you are, the URL never changes. If you aren’t the type of user who has the latest computer equipment, you most definitely can’t afford the services of this gorgeous place. This is what you do get.

Thanks to a funny discussion in Facebook that began when I mini-vented about poor site usability, I was offered some leads on sites that are absolutely not designed for everybody to use. They’re targeted to those with the latest technology and which don’t need search engines.  If you need to control sound or are using JAWS, these sites must be frustrating.

For ChristianLouBoutin you must have Flash 7 installed.

For Versace please throw out your dial-up and set aside 5 minutes for the site to load up if you have DSL or cable. When it does, hope for a horizontal scrollbar if you’re using a wide screen monitor.

As one of my friends said,

“And then the brands wonder why counterfeiters are the ones in the top 10 of Google.”

What Makes It a Vanity Site?

If you need something to see, hear, load and install to use it, it’s a vanity site. If there is no text anywhere  it won’t have information for you. Rather, via images and video, you’re supposed to see and sense the aura and telepathically communicate with the navigation.

Artistic sites by graphic artists tend to love to break rules. They’re all about the art and the newer technology which offers them great freedom to express themselves. The site is all about them. “You” are secondary. If you come, thank you. If you don’t, you won’t be missed. It wasn’t designed for you.

One design fad are  Horizontal Websites (Discussion link). Here is an example of what it can look like:

VanityClaire -  It’s pretty clever but the bottom part of the site can’t be seen at all on a wide screen monitor. There are no vertical scroll bars on horizontal web pages. That defeats the purpose of the design.

With Flash and JavaScript disabled, it looks like this:

A cleaner, less jerky example that doesn’t depend on Flash, is one by Donna Fontenot aka “DazzlinDonna”. It’s a free slider launch template.

What Makes a Site Non-User/Non-Search Friendly?

Many web site owners try hard to make sure their web sites function for most people. For them, my site audits are filled with logical recommendations that often make them smack their head. It’s always the little things that make a big difference for the user experience and search engine crawling. The bulk of non-usability falls into the accessibility area. The plus of making a site meet accessibility standards is that it automatically pleases search engine “bots”.

My friend, Joe Dolson, writes on this topic. These two links may be helpful in deciding whether it’s “worthwhile” to include users who have health issues of various kinds that prevent them reading or ordering online without some type of software or other assistance.

http://www.practicalecommerce.com/articles/1417-Accessibility-How-Many-Disabled-Web-Users-Are-There->Accessibility: How Many Disabled Web Users Are There?

I often hear business owners claim that their sites aren’t used by people with disabilities, so they don’t need to pay attention to web accessibility. But there’s no basis for such claims because the merchant can’t possibly know this information. The tracked profile of a user with a disability, via a typical analytics package, is identical to anybody else using that browser.

United States disability statistics: Measurement and sources

Take the time to follow his leads on statistics sources. The number of disabled people is staggering. States such as mine (Pennsylvania) have laws for any state government website that  requires them to be usable by everybody, whether they are using assistive software,  older computers or have health issues that make using a mouse or page viewing frustrating. Why? Because the state wants to do business and provide services online to every citizen.

Doing Away With Basic Usability, Accessibility and Search Engine Marketing

A company that doesn’t care if its web site comes up for specific product searches is one that believes its brand name is doing the job just fine. They may be right. However, sooner or later, I hope they discover their competition is a user click or search result away.

It’s scary to keep finding web sites that most people can’t use or search for. I can understand new sites with inexperienced (but learning) owners and designers. We find them in forums and blogs asking questions. We rarely find anyone from big shot sites or who are willing to identify themselves as such asking for help in forums. At their level they’re expected to know what they’re doing.

The big brand site that threw me into a tizzy last week had no text on the homepage at all. With Flash and images disabled there was a big fat nothing. No textt, no links and no navigation. It’s an ecommerce web site with no signs of an order form.  The lead task was viewing their pretty pictures. There were no call to action prompts on the homepage. If you could figure how to add a product to the cart, you couldn’t continue shopping.  You could only order ONE product. That cracked me up. And finally, I’ve never seen a site completely change the entire homepage so that every time you load it you get a different design.

Sites like that one have gigantic egos and a funky way of creating brand loyalty. Nothing says “You don’t matter” more than a web site that won’t let you use it.

Economy blues? Poor conversion rates? Web site lost its spunk? Quotes are always free at Cre8pc. Get the answers you need NOW!

The You-Don’t-Matter Website (A Look At Ego/Vanity Sites) Sign up for Cre8pc.com's Web Site Usability Course at the Search Engine College

While I received death threats and angry emails for exposing those people, (I never mentioned any names, just practices), I have no problem calling out those who give search engine optimization and marketing a bad reputation by continuing the practices of con artistry, Internet fraud, spam and least of which, a complete lack of integrity and responsibility.

This is one example, from today’s email In-box:

Hello

How are you? We hope you are doing fine.We would like to forward you our proposal for outsourcing SEO Services at competitive rates.We have been able to offer Seo Services to clients residing every corner of the world. Our Seo services are filtered through the minds of experts, who work with in deadline and are dedicated to uphold your online existence at any cost.

Hello back to you

How is it you knew my name when you emailed me, but miraculously forgot it when greeting me in your unsolicited “proposal for outsourcing SEO Services”? Not that I need your help or anything, since had you bothered to check, I’ve been doing SEO since 1996.

When presenting a proposal, it is recommended to provide proof of any claims of your “expert” help and staff. Just exactly who are your experts and why would they need your help by spamming for new business?

We specialize in.

* Link Building
* Directory Submissions
* Paid Directory Listing
* Blog Advertising Services
* Forum Posting
* Social Bookmaking Services
* Article Writing and Distribution
* Press Release Distribution
* PPC Management
* Social Media Optimization
* SEO Content Writing

Not to mention email spam and totally off-the-mark targeted marketing. Did you bother to check with the planet Neptune?

This ought to be enlightening.

Why to choose us

* 10 Year experience in Search Marketing Industry
* Big World Class Infrastructure with more than 100 staff members
* Sign-up the NDAs (Non-Disclosure Agreement).
* White label for client re-selling and re branding.
* Timely and smooth communication etc.
* Frequent reporting with all required format and information.
* Ethical process and white hat technique only

“Why to choose”?  Great writing skills there.  And you’re spamming me because…what. A little bit of tooting your own horn to a search engine marketing speaker is going to get you some magical fairy dust?

Above all we offer best competitive prices :-
Manual Directory Submission

100 Directories Submission 15 USD
300 Directories Submission 35 USD
500 Directories Submission 50 USD
1000 Directories Submission 100 USD
1600 Directories Submission 125 USD
2000 Directories Submission 200 USD
2500 Directories Submission 250 USD
3000 Directories Submission 300 USD
4000 Directories Submission 400 USD
5200 Directories Submission 490 USD

Oh my freaking god! You’re taking money to link drop! Now I get it. So your classy company steals money from people who have no clue and this is what your “experts” call search engine optimization?

And, for the low low price of just $400,you can “guarantee” their listing in 100 directories. (Or for $90 more you can wing it to 5200 submissions and pray on your uncle’s grave.)

Blog Directory Submission

50 Blog Directory Submission 15usd
100 Blog directory submission 25usd

ARE YOU ON FARKING DRUGS? Which directories? What do you do when a blog or directory asks for a submission fee?

Does your client get to see the list? Can they choose where you put their site? What is the purpose of blog and directory submissions?

It wouldn’t be for link dropping would it? Wouldn’t be because someone fed you stories about page rank scores?

Okay.  Here comes the last nail ….

Forum Posting Services

Package I
10 Forums, 75 New Posts and 10 New Threads
45 USD

Package II
15 Forums, 150 New Posts and 40 New Threads
95 USD

Package III
30 Forums, 400 New Posts and 80 New Threads
200 USD

ARE YOU SERIOUS? You spammed a forums owner with this bit of baloney?

Every freaking day we submit new member criteria into a our own anti-spam system, (Including weekends, holidays, vacation…), because we are there to educate, discuss, advise, review sites and problem solve.  A Community does not thrive or grow on 1-liner posts and link drops.

We don’t let in anyone with a history of forum posts consisting of just profiles, link drops or one-liners. We check IP, email and domain history because, and I bet your pretty little heads didn’t know this, there are ways to track and block you freaking idiots!

Do you have a clue about “no follow” and forums like mine that “scramble” outgoing URLS inside profiles and posts?

Paid to spam forums….you should be put in jail. Clearly you have no integrity, nor do you have any freaking idea how much time and money a reputable forums’ staff puts into making their forums spammer free. Your clients pay TO NOT ENGAGE IN DISCUSSION, LINK DROP and POST IN THE NAME OF SOMEONE ELSE. (Which, by the way, impersonating someone is against the rules in some forums.) This means you take your clients money, your stupid posts get tossed out, they get banned and your client never has any idea why and you have their money. How so freaking clever of you!)

But, wait there’s more!

Article Submissions

* Our article submission services are manual.
* We will create Your separate account on each article directory with your Email account
* We will handover the control of author account on each articles directory at the time of completion of article submit job
* We will use three to four different anchor text in links on different directories to give you natural linking
* We will submit you the daily report of submission
* Our article acceptance rate is more than 50%
* We provide a list of sites where your article is published in a two week time

Packages :-
Submission to 50 Article Directories 20USD
Submission to 100 Article Directories 30USD
Manual Submission to 200 Article Directories 50USD
Manual Submission to 300 Article Directories 70USD

Lemme tell you what’s “manual”! ##$$%^^@@@^&*

Let’s back up to the part where you claim you have “experts”. You get a 50% article acceptance rate. So for a minimum of $20, you write an article for me (on what topic?), submit it to 50 article directories (less than $1 per submit) and there is maybe a 50/50 chance it is accepted.

You sent this “proposal” to a blog  writer, web site columnist and magazine writer?  Dumb Ass Move!

Do your expert article writers know how to write?  Of the 300 article directories, how many are in the language your client uses? How many cover your client’s web site topic? Who is the author, you or the client?

Guaranteed Directory Listing:-
* 100% static links
* One-way theme based listings
* All website directories will be search engine friendly and regularly indexed.
* You can use different anchor text and descriptions for listings
* Complete report with exact listing location will be given for your records.

50 listings 225USD
100 listings 400USD

Which should I go with. $500 for a MAYBE listing acceptance or $400 for GUARANTEED?

See above – “5200 Directories Submission 490 USD ”

Link marketing and article writing are a precise process. True experts never, ever take risks with client web site property.

We follow quality guidelines to ensure that you not only get full value for your investments in a link building campaign but also secure your investments for a long term. We never take short cuts, use automated tools or questionable tactics. We work smart, creatively and treat every site as if it were our own. Please feel free to revert back to me for more details or queries you might have regarding our services.

We are looking forward starting a long and healthy business relationship with you.

With best regards
Diana

Dear Dirty Diana from the software company that spammed me today,

Your SEO services are a fraud. One search provided me a little bit of luscious information.

Your site is not listed in DMOZ
It’s value is the grand total of $2056.00
Daily ad revenue is under $3
Google indexed 42 of your site’s pages, while Bing and Yahoo! have no idea who you are.
Your site age is 2 years old.

I discovered the spammy directories you submitted your site to within the past few weeks.

Your SEO services page is tucked away in the third level of your website. It consists of a 1/4 page of content that makes claims but has no backup, no proof of expertise, no pricing, and says, “the success and popularity of a search engine is determined by its ability to produce the most relevant results to any given search allowing those results to be false would turn users to find other search sources”

What?   Those gosh darned search engines sure have the power, eh?

It’s safe to say you’re doing whatever you can to help them

suck.

Economy blues? Poor conversion rates? Web site lost its spunk? Quotes are always free at Cre8pc. Get the answers you need NOW!

My Response to an UnSolicited Letter from Yet Another SEO Rip-Off Sign up for Cre8pc.com's Web Site Usability Course at the Search Engine College