The Video Dilemma

We recently launched a video campaign on our website. Our developer found a great player and set up the media to stream from our site. While this was a great solution and works well, in the background both of us were screaming, "just put it on You Tube!"

If you really want a video to be seen, you pretty much have to put it in the social space. Don't expect people to come to your website for random content. They might be interested, but how will they know you provide that information (especially in our case where we hadn't before).

Looks like I'm not the only one with video-hosting woes. Ragan's forum has some good tips from PR pros on You Tube v. Hosting. You can also check out this blog that describes one company's switch to all You Tube hosting.

Why your company won't use social media

Ad Age ran an article about the reasons corporations WON'T use social media. It's a nice complement to my Sept. 21 blog on company newsrooms.

"Listen up: Every person with a computer and even a tiny skill level has the tools to make their opinion about your brand heard by other people. They're already talking about you.

Message control is an illusion. Give it up."

Like I said, you have to take control of your social media presence, or someone will do it for you.

Navigation Challenges

I'm on the verge of a major web redesign for my company, and my biggest problem is not content or figuring out what all our stakeholders want. What's really weighing on my mind is NAVIGATION.

Navigation is tricky and is the make or break of any site. So much is riding on a short list of words that in all actuality aren't very descriptive.

This article from Smashing Magazine offers some basic guidance and examples of "good" navigation, but there is a lot missing. The challenges of your navigation will go way beyond layout (although good design is key as well).

A few things you have to consider:
- What are the main categories of my links?
- Are there enough categories in which to arrange all my pages?
- Are the categories and link names universal or only internally relevant?
- Is it intuitive to click on A to get to B? (for secondary navigation)
- Does my primary navigation fulfill my audience's basic needs?
- Will I need to build upon (expand) my navigation in the future? (more challenging to do so with a horizontal format, generally)
-What's my competition doing, and does it work?
- What politics or legal issues may result from the wording used in navigation? (This always seems to be a roadblock for me)

There are no hard, fast rules for navigation. As with anything that falls in the marketing arena, you have to "know thy audience." What are they looking for and how do they use the web. If you know that and tailor your navigation to the audience's needs, you'll get the most benefit from your navigation structure.

Online Newsrooms Redefined

One thing my company has been in dire need of is an online newsroom. Our current system of static pages of news content is so antiquated it's needed an overhaul for years. But, as with many companies, more important projects and lack of funds to upgrade have always stood in the way.

Perhaps there is a simple solution. Mashable offers tips for creating a Facebook newsroom. http://mashable.com/2009/09/18/facebook-newsroom/

A Facebook fan page is quick to set up and offers you a wealth of options to integrate blogs, RSS and more. You can even tie to a Twitter feed to get daily, time-sensitive updates in quickly.

Smart Social Networking

The New York Times ran an article about people who are leaving facebook (http://bit.ly/fSgta). Many feel that the social networking fad is leading to a loss of privacy. But, if you are smart in managing your social networks, you can maintain any level of privacy you choose.

Set your profile to private
Don’t leave your profile public so anyone can peruse your life. And beware of the “network.” Do you really want everyone who has ever attended (or claimed to attend) your college to be able to see all your information? Not a wise move. Leave the messaging option open, so if someone does know your name, they can at least privately message you…then you can decide if they are friend-worthy.

Don’t be afraid to deny friends
Is it really important to have 1,000 friends? Isn’t it more important to know who the 200 you have are? Make sure all connections are legitimate and worthwhile. If you start connecting to every person that has ever heard your name, you are sure to end up with no privacy.

Set up groups
It can be a pain, but take the time to group every friend you have (and every new request you get). Once you have the groups, setting and changing privacy settings becomes VERY easy.

For example, my professional contacts and colleagues all have very different settings than my college friends. I just restrict certain groups from seeing certain updates or items that may be posted by me or about me. This way, I am in full control of what others see.

I feel very secure in my social network, and I feel that the benefits of keeping in contact with people worldwide far outweigh and security and privacy drawbacks. But, even if you are still scared, take the time to understand your social network provider and you will find you can eliminate any threat.

What do they want?

What do your users want? Why are they on your site? And what do non-users need to know you have to get them there?

Those seem to be million-dollar questions, but it doesn't take 300K consultants, expensive research or fancy web design to figure it all out.

• Talk to those who KNOW the customers.
  It's unlikely your content manager, programmers or other web staff ever actually talks to a customer--and since customer = user, they really should. So, who in your company is in the trenches hearing what the customers really need?
  
  
• Track searches
  If you are trying to figure out what they are doing and why they are on your site, the best resource you have comes from your search data. Many people hit the search FIRST before trying to navigate. You can use this to your advantage--turn high-ranking search terms into use cases and make sure your website is optimized to get those users where they want to be. Don't have the resource? Start with www.google.com/analytics for free tools to help you get started.
  
  
• Look at highly trafficked pages
  This can be helpful, but is not as targeted as search terms. Remember, when people are navigating, they don't necessarily end up where they intended to and may have given up before actually reaching their destination.
  

If your company invests in solid analytics software, you should have no problem figuring out where your customer is and where he or she wants to go. For the rest of us small-timers, we have to work a little harder, but it can still be done!