Change Order has an article about the changing face of the internet called “If you build it they won’t come.” It’s worth linking to, because it solidifies something we’ve been preaching for a while now. The days of sticking a website up, and expecting automatic traffic are long past. You absolutely, imperatively, unequivocally have to promote a site to build an audience. That being said, - it’s not all bad news; there are more efficient, and cheap ways of promoting your site than ever before. At the heart of the article is a relevant thought about the content of a site, and it’s importance to your readers.

“When when you start the planning phase of your next project, sneak a little area into your wireframe that talks about the following: how you want people to get to each page, and why they’ll want to go there. It’s something I almost never see discussed until a site is in build, when you’ve got “the luxury of time” — but I think that’s a weak strategy. Think it out in advance. Let it iterate with the system you’re creating. Get holistic on why every feature connects back to your community, and if it doesn’t, kill it.”

• Simple test - Is this website down, or is it just me?
• A not so brief - article on graphic design
• Nothing escapes the designer’s eye - Mad Men
• Web service - To see if your site is bad
• Sad, funny, and sometimes - poetic
• There is an office supply nerd in all of us - Jet Pens
• Brush up on some - typography history

There’s a big difference…

“The customer is always right.” It’s the first rule of customer service. The housepainter does not critique the customers paint selection, the chef will serve the steak with ketchup. These are preference based decisions that are meant to please no one other than the whims of the customer themselves. To argue against customer taste would run contrary to the whole purpose of the profession’s existence.

There are of course service based professions that don’t follow this logic. A doctor for example won’t amputate your arm just because you ask. A CPA won’t round down your earnings on your tax return based on your preference to pay less. Both of these professions have organized governing bodies to dictate ethics and accuracy. Customer satisfaction is prized only in so much as that the jobs are performed successfully based on the standards of the profession.

Graphic design walks an interesting line. A primary function, and the end result of which is an artistic creation. Quite unlike many services, graphic design results in something undistinguishable from a product, albeit a made-to-order one. Which Is why it’s probably often confusing for clients; are they buying graphic design the final product, or the service that leads to it?

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An inability to push out successful advertising reflects an inward inability to succeed.

• Inability to get groups to decide
• Inability to strongly filter ideas
• Inability to see through your customers eyes
• Inability to understand what your product really is

Try to think how many companies have terrible ads, but are still successful. You may know of poor companies with great ads, and great companies who don’t advertise, -but can you think of any great companies with bad ads? Maybe it’s an inability to trust an agency, maybe it’s not being able to choose correctly, maybe it’s fear, or just being out of touch. Whatever the source, it’s a great indicator of a company that’s struggling.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13860_3-10045505-56.html