Most companies worry about getting into the top three positions of Google search results related to their product or service. Most don’t worry about the potential client once they go to Web site, though. Mark likens this to a merchant who cares about “location, location, location” but then doesn’t bother to properly decorate the store or hire well-dressed and courteous sales personnel.

In short, he says the basic keys to a successful Web presence are:

1. Brand matters.
2. Usability matters.
3. Search engine optimization matters.

Brand matters: This means that your Web site must reflect the values and personality of your business. And it should inspire trust.  This has everything to do with the style and looks of your Web site. The design of your logo and Web site (the typography, the colors, the choice of images like photos or illustration, how well the overall design is executed, etc.) are critical in transmitting the quality of the service or product you sell and the prices you are likely to command.

Usability matters: This means that your Web site’s design should be intuitive. Users, clients, and prospects should find it easy to navigate or use. If you and your Web design team have done a good job, your visitors will be using the Web the way you want them to and you will be converting a higher percentage of them to paying clients. This also means that visitors expect to easily find information like your telephone number or support email address.

Search engine optimization matters: This means that your Web site should be readily visible in search results for keywords related to your services, products, and location. But how does that happen? One way is by providing relevant content. Blogging is a good way to create quality, unbiased information that visitors find useful, positions you as an authority in your field, and increases the relevance of your content in search engines. But the design and usability of your Web site also matter for SEO. The better the content, the more attractive the design and the easier the site is to use, the more visitors will like and link to your site. And inbound links are key component of the way search engines like Google rank Web sites.

These are broad rules to keep in mind to be sure. Keep them in mind when redesigning your start or commissioning a Web site design for the first time.

A beautiful die-cut business card with a minimalist design.

I noticed this recent blog entry on a website geared toward graphic designers that—in addition to an impressive gallery of images of business card designs that use traditional but more advanced printing techniques—brushes upon some important points.

The first is that it is pretty hard to stand out from the crowd these days as a result of glut of social and digital media. Social media has some important benefits (otherwise we wouldn’t blog or post to Twitter) but also some limitations. One of those, at least from a corporate identity design and marketing standpoint, is standing out from the crowd. At the moment, everyone (and rightfully so) is investing in their digital architecture, platforms and marketing.

Very few are doing so with respect to offline marketing and that makes anyone who does invest in old school methods not only retro but unique. Any good business person knows to not follow the crowd. Ergo, where there exists an opportunity for differentiation, seize it.

One simple bit powerful way to do this is for small businesses and self-employed professionals is by having a business card with a unique form. Die-cutting in the printing process is a way of giving a business card, for example, a nonstandard shape or to cut holes out of the card itself.

Many people who have never thought about graphic design tend to think that “more is more:” more color, more graphics, etc. Another common and related misperception is that bigger is better: bigger type, bigger pictures, bigger logos, and the list goes one. Sometimes more and big might be good but usually “understatement,” simplicity and elegance transmit a stronger message of quality, dependability and experience, in particular in professional services like accounting, law and healthcare.

One of  the most appealing aspects of die-cutting and other specialized printing processes such as embossing (when done right) is that they are incredibly elegant, subtle and send an indirect but powerful message about the quality of the company or the business professional donning the card.

So when you go to replenish your business cards ask your designer or design company about creative ideas with respect to the form and the paper and not just the visual design.

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