Introduction

Social Media Web sites have been the craze since MySpace became popular. The phrase, Social Media Marketing (SMM) has recently been coined to describe a new frontier of online advertising. SMM is tied very closely to Web 2.0, the concept of user-generated content Web sites. There is virtually limitless marketing potential from the myriad of Social Media Web sites that exist today. SMM is much like SEO was in 1999. It is the Wild West with a new generation of marketers testing the waters and their limits. These sites offer opportunities for traditional Search Engine Optimizers to leverage them in SEO campaigns.

This Whitepaper will examine Social Media Marketing, the top players, and some of the marketing techniques being used on Social Media sites today. It will also cover implications in Search Engine Marketing Campaigns and Brand Protection.

SMM (Social Media) Defined

What exactly is Social Media? Wikipedia (a type of Social Media site) defines it as “the online technologies and practices that people use to share content, opinions, insights, experiences, perspectives, and media themselves. Social media can take many different forms, including text, images, audio, and video. The social media sites typically use tools like message boards, forums, podcasts, bookmarks, communities, wikis, blogs etc.” This definition is interesting because of the mention of message boards and forums. The World Wide Web evolved from old BBSes (Bulletin Board Systems) and Chat Rooms. Essentially the advent of Social Media Web sites is a rebirth of the very roots on which the Web was built. The main difference between today’s Social sites and those of twenty years ago are the publishers. In the 80s and 90s the publishers were techies and computer gurus. Today the publishers include every demographic from pre-teens to grandparents.

The Varying Types of Social Media Web Sites

Social Networking Sites – These are the most common Web sites that have redefined Social Media and its importance to the Web. These sites are typically online communities with the goal of social involvement.

Picture Sites – These Web sites act as a repository for pictures online. They include many built in functions that allow the pictures to be categorized, tagged, and shared.

Video Sites – These sites act as a repository for videos and clips online. They include many of the same tools as the picture sites.
News Aggregators – These sites can be traffic powerhouses for news articles that show up on their top pages. They function on article submissions and user voting for top placement.

Forums / Message Boards – These sites are typically organized by subject matter. They can be repositories of information on any topic. Successful forums can unite topic experts with neophytes looking for answers.

Blogs – These sites can range from personal blogs to corporate blogs. They are timely, direct-communication channels that allow for reader feedback. Due to their ease of use, anyone with access to a computer and the Internet can be a publisher.

Social Bookmarking – Tagging puts the ability to organize and categorize Web sites into the user’s hands. These sites allow for remote access to favorites and sharing of favorites.

Other – The types of social sites are continually expanding. There are music sharing sites, new mini-networking sites, answers’ sites, podcasting sites, virtual reality sites, gaming sites, and more!

Social Media Marketing Techniques 101

Social Media Web sites create new marketing challenges and opportunities. Some of the techniques for marketing can be used on all types of Social sites, while others need special considerations. The basics are covered in this section. Specific tips can be found under the SMM Players section below.

Profile Content – The first place to be concerned about marketing on Social sites is the profile area. The picture and description are the initial items other users of the site may see. Profiles should be completely filled out with valuable information. In the case of corporate profiles, include an abstract of what the company does and good keyword-based links back to the company’s Web site where possible.

Email – Many social media sites have their own internal email systems. These systems can be utilized for email blasts that are specific to members of the Web site. If done properly, the open and delivery rates can be much higher than typical email campaigns.

Friends – Many social media sites are based on networking principles. It is beneficial to increase “friends” that are associated with the account. Approved friends become the network that can easily be marketed to via email, bulletins, conversations, or other online interaction.

Groups – This can be a faster way to increase the network of friends associated with the account. Groups can be organized by common interests or other unifying factors. Groups can be another target for marketing.

Comments – A very common communication channel in Social Media is some type of comment area for each member. This area can be used for marketing purposes with banners, text ads, or links.

Bulletins – This is a creative way to let all of the friends in a network or group be notified about something through a mechanism that is in between an email and a comment. This is a very efficient path for marketers to get their message across.

Note also that there is a dark side to this medium. Much like early Search Engine spammers, unscrupulous individuals have found ways to manipulate and exploit Social Media Web sites. Programs (bots) exist that can create fake profiles and make fake friend requests. These fake profiles can be used for spam emails, links to undesirable Web sites, or lead to spyware / adware software infections. An increase in spam on any Web site can cause mistrust and lead to user abandonment. These abuses, if left unchecked, can lead to the demise of a Social site.

Why SMM Can Be Part of an SEO Strategy

Natural Search Engine Optimization is the key for long-term, sustained traffic and success of a Web site. Once the typical optimization methods are completed on a Web site, the two main areas for continued growth are links and new content. In some cases Social Media sites account for content growth external to the main Web site (Blogs, Images, Video, Podcasts).

Link-building campaigns are one of the most difficult strategies associated with Organic Search Engine Optimization. Link building involves an ongoing and committed effort to finding high-quality and relevant Web sites and Directories. While great sites full of rich content naturally gain links, sometimes extra effort is required for sites to get the ball rolling. Social Media sites have opened the door for quick and easy quality links. One thing that always has to be kept in mind is the “anchor text” (Top Search Engine Optimization Company vs. http://www.morevisibility.com, where the first example is using good anchor text and the second is just a plain url). Anchor text should be varied using good keyword phrases. Linking to deep content within a Web site is also a good idea. Here are a few ways to use links in Social Media:

Profiles – Be sure to fill out “your company url”. Where possible use the company’s name and a keyword-rich slogan as the anchor text. If there is HTML access to other areas of the profile, add a few deep links to other content in the Web site. Perhaps link to a relevant whitepaper or important product page.

Comments – Occasionally post links in your friend’s comment areas. This area can also be utilized for banners or pictures that link back to the Web site.

Signatures – Much like an email signature, a blurb can be used at the end of posts on forums or message boards. This is a nice area to have a keyword-rich sentence or two about the Web site and good keyword links.

When using any of these techniques, adhere to the rules of the community. Some will allow links, some will loosely restrict links, and others will allow only one or two.

Tagging is a Web 2.0 phenomenon that is reminiscent of the early days of meta tags. It is a way for users to organize and define their content with keywords. Tagging creates a link structure that Search Engines use to associate keywords to content. This keyword taxonomy is important in today’s search engine algorithms and will be a bigger part of the next generation of search. Whenever a Social Media Web site gives you the opportunity to tag, label, or describe something, use good relevant keywords or keyword phrases. For example: “Joe’s Picture” vs. “Mini Season Lobster Diving 2007”.

Google typically limits results from one domain to two urls per SERP (Search Engine Results Page). Social Web site profiles can rank nicely in SERPs. This can be used for brand protection and to suppress negative search results. Build profiles with unique content for each. Rewrite corporate abstracts and optimize for the company name where possible. Owning SERP real estate is very valuable.

Google Universal is a hot topic in the world of Search Engine Marketing. It is the expansion of common search results to include images, video, local, maps, and product information. A search for “Google Webmaster Tools” on Google has a Matt Cutts’ video with an eye catching mini screenshot in the top results. A search for “Danica Patrick” on Google has image results at the top and a video result. A search for “mortgage” on Google has a news video result at number one. Ranking at the top of Google does not mean just optimizing Web pages anymore. Videos, images, news and more need to be optimized. Some of the social sites are designed exactly for this task.

The Big Social Media Marketing Players

There are many players in each of the Social Media categories. Only the top few are examined below. This list is not inclusive of the only sites considered when embarking on a Social Media Marketing campaign.

Social Networking Sites You Need to Know

MySpace – This is the granddaddy of the Social Networking sites. It is the number 3 most trafficked Web site according to Alexa – a Web site ranking service. It revitalized the online community structure. It was originally designed for up-and-coming music artists, but exploded to be part of pop culture. It is a community with no barriers to entry. Profile customizations are easy and common. It is a great way to communicate with friends and meet new ones

SMM Tips – MySpace is riddled with Spam. Do not abuse the email, comments, or bulletins. It is still a marketing powerhouse for internal users. Corporations have successfully built great profiles and implementations of SMM. Example: http://www.myspace.com/improvftl

SEO Tips – MySpace is now using its own third-party url for link redirects (msplinks.com). There is no link value passed from MySpace links.
Facebook – Quickly becoming MySpace’s number one challenger, Facebook recently opened its member-base beyond college students to the entire Web. Join groups, post on walls, network, and find new friends.

SMM Tips – Facebook has more widgets that cause social interaction. Explore groups and utilize the bells and whistles.

SEO Tips – Facebook is also using redirects on some of its links, therefore not passing link value. The Web site url links still work. Regardless of the lack of SEO value these links provide, however, both MySpace and Facebook can drive quality traffic to your Web site, so make sure good links are in the profiles.

LinkedIn – One of the first and most established professional networking sites.

SMM Tips – There is tremendous potential for linking to business associates. LinkedIn is a great way to keep contacts and be found by contacts after switching jobs. Dig through friends to find new contacts. Fully complete the profile and keep it up to date.

SEO Tips – These profile pages can show up highly in search rankings when querying someone’s name. Use custom text for the company / job url.
Runners-up – Friendster, Hi5

Social Photography Sites

Flickr – This site has become one of the most popular picture-sharing sites since Yahoo purchased it and migrated Yahoo Photos into it. It has great searchability and can drive some traffic.

SMM Tips – Be informative on the profile. Be very descriptive on the pictures, organization of the pictures, and tagging of the pictures.

SEO Tips – Depending on the software used for editing the pictures, there is an opportunity to use keywords in the file attributes. While being descriptive of the pictures, organization, and tags, you should also consider using quality keywords. For example: Search “social media marketing” and you will see pictures of social media gatherings.

Snapfish – This site is very similar to Flickr, the same rules apply.

Photobucket – This site is very similar to Flickr, the same rules apply.

News Aggregators and News Feeds

Digg – This site ranks news stories according to popularity. Users vote on their favorite stories, moving them to the first page. Articles on the homepage of Digg have been known to drive so much referral traffic to a Web site that it has crashed.
SMM Tips – Getting an article on the homepage takes roughly 50 diggs within a 24-hour period. The system for detecting fake digging methods gets more complex each day. Be part of the community and digg articles that you find useful, not just your own.

SEO Tips – Include good keyword anchor text in the articles. Add Digg buttons to the hosted articles to promote them being dugg.
StumbleUpon – This site follows a similar concept as Digg, except it is about voting and commenting on Web sites. It can be a great source of traffic for new, exciting, creative, or undiscovered Web sites.

SMM Tips – Set up a complete profile and start building a “discovery” list of Web sites. Comment on other discoveries and participate in the community.

SEO Tips – Be keyword descriptive of any Web sites that are added to the discovery list. There is a handy toolbar to make the StumbleUpon process even easier. Networks of Stumblers can work together to get new, top-quality Web sites to the homepage.

Social Video Sites

YouTube – From Google’s acquisition to iPhone’s featured compatibility, YouTube is the top online video sharing site. It is full of clips. Some videos are amateur, while others are professional. YouTube provides widgets that allow videos to be embedded on any Web site, saving the hosting / streaming headaches and costs.

SMM Tips – Be informative on the profile, and be informative and descriptive of the video posts. It is likely that if someone likes one video, they will follow the profile to see what else they can find.

SEO Tips – Video is being scanned for text frame-by-frame and content through speech-recognition software. When developing video content, consider keyword-rich audio, strategically placed keywords in the slides, and possibly using closed captioning. Another good technique is to post a transcribed version of the content of the video as the abstract or summary.

Google Video – This site is very similar to YouTube, the same rules apply.

News Forums

TripAdvisor – One of the top travel forums on the Web. It frequently shows up in search results for generic queries as well as location- and resort-specific searches.

SMM Tip – This site is a very real online community. Site users research their travel and make informed decisions based on other users’ reviews, tips, and tricks.

SEO Tip – If you are a travel site, pay attention to your brand. Review feedback and make corrections at the establishment to correct the issues or try to provide resolutions to problems. Being proactive in these communities can go a long way. These recommendations go for any industry’s forums.

WebmasterWorld – The online resource for Search Engine Marketing information and other Webmaster-related issues. This site has been around since the 90s. Its focus has morphed based on its users’ needs.

SMM Tip – If you are new to any areas of discussion, ask quality questions. If you are an expert in an area or have valuable experiences to share, be helpful and descriptive. This is a community where a little assistance can go a long way.

SEO Tip – Links are rarely used. When they are, they may go through a redirect url. The profiles can get picked up, so fill them out completely.

Craigslist – The top online, mostly free message board in the world. If it can be talked about or sold, it can be found on Craigslist.

SMM Tip – Test the waters and advertise here. Post about your product or service and see what happens. The Job board can provide results that rival some of the popular paid online services. Follow the rules and do not Spam Craigslist. It can be a great source for local traffic. Be aware, however, that Craigslist has received negative press recently, due to illicit activities from some of its users in adult-related sections.

SEO Tip – Message posts are very simple by nature. Use good keyword titles when posting. Use keyword-descriptive content. Traffic can be generated by searches within Craigslist.

Blogs

There are a diverse number of blog options throughout the Web, including, Blogger, WordPress, and TypePad. See my Whitepaper on Blogs and Search Engine Marketing for more details.

Social Bookmarking

del.icio.us – Owned by Yahoo, this is the most popular social bookmarking site on the Web. It has a fantastic toolbar that makes it very easy to tag and organize bookmarks.

SMM Tips – This is a social network where anyone can view others’ bookmarks. Organize the bookmarks, write great titles and descriptions, and tag sites with keywords as appropriate.

SEO Tips – Search Engines crawl the profile / saved bookmarks pages. They will pay attention to the organization and tagging structure. This equates to off-page optimization for a Web site.

Secondary Types of Social Sites

Second Life – This is a virtual reality world that is popular and worth looking into.

imeem – This is a music sharing site with an online-community feel.

Gather – This site is a mashup of many of the other types of Social Media Web sites.

Twitter – This is a new creative Social Media site that tracks activity.

Observations

With each passing day the Internet becomes more a part of everyday life. Social Media Web sites are not just for dating anymore. Social Media Web sites make the world smaller and more connected. If you meet someone on a vacation in Disney World, you may keep in touch with them on MySpace or Facebook. That same relationship could be continued by sharing pictures on Flickr. You may even blog about meeting that person, or write about your meeting in a trip review on a forum. Social Media helps bring people together – old friends, new friends, family, colleagues, business associates, and so on.

Social Media Web sites have caught on and are here to stay. They are being embraced by the corporate world as part of their marketing strategies. There are ample opportunities for marketing within social sites. Money and time invested in social sites should really pay off. If leveraged correctly, they can be a strong traffic referral source for Web sites.

Make a commitment to the social experience online. SMM can be an effective part of an SEM campaign. It can be a nice source of quality back links. Tagging can help Search Engines associate keywords with the destination Web site. Social sites can show up in SERPs, taking up more real estate with different domains. Optimized profile pages may help suppress negative results. Google Universal keeps enhancing its results pages with more information. Optimizing online media beyond standard HTML pages can get you top-quality rankings and traffic for pictures and video. SMM and SEO go hand in hand. Unify the marketing message across all media types and stay committed and active in the online communities. SMM plus SEO will equal more free traffic and better Search Engine Rankings.

If you’re familiar with social media than you know that the social media revolution has often be referred to as Web 2.0. Said another way, the ability to communicate in real time via the web through networks of like-minded people is considered the second iteration of the Internet.

Ever wonder where the vast majority of consumers do their research?

So, how do consumers find out about your products or services? Today everyone thinks that consumers go directly to the web to learn about products and services. But according to a recent survey by eMarketer, consumers are still seeking information in retail stores. The web was the second most popular destination for product research, but retail stores were number one.

If you are in a business that sells through retailers, its important to realize that consumers are going to retailers first and using the web to complete their research. Be sure to create point of purchase displays or product packaging that will provide all the information a consumer will need to make a buying decision.

It’s essential that your web based information is in synch with in-store information, pricing, and so on. If consumers see inconsistencies in pricing, variety, or options, they’re likely to frequent another vendor or simply buy on price.

Many retailers are using their websites to capture customer information. This can be done at the store level as well. Ask purchasers and browsers to sign up for a newsletter or coupons that will bring them back to your store.

By Michael Fleischner

If you’re familiar with social media than you know that the social media revolution has often be referred to as Web 2.0. Said another way, the ability to communicate in real time via the web through networks of like-minded people is considered the second iteration of the Internet.

In recent months I have heard countless people talking about what’s next for the world wide web. The reality is that Web 3.0 is already here and this is evidenced by those websites who are taking user behavior into consideration when defining an online user experience.

Web 3.0 is all about improving the experience of web site browsers and helping them make the right decisions quickly. Now that the Internet has expanded significantly and there are billions of pages of information, getting through that information effectively has become a challenge.

Enter behavioral data and the concept of Web 3.0. In the next iteration of the web world, users’ activities are being tracked closely. These activities include a range of behaviors like their on-site behavior, purchase history, order frequency, size, and quantity as well as tastes and preferences they have exhibited while surfing the Net.

In addition to collecting real time information, Web 3.0 is flexible enough to allow online merchants to integrate user history – past purchases, preferences, and actions around promotions and other once in time events. This allows each online retailer or provider to create unique user profiles based on purchase history, learned preferences and individual behavior to drive personalized recommendations.
These recommendations are made on actual data that is unique to the individual. Today’s web environment leverages the recommendations of others, top selling products, etc. to make recommendations. Unfortunately, this type of intelligence doesn’t work for everyone as it doesn’t take into consideration the unique preferences and buying behaviors of the individual.

Web 3.0 intelligence anonymously and securely analyzes every customer and web browser to your website. Learning patterns and the context that drives buying decisions will be used to create a highly personalized user experience for each individual. This may be a point of concern for all of you privacy buffs out there but the reality is that web sites track user behavior today and the information becomes more and more sophisticated. There are many concepts of a recommendation engine already out there and a retail recommender isn’t such a bad thing.

For me the issues isn’t about tracking the behavior, it’s more about how it’s used. For example, if I only buy jeans once every other year, and an online retailer knows my buying behaviors, I’ll be grateful to get less email on a daily basis. This level of intelligence can make the buying experience much more beneficial for the end user and ultimately more economical for the retailer. I know they’ll never pass the savings on to me but you never know.

The concept of Web 3.0 is real and is coming to a store near you. My feeling is that It’s inevitable so don’t try to resist. Rather embrace the technology and learn how to best utilize it. Doing so may actually improve the buying experience.

When You Write Articles Want to get more website traffic and more prospects now? When you write articles, you will attract more attention and get more website traffic, online publicity and profits.

BUT, if you want to write articles that get read and keep your audience coming back for more, you must follow my basic rules of writing for an online audience. If you are used to writing articles for print publications, be sure to read these rules. The online consumer is different than the print consumer.

7 Article Writing Tips to Ensure Your Targeted Audience Reads What You Write & Buys What You Are Selling:

1. Use conversational copy. Talk to your readers. Use words that people know. Absolutely, do not use jargon. It is boring. You will lose your audience’s attention immediately. So, use words that people are familiar with and can connect to. Write like you talk and let your personality and experience shine through. You will make a better connection with your readers.
2. Go active. Words have power. Find specific active verbs to paint your copy. This will make your article exciting and lively. Action verbs are more engaging and will move the reader along. And, by using action verbs, you will automatically reduce the number of words it will take to get your message across. For example, “John loves Mary” is stronger than “Mary is loved by John.”
3. Make your copy benefit oriented. Honestly, your readers don’t care how many awards you have won. They don’t care how many degrees you have or how many books you have written. All they care about is how you can help them solve their problems. So include a strong benefit in your article title. Include benefits in your article. And add benefits to your “About the Author” section.
4. Connect with your readers’ emotions. We all want to feel smarter, richer, happier and thinner. Use these emotions to connect with your reader. For example, “Do you feel paralyzed every time you have to go shopping? Do you hate trying on clothes? Does stepping in front of that three way mirror strike fear inside you? Here are my 7 top tips to help you lose weight now…”
5. Keep sentences and paragraphs short. When your readers see articles with long sentences, long paragraphs and no bullet points or sub-headings, they will automatically skip that article. Here’s why? – Large chunks of information scare them. – It overwhelms them. – It takes too much time and effort to read that article. And that’s the psychology of most readers online. So make your sentences and paragraphs short. If your sentences are longer than 20 words, cut them up into two sentences. You can also add lists and bullet points. And, use subheadings that will attract readers when they scan articles, just like I have done with this article.
6. Front-load your point. When you make readers wade through paragraph after paragraph of unrelated anecdotes before you get to your point, you’ve lost your audience’s attention. Yes, Mark Twain pulled that stunt all the time. But, your name is not Mark Twain. You want to tease your readers with bits of information they need to know. This way they’ll stick around to the end. They’ll then want to click on the link in your “About the Author” section and buy your products or services.
7. Simplify. Worried you’re not using the right words? Use simpler words. Worried that your sentences are not clear? Make simpler sentences. Worried that people won’t see your point? Make your point simpler. Make things simpler and your writing problems will vanish. That’s why every newspaper in the world is written so a sixth grader can understand. I’m not telling you to boil everything down to “see spot run” simplicity. But, if you can’t make people understand what you write, it’s not because the world is filled with morons. It’s because your messages are not clear.

These are just some of the tips found in my Complete A to Z Article Marketing System at http://www.BroadcastYourArticles.com This easy system has helped hundreds of people just like you get articles get read from top to bottom. Follow my article writing advice and you will get more online publicity, website traffic and profits!

About the Author
Article Marketing Expert Eric Gruber has helped of thousands of experts just like you boost traffic, get more leads and increase sales. Go to http://www.BroadcastYourArticles.com and let Your Article Marketing Expert take you by the hand & teach you step-by-step, how to write your way to profits!

By Michael Fleischner

After you’ve selected the keywords you want to optimize your website for, you need to focus on what is called on-page optimization. On page optimization is what you do on your website pages to improve organic rankings. The good news is that through years of research and experimentation I have identified the most important on page factors for improving organic rankings.

There are variety of optimization factors to consider when optimizing your web pages. I have found three factors in particular to have more of an impact than others when correlating them to search engine rankings. In particular, meta tags, URL structure, and page load speed all have a direct impact on search engine rankings for particular keywords or keyword phrases.

Meta tags are important to web site rankings because they provide some basic information to search engine spiders. Meta tags need to be formatted correctly to enhance search engine rankings. My research as shows that meta tags by themselves cannot radically improve rankings. It is my belief that meta tags may be used to verify other aspects of your website and are important for getting users to click through from search engine results.

The best formatted meta tags should include a title tag that includes the keywords that you are trying to optimize for. It is recommended that the size of the title tag is sixty or fewer characters as this is the limit shown on Google search results. The second meta tag is the description tag which should be limited to fewer than one hundred and fifty characters and repeat your keyword phrase no more than two times.

The last meta tag worthy of description is the keyword tag. I see this tag misused all too often and it may actually be hurting your search engine rankings. When using a keyword tag, focus on only a dozen of your most important and highly trafficked keywords. Search engines should know that you are an authority site and worthy of top rankings. Do your research and only include the keywords that truly matter. You can also evaluate the sites in the top positions and model their keywords as long as they are included on your web site or blog.

Once you have your meta tags within your web page code it’s time to focus on the next on page optimization factor. The load time of your web pages matter a great deal to Google and other search engines. Not only does your web page need to be formatted correctly but it needs to load quickly. Fast loading web sites mean a better user experience. Search engines like Google reward you for providing the right information quickly to web site browsers. Keep load times to a minimum and continually work to improve the speed at which your site loads.

The third and certainly one of the most important factors is URL structure. It is true that having your keyword in the URL helps but it is not the only or the most heavily weighed optimization factor by Google. There are plenty of examples of sites that include the keyword in the URL being outranked by other web sites. If you can purchase a URL that has your keyword in it though, consider it advantageous. If you are unable to do so, consider adding a folder or page to your site that includes the keyword you want to optimize your site for. A good example would be www.sample.com/keyword. By doing so you are placing your keyword close to the root and giving it more value. Also consider a sub domain strategy.

Before you begin any search engine optimization effort, evaluate your web site, landing page, or blog from the perspective of meta tags, load speed, and URLs. There are additional on page factors we’ll discuss in the next lesson, but the three mentioned herein are vitally important to your search engine optimization success.

Glorifying the supposed arrival of art direction on the web is one of the latest trends in interactive design. There are several galleries devoted to it. There’s even a plug-in for it. Sadly, many designers don’t understand the difference between design and art direction; sadder still, many art directors don’t either: Art direction gives substance to design. Art direction adds humanity to design.

Art direction is not a “blogazine”

The Death of the Blog Post popularizes the “blogazine,” an amalgam of a magazine article and a blog post. The article posits that the featured designers have broken new ground, and have started to bring “art direction” to the web. That description reduces art direction to little more than a unique design for each blog post. The term blogazine is an embarrassment to art directors everywhere. It’s like saying, “Look! This blog is like a magazine because every post is different!” Often, the “blogazines” simply contain dressed up blog posts.

Magazines don’t set out to simply decorate stories individually. Their goal is to combine visual imagery and language to enhance the story’s meaning. Design variations are a result of that desire, not a cause in and of itself. On a magazine staff, art directors and copywriters spend a tremendous amount of time brainstorming different ways to enhance a story, from choosing the design style, selecting related content features, and honing the story’s tone of voice.

To translate that process to the practice of web design, we need different frameworks to give us flexibility within a given format. Custom fields for styles within content management systems at the individual post level are a start. However, the ability to write custom CSS doesn’t automatically mean a blog post has been art directed. Art direction transcends custom blog posts. It is something different and extraordinary. Art direction elevates and enhances meaning.

Is and is not

Art direction brings clarity and definition to our work; it helps our work convey a specific message to a particular group of people. Art direction combines art and design to evoke a cultural and emotional reaction. It influences movies, music, websites, magazines—just about anything we interact with. Without art direction, we’re left with dry, sterile experiences that are easily forgotten. Can a New York subway ad about the homeless provoke you to donate money? Why do you want to beg Clarice Starling to turn around, even though you know she can’t hear you? How do candles transform a regular meal into a romantic evening? Art direction is about evoking the right emotion, it’s about creating that connection to what you’re seeing and experiencing.

By contrast, design is the technical execution of that connection. Do these colors match? Is the line-length comfortable for long periods of reading? Is this photo in focus? Does the typographic hierarchy work? Is this composition balanced?

If I tell my wife that I love her, but say it with a frown on my face, she’ll get mixed signals. If I say it nonchalantly while watching TV, she might not fully believe it. But when I say it with a genuine smile and a bouquet of flowers, my meaning is clear. In this example, my love is the art direction, while my smile and the deep red color of the roses are the design. They work hand-in-hand to deliver the point emotionally and physically. Design is perfection in technique; art direction is about the important, yet sometimes intangible emotion that powers the design.

Here are a few suggestions on how to approach design and art direction, as you discern the differences in your own work:

Don’t take my word for it

I asked a few friends to weigh in on the differences between design and art direction. Here’s what they had to say:

Design is about problem-solving, whether you are a designer or an art director. The two roles differ in that the designer is more concerned with execution, while the art director is concerned with the strategy behind that execution.”

—Phil Coffman, Art Director, Springbox

Design is the how. It’s the foundation of all communication, the process and production of typography, color, scale, and placement. Art direction is the why. It’s the concept and decisions that wrap itself around the entire product.

“Outside of this, it’s involvement, perception, and politics.”

—Jarrod Riddle, Sr. Art Director, Big Spaceship

The act of designing is different from the act of art directing. Art Directors are supposed to provide the concept. Designers are supposed to bring ideas to the table and implement the concept. However, it is important to point out that it is almost never that black and white. Designers do art direct and art directors do design.

“In my experience, the process is much more collaborative. The ideas inform the concept and vice versa.”

—JD Hooge, Design Director, Gridplane

Art direction is a filter for making judgments; you pass every design choice through it. Start by determining the overall emotion. All the copy, photography, UI elements, buttons, and the kitchen sink should be pinged against this ideal. I like to think of it as the Magic Kaleidoscope Looking Glass. It helps to determine which path I need to take when struggling with design decisions.

—Christopher Cashdollar, Creative Director, Happy Cog

Three hats

I used to teach graphic design at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia. In an assignment I borrowed from Happy Cog Creative Director Christopher Cashdollar, I had students select slips of paper from each of three hats. The first hat contained the assignment, the second hat contained various design elements, and the third hat held the art direction. A student’s assignment might be a homepage redesign for the graphic design department. The design direction might specify dark colors and Swiss typography, while the art direction specifies “happy” and “cheerful.” Another student might get design elements that include an earthy color palette and script typefaces to create a menu for a restaurant whose art direction is elite and formal.

Fig. 1 A formulaic approach to teaching the difference between art direction and design yielded some interesting results for these students. 

More a theoretical exercise than a practical one, the students started to develop a feel for what were more natural combinations: Bright colors are easier to work with for happy pieces. A script typeface is a design element that naturally makes a piece feel formal.

More importantly, the students started to understand the unusual and exciting possibilities of uncommon combinations. How can you create a happy website with dark colors? You might create a unique illustration style that bridges the two. How do you make a formal-looking brochure without a script typeface? Try moderately sized, light serif type on a dark background with ornaments. Though these are stereotypical examples, the students developed a sense of how to make the world see what they wanted it to see, despite working within tight constraints. Art direction transcends constraints; in fact, it thrives within them.

Poorly designed, well art-directed

Do an image search for the term “happy birthday.” You’ll find some of the most horrendous design crimes ever committed: Exceedingly offensive color schemes. Repulsive typography. Clip art graveyards.

Yet, they all get the point across: Fun, celebration, and happiness. Most are poorly designed, but we all intrinsically know how to art direct a birthday card. It’s no coincidence that they all gravitate toward similar color palettes, typography, and messaging—if you can even call it that. The obvious joyful art direction all but dictates the design elements. Design fundamentals like grid systems and the Golden Ratio aren’t exactly household terms, but most people implicitly understand art direction.

Fig. 2 The design makes my eyes bleed, but the art direction is spot on. 

On art directors

The widely varying role of “art director” adds to the confusion around the difference between art direction and design. At one extreme, some agencies hire art directors who are terrible at design but understand it well enough to give direction to designers. On the other hand, some agencies have “art director” as the next logical pay grade in the path to become an experienced designer. Most workplaces are somewhere in between.

Many smaller agencies don’t employ an art director for many reasons. That fact misleads us into thinking that art direction is an optional part of the creative process. However, the opposite is true. Art direction is so crucial that it is never skipped, only inadvertently and subconsciously performed by designers who often aren’t ready for that type of responsibility.

In their excellent book Art Direction Explained, At Last!, Steven Heller and Veronique Vienne distill the job of an art director:

Art directors must do one fundamental activity: they must ‘direct.’ If they fail to do this, they are not art directors. While this should not imply that art directors must exhibit arrogance or rigidity, it does mean that they have ‘the divine right of expertise.’ The art director may not always have the final say… but he or she should remain the ultimate arbiter of art and design… The first rule is making decisions, the second is making the right decisions…

“Every art director should start with the belief that his or her job is to lead not follow, direct not be directed, and be as great as possible and not settle for the line of least resistance.”

Look and feel

I was once part of a design process where several designers pitched independent concepts to the same client. Built on a freelance model, we made our process non-hierarchical—more collaborative than competitive—but we often lacked a cohesive vision on each project.

Each designer was responsible for the art direction and design (not to mention creative direction, a separate topic entirely) of our respective comps. As a young designer, I had a strong grasp of the elements needed to compose an appropriate design: Color, typography, layout, and the like. But I lacked the experience to be a good art director, especially to art direct myself. Without an art director to oversee my work, I produced well-designed pieces that were poorly art directed.

Many consider “look and feel” to be synonyms instead of complements, treating them interchangeably. Creating a design is creating the “look.” The “feel,” however, warrants specific attention from a seasoned art director to ensure that the message isn’t compromised.

Fig. 3 Thank goodness the client had the wisdom to reject my comp. While the design may be well-executed—ample typographic hierarchy, harmonious color schemes, strict grid, dynamic composition—the art direction isn’t quite appropriate for this nonprofit. It’s too trendy, the hero piece in the header drives home an awkward point, and the paint splatters really have nothing to do with the brand. 

The New York Times website has the same art direction today as it had in 1997: Minimal and unobtrusive, it allows the reader to objectively interpret the stories with little influence from the visuals. The design may have evolved over the years, but the art direction persists. When I asked former NY Times Design Director Khoi Vinh about it, he emphasized the need to update the design while keeping the art direction peripheral:

Once a month, once a week, even once a day is a rate that humans can sustain. That’s not the case anymore; digital publishing happens as quickly as it can, as often as it can, constantly. That’s not a human schedule, that’s a machine schedule, and it makes excessive art direction economically untenable.”

Fig. 4 As the minimal art direction has remained constant, the New York Times design has been updated over the years to adapt to the changing need of its readers. 

Valuing moments

We’re not art directing any more than we used to. Steven Hay’s article, Art Direction on the Web applies just as much now as it did six years ago. But, we are paying attention to how we’re saying what we want to say at a more granular level. We’ve all but perfected the art of designing templates—that is, designing the framework around what we want to say—but we’re still relearning how to design pages and create moments. In his 8 Faces interview, Ian Coyle says:

I realised the power of actually creating a moment: a moment to pause, a moment to read, a moment to reflect. In any song—in any piece of art—you can’t have all high notes. You need to have moments when people can listen to it or get excited. Even moments of silence.”

This is where art direction thrives: deciding which moments to scream from the mountaintops and which moments to keep as secrets.

Done right

We’ve defined art direction, but what does it look like in practice? It’s quite compelling when you find a piece where the story and design support each other and allow the concept to shine through. Though few and far between, great art direction and design on the web isn’t unattainable.

Fig. 5 Launchlist: a winning combination of art direction, copy, and design. 

Consider Launchlist, a “one stop website checklist” you can use to make sure your website launches go smoothly. The space shuttle launch metaphor informs us of the decisions behind the feel, the look, and the messaging. The sky-like backdrop and slow-moving clouds aren’t an arbitrary (or gimmicky) choice. The interface’s metallic color scheme suggests a physical console. Clever yes/no sliders instead of checkboxes feel like you’re completing a process rather than toggling a default browser element. Status messages, including “launch not advisable” or “go for launch” reinforce the simulated mission control environment. All of the details elevate the experience.

This is a great example of art direction, in that it engages our imagination. If we can do that for anyone that interacts with what we create, we’ve done much more for them than we could have hoped.

Changes lives

When my grandfather died, I wrote about it. I wanted to share my memories of his life. I considered the art direction, the mood of what I wanted to say: Reflective, somber, reverent. I wanted to create a digital memorial.

I have a system for my site—strict templates that limit much flexibility—so I worked within those constraints. Instead of creating large tabloid-esque headlines like I normally do, I set this headline moderately in small caps and increased the amount of space around it. I didn’t need to do anything drastic with colors, layout, or imagery. I simply modified my design in subtle ways to accommodate the change in this post’s art direction.

I didn’t just want to change the design for its own sake. I wanted my readers to understand how special my grandfather was to me. I wanted to convey my thoughts and feelings in a compelling way, and to change their lives, even if in a small way. I wanted them to empathize with me, to be a part of the moment with me. Art direction, not just design, is what made all the difference.

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article by Dan Mall | alistapart.com

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