Businesses are now looking beyond simple brochure-ware sites. Many are looking beyond gimmicky animations and focusing on showing the character of their organization. Further still, businesses are finding ways to service customers, deliver product, as well as improve internal workflow with their websites. It is different for each business, but the smart ones look for process efficiency, something that software does well.
Mobile use of the Internet is a big deal, but it isn't simply making a website mobile friendly. If there isn't a reason that people would go to a website on a mobile phone, then they probably won't. Even smartphones with large screen still have small screens compared to a tablet, laptop or desktop machine. You cannot ignore mobile, but rather have a real business reason to create a mobile interface.
What are the biggest mistakes businesses make in web development?
I'll give you two: First, businesses don't clearly define the desired audience. It doesn't have to be a single person, but rarely is it the owner or CEO of the company itself. Your potential audience clearly wants an answer, and that audience makes the rules. These audiences have particular tasks that they want to do. The website to reduce the friction of those tasks.
Second, businesses don't understand how collaborative a web project should be. It's a collaboration within the organization and with the web development company. And I mean the whole organization, not just sales and marketing. Get product development, customer service, and even accounting into the mix. Healthy collaboration will enable inexpensive projects to really blossom beyond the dollars and time spent. Sure it slows the process down a little bit, but it is a trade-off for creating something truly unique for the business.
How important is social media to a business...really?
How important was the phone when it was a novel invention? 20 years ago businesses didn't care about email. Humans want to communicate and our evolution has been about making communication richer and more real time. Social networks are an evolutionary step in communication. So whether you choose to listen or not doesn't matter. Communication will continue to evolve.
What surprises me is how so many businesses aren't learning to listen to conversations on the Internet as part of their ongoing efforts. Ideas can come from everywhere. I've gotten some of my best ideas from looking at support forums for some random product that I use. I see people talking about a situation and I realize that our business has a similar challenge, and now a new approach is obvious. Learning to actively listen is key.
Why should every company - almost - know Google AdWords?
Get rid of the almost. Google AdWords are predictable and measurable. You bid on a keyword, and you only pay when someone clicks. You set your own budget. Facebook's ads are similar: you only pay when someone clicks. I'm not saying that every business should or needs to do pay-per-click advertising, but it is a much simpler and more reliable way that customers can show up at your website. I don't think that "experts" will do significantly better managing Google AdWords than you can do yourself. It takes a little bit of training and understanding of the system, but once you have that, your money goes to the clicks directly, rather than through a middleman.
What are the questions you get most from business professional today, in terms of their website and social media activities?
I often get asked about what is the next big wave. It's the crystal ball question and it is impossible to answer, but fun to make interesting guesses. The other big question is about how Google works; everyone wants an edge and they want it to be free. Rather than looking to the SEO "experts," I look at what problems the Google engineers are trying to solve. What I recommend has more to do with creating the most comprehensive yet efficient representation of your business on the Internet. It's what creates lasting results, but it is really hard and demands patience.
Where you always such a techy guy?
Yep, definitely. My father was a computer scientist. As a kid, technology was everywhere. It wasn't special, it was abundant. So I never developed any fear toward technology. Instead, it was always about how I could use technology to be more creative. I've always thought that if Mozart or Leonardo DaVinci or Ansel Adams had access to the tools that we have now, the results would have been even more amazing that we could imagine. Mozart would have loved using Garageband on the iPad.
If you could take a digital picture of any tree, what kind of digital camera would you use?
I'd grab my trusty Canon 5D mkII. It was my father's camera, and I feel a connection with him every time I pick it up. I've never even had to adjust the strap on the hand grip.
What is your favorite Apple product or service?
(Great question since I have practically all of them, heh heh.) I get the most pleasure from using my iMac workstation. Everything creative happens on that machine. My iPhone and iPad are great, as are the other Apple products that I have. But whether I'm working in Photoshop, or writing code, or writing music, my souped up iMac workstation makes it easy to get the ideas from my head and into something real.
What shocks you most about businesses, when it comes to their websites and social media practices today?
It shocks me when businesses treat the Internet as a 1-way communication tool. It's not a TV commercial or an ad in a newspaper or a brochure. The very existence of the Internet started as 2-way communication. So when a business talks about "controlling the message," I know that they don't understand how the Internet works. The only way to get your message to spread is to have a message worth spreading and a great understanding of the natural operations of your prospective customer community. Repeating the same message "Hey, click my link because I'm awesome" every hour or minute doesn't work, but I see people do that every day.
If you could save three words about social media, imagine you have to yell up to a fleet of business professionals taking off in a helicopter, and you have to get one fast message to them to advise them on their social media strategy, would would you scream out?
Four words and I'll shout quickly: Operate Openly, Listen Carefully.
Special thanks to Howard Yermish for being absolutely fantastic!
Visit howard@howardyermish.com and LIKE! Howard Yermish on FACEBOOK.
Howard has been involved with computers since the age of 4 and professionally involved in Internet development since 1993. Before starting his own company in 1996, he worked at w3-design of Culver City, CA, a web development company with clients such as AOL, Disney, Mattel, and Microsoft. His company 7 Pixels Interactive, which specialized in website strategy, design and development, focused on the small to medium sized businesses and included a wide range of clients. In early 2004, Howard merged his company with World Wide Web Communications and was appointed Vice President of Strategic Development.
In late 2008, Howard stepped away from World Wide Web Communications to go back to work closely with small and medium enterprises as a consultant. In addition, he has taught courses and seminars in web development for the executive MBA program and undergraduate level students at Saint Joseph’s University in Philadelphia, PA. Howard’s company was named the 2011 “New Voice Award” winner for the Burlington County Chamber of Commerce’s Voice of Business Awards. Howard is an active speaker and writer on topics relating to online strategy and marketing, productivity and information technology. Howard is also on the board of directors for the Burlington County Chamber of Commerce.
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