“Print is dead.” This statement has been highly debated over the last decade as digital media and digital marketing has been on the rise. Print is becoming an underrated, but important-as-ever tool in marketing businesses and organizations. A study on the effectiveness of print media done by Millward Brown Digital found that brand favorability was 14% for a campaign when using a mix of print and digital methods, compared to 7% when using only digital. The various advantages of print design can be combined with those of digital to create a comprehensive, effective marketing campaign.

Advantages of Print Design

Advantage #1: Voice of Authority

There has been a rising trend for people to discredit information found on the web as fake news if the content is unique, surprising, or controversial. By creating content in print, it becomes more trusted by consumers. There are more barriers to entry to create a piece of content than just throwing something together for a blog site. Print content tells the consumer that the company is putting more time into generating content, thereby increasing the content’s and organization’s authority.

Advantage #2: Stands Out

As mentioned in the opening paragraph, there is a heavy debate about whether print is dead because of the sheer volume of digital content that exists. Amidst all of the social media updates and e-cards your inbox is piling up with, a postcard mailed to you can stand out. Print content offers the advantage of overcoming the noise and commanding your attention.

Advantage #3: Easy Comprehension

When it comes to reading for comprehension and remembering key details, not just highlights, print media trumps digital. With digital content, there is more going on and more options. Consumers are more likely to want to click to the next page or become distracted by an incoming notification. When holding print content, all of the focus is on the pamphlet, brochure, or postcard. This grabs one’s focus and attention, leading to higher comprehension later on.

Advantage #4: Sticks Around

Digital content will only be around until one’s inbox gets too full or new content shows up on one’s Facebook feed. Print content has a longer shelf-life and will stick around longer. Value can be extracted for more than just a few days. With the easier comprehension and longer shelf-life, consumers will be able to get all of the value out of a print design, rather than just what they can retain in a day or so.

How to Easily Integrate Print Design

Clearly, there are many advantages to print design that extend even beyond what is mentioned above. Not only are the advantages numerous, but they are easy to incorporate into a campaign and combine with digital designs.

When creating a brand it is important to present it in a way that is going to resonate with the target audience. Print media can accomplish this, the way it did for Gil Meyer. Blue Blaze worked with Gil Meyer, former Director of Global Issues & Crisis Management at DuPont, to launch Sparke LLC and publish his book “Corporate Smokejumper: Criss Management — Tools, Tales, and Techniques.” After working specifically in Crisis Management for 12 years with DuPont, publishing Gil’s book only gave him added credibility on the subject.

Simultaneously, Blue Blaze helped Gil launch Sparke LLC – his website and his brand. This helped him establish a solid platform for promoting not only his book, which was also available as an ebook, but also his presence as a speaker in the professional community. By being active on his blog and creating a platform where one could subscribe for updates, digital content worked with the print design to elevate Gil’s brand.

Print design is as alive as ever as it continues to combine with digital content. By incorporating print design into a campaign, it increases the authority, creativity, readability, and longevity. Blue Blaze provides expertise on how to design the most effective print design and incorporate into an already-existing brand. 

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a term that is often thrown around without actually being fully understood. Blue Blaze’s services include helping companies with Search Engine Optimization, but if one doesn’t have a full understanding of what SEO is, then how will you know if you need our help with it? First, we will offer a concise, simplistic definition of SEO and then break it down into the most important parts. Then, talk about an available tool to help anyone get started with SEO.

Defining Search Engine Optimization

Search Engine Optimization is the art and science of creating a webpage that will receive a high search engine ranking. This means generating a high amount of organic, or non-paid, search results. It is important to pay attention to SEO because it provides a key way to generate attention on the internet.

Essentially, SEO revolves around creating the best-designed website that Google and other search engines will pick-up promote to the top of search results. Typically people do not look past the first page or so of Google results, so it is important to do everything possible to get on that first page. Search engines are trying to generate the most helpful search results for people, so they try to understand websites and how they relate to one another.

There are many different aspects of a search engine’s system that contribute to SEO, so below is a list of some of the key aspects that are most important for companies to consider.

Key Aspects of SEO YOU Can Control

Title and Meta Description

The title tag or page title is a very important element of your site’s SEO. The title of your page will help search engines figure out what your content is about and is returned in search results. Page titles should include the primary keyword(s) for that page and your site's branding.

The Meta Description is a short, concise blurb describing your page’s content, it’s seen directly under the title on most search results.

Content

The content of your site is also a strong consideration in SEO. Each page of your site, when possible, should focus on a single topic with use of your primary and secondary keywords throughout. This doesn’t mean you should “stuff” your content with nonsense. Page content should be useful, high quality, and unique.

Focus on a Niche

Search engines do not want to see a bunch of “popular” keywords thrown onto a website for no reason. They would rather see a very in-depth and thorough page on one topic. If the website is for a Marketing company who offers services in SEO, they are not just going to talk about marketing, marketing, marketing, but they’ll also go in-depth on topics like SEO.

Alt Tags on Images

Providing images on your site with alternative text is not only a part of making your website accessible to visually impaired users who may use screen readers, alt tags also provide a description to search engines to properly index images. Alt text also appears in the browser window if your images don’t load. Alt text should be descriptive and provide context and are a great place to use keywords.

For example, <img src= “winola.jpg” alt= “granola with yogurt”> is okay but a better alternative would be <img src= “winola.jpg” alt= “House-made granola with yogurt and fresh fruit from our breakfast menu.”> It’s more descriptive, includes a possible keyword “breakfast,” and gives some context.

Links

When one webpage links to another page, this is usually a recommendation, telling the search engine that a website is popular and credible. Search engines also take into account how trustworthy the websites providing the links are. The more trustworthy a site that provides a link is, the more weight it receives in a search engine algorithm.

An example of good quality linking is to feature links from your site to news articles about your business. Quality inbound links could come from being listed in business directories, “best of” lists, or even social media sites like Linkedin and Yelp.

The Role of Google Analytics

Google Analytics is a very simple and helpful tool that can be a good starting place for someone who is new to paying attention to SEO. Most websites have the capability to link up to Google Analytics but don’t. Google Analytics allows people to check the traffic to their website and then adjust their SEO strategy accordingly. They’ll provide information on how many visitors a site is getting from month to month, what keywords bring people there, and the different referrals that bring in traffic to your website.

SEO can be overwhelming at first, but luckily by just addressing the basics, it is possible to make major progress on a site’s strategy. There are experienced people everywhere to help develop SEO plans. 

Technology, styles, and brands all change and evolve over time and it is important that a company’s website design keeps up with those changes. However, it can be overwhelming to determine when is the right time for a website refresh versus a redesign. Knowing the difference can help a company get the services they need at the right time. Defining a Website Refresh A website refresh leaves the core of the website intact while updating the look of the site. This would be comparable to painting the walls of a house or getting new furniture. The house itself- the walls and rooms- stays intact, but by doing something as simple as painting a maroon wall yellow, it can completely brighten up the house’s interior. When to Website Refresh Website refreshing is convenient because it is relatively easy to implement quickly and inexpensively. It is important to refresh your website regularly. A good rule of thumb is to update your website about half-way between redesigns or every one to two years. Following this guideline helps keep your designs fresh and your brand consistent. It is important to keep in mind that if you need to do a website redesign, a website refresh will not suffice and it will end up costing you more money in the long-run. Essentially, even if you don’t have the time, money, or need for a full redesign, you should regularly do website refreshes. For example, Blue Blaze worked with the Delaware Museum of Natural History to create a website refresh. The general format of the website is still intact, but the fonts and colors are made more modern and exciting from the before photo (left) and the after photo (right). The refresh added the dark blue bar across the top with a search function, social media links, address, and phone number. The content on the homepage was reorganized to prioritize information and interior pages were also redesigned to make them easier to read. Defining Website Redesign Website redesign completely changes the way the website functions. This would impact how easy it is to add various content and images. For example, a redesign of a house would be completely tearing down the house and starting from the ground up. When to Website Redesign If your current site doesn’t have a content management system or the CMS is hard to use, it may be time for a redesign. Problems in functionality, such as high bounce or abandon rate, could be a clue that it is time for an overhaul of the site. This can be pricey, but if you keep putting it off it could end up being even pricer. It is also beneficial to do a redesign to make your site responsive to all browsers and devices. Addressing all the problems that a website redesign fixes will also help your SEO, which is an added benefit. A website redesign should be done, or at the very minimum considered, every three years to make sure your website has the highest possible functionality. Blue Blaze also worked with Delaware Nursery & Landscape Association (DNLA) to do a complete redesign of their website. The new design is adaptable to being viewed on different devices and leverages images of nurseries and gardens as strong visual elements (right) rather than small background images, (left). The logo is the same, but the images, font, content, menu, and essentially all the design aspects are different. Along with an overhaul of the visual design, the site has additional functionality for members and the public. Members can join and renew through the website, pay online, and create and maintain a profile page for their business. The member directory is available to the public and is searchable by company, location, or services. Website redesigns and refreshes are important for companies to consider regularly to stay up-to-date and provide clients with an easy and accessible web page to visit