And while I have no arguments about how helpful and resourceful this article is with regard to Non-profit Website Design, I do believe these best practices can be repurposed for nearly any organization looking to build a new Web site or update their current one.

A listing of Best Practices for Non-Profit Web sites are as follows:

1. Make your site donor-friendly
2. Make Your Site Media-Friendly
3. Make Your Site Volunteer-Friendly
4. Make Sure Your Organization’s Purpose is Immediately Apparent
5. Make Sure Your Content Takes Center Stage
6. Make Sure Your Website is Consistent with Your Other Promotional Materials
7. Know Your Site’s Purpose Up Front
8. Include a News Section or Blog

Find a breakdown for organizations that are not non-profit, on how to utilize these same Website best practices for your own company below.

Read the original and full article here.

If YOU ARE NOT A NON-PROFIT organization, here are some Web site Key Takeaways and Thoughts from this article that can be utilized for your company:

• Make your site donor-friendly

Whether you are collecting donations, selling a product or providing information your site needs to be easy to navigate and checkout. The checkout process can be collecting donations, moving consumers through an actual purchase process, or requiring them to sign up for a webinar, or fill out information to download a whitepaper - you need to make it easy and requiring too many steps and requesting unnecessary information can mean losing that potential customer.

• Make Sure Your Organization’s Purpose is Immediately Apparent and Know Your Site’s Purpose Upfront

If visitors cannot figure out the purpose of your company or what you offer they cannot be turned into prospective customers. A cute logo and clever tagline won’t cut it. Make sure to include clear precise copy on all pages that informs visitors of what you offer, how to get more information and how it all works.

• Make Sure Your Content Takes Center Stage

Content does not equal copy. Content refers to copy, videos, blogs, Flash elements, images, and other types of media. Consider the types of audiences coming to your site and the best forms of content to include on your site that appeal to many types of personas. From researcher to purchaser, focus on the main types of personas interested in your product or service offering and appeal to their purchase process. What key pieces of information need to be present to get them to the desired action (e.g. requesting more information, signing up for a trial or demo, checking out). Different pieces of content appeal to different users and finding the right mix of content while balancing design and creating clear goal/conversion paths is no small challenge. Measure and test everything.

• Make Sure Your Website is Consistent with Your Other Promotional Materials

Take a hard and fast look at all on and offline materials. Cost efficiencies can be saved across the board by picking standard sizes, having image libraries, and all departments working from the same pool of resources. This ensures consistency across the board and that is the number one rule - consistency makes for success. Your brand identity will also be salvaged. In addition, make sure someone is assigned to managing your Web site and that they are made aware of all marketing initiatives both on and offline. There is nothing worse than having a press release sent out over the Internet and then visiting the actual company Web site for more information and there is little to no information on the product or service that was promoted, let alone the press releases hasn’t even been posted to the company site. You miss out on great search engine visibility opportunities by missing on such a simple web update.

• Include a News Section or Blog

Don’t miss out on opportunities to become an authority in your area. You don’t always have to be promoting your products or services, think inside your box but with regard to end-user. What problems do they encounter that your product or service might help solve? Blogs and News Sections are opportunities to take advantage of ongoing search engine visibility as well as deliver valuable and relevant information to your audiences. They keep your site current and fresh and provide valuable insight into your companies work ethic and level of service.

I started using Twitter a little over a year and a half ago. I know many addicted, veteran, and first time Twitter users. I’ve identified what I believe to be the 10 Steps to Twitter Enlightenment. Basically, the many phases we go through from first starting to use Twitter through to a somewhat enlightened perspective on how influential the tool can be used within our every day lives - both personally and professionally. I’d love to hear additional perspectives or experiences on your evolution of Twitter communication so please chime in.

Step 1: You’ve signed up and created a Twitter name
Congratulations. I’m sure this step took the longest, and you’ve signed up because you’ve either given in to the peer pressure of other folks asking you to get on Twitter or your curiosity finally caught up with you. Either way, you’ve done it. You have signed up for Twitter. Now what?

Step 2: “No one is following me, and who should I follow.”
No one is following you. You know someone, so you follow them, then look at their list of followers and then follow them. 6 hours later you realize you have accomplished little and have learned even less, but the nasty cycle continues and you are now following 50 more people.

Step 3: Forced Twittering.
You think “What do I do? No one is following me. Well, maybe one person.” You have this overwhelming urge to participate so you start Twittering. Your first Twitter is probably something like “I am using Twitter” or “I am drinking coffee” or “eating cheese.” But now you feel inadequate, because you’re thinking “does anyone really care if I am eating cheese?” And, the answer sadly is “No.” But hey, kudos to you, you have made your first Tweet.

Step 4: Obligation to Tweet something relevant and valuable and often.
Step 5: You hate Twitter. It’s stupid.
Step 6: You keep seeing weird symbols like RT, @, and #
Steps 4, 5, and 6 all seem to happen at the same time. While the obligation to Tweet something relevant and valuable becomes frustrating, your frustration is only further increased by your lack of participation and inundation of Twitters you keep receiving. You are conflicted with figuring out how many times to “check your Twitter” account and realize it cannot be scheduled and you will miss something if it is not checked several times per day. You become annoyed by others who are using RT and @ and #. You don’t understand what the buzz is all about and resort to “Twitter is stupid.” But you are not ready to give up, so you start investigating how to use: @, RT, DM, and #. (Read this ultimate article in Twitter shorthand, tools, and codes).

Step 7: “You mean, I don’t have to post from Twitter.com?”
During your investigation you realize that RT, @, and # enable you to interact without having to be totally original. :). Then you stumble upon or learn from friends that you don’t need to have your browser open to Twitter all day long, but instead you can use phone applications like Twitterberry and desktop applications like Tweetdeck.

Step 8: Obsession. New world created.
You become obsessed with following people and you start to discover that there is a whole world that has been created around Twitter. From brightkite to twitpic, to cool crazy sites (these are just the tip of the iceberg) and realize that your Facebook and Friendfeed can be updated automatically through Twitter. You start to become obsessed with retweetrank and twittergrader, and the list goes on and on.

Step 9: Oh, Twitter is used for Communication AND Information?
After Step 8 you realize you’ve got to cut back on your Twittering and start to think of how Twitter can be used to your advantage. You’ve entered the information gathering and communication phase. You realize after following for a few weeks, months, etc. that there is valuable and timely information to be gained and researched. That there are major folks professionally and personally that you can learn from. You have now been enlightened by the “Twitterness” (defined as the greatness of Twitter). How could you have ever gone through Step 5 of hating Twitter? You are truly enlightened by the power and realize how informative all the folks you are following are.

Step 10: The great are followed. The great will be followed.
You’ve started following folks who are relevant and valuable to you (professionally or as it pertains to your personal beliefs, values, etc.) You want to learn about a new industry or a new passion, and are excited that it is easy to connect. And sometimes when you complain or praise a company you get a response back, quickly.

You have now reached enlightenment, but I am sure there is more to come.
Tell us about your journey to Twitter Enlightenment.

Follow us on Twitter @libertyt

Other interesting Twitter Articles:
Twitter Attitudes
Top 21 Twitter Applications
47 Awesome Twitter Tools You Should be Using
58 Twitter Innovations

While commonplace, the “monthly newsletter” still remains highly popular and organizations are still continuing to move onto a more sophisticated email platform (e.g. they are stopping sending bulk email through Outlook) and looking to understanding how to manage their “lists.” If you are still struggling with making that first step of signing up with a professional email service provider I suggest making the decision quickly and moving quickly.

Your competition most likely has already taken this step and is looking now towards changing up their program and staying current with trends, best practices, and coming up with innovative ways to stay current, relevant and valuable.

If your budget doesn’t afford you with the luxury of hiring a Internet Marketing firm to manage your email:

• Hire an Internet Marketing consultant to help you with your email marketing strategy and get your email marketing program set up so that you can manage it internally.
• Have your Internet marketing consultant help you put a plan in place for managing your company’s reputation both with email recipients and ISPs to ensure your message is getting delivered.
• Your consultant should ask you what available resources you have in-house and determine the best program and available options to achieve your desired outcome / goals.
• Request a plan for testing and optimizing your email campaigns, from template layout to frequency of send. Understanding your audience and how they react to the content they are receiving, how they are receiving it and when they are receiving it can help you develop a set of best practices for your company’s email marketing program.
• Schedule either monthly or quarterly meeting with your Internet marketing consultant to audit your campaigns and progress. Often times they will be able to help you with new ideas to refresh your campaigns with regard to content, segmentation, and building your list.
• Don’t be afraid to ask your email recipients how they want to receive communication, what type of content they would like and how often. You may find that you have two or more distinct groups within your audience and that different messages will encourage further engagement as well as show your recipients that you respect them by providing them with the information they want to receive.

Feel free to give us a call, we are happy to get you started.

Twitter added the following to the web version:
1. Post Embedded videos
2. Post Embedded photos
3. Retweet (RT) functionality
4. Shorten URL functionality
5. Rollover on profile “followers” - ability to see followers most recent tweets
6. Ability to search your own tweets

These are the only ones I have seen thus far, but the micro-blogging utility has a lot to glean from the many applications that have developed out of its phenomenon. From desktop applications like tweetdeck, iphone apps like tweetie, and even firefox add-ons like tweetthat it seems there is no end to how far developers and marketers can take it.

Here are a few examples of embedded videos:

Embedded images:

Follow me @libertyt

Wow, what an impact this made. Social networking has become more than just a way to get back in touch and stay in touch with friends, colleagues and family within seconds. Until now, it seemed it was just a better way to communicate, play, and interact quickly. And now, without thought before, an additional purpose was added. A living memorial.

As a friend of mine stated, the passing of our friend and the response and news of her death is a “stunning proof point as to how integrated social networking has become in our society.” Her page is now a living memorial. A way for us to tell her how much fun she was and how much she will be missed. A small note to her. What will happen to her profile? Will it continue to live on? Will friends and family visit this page and send notes to her throughout the years when some days are more painful than others? The answer is clear, yes. In the past few weeks people are still posting messages on her wall saying “I missed you today” and continue to tag her in images.

Social networking is nearly and literally a minute by minute update of our lives and in reality when we truly stop to understand what matters - we realize that all the little things and everything in between do not really matter. It is the moment that we are in now and the people we choose to share it with that matters most. Blogging, Social Networking, email, voicemail are all platforms for communication. Creating play by plays of what we are doing at that moment and lifecasting is no less prevalent in death than in life.

A friend of mine confessed that she emailed her dad the night he died - afterwards - even though she knew it would sit in his Inbox forever she said it was strangely comforting to do something so… normal.

Technology, although it may seem cold and sterile, really has given us a platform to reach out and to connect - even if it may be only to say goodbye and feel that sense of closure.

We’re offering up some basic tips on how to market smarter online and in-house:

• Fix the weaknesses. Invest time internally to understanding your weaknesses. Most of the time, when business is good we are too busy to fix those thorns in our sides that often reduce productivity, efficiency and creativity. A great place to start is your Web site. Review Web site statistics to see how people are getting to your site and review your conversion (sales) process online to see if it can be improved with regard to ease-of-use for the user. Understand your Web site’s visibility online, could you be getting streamlining your online efforts to get more targeted traffic and less riffraff?
• Become great at what you are now good at. Don’t change who you are, don’t try to be everything to everyone but focus on your specialty. We always jump at the chance to work with business that have a niche. Niche businesses thrive online because the Internet is the quickest and best way to find a specialty service or unique product. Folks looking for these niche products or services are more likely to engage with you, thus making it more likely to convert them into a sale or customer. The right mix of online marketing strategies coupled with a good online user experience creates a recipe for success.
• Find a way to change your messaging that still coincides with your brand without jeopardizing what you stand for AND find a way to change your messaging that demonstrates to clients the value of your product or service. A niche client of ours was toiling with the idea of adding a less expensive line to her product offering to accommodate for the down economy. Until now she only focused on offering boutique high-end products. In the end she decided this was not best for her company because this was not representative of her brand. She found a way to reach consumers by changing her messaging and providing reasons for why consumers should purchase this type of quality product in a down economy. Sales have continued to increase since November 2008.
• Work with smaller companies who specialize in specific areas like online marketing, specifically PPC management strategies. You’ll find that often times you will get better service, better results, and overall more value from your investment. Understand, especially with PPC management, that this is a “managed media” and not “placed media.” If you are spending less than $100k/month on PPC and your Internet Marketing agency or current service provider is taking a percentage of ad spend then consider that your first red flag. With smaller specialized Internet marketing companies you have a better chance of stretching your dollar and spending less to get more.
• Focus on relationship marketing. First focus on how much you know about your current and past customers. What are their needs and preferences? How can you adjust your product or service to meet their needs now? If you are suffering from a loss of staff, look to initiatives like email marketing, trigger emails and personalized (yet automated) customer service strategies to make a one-to-one connection with your customers. Invest in reviewing your site statistics to gain a basic understanding of what is and isn’t working so that you can make adjustments that will capture the right customer.
• Be innovative. “Why did so many great companies and products come from the Great Depression? While there’s no question that a bad economy makes it tougher to raise capital and launch new products, the reality is that good ideas executed well always have room to succeed. A different way to look at it, a shrinking wallet means that more attention is given to every purchase, and therefore the best customer value equation have a better chance of success during a downturn.” - Idris Mootee, FutureLab Read the post by FutureLab here.

While some small part of me has a bit of angst that a down economy (or recession) is what is causing more companies to move marketing dollars online, I also find this revelation among companies as a shining star in my future and in theirs. As a passionate Internet Marketer I have always thoroughly believed in the power of online marketing - if the strategy, management, and execution are all done well.

We have been fortunate to add new business and continue to grow our small yet powerful Internet Marketing company. In Q4 and into the first month of 2009 we have noticed several significant trends in the ways companies are doing business and shifting their marketing strategies which has made us successful in garnering new business.

Over the past six months we have seen the following:

• Companies are scrutinizing their budgets and their service providers. No surprise on the budget part, but the scrutinizing of service providers is. Companies are realizing that their service providers, with regard to online marketing, are saying they do it all but are falling short of providing results let alone showing any type of progress. They are realizing that online cannot be treated as traditional marketing - there are more mediums and channels to market online and each must be handled differently so it is important to have a service provider that understands the strengths and weaknesses of these disciplines.
• Many medium to large sized businesses are looking to smaller firms who specialize in online marketing, such as PPC strategy and management, SEO, and online media planning even email marketing strategies to focus on relationship marketing. Often times you’ll receive more intimate customer service and find that smaller specialty agencies provide better value and have a deeper understanding of your business resulting in a partnership and extension of your company versus “you are the client, we are the agency” mentality.
• Companies are realizing that Internet is playing a more significant role in their business and are taking more time to educate themselves on these tactics, whereas before companies would trust non-specialty agencies to run their online campaigns with no regard for measurement.
• Companies are making changes to their messaging that appeals to consumers needs today,, in a down economy versus delivering the same messaging and throwing more advertising dollars towards it. The right Internet Marketing firm can help uncover new trends with regard to keywords, visitor trends in searches, and behavior that will help guide this new messaging.

If you’re looking to get started or make a shift in online marketing service providers my first word of advice would be to outline your goals and objectives, know your budget, then understand what type of service provider you are looking for. Pick up the phone and contact a few local Phoenix internet marketing companies and start an initial conversation about your challenges, your objectives, and what you are looking to achieve.

Before you go launching your new Web site, ask your SEO and web development firm(s) if the following has been done before you flip that switch.  If your SEO or web development firm says no or “what are you talking about”, STOP RIGHT NOW. CALL US IMMEDIATELY AT 602-275-3935.

Checklist before you launch:

1. Tracking: Make sure all tracking codes are in place and have been tested on the new site. Missing a few days of tracking could mean missing a few days of knowing how the new Web site impacted visitor behavior and sales.

2. Redirect URLs: If your old site has a good history and has built up some good inbound links to interior pages, or even if it hasn’t and you just have a few inbound links - you still want to make sure you are preserving them when you move to the new site. Make sure old site URLs are mapped correctly so that search engines are notified and pages that are indexed can be appropriately redirected. If you don’t do this and the new site has a different URL structure, any old pages that were indexed in the search engines will send back a nice 404 error, not to mention you may have lost a few new customers.

3. Marketing: Do you have years of vanity domains that you used for marketing? Do you have landing pages that current online marketing or other offline marketing sends traffic too? Make sure these pages are not archived when the new site launches. Make a checklist (in addition to this one) that lists out all of these pages and domains, make sure you to notify your current SEO or web development company of these pages so that they can be moved seamlessly without worry of lost traffic or conversions.

4. Customer Database Management: Very very very very important. I remember when FoodTV and Allrecipes launched their new Web sites. I had my recipe box filled, sure I hadn’t been back in a couple of months but I used my profile and “favorite recipes” box a lot. I went back one day and they said my account didn’t exist. Imagine how upset I was, I had years of recipes that I had collected and without any regard for my feelings they just wiped them all away. They might as well have taken a baseball bat to their brand because that is how I felt about them. So “lesson learned” make sure you transfer all customer information over to any new databases, etc. Don’t throw out the baby with the bath water. Just because your data isn’t as clean as it should be, it is still data and you should hire someone or assign someone to take on that responsibility of organizing it. If your web development company says “let’s blow it up and start all over,” - DON’T LISTEN. Preserving customer information is vital and can save you from having to find a boat load of new customers because you decided to break up with your existing ones by changing the locks on the door. Your customer is your biggest asset, don’t forget that.

If you’d like consultation on any of the above, we are happy to help contact Liberty Interactive Marketing today.

1. Do track and monitor visitor behavior.

Studying your Web site visitor’s behaviors will enable you to determine what on the web site works in order to have visitors meet the objectives of your web site. Analyzing your web statistics on a regular basis will give you a better understanding of how to enhance or improve your site. Information such as referring keywords and referring sites can lead to opportunities that will increase your online presence. If you’re unsure how to get started, we recommend talking to your hosting provider to see what Web statistics tracking comes with your account, or use free analytics tools such as Google Analytics or AWStats, No site should be without these, and it is vital to your success online.

2. Do set online goals and objectives for your company or organization.

Ask yourself what goals you want to achieve for your company. It could be increasing sales leads, revenue, awareness, online visibility or trial downloads. Objectives for your company can be as simple as increasing more eyeballs to a specific page on your site, downloading a whitepaper, or making sure visitors can easily navigate their way through your sales process. If you don’t set goals or have an understanding of what your objectives are, your Web site is merely a glorified marketing brochure. Make your Web site accountable and put it to work for your business.

3. Don’t build a new Web site without first understanding what was working and what was not on the existing site.

Before you write that big check for a new site, it may be a good idea to understand the successes and failures of your present site. If your site isn’t performing how you would like, it may just need some improvements and clear paths to goals. If you’ve got an idea that your site should be entirely video, hot pink, or you want to add a multitude of new features, ask why and then ask if these new elements are appropriate for your audience and their needs? Assess your current site and your competitors’ sites. Review your site stats, conversion paths (are visitors having trouble accomplishing tasks or accessing pertinent information), talk with current staff and clients to get a better understanding of how to improve your site.

4. Do build and nurture your customer database. In a down economy, the old adage of “it is less expensive to keep a customer than find a new one” was never more accurate.

Repeat customers are often overlooked while advertising dollars are spent on obtaining new ones. Start at home. Customers who have previously bought from you are saying “We like you.” So why are you ignoring them? Learn about who they are, what they like, and how they like to be communicated with. Learning the reasons why customers continue to work with you can help direct your new customer acquisition strategies. Don’t underestimate the value of a testimonial from a repeat or long-time customer.

5. Do listen and talk to your customers. Your customer is your biggest asset. They will tell you what is working and what isn’t. See #4.

The customer IS always right. This saying has evolved to mean more than just the obvious. Who else is going to tell you where your company is falling short? Certainly not the folks who work for you. Your customers care about you - they do - but they need caring back. Your customer is your biggest asset. They will tell you what they need, how to market to them, where to market to them, and what they like and dislike about your products or services. If you are not willing to listen, plan on having a large advertising budget that continues to attract one-time business. When it comes to your Web site, you may have no trouble navigating because you use it everyday. What about a first-time user? Understanding the obstacles visitors face when visiting your site and addressing them can lead to a higher percentage of repeat business. A pleasant customer experience is worth a thousand words (or more business).

6. Don’t take email marketing for granted – it cannot be commoditized. Put the elbow grease into targeted and personalized email marketing. Track, test and analyze.

Sure, how hard can it be? You send email every day. Email is more than just hitting the send button. Segmenting your customer lists to market directly to their preferences can serve as your number one revenue generator. It seems like a daunting task, but you’ve got to start somewhere. How effective is your email marketing software? If your message is getting to only 80 percent of the folks on your list, that is 20 percent of revenue you may be missing. Make sure your email service provider has relationships with the appropriate ISP to ensure a high deliverability rate. Monitor your email results to understand how visitors are reacting to your messaging – from subject line to layout to copy. Utilize professional email solutions in conjunction with a quality web analytics package to remarket directly to them.

7. Do start a paid-search campaign or continue with one. This is still the most cost-effective advertising medium today. Knowledge gained can be used in other online and offline initiatives.

Paid search (such as Google Adwords, Yahoo! Search Marketing and MSN adCenter), can get you quick results and visibility within search engines. Statistics show that 20 percent of search engine users click on sponsored listings. You may garner sales from terms that you have no reasonable shot of generating non-paid traffic from. Furthermore, it is believed that visitors from paid listings are generally further along in the buying process, whereas organic visitors are most often gathering information.

8. Do start a blog. But have a plan, and know why and what you want to say.

Blogs are a great way to drive traffic and increase your online presence. But they don’t run themselves. Blogs need to be managed and maintained consistently to prove value. The biggest struggle is finding something valuable to say, especially when thousands of new blogs are created every day. Make sure you are offering something of interest to your target audience. Put yourself through a Q&A to discover your strengths, key areas of expertise, and most frequently asked questions from clients to get ideas on what to post and how you can provide value to your audience on an ongoing basis. Be prepared for negative comments and remember that a blog is not a surefire route to success. It takes hardwork and dedication.

9. Don’t buy blindly into the hype of social media. First understand what your goals are online and understand that social media equals managed media.

Twitter, Facebook, and MySpace are merely tools in the toolbox. You can’t build a house with only a hammer and that is the same situation with your brand and your visibility online. Social networking for marketing purposes requires an organization to implement labor, management and planning. If there is no one there to manage or build the relationship, your efforts will fall flat. A clear focus, understanding of your audience, and reasonable expectations will save a lot of money and frustration in the long run.