A Designer's Introduction to Inbound Marketing

Allow me to make a confession: When it came to marketing, I was uninformed. Marketing, I thought, was something that took the form of brightly colored billboards climbing to the skies to vie for my attention. It was an intrusion on my ears, delaying the next song I wanted to hear. I was unaware of what a multifaceted, intricate world it was. Marketing, I've discovered, is so much more than a beacon that asks for your attention. Marketing is a part of nearly all human interaction, and these days, it’s within every shade of color, photo, and word in your digital presence.

In my short time so far at BlinkJar, I've gotten a chance to work with an incredible variety of people and businesses, each with their own unique and highly specialized needs. What I truly enjoy about this challenge, is that I almost get to become a minor expert on a world of different subjects. Through communicating with our partners, I'm able to discover what matters most to their business. Each project represents a new and unique challenge -- whether it's a new look for a website, or solving a problem in graphic or web design. 

Have you ever had the experience of visiting a business’s website, and after spending a few minutes perusing through their home page, you realize that you still have no idea what the business is about? That’s a problem. That isn’t the kind of mystery that draws people in – it’s the kind that makes them lose interest. At BlinkJar, we use something that we like to call “The Blink Test.” It refers to the crucial few seconds in which a visitor sizes up your website and decides whether they want to remain on it. This, factors heavily into how we approach web design. Your site should be clean-looking and logically organized. It should present itself to the user as a delightful way to convey information – the information they’re looking for.



However, simplicity in design should be as much about removing elements as it is adding useful ones. You don’t wall a wall of text for your visitors to read the moment they land on your site. Instead, focus on condensing the information in a way that gives your visitors enough to understand your message, but leaves them enticed to find out more. Think about what kind of information your users may be looking for, or common questions they may be asking. While sometimes a FAQ section may be appropriate, it can be equally helpful to simply organize the layout and navigation of your site in a manner that is consistent with what the average user is seeking. 

This, of course, is the very broad view of creating an optimized and well-designed website. For now, here's how you can figure out whether your website passes the Blink Test.