Looking for additional insight? Check out our eBook: A 15-Point Checklist to Evaluate Your B2B Technical Website.

Maybe it’s because we work with so many engineers and techies, but here at TREW, we can be real skeptics. We take an “I’ll believe it when I see it” approach – relying on hard data and proof points when making decisions on the most effective ways to help our clients market their brand.

So when it comes to creating effective web layout and designs that get results, we rely on usability data from trusted sources to help us make sense of how people use the web. One type of web study we rely on – and prove out time and time again – is eye tracking research.

Eye tracking is a form of research that allows the proctor to track web visitors’ eye movements across a page, providing insight into what people truly spend time looking at on the screen, what order they look at it, and what their eyes avoid. Some of the key questions eye tracking research can address include:

• Which area of the page draws a web user’s attention?
• What do users tend to look at first, second, third?
• Which areas of the page do users avoid or ignore?
• What specific elements of content do users gaze at for more than a second or two?
• Do web visitors notice key elements of the page or recall key messaging?

By incorporating what we learn from eye tracking research, we can determine the best format and placement for content, and establish optimal page layout. It’s truly an opportunity to apply hard data to marketing activities for improved ROI.

Below are 3 key takeaways that TREW has learned from recent eye tracking studies performed by Jakob Nielsen and the Poynter Institute and successfully applied to our clients’ web redesign efforts:

1. Follow the Zig-Zag

Eye tracking studies consistently show that most web visitors approach a web page similar to reading a book – we start at the top left and move right with our eyes.  People’s eyes fixate first in the upper left of the page near the logo, then pause in that area before going left to right. This is often called an “F” layout or even a “Z” layout because our eyes zig-zag across the page as we skim it.

The heat map on this web page shows a distinct F pattern where web visitors eyes focused on the page

2. Keep it Short and Sweet

When you have something to say on a page – especially a home page or a campaign page that serves as an entry point to your site – make it brief and impactful. Why? Because eye tracking research reveals the following about web users’ behavior:

• You have only about 20 seconds to pique a web visitor’s interest before they lose interest
• Web visitors only read about 20% of the words on a page
• Users tend to gaze more at brief headlines in large fonts than any other words on a page

This means you have very little time to capture the interest of your very busy and distracted audience. Don’t waste it with lots of text in small fonts. The shorter and more actionable your headlines, and the easier they are to read, the better your success at communicating your message.

Notice the brevity of text and large fonts that help simplify this home page for TREW client Asuragen

3. Navigation is Power

Eye tracking reveals that the top action on any web page is clicking on buttons and links, and the global navigation – when situated at the top of the page – is gazed at and clicked on much more than sidebar navigation. What does this all mean?

Keep it simple – If you offer global navigation across the top of your site as well as section-specific navigation down the left, you may quickly overwhelm your web visitors. Unless your site includes hundreds of products and offerings, the top navigation alone can do the job. People are more likely to use it as their “anchor” on your site to find their way.

TREW client Parallon’s corporate site section relies on top navigation, freeing up the entire body of the page for relevant content

No dead ends – When you get on a boat, you want to go somewhere, not just sit there. People coming to your site have that same need for movement. Make sure no page is a dead end, and that you offer links to compelling content or to related pages so users have the ability to carve their own path through your site.

These are just a few of the key points eye tracking data has revealed about web users’ habits and preferences. Knowledge is power, and eye tracking research provides a great deal of knowledge that allows TREW the ability to build the best and most effective websites around. Talk to the web usability experts at TREW today to find out how we can apply eye tracking research to your next web redesign.

Looking for additional insight? Check out our eBook: A 15-Point Checklist to Evaluate Your B2B Technical Website.

Looking for additional insight? Check out our guide: Smart Marketing for Engineers

Last month, we gave insight on how to hire a technical marketing manager who can propel your marketing efforts forward and add value to your organization. In Part 1, we focused on prioritizing candidates’ talent, culture fit, and experience, and in Part 2, we gave the practicals for actually hiring your technical marketing manager, based on proven experience.

If you’ve now hired your technical marketing manager, pass along this information to help them understand the breadth and depth of technical marketing. Or, if you’ve just been hired as a new technical marketing manager, congratulations! These 10 keys – which focus on brand, positioning and website plans, content marketing strategy, and awareness and loyalty campaigns – will strengthen the skills and knowledge you need to be a successful technical marketing manager:

Technical Positioning, Brand, and Website Development

1. Create a Successful Marketing Plan

Having an effective marketing plan and following it will be critical to your success as a technical marketing manager. Without a plan, how do you know what you need to do, in priority order, to get there? In busy times, the tendency is to rush and complete any marketing tactic that looks promising at the moment, without taking into consideration your marketing strategy and goals. So, take the time to truly define your marketing goals and measureable objectives.

• Related Post: How to Create a B2B Marketing Plan that Drives Results
• For more about how to create your plan, read about 5 Critical Steps to Developing a Marketing Plan.

A well-defined marketing plan will set the course for your company’s marketing efforts.

2. Position and Brand Your Company Creatively and Carefully

Your brand is of utmost importance to your company, as it conveys who your company is and your unique value proposition. Positioning your brand well will be critical to the long-term success of the business. In marketing terms, your brand is personified both visually – through your company logo and branding style guide – and contextually – through words, such as your mission, vision, and positioning statements; core company and product-level messaging; and company and campaign taglines.

• Related Post: Understand the Components of Brand Messaging
• For more about positioning competitively, read about What Goes into the Decision to Market Against Your Competitors

3. Holistically Evaluate Your Website to Maximize Your Future Time and Spend

Your website will be at the core of your marketing efforts, so before you make any major changes to it, audit your web site so that you can prioritize how to go about making changes and additions to it in the future.

Evaluating your site holistically will help you create a better web experience for all visitors to your website no matter where they are in the buying cycle – those researching your business, learning more about your products and services, preparing to buy, or returning for another purchase.

• Related Post: A 15-Point Checklist to Evaluate Your B2B Technical Website
• For more detail on web systems, read about What to Ask Yourself Before You Buy a Web Content Management System

Content Marketing Strategy

4. Show Your Products or Services in Practice with Compelling Case Studies

Customer case studies are a great marketing and sales tool. By reading about how customers have benefitted from using your products and services, prospective clients know they are not the first to choose your company, and can hear from real customers to supplement what they’ve learned from reading your marketing brochure or website. To succeed as a technical marketer, you’ll need to know how to prioritize the most important applications for case studies, tell your customer’s story clearly, ask for permissions from the customer’s company and streamline and leverage your work.

• Related Post: 5 Tips for Developing Customer Case Studies
• For more, read about 8 Quick Tips to Create Great Case Studies

Learn all of the elements that make up a compelling case study.

5. Offer the Technical Data Your Customers Are Searching For

Because your company is trying to generate leads, create opportunities that engage customers, and ultimately close sales, it’s imperative that you offer the data, insight, and information that your prospects need and want. Offering quality content will cause your customers to see your company as an expert in the industry or technology area in which you work, and direct them to your products and services as solutions to their challenges. In addition to case studies, targeted presentations and white papers that cover relevant topics will build credibility, show your company’s experience, and convey a memorable message.

• Related Post: 4 Best Practices for Creating Effective Presentations
• For more on white papers, read about 5 Steps to Writing Effective White Papers

6. Engage with Your Prospects by Making an Investment in Video

Here’s a statistic that will make your head spin: according to Pingdom, a website monitoring firm, more than 800 million web visitors watch online videos per month. And, YouTube is now the second most popular search engine on the planet, just behind Google. Web visitors are drawn to video, so you should be creating videos as a technical marketing manager to add a dimension to the web that text and imagery alone cannot achieve.

• Related Post: Why You Need Video in Your B2B Marketing Mix
• For more about creating videos yourself, see DIY Marketing Videos on a Budget

7. Optimize your Content Marketing with Content Re-Use and SEO

One piece of well-written, well-placed content can have multiple uses. You can blog about it, amplify it as a call-to-action on social media sites, and repackage it in the form of a video, webinar, or white paper with tags and meta data that search engines will see. Just think about how that one piece of content used in multiple ways and channels can drive your search marketing efforts. And, search engine optimization (SEO) is all about tweaking your website to make it more search-engine friendly and earning inbound links through stellar content that others want to reference. Driving inbound marketing will help you widen the funnel of awareness, gain more leads, and convert leads to sales.

• Related Post: Content and SEO Fuel Inbound Marketing Results
• For more about SEO, read about how Killer Keywords are the Secret to Search Engine Success

Loyalty and Awareness Campaigns

8. Increase Customer Engagement Regularly with E-Newsletters

Staying top-of-mind with prospects and customers is a challenge you’ll probably always face. E-newsletters are a great way to maintain a conversation with your target audience, promote valuable content, and help nurture your lead base to increase customer loyalty and move prospects closer to the sale. A corporate e-newsletter, done right, can be one of the most effective and strategic marketing activities a company undertakes. You need to understand all aspects of e-newsletters, from design to content to mailing lists, in order to create ones that build your brand and bring new leads to your company.

• Related Post: Nurture your Leads: Harness the Power of E-Newsletters, Part I
• For more about e-newsletters, read about Nurture Your Leads: Harness the Power of E-Newsletters, Part 2

Use E-newsletter campaigns to stay top-of-mind with customers.

9. Get more Blog Traffic and Grow Your Potential Customer Base

Blogging is a great way to bring more visitors to your website, so you’ll want to constantly be seeking to get more blog traffic (and in turn, get more prospective customers to your site). It takes consistent investment of time, creativity, and ideas to develop a successful blog and reach an increasing percentage of your target audience, but the payoff can be worth it in the long run. Maximize that investment by understanding the potential of your blog, getting discovered, converting readers into subscribers, and finding advocates for your blog.

• Related Post: 4 Ways to Get More Blog Traffic
• For more, read about how you can Improve the ROI of Your Blog

Looking for additional insight? Check out our guide: Smart Marketing for Engineers

10. Grow Awareness and Traffic With Media Coverage

News coverage generates awareness about your company and its products and services, boosts organic search for your company, and drives traffic to your company web site. Quality news coverage starts with strong, longstanding relationships with journalists, so you’ll want to begin building those contacts. Overall, your interactions with the press should be productive if you’re willing to consistently contribute strong and relevant information that they can use to better inform their readers. They’ll come to appreciate your insight and value your relationship as an industry expert as much as you value their ability to widely publicize your company or product name.

• Related Post: 4 Steps to Building Meaningful Relationships with Journalists
• For about interacting with the media, read about Trade Show Media Relations Do’s and Don’ts

Want deeper insight?

Based on our decades of experience building hundreds of customized marketing programs targeted to engineers and scientists, we have written this guide to help you get started in your technical marketing career.

Download Smart Marketing for Engineers – an e-book that helps technical business leaders build and execute an efficient and effective marketing program where every dollar and every hour spent drives results.

TREW Co-Founder Wendy Covey recently sat down with Michael Aivaliotis from VI Shots for an interview titled “Why Engineers Should Love Marketing.”  Michael Aivaliotis, founder of VI Shots, records audio podcasts targeted to scientists and engineers who use LabVIEW. The podcasts include interviews, discussions, and ideas centered around LabVIEW development and growing a successful technical business.

In this interview, Wendy discusses how to approach B2B marketing to technical audiences and provides practical advice encompassing a range marketing topics, from planning and positioning to conferences and social media.

Highlights from the podcast include:

• Planning– what are your business goals?
• Messaging – how are you truly unique?
• Branding – it’s more than pretty colors and a creative logo
• Website and Content – your virtual storefront and the #1 marketing investment you should make
• Conferences – personify your brand, capture leads
• Thought leadership – it’s a marathon, not a sprint
• Social Media – start with a blog, listen first
• Email – stay top of mind

Listen to the podcast at VIShots.com.

Related blog posts:

New eBook: A 15-Point Checklist to Evaluate Your B2B Technical Website

Infographic: B2B Marketing in 2013

How to Create a B2B Marketing Plan that Drives Results

Unlike print collateral, your website is a “living document” that requires frequent attention and updates to successfully meet your marketing and business goals.

Companies that update their content frequently not only enjoy more repeat visitors, they’re also ranked consistently higher in search engine listings, which fuel more web visits and site popularity. Consider it a virtual snowball effect: new content = more repeat visitors & higher search rankings = more new visitors to your site = even higher search rankings = even more new visitors.

However, if your website isn’t easy to update because the process is cumbersome or requires a programmer’s time to make changes, you’ll be less nimble and effective in keeping the site fresh and updated. Many companies use a web content management system (CMS) to maintain their site, but not all CMS platforms are created equal, and the options can be overwhelming.

Web CMS platforms generally come in 3 different flavors:

1. Off the shelf: These are closed-system CMS products that you purchase an annual license for, and usually include ongoing support and upgrade costs. There are numerous off-the-shelf products on the market, including Sitecore, Ektron, DotNetNuke and Kentico, and they all offer different levels of complexity and feature sets.
2. Open source: WordPress, Drupal and Joomla are prominent examples of open source CMS platforms, which are free at a base level, but usually require additional customization and plug-ins for advanced functionality. Thousands of developers worldwide create new functionality and bug fixes on a daily basis for these platforms, and make their code available to everyone. This ensures a constant evolution of available features and functionality.
3. Fully custom/proprietary: These CMS platforms are coded exactly to your site’s needs and specifications. Often fully custom systems are developed by large organizations who have the means to build their own CMS system, but other times a programmer may build a custom system for smaller businesses using code libraries to keep costs low. Whereas an off-the-shelf solution contains code to serve thousands of different sites with different needs, a custom, made-to-order CMS only includes code to meet your needs, which means programming and content upload is more efficient.

Before selecting a CMS for your website, ask yourself these 5 questions to help narrow down your search:

1 –  What level of functionality do I have or need on my website? A very simple, small website may only have text and images, which requires little to no customization or sophistication on the part of their CMS platform. But requirements like forms, data flow to back end systems, “product quickfind” search functionality or multiple different page layouts demand a more customized and sophisticated platform to run your site on. Be sure to start with a draft of your technical requirements and let your needs drive your selection of a CMS, versus letting the chosen platform dictate your features.

2 - How many people will update content on the site, and what is the approval process? In many cases, a small number of individuals may be updating your site, and have the required skills and know-how to do so. However, if you have a large number of content producers, and require approvals before content goes live, consider a web CMS that includes built-in workflow. This will greatly reduce online errors and the race to correct them.

3 - What server am I running my site on? Some CMS platforms are built in asp.NET which is a Microsoft programming language, and requires Microsoft servers and licensing to run properly. Many other CMS programming languages are server independent, such as PHP and Python. Make sure you understand your infrastructure needs before selecting a CMS.

4 – How will I handle bug fixes or modifications to site functionality? The type of programming talent you have on staff can play a large role in influencing your web CMS platform selection. For example, if you have a programmer in-house who knows PHP, you should greatly consider an open source CMS that runs in PHP. If you have no programmer on staff, you might consider an off-the-shelf CMS with built in programming support, or consider developing a relationship with a reliable web programmer who you can contract to as-needed.

5 – What is my budget for a Web CMS? Your budget should not define your CMS choice alone, but should be considered alongside your needs and requirements. The price for a CMS platform spans a large range, from a few thousand dollars to make minor customization to an open source platform like WordPress or small custom CMS, to 6-figure price tags for a sophisticated off-the-shelf or fully custom system.

Tighter budgets will usually mean off-the-shelf CMSs aren’t the best fit, because they tend to price higher than open source CMSs or small custom platforms. Off-the-shelf products also have ongoing licensing costs and may have server requirements that increase the price tag. And, you tend to be dependent on the programmers at that particular company for all future modifications since you can’t easily get “under the hood” of an off-the-shelf CMS.

Opensource CMSs appear “free” on the surface, but it depends on the level of customization required to get the site looking and working the way you want. However, open source and custom CMS platforms in which you own the source code do not have ongoing costs and don’t require you to use the same programmer for every future modification. Make sure you take into account your budget now and in the future.

There are many considerations when it comes to selecting the best web CMS for your site, but these 5 are truly critical. It’s imperative that you explore all your options before settling on a solution you’ll have to work with – for good or bad – for years to come. Talk to a TREW web expert to begin exploring the best CMS solution for your site today!

Looking for additional insight? Check out our eBook: A 15-Point Checklist to Evaluate Your B2B Technical Website.

Related blog posts:

TREW Helps Clients Make Big Web Impact

TREW Client, GOEPEL Electronic, Launches New Website

Website Success: Web Traffic Grows 300%

“TREW’s marketing guidance and expertise have helped us become more efficient in our online marketing efforts. They understand our technical business and our goals and challenges. The website redesign project has given us the tools to generate more web leads and the ability to easily manage our website content with no additional costs.” – Heiko Ehrenberg, CEO, GOEPEL electronic LLC

GOEPEL electronic is headquartered in Germany and has offices across Europe and in the United States and Hong Kong. GOEPEL is one of the world’s first suppliers of JTAG/Boundary Scan Test Equipment, and a market leader in high-performance Boundary Scan controllers and accessories, and in-system programming applications. In addition to electrical test tools the company also offers automated optical and x-ray inspection systems.

TREW Marketing was selected by the U.S. division of GOEPEL to conduct a demand generation marketing audit and website redesign. For the marketing audit, TREW evaluated GOEPEL’s current and past lead generation programs and provided a final analysis and set of prioritized recommendations. A key focus area was the company’s website, including usability on the home, product, and call-to-action lead generating pages. Analysis also covered content and blog recommendations, SEO improvements, and search advertising prioritization and best practices to improve site performance and increase demand.

GOEPEL electronic continued its partnership with TREW Marketing for the website redesign. The goals of the redesign were to:

• Modernize and reflect the GOEPEL brand
• Improve navigational paths to the company’s core offerings
• Enhance the web user experience with a more streamlined path to products that includes a product quickfind, consistent web templates across the site and blog, and a session-based cookie for faster technical content downloads
• Create a CMS customized to their needs

With the updated CMS, GOEPEL staff can update content on-the-fly and organize their large portfolio of products using the new customized quickfind feature in which visitors can quickly locate a product or category of products based on user applications.

Deliverables

• Prioritized recommendations of actions to generate demand on the current website, such as call-to-action and layout improvements, content and editing suggestions, blog recommendations for SEO, website hierarchy, structure and keyword best practices for SEO, and search advertising campaign organization tips
• Website strategy, including faster navigation, product categorization, home page and interior page promotion management system, and lead generating landing pages
• Development of a custom product quickfind feature organized by product type and application, so web visitors can quickly locate and browse GOEPEL’s 200+ products
• Salesforce integration to allow sales personnel to receive web leads in their CRM immediately upon lead form submissions throughout the site
• Custom CMS to give content editors the ability to quickly update the site with no programming required
• Design modernization and consistency throughout site and blog

Results

• Scalable website for mobile devices with a custom product quickfind feature programmed to load and stream data without having to refresh the page
• Enhanced user experience with session-based cookie so that site visitors fill out a lead form only once for the many different technical resources and white papers offered across the site
• Clear paths to lead generating premium content and popular product pages with promotional boxes and a site-wide “fancy footer” editable in the CMS
• Efficiency gains with Salesforce integration that securely collects all web leads and imports the contacts into company CRM system

Website before and after images

Related Blog Posts:

TREW Helps Clients Make Big Web Impact

Website Success: Web Traffic Grows 300%

Today, TREW Marketing released a new evaluation guide for technical business leaders marketing their products and services online. Available for download on our site, the checklist addresses 15 ways to grow the impact of your website, including expert tips on:

• Clean design
• Intuitive navigational paths
• Informative graphics
• Clear company positioning
• Compelling, succinct, and fresh content year-round
• Landing pages that convert visitors to leads
• On-page SEO actions to get found by your audience
• Social media promotion
• Lead nurture with email automation

The checklist guides you through how to create a better web experience for all visitors to your website no matter where they are in the buying cycle – those researching your business, learning more about your products and services, preparing to buy, or returning for another purchase. Prepared by TREW Marketing’s web specialists on strategy, design, usability, search engine optimization, content creation, and content management systems, this checklist is a comprehensive guide to help you grow the impact of your technical website.

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Landing pages, also called “lead capture pages,” are the gateway to your web conversion offers that create leads for your company. This is often the first page a web visitor sees when arriving to your site from a social media link, email promotion or paid search ad. At TREW, we are asked many questions around how to create a landing page that generates leads, thus the following post outlines some of our tips to guide you through the process of crafting an effective landing page.

When should I create a landing page?

Landing pages should be created to house high-value content for a targeted audience. Good examples of content that visitors are willing to give you their personal information for are:

• Technical white papers
• Webcasts/webinars
• Tutorials
• E-newsletters

The more valuable the content is perceived to be, the more personal information a web visitor is willing to give. For this reason, creating a compelling landing page is critical to generate leads.

What are the key ingredients to a great landing page?

With one piece of content to house, and one main call-to-action, “to download,” landing pages should be quick to develop. Avoid wasting time by creating a “kitchen sink” of call-to-actions on the landing page. Instead, follow this checklist of landing page content and wireframe example below:

• Lead capture form prominently placed above the page fold
• Page title and detailed sub-title highlighting  offers
• Brief 1-2 body paragraphs followed by bulleted reasons why the reader needs your content, and how they will benefit from it
• Company contact information
• Bonus points: embed a short video that further explains the content

Is less really more? What fields should be on the lead capture form?

Just like the page itself, lead capture forms need to be clear, simple, and concise. Studies have shown that companies with longer page descriptions and forms have a lower conversion rate than those with simple landing page descriptions and forms. By shortening the landing page text and form fields, one company saw their landing page conversion rate go from 32% to 53% (Hubspot, Webinar Redesign Strategy, 2010). If possible, develop the lead form with 4 fields:

• First and last name
• Email address
• Company name
• Open description box

My landing page is live, now what?

Consider your landing page as a living document. Allow it to run at least a month before making changes to it, while tracking visits and conversion rates. Based on its performance, you will need to decide how to make changes to improve the page.

Are lots of visitors landing and then not converting? This could mean that the page content needs tweaks to better explain your offering and compel the visitor to download, or it could mean your offer is not compelling enough for your target audience to leave their name. If the landing page seems to not be reaching its expected web traffic, try to increase reach with an email campaign, pay-per-click ads, or use as a next step after a trade show.

Overall, the purpose of landing pages is to help you convert a faceless web visitor into real sales opportunities for your business, and is an important component in your marketing strategy and website design.

For more advice on website design, see these related blog posts:

Microsites: Effective Marketing or Bad Idea?

Maximize your Online Impact with a Winning Web Design

“TREW’s smart, engineering-minded approach to redesigning our website and developing a comprehensive marketing plan has delivered outstanding results. Website traffic has increased three-fold in the first several months and the number of leads we are passing to sales has continued to increase.” – Dr. Fred Bloennigen, President, Bustec, Inc.

Founded in 1997, Bustec is a leading supplier of high-performance data acquisition and test products in power generation, aerospace and defense, and medical device industries. Test and design engineers at companies such as Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Siemens, and NASA rely on Bustec’s products and solutions for their proven accuracy, throughput, and density.

One of the first projects Bustec selected TREW Marketing to lead was a comprehensive redesign of their website. The goals were to create a clean, professional, modern design with improved navigation; update company and product content; create an easy-to-use CMS (content management system), making it easier to regularly update the site; and deliver a positive, effective brand experience.

Deliverables

• Web goals and strategy, including content navigation, product categorization, user experience, and a home page promotion management system
• Detailed web redesign plan including design, navigation, content management, and analytics
• Development of a flash-based tutorial that quickly and visually communicates the unique nature of Bustec’s product interchangeability between platforms

Results

• 300% increase in website traffic in first 6 months of launch
• Streamlined product pages with easy-to-use tab navigation for product overview, documentation, accessories, specifications, and related products
• Efficiency gains with custom Product Quickfind feature, allowing web visitors to quickly locate products by measurement type
• Flash-based video describing product interchangeability, giving the visitor a short (~1min), immediate understanding of product benefits
• Cleanly designed, compelling home page with industry-focused case study promotions, Product Quickfind, custom product promotions, and clear navigational paths
• Search functionality and optimization for external search rankings

Website before and after images