Indo

A lot of people who design websites or manage social media profiles are focused (smartly) on making things simple.  This is generally a good thing, because visitors to your website need to be able to find what they’re looking for, and they need to be able to accomplish whatever they came to do.  But simplicity isn’t the only thing you should go for.  You should also try to make visitors feel “rewarded” for digging deep and spending time on your site.  Seth Godin regularly breaks the number one rule of web development (Don’t make anyone think!by making people think, but he then rewards his visitors for thinking by giving them useful and interesting information.  Two of my favorite ways that he does this are by using a picture of his head to reveal the crucial “persistent navigation” of his blog, and placing distinct links in words that run next to one another, with each link directing to its own relevant landing page.

As most of you know, I also like posting photographs that don’t necessarily correspond to the topic of a blog post, but which give subscribers a bit of insight into my life, like the photo here from my wedding reception on Saturday.  
 
Simplicity is important, but it’s not the only thing you need to do to build a good online presence.
 
Will Marlow co-founded AlumniFidelity to help his clients reposition their fundraising to benefit from Web2.0 technology and marketing techniques. He’s working with clients such as UVA, the College of William & Mary, the University of Oklahoma, Bowling Green State University, Randolph Macon College, and he loves nothing better than a thorny marketing challenge.  Email him at will@alumnifidelity.com.