WEB DESIGN AND MARKETING SOLUTIONS FOR BUSINESS WEBSITES phần 8 docx
Bạn đang xem bản rút gọn của tài liệu. Xem và tải ngay bản đầy đủ của tài liệu tại đây (922.24 KB, 38 trang )
Implementing the printer-friendly style sheet
CSS files are linked to the document inside the <head> tag. There are different ways of
doing this, but the most common way is through the
<link> tag. For instance, this single
line of code might be used to reference the CSS file for the browser display:
<link rel="stylesheet" href="/css/design.css" type="text/css" ➥
media="screen,projection" />
There are several important attributes. The rel and type attributes tell the browser that
the link is for a CSS file, and the
media attribute dictates where the style sheet should be
applied. In this example, the CSS file is intended for screens (basically traditional browser
windows) and projection environments (which is the term for browsers that operate in
kiosk mode
8
). Linking a dedicated print style sheet is exactly the same, except the media
attribute changes.
<link rel="stylesheet" href=" /css/print.css" type="text/css" ➥
media="print" />
The implementation does not get much more complicated than that. The harder work
comes in actually developing and maintaining the additional style sheet, which includes
choosing the page elements that stay and the ones that need to be hidden from the
printer.
What stays, what goes
At some point, you have printed a web page. Most likely, it looked terrible. You wondered
why all the extraneous garbage in the navigation, sidebar, advertisements, and footer had
to waste half a toner cartridge when all you wanted was the content. When a site is built
using CSS for design, it’s incredibly easy to hide these elements from printers using a print
style sheet. Typically, the first line of the print CSS file is dedicated to hiding the visual ele-
ments not needed for printing. For instance:
#header img, #leftcol, #rightcol, ul#menu,
#previousstuff, #commentform, #advertisements {
display: none;
}
Deciding what actually stays and what goes may provide some consternation. Seriously
consider what users want when they print a web page. 99 percent of the time, the content
is going to be the focus, so do everything possible to remove the noise of the visual design
and let the body copy hog the page’s real estate. Figure 11-9 shows the content taking
center stage.
Also consider items that rely on an interactive environment for context and functionality.
The following items are useless in printed format:
WEB DESIGN AND MARKETING SOLUTIONS FOR BUSINESS WEBSITES
264
8. Opera is commonly used in stand-alone kiosks because it fully supports the functionality to do
so out of the box. For more information, see
www.opera.com/support/mastering/kiosk/.
8393CH11.qxd 8/6/07 3:27 PM Page 264
Advertisements: As much as a sponsor probably wants their ad to appear in every
possible medium, a visitor will
never see an ad intruding on their content and take
the time to reopen the page and click the link. The small chance of appeasing a
single patron is far outweighed by the certainty of annoying everyone else. (This is
especially relevant for animated ads, since only a single frame will even be cap-
tured.)
Navigation: While there might be value in reiterating what section the content is
from, there is zero value in printing a bunch of links that cannot be clicked. Hide all
navigation items—even contextual pagination menus.
Inline links: The anchor text of links inside the body copy should obviously be
retained, but there is little point in styling them differently (which includes differ-
ent colors and underlines). If the content is written naturally, and links make sense
in context—for instance,
I saw a funny picture today, vs. click here to see the funny
picture
—users will never know what they are missing.
Forms. There is no value in printing a contact form that cannot function outside of
a web page. This is where real contact information like e-mail, addresses, and
phone numbers prove their worth on a contact page.
There is a good chance that the final print-ready CSS file will be quite small. Since design-
ers do not have to worry about styling every last pixel of the background image, header
graphics, and fancy menu buttons, the bulk of the material will be spent defining typogra-
phy and page size.
Sizing and measurement considerations
In the digital realm, web designers are well acquainted with pixels, percentages, keywords,
and ems, all common units of measurement found in CSS files. Some, like pixels, are fixed
in size; others, like ems, scale with text resizing inside a browser. Because of the prevalence
of these, designers often overlook units that determine physical dimensions, like inches
and points, which are absolute values suitable for use when the final size of the medium—
in this case, a piece of paper—is known. Browsers recognize the following absolute values:
in (inches)
cm (centimeters)
mm (millimeters)
pt (points; these are equal to 1/72 of an inch)
pc (picas; one pica is equal to 12 points)
Whenever possible, these absolute measurements should be used for print-ready CSS files.
Pixels can theoretically be used since they represent a fixed size (0.28mm, according to the
W3C
9
), but results will be far more consistent with everyday measurements.
CONTINGENCY PLANNING
265
11
9. If you really care about the physical width of a pixel, here is the link: www.w3.org/TR/REC-CSS2/
syndata.html#length-units.
8393CH11.qxd 8/6/07 3:27 PM Page 265
Absolute units can be used for setting the dimensions of page elements. Consider the fol-
lowing CSS file that is designed for printing:
#content {
width: 7.5in; color: #000;
}
#content h1 {
font: bold 12pt Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;
}
#content p {
font: 8pt "Times New Roman", Georgia, serif;
}
By using these static units of measurement, the page will print nearly identically on letter-
size (8.5
✕11 in.) paper across different systems. However, since there is no guarantee that
the person will be using letter-size paper, a smarter way of determining the printable area
is to set flexible padding around the body of the document, as shown in this example:
body {
padding: 10%;
}
#content h1 {
font: bold 12pt Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;
}
#content p {
font: 8pt "Times New Roman", Georgia, serif;
}
This way, there will always be a healthy padding around the content, no matter what the
size of the paper.
Doomsday page
The final piece of contingency design featured in this chapter is for accommodating the
worst-case scenario: the entire site is down. This is either scheduled or unscheduled. The
user does not need to know the details of the crisis, but they should be assured that
the staff does indeed realize there is a problem, and if possible, be given a rough estimate
when the site should be back online.
Some corporate websites have a consistent user community that regularly visits forums,
administrative sections, and other areas requiring a login. This group should always be
notified of site maintenance or planned downtime in advance. This will significantly reduce
the number of panicked phone calls from users demanding to know whether the company
went out of business, was sold to foreign oil investors, or was annihilated by a giant laser
beam from outer space.
WEB DESIGN AND MARKETING SOLUTIONS FOR BUSINESS WEBSITES
266
8393CH11.qxd 8/6/07 3:27 PM Page 266
There really are no guidelines to the doomsday page. Helpful, friendly messaging is impor-
tant, but the content and design is up to the company itself. Many of them, like YouTube
in Figure 11-10, have fun with it.
Figure 11-10. Many companies, both corporate and consumer,
have fun with their doomsday page.
Summary
Solid, thoughtful, and well-executed contingency design is imperative to the success of a
corporate website. Being able to anticipate different user actions and meet their needs in
times of uncertainty goes a long way in building confidence and loyalty among visitors. A
company that fails to pay attention to the small details of its website, intentionally or not,
is sending a message of poor quality to the unfortunate soul who has the bad luck of run-
ning afoul of the system. Helpful content in error pages, well-designed search functional-
ity, and thorough form errors can quickly set users back on the right path, spurring them
to spend more time with your proper content.
CONTINGENCY PLANNING
267
11
8393CH11.qxd 8/6/07 3:27 PM Page 267
12 LEGALESE
8393CH12.qxd 8/6/07 3:51 PM Page 269
Although most of the denizens of the Web appreciate the cascade of free information that
makes its way online everyday, most of that content is attached to corporate interests and
copyright law. While companies and individuals regularly publish information for anyone
to consume, the strict regulations surrounding the ownership of text, images, and more
that govern the physical world generally translate right into the digital one. Unfortunately,
the legal arena around the Web has always been a bit foggy. This is largely a result of the
mixed ownership of content, how copyright is handled, how trademarks are protected,
and how institutions shield themselves from lawsuit-happy lawyers firing threatening
letters at anything that moves.
Many corporations have taken it upon themselves to clear up any confusion about content
ownership and protection by drafting their own custom declarations. Much of this heavy
lifting occurs within tiny little links marked “Terms of Use” or “Copyright” or “Privacy
Policy,” usually found in the footer of the site. These pages of legalese—which can be
more obtuse than a PowerPoint presentation from the federal government—spell out in
no uncertain terms who is liable for what.
While it’s annoying that the Web has fallen into a state of rampant copyright infringement
and malicious drive-by malware downloads, a business can take large steps toward pro-
tecting its online presence by adding some of this legalese to its website.
This chapter is not meant as legal advice, nor is it a definitive guide on writing complex
documents such as terms of use and privacy statements, which, for some sites, most defi-
nitely requires the assistance of legal professionals. It is designed to give companies an
overview of the type of material commonly found in these documents, and a baseline for
moving toward an official version for their own needs. It is also biased heavily toward the
American legal system; since every country’s laws vary, it is beyond the scope of this book
to address international law.
Intellectual property
There are three different avenues for companies and individuals in the United States to
protect their intellectual property: copyright, trademarks, and patents. Copyright and
trademarks are directly related to the Web, patents less so except if the thing being
patented is a new type of technology that affects how the Web is actually used. Most com-
panies do not mention patents anywhere on their site unless to display the patent number
under which their product is protected.
Trademarks are used to protect logos, unique elements, phrases, and official names that
have sufficient distinctive character by which the government recognizes the concept as
being unique and wholly owned by the company. Typically, logos and other distinctive
branding elements are trademarked—for instance, the Coca-Cola Company not only owns
the trademark to the word
Coca-Cola and its logo, but also to the design of the famous
contoured bottle and the phrase “Make Every Drop Count.”
The third means of protecting content is copyright. Copyright protects everything that
goes into a website—text, graphics, diagrams, scripts, and so on. Copyright infringement is
all too common, often resulting in lawsuits in which companies and individuals receive
WEB DESIGN AND MARKETING SOLUTIONS FOR BUSINESS WEBSITES
270
8393CH12.qxd 8/6/07 3:51 PM Page 270
handsome compensation for having their work ripped off. Several of these lawsuits include
high-profile companies.
Copyright
Almost all web designers have seen painfully evident copyright infringement in their
tenure. Sometimes it’s just an original logo being copped with a color change, other times
it’s the actual graphical layout of the page, other times it’s entire passages of text.
Unfortunately, the near-bottomless Web provides ample temptation for unscrupulous
characters to rip off others’ hard work with a slim chance of ever being caught.
Protecting a website from such transgressions is not difficult. Once a website is registered
with the US Copyright Office,
1
it is officially protected, and the owning company can file
lawsuits at their own discretion. Unfortunately, simply adding a copyright notice to the
bottom of a page does not grant the same power. A website must be registered in order
to be fully protected.
Determining if copyright is owned
In order to register a copyrighted work, the registering party needs to own every aspect of
the collective work. For companies seeking to register a website, this includes every nook,
cranny, bell, whistle, and widget of the website, including the content, plus any proprietary
information; the design of the layout, plus the files (e.g., CSS files) and graphics used to
create it; plus any scripts or unique code created, including the HTML.
Smaller companies routinely outsource creative work, and if an agency or freelancer was
responsible for the design, the company may not own the copyright. Similarly, there may
be a discrepancy around the actual text if the business hired an outside copywriter to work
on the site. There are different scenarios to consider when determining who exactly owns
what copyright.
If the company employed the writer, designer, or other creator full-time when the
content was first drafted, then chances are the company benefits from a work-
made-for-hire law, which essentially states that anything created while the
employee was fully employed belongs to the company, not the employee. Many
companies ask their employees to sign a piece of paper stating this, but it’s implicit
in American business.
If an outside contractor created the work (either design or writing), it only belongs
to the client company if rights were explicitly transferred, or if it was created under
a work-made-for-hire agreement (see the following “Work made for hire” sidebar
for information about this). Otherwise, the contractor technically owns the copy-
right and licenses it to the corporation for whom the work was done.
For stock photography and clip art, a copyright can be obtained if the artwork is
used creatively in a way that constitutes an original work. For instance, a single
photograph, even if purchased under a royalty-free license, cannot be copyrighted;
however, if that photograph is combined with others into an original collage, that
compilation—now an original work—can be registered.
LEGALESE
271
12
1. www.copyright.gov
8393CH12.qxd 8/6/07 3:51 PM Page 271
While it might sound convoluted to track down copyright ownership for everything inside
the website, keep in mind that this exact practice happens all the time in other creative
industries like filmmaking. Because copyright infringement is so prevalent—and because
it’s easy to break the law unknowingly—corporations must put in long hours of homework
before trying to register their website. It’s usually best to work with a legal firm in this area,
since they have a much deeper knowledge of the finer copyright law distinctions.
Work made for hire
Many web design and copyrighting contracts contain a blurb titled “Assignment of
Copyright” or something similar, where the owner of the copyright is explicitly stated.
Under standard copyright law, the creator of the work (the designer or author) owns
the final art, not the receiving company, unless the copyright is specifically transferred
to the client in the contract.
Many companies try to circumvent this by asking contractors to sign a work-made-for-
hire (often shortened to “work-for-hire”) agreement, which more or less states that
everything the artist creates for the project—even material that does not get used—is
owned by the client. Every full-time employee in the United States is technically under
a work-made-for-hire agreement. Beyond that, the law becomes very explicit about
what exactly can be included in a work-for-hire agreement. Section 101 of the 1976
Copyright Act includes the following:
2
■ A contribution to a collective work, such as a magazine or literary anthology
■ A part of an audiovisual work
■ A translation
■ A supplementary work, such as an appendix, bibliography, or chart
■ A compilation
■ An instructional text
■ A test
■ Answer material for a test
■ An atlas
Although this was written before the advent of the Web, websites, logos, and most
design projects clearly fall outside this list. Work-made-for-hire agreements should
not be used for website projects (either design or writing), as they would be very hard
to defend in court. Unfortunately, adding work-for-hire clauses to contracts is stan-
dard practice for many companies, whether they are enforceable or not, and many
contractors naively sign them not understanding what rights they are potentially
giving away.
WEB DESIGN AND MARKETING SOLUTIONS FOR BUSINESS WEBSITES
272
2. www.copyright.gov/circs/circ9.html#determining
8393CH12.qxd 8/6/07 3:51 PM Page 272
Registering a copyright
When you are confident that all copyright issues are resolved, the website can be registered
with your native country. In the United Kingdom for instance, websites can be registered
with the UK Copyright Service.
3
In Australia, there is no formal registration at all, and the
government simply encourages work to be marked as copyrighted when it is created. In
the United States, websites are registered with the US Copyright Office. While trademarks
and patents can take a long time to register (sometimes years), registering a copyright in
America is a comparatively simple and fast process.
Registering a site in the United States can be done by the company itself, or through a
legal firm. In essence, three things need to be submitted: the completed registration form,
a copy of the work, and payment. Websites can be registered through either a Form TX
(published or unpublished nondramatic works) or Form VA (published or unpublished
works). Websites that are text-heavy (like most corporate sites) could fit into Form TX;
websites that focus on visual graphics (like a photography portfolio) would use Form VA.
This is an admittedly fuzzy distinction, but it’s the best the government has to offer.
While a work is technically protected under copyright law as soon as it’s created, without
documentation from an official registration, a copyright dispute can easily degenerate into
a grade school–level “he said, she said” argument. Since the cost for registration is so
cheap (currently $45 in the United States), there is little to stop a corporation from taking
the necessary precautionary steps.
In the United States, a copyright lasts for the duration of the author’s life plus 75 years for
individuals. Under work-made-for-hire laws, the length is 95 years from the first publica-
tion or 120 years from the date of its creation, whichever is less.
Copyright infringement
Unfortunately, we live in a world of questionable scruples, where copyrighted material is
routinely (in some cases, even predictably) lifted and copied elsewhere. Copyright
infringement is not limited by any medium or scope—often, small logos or icons are
stolen; in other cases, design templates are lifted.
4
In more extreme cases, entire designs
along with huge blocks of content are copied wholesale. See Figure 12-1 for a particularly
egregious example.
LEGALESE
273
12
3. www.copyrightservice.co.uk
4. Panic, a software manufacturer specializing in Mac OS X utilities, has a special section dedicated
to the stunning number of icon, photo, and design infringements they have dug up across the
Internet, available here: www.panic.com/extras/ripoff.
8393CH12.qxd 8/6/07 3:51 PM Page 273
Unfortunately, deceitful web designers are often to blame. Many companies have been
ignorantly sold an “original” design, only to find it was stolen from another site. Despite
the fact that they had no idea that their freelance designer had less moral fiber than most
third-world government officials, the company is still liable for damages if the copyright
holder ever pursues legal action.
In order to confidently pursue legal action, however, the copyright must be registered.
Officially submitting the document to the government has several key advantages:
Once a website is copyrighted, there is an official date of registration. Any copy-
right infringements occurring after this date are easy fodder for legal action since it
can be easily proven whose content and design was registered first.
Without registration, pursuing legal action can be very difficult. While it is possible,
it’s kind of like playing the lottery—a lot of people try but turn up empty-handed
at the end of the day.
If a work is registered at least three months before the infringement (or within
three months from the time of publication), the original party can collect
statutory
damages
; otherwise, only actual damages can be reconciled. Statutory damages are
calculated damages, and can often run very high—up to $150,000 per offense. The
law also states that if the “infringer was not aware and had no reason to believe
that his or her acts constituted an infringement of copyright,” then the amount is
reduced to $200 per offense.
5
Actual damages, by contrast, are damages actually
incurred from the copyright infringement. This is usually a nominal amount, and
difficult to calculate. Thus statutory damages (which are the kind the RIAA claims
when suing individuals for downloading MP3s) are the favored weapon of lawyers.
Pursuing legal action against infringing parties requires legal help. As stated before, com-
panies often do not know that they are using another business’s design or content, and
will be more than happy to change this once they are informed that they are in fact break-
ing the law. Even companies that know they are using someone else’s work often back
down after receiving a strongly worded letter from a lawyer’s office. Companies that
refuse, or claim the copyright belongs to them, require further legal action.
WEB DESIGN AND MARKETING SOLUTIONS FOR BUSINESS WEBSITES
274
Figure 12-1. The screenshot on the far left represents the original website. A Google search for the first sentence
returns four direct competitors who lifted the entire two paragraphs completely, changing only the product name.
5. In the United States, these numbers are found in Title 17, Chapter 5, Section 504, located here:
www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode17/usc_sec_17_00000504 000 html.
8393CH12.qxd 8/6/07 3:51 PM Page 274
Adding a copyright notice
Almost every business includes a copyright notice on the bottom of its website. This means
nothing more than the fact that someone took the time to type it out. Unlike a trademark
notice, a copyright symbol is not restricted to content that has been registered, so a copy-
right notice offers no indication of whether the site has actually been filed with the gov-
ernment’s office.
Typically, the copyright notice is a subtle addition, often in small type that is not immedi-
ately obvious, such as the example in Figure 12-2. The design makes little difference. As
long as the copyright notice follows correct structure, it can look however the developer
wishes.
Figure 12-2. This website includes a small copyright notice—“Copyright 2007 Sigma Investing”—on
the bottom.
A proper copyright notice includes three things. The first is the actual word or symbol (©)
for copyright. Although only one is necessary, some sites include both, which can be ben-
eficial for international sites since the letter
C within a circle is universally recognized as
the copyright symbol. The best way to represent this HTML entity on a web page is
©
or ©. (Simply copying the © symbol into an HTML page will invalidate the HTML—the
character needs to be properly encoded.)
The second thing that needs to be included is the date of the copyright. This should always
be the current year if the copyright is still valid. Many companies fail to update this, and
innumerable sites exist with an embarrassingly outdated year. To illustrate, in the survey of
homepages detailed in Chapter 5, 80.5 percent of the businesses included a proper copy-
right notice on their homepage, but of these, nearly 40 percent were out of date, some of
them three or more years behind.
The best way to keep a copyright year current is to use a script that dynamically calls the
information. This way it never needs to be manually updated. For instance, if running PHP
on a site, the script would be simple:
Copyright <?php echo date("Y") ?> Sigma Investing
The code is equally simple in ASP, and can also be done in JavaScript with something like
this:
<script>
var mydate=new Date()
var year=mydate.getYear()
if (year < 1000)
LEGALESE
275
12
8393CH12.qxd 8/6/07 3:51 PM Page 275
year+=1900
document.write(year)
</script>
Finally, the copyright line needs to include the holder of the copyright. This should be a
legal entity—a real person or an actual business, not a pseudonym or a made-up business
name. If the copyright is actually registered, this space would be reserved for the holder of
the copyright as it appears on the form.
Terms of use
Part of the evolution of the Web is the increasing reliance on lawyers. It’s only a matter of
time before a growing business requires the services of a legal professional who can con-
sult on many fronts, but is primarily used to craft wordy, often convoluted pages of
legalese that are commonly tagged “Terms of Use” on a website.
The Terms of Use section covers, or attempts to cover, how visitors are allowed to use the
site, from how to structure incoming links, to how the content can be reused, all the way
to notice of possible legal action resulting from improper use of materials. As you can
imagine, sometimes this can get out of hand. Typically, the Terms of Use (sometimes called
Terms and Conditions) section covers the following topics:
Use of the site: Basically, this is a brief welcome message and a definition of what
using the site actually entails (essentially, downloading and viewing content).
Copyright: This is a brief statement of copyright stating that visitors cannot rip off
text or images without express written consent from the company. This is fairly
standard, and usually easy to read. If a special license is applied to the content (see
the next section), make sure its language does not present a conflicting copyright
message.
Privacy policy: It is not uncommon for a privacy policy to be wrapped into the
terms of use, especially if it is short and clear. This practice depends on the com-
pany and its legal counsel; more involved privacy policies are often relegated to
their own unique page. These are covered in the next section.
Disclaimer: Basically, this states that all content (including text, images, and down-
loads) is covered as is, and the company is not responsible for out-of-date content.
It also states that changes can be made by the company at any time.
Some copyright notices also include the phrase “All rights reserved,” but this is no
longer necessary. Most countries are members of the Berne Convention,
6
which
requires copyright protection be granted without any formality of notice of copyright.
WEB DESIGN AND MARKETING SOLUTIONS FOR BUSINESS WEBSITES
276
6. The official title is the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works, whose
contents can be read online at
www.wipo.int/treaties/en/ip/berne/index.html.
8393CH12.qxd 8/6/07 3:51 PM Page 276
Limitation of liability: This states that the company is not responsible if anything
bad happens to the visitor while the site is being viewed. This blanket statement
absolves them of everything from malicious software downloads to the user’s
motherboard melting into a pool of silicon.
User-submitted content: This blurb removes the company from any responsibility
involving user-submitted content, such as in chat rooms, forums, and other public
arenas. It covers stuff such as misleading information and adult or otherwise inap-
propriate content. It often claims anything submitted to the site immediately and
completely belongs to the company, and they can use the material however they
see fit, including self-promotion.
Indemnification: In essence, this protects the company from legal action from its
visitors if the visitors themselves are in a legal bind. For instance, if you get sued by
a right-wing watchdog group for quoting an article written from a left-wing per-
spective, you cannot in turn sue the website from which the article was procured.
Jurisdiction: Occasionally a company will dictate the jurisdiction in which legal
encounters will occur. This is usually a state or town.
Linking: Many companies explicitly state a linking policy, which can often get quite
ridiculous. Some companies try to dictate the anchor text (the Olympic committee
did this on its site), or only want links that reference the company in a positive light
(the old Cingular wireless website demanded this, and it was carried over by AT&T
when Cingular was purchased), or restrict linking only to the homepage (Verizon is
guilty), or require written permission (FOX News and many other sites
7
). The issue
of linking to only the website’s homepage makes particularly little sense, since the
nature of the Web is to link documents, not just entire domains—which is why
search engines index every page on a website, not just what the company wants the
public to see first.
Termination: This is another blanket statement that states the company can revoke
access at any time or change the website without notifying its users.
This is only a small slice of the content commonly found squirreled away in corporate
Terms of Use pages. Writing one takes a sharp legal mind to construct the right phrasing.
Simply copying from another site is possible, but not recommended—a business that takes
their online presence seriously enough to add terms of use to their site should hire a
lawyer to draft the text correctly. This is especially true if the corporate site relies on user-
generated content, since that is sometimes beyond a company’s ability to monitor effec-
tively.
LEGALESE
277
12
7. The Boston School of Electrolysis has one of the more entertaining terms of use regarding
linking (www.bostonschoolofelectrolysis.com/terms.php): “Any business, corporation or
individual person, persons or parties seeking to establish a link or assigned usage of domain
registration to or with Apodictic Incorporated that you please send your request for an
application and email it to Your cooperation is
appreciated and a symbol of respect and honesty that demonstrates your good character.
Written requests for links to BostonSchoolofelectrolysis.com are seriously considered and
approved 99% of the time.”
8393CH12.qxd 8/6/07 3:51 PM Page 277
Try to keep the language of the terms of use as plain as possible. There is no point in mak-
ing the content look like legalese, with convoluted terms (
severability always raises some
eyebrows) and ALL CAPITAL LETTERS THAT LOOK IMPORTANT BUT ARE ACTUALLY VERY
HARD TO READ. Since the concept of terms of use on a website is not going away anytime
soon, incorporating regular, human-readable language will encourage people to actually
consume and
understand what is being said.
Special licensing of content
Some companies choose to offer their content through a specific license that dictates how
the content can be used, from distribution to editing to republishing. These licenses do
not conflict with copyright attribution—the company still retains full copyright to all mate-
rial, and can change the license at any given time—but they can conflict with the terms of
use if these already determine how the content can be used.
Most companies will
not choose to license their content for competitive reasons. On the
other hand, nonprofit groups, churches, and other organizations may want to offer their
material to the public at large legally, and the GNU and Creative Commons licensing
schemes are the best avenues for this.
GNU Free Documentation License
The GNU Free Documentation License (or GFDL) is a copyleft license that provides anyone
the ability to acquire, edit, redistribute, and repurpose content as long as the GFDL is
applied to the derivative work. This applies to both commercial and noncommercial inter-
ests. It is the complement to the GNU GPL, which is the software equivalent.
Copyleft is a term derived from copyright (even using a variation of the traditional copy-
right symbol, as shown in Figure 12-3), and is intended to remove editing and distribution
restrictions from published work. Copyleft is a legal licensing scheme that allows the
author the ability to essentially give away their content to the public—an act hindered by
traditional copyright restrictions—while forcing any derivative works to be licensed under
copyleft as well. Copyleft is the defining characteristic of the GFDL and several variations
of the Creative Commons licenses, covered next.
8
Figure 12-3.
The copyleft symbol is derived from the
traditional copyright symbol.
WEB DESIGN AND MARKETING SOLUTIONS FOR BUSINESS WEBSITES
278
8. For more information on copyleft, see “What is Copyleft?” at www.gnu.org/copyleft/
copyleft.html
.
8393CH12.qxd 8/6/07 3:51 PM Page 278
Creative Commons
Many corporations would be understandably nervous about applying a GFDL license to the
content on their site. In most cases, the material is marketing-heavy and represents con-
siderable effort to separate the brand from the competition. However, the company may
apply one of the variations of the Creative Commons license,
9
which lays out more explicit
usage parameters for content. For websites, an author can choose one of six licenses:
1. Attribution alone
2. Attribution plus Noncommercial
3. Attribution plus No Derivative Works
4. Attribution plus Share Alike
5. Attribution plus Noncommercial plus No Derivative Works
6. Attribution plus Noncommercial plus Share Alike
Most corporations would be interested in either license involving no derivatives. This
means that anyone can redistribute the content as long as the author is properly cited (the
attribution) and the work is not altered in any way (no derivatives). The noncommercial
tag simply restricts this license to noncommercial use only.
Terms of use structure
Typically, the Terms of Use page is linked from two locations. First, the footer of the site
presents an opportunity to reference the link persistently across the site without being
obnoxious. People expect that type of link on the bottom of the page; in fact, if someone
were to specifically look for the terms of use, the footer is probably the first place they
would look.
Beyond that, terms of use should be linked whenever it makes sense in the context of the
page. For instance, if the visitor is signing up to be a member of the company’s forum, they
should be required to read the terms of use—which often includes provisions for user-
submitted content—before becoming a member.
The terms of use should encompass only one page. Long pages can be made more usable
by providing an inline table of contents, like Sun Microsystems did for their terms of use
(shown in Figure 12-4). The links simply go to a block of content further down the page
that has a complementary link to send the visitor back to the top of the page.
LEGALESE
279
12
9. www.creativecommons.org
8393CH12.qxd 8/6/07 3:51 PM Page 279
Figure 12-4. Websites with long terms of use can use a table of contents and inline links to help
users jump to their area of interest.
Privacy policy
The Web has introduced a whole new set of privacy issues. Because information is stored
electronically on networked computers, the theft and misuse of that information becomes
much more appealing to those looking to turn a profit at the expense of others.
E-commerce took years to fully gain the public’s trust, because there always seemed to be
some story about credit fraud, identity theft, and lost information. Couple that with the
complete breakdown of e-mail security and the problem of spam, and it’s clear why pri-
vacy remains a hot point of discussion.
10
The reality is that most companies are on the level, and very, very few abuse the informa-
tion they keep about their customers and their website visitors. However, to gain
consumer trust, even the most ethical and responsible firms need to explain their policies
and how they are maintained. A few companies do use the information for legal but
WEB DESIGN AND MARKETING SOLUTIONS FOR BUSINESS WEBSITES
280
10. The Forrester study “Privacy Concerns Cost eCommerce $15 Billion,” by Christopher M. Kelley,
shows that not only are the vast number of respondents “somewhat” to “extremely” concerned
about privacy, but well over half believe that the government should regulate online privacy
laws. The study can be read here: />0,1317,13484,00.html.
8393CH12.qxd 8/6/07 3:51 PM Page 280
less-than-savory purposes, like mining traffic information for targeted marketing, selling
e-mail addresses to marketers, and more. Whatever the case, every business should have a
privacy policy statement that outlines
exactly how the information is being used.
Privacy policies (sometimes called privacy statements) do not have to be written by
lawyers unless the company thinks there may be some legal tripwire that needs to be iden-
tified. For instance, if a business collects e-mail addresses for a newsletter and then resells
those addresses to a direct marketing firm, that information needs to be clearly laid out in
the privacy policy without any ambiguity. In this case, an attorney practiced in writing
legalese will be able to craft language that leaves nothing to interpretation.
A privacy statement should always be written in as plain a vernacular as possible. There is
a very good chance that people will seek this information and read it with acute interest,
because many are legitimately concerned about how their information gets used. Clouding
policies behind heavy language will earn little trust.
A privacy policy should span whatever length is needed to accurately transcribe the com-
pany’s practices. A single paragraph can be enough, but there are times when several
pages are needed.
11
No matter what the length, it should cover a few key items of interest:
Outline exactly what information is stored: For simple sites without interactivity or
e-commerce options, this may include nothing more than traffic logs in the server.
Beyond that, explain that anyone signing up for a newsletter has their e-mail
stored, and anyone making a purchase has their shipping address and possibly their
credit card information saved as well.
Detail how that information is used: As an example, inform readers that generic
server logs—which do not contain any private information—are used to improve
the website design by analyzing traffic patterns and browser statistics. Explain how
e-mail addresses are used. If they are not utilized for anything beyond their primary
purpose (such as a newsletter), explain that; by contrast, if they are sold to the
Canadian mafia as fodder for their Viagra spam cannons, explain that as well. For
more sensitive information (credit cards), reassure the reader that the information
is secure and
never shared.
Always let customers edit their information: This is especially true for any sites har-
vesting user-generated content (such as a forum), but any site that includes login
or membership functionality should allow people to make any changes they want.
A privacy policy should state that this is possible, with guidance on how to do it.
Clarify the unsubscribe process: Users should be able to remove their information—
especially their e-mail address—from your system at any time, for any reason.
Again, the privacy policy is responsible for explaining how that can be done.
Provide a means for receiving updates: Inevitably, a privacy policy will change.
Probably not drastically, or even functionally, but occasionally language is altered
to reflect new policies. Explain that the privacy policy page is always the best way
to get the most current information. Forward-thinking companies with an itch for
transparency may provide a means for subscribing to privacy policy notifications,
either by e-mail or RSS.
LEGALESE
281
12
11. Buy.com’s privacy policy is almost 7,500 words and 6 printed pages.
8393CH12.qxd 8/6/07 3:51 PM Page 281
Privacy policies are a sign of the times. Because there is such a concern for how informa-
tion is handled, especially on the Web, it is more important than ever for corporations to
be proactive in their messaging and approach, and to explain their policies in the clearest
language possible. Many readers make an effort to educate themselves on the host’s poli-
cies before giving information away.
For more information about website security and information privacy in general, there are
numerous websites and books designed to guide businesses toward more responsible
action. For news, Privacy.org is a great starting point;
12
for more detailed resources, the
Anti Spam League has a fairly dense website as well.
13
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC)
also provides a good place to learn more about privacy on the Web.
14
Summary
While legalese is an annoying and often troublesome area for businesses to contend with,
it is a necessary part of conducting business on the Web. When a corporation makes an
effort to polish its language and eliminate ambiguous loose ends, it comes across as a far
more professional and competent organization, regardless of whether the user agrees with
the terms of use or privacy policy. Always make sure that the copyright information is
correct and properly structured, and always ensure that the general legalese that many
take for granted as small links in the footer receives the proper attention from legal
professionals.
WEB DESIGN AND MARKETING SOLUTIONS FOR BUSINESS WEBSITES
282
12. www.privacy.org
13. www.anti-spam-league.org
14. www.ftc.gov/privacy
8393CH12.qxd 8/6/07 3:51 PM Page 282
13 SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION
8393CH13.qxd 8/7/07 1:53 PM Page 285
Imagine a vast library without any light, where all the books are on the floor, many are in
pieces, and on any given day thousands simply disappear without warning while thousands
more are thrown on top without any heed for categorization. This, in a nutshell, is the
organizational model of the Web. By design, it fails to adhere to any hierarchy—it’s just a
mountain of text, images, and multimedia. Because these millions and millions of docu-
ments lack any semblance of order, the decentralized system of the Internet makes search
the one viable answer for information retrieval.
As the Web continues to expand at galactic speeds, search engines become an increasingly
necessary part of daily online life. The incalculable number of manuscripts strewn across a
pitch black library is more manageable if you can move quickly enough to read every word
of several hundred millions books in half a second, and then instantly distill that informa-
tion into a meaningful ranking of relevance.
Today there are four ways people find content on the Web:
Typing a URL directly: This is a direct line of thinking, and a conscious direction to
arrive at a particular destination. Sally types URL, Sally gets website.
Clicking a referring link on another site: By clicking inline and contextual links
(including advertisements), the user is following a linear path of interest—they are
tunneling down a rabbit hole influenced by the link choices of the referring
authors.
Selecting the site from a search engine results page: This is the unbiased, broad
query—the big “what’s out there?” question. Results are ranked by relevancy using
complex algorithms.
Using social networking and social media sites: As socialization becomes more
influential in how people use the Web, content is increasingly graded by crowd
wisdom. This is especially true in social bookmarking sites like del.icio.us and
Ma.gnolia.com, where anyone can see what the user base is linking to.
None of these are particularly better than the others. From a marketing perspective, all
need to be tackled with varying amounts of time and money. While a company has explicit
control over every word and pixel on its own domain, the other three can only be
influenced.
This influence is exerted from conscious, proactive effort. Companies must aggressively
pursue ambient findability, the art and science of promoting their domain through organic
means. While a small number of people might link to your corporate website because it’s
relevant to whatever random bit of text they wrote, a passive stance will never be enough
to sway the tide of traffic toward your domain.
This does not mean advertising. Traditional banner advertising is a deliberate attempt to
build traffic through calculated placement, based on metrics like daily visits, target demo-
graphics, and click-through rates. Ambient findability is like gardening. Incoming traffic is
nurtured by planting seeds of interest, tending to them, and waiting (patiently) for traffic
to grow naturally. Ambient findability relies on people finding the site by serendipity; the
idea is that when enough seeds are planted around the Web, there is a greater chance
people will find the link in just the right context.
WEB DESIGN AND MARKETING SOLUTIONS FOR BUSINESS WEBSITES
286
8393CH13.qxd 8/7/07 1:53 PM Page 286
Currently, search engines represent the culmination of ambient findability in action. A
query’s results are boiled down from millions of possibilities into a manageable list of the
top ten (and beyond) best possibilities. It’s a simple concept everyone understands.
The reality, however, is that a company cannot wait for people to look up the precise
string of keywords that match its business—they have to actively pursue means of appear-
ing in the top results for
approximate keyword combinations so they are still viewed as a
recommended choice. Because people trust search engines almost to a fault, this is one of
the best ways for a company to spend its marketing effort.
Search engine marketing—and more precisely, search engine optimization—involves
strategic planning and tactical implementation. Many steps toward better placement can
be taken with the current website, but just as many require working outside the domain.
This chapter will cover how search engines view websites and how they rank results, what
steps can be taken to improve your placement in results pages, and how to test your hard
work at the end of the day.
What it is and why it matters
Before Google, search engines like AltaVista were buggy and unreliable. Metadata spam-
mers loaded their pages with junky keywords to obfuscate their true content, and search
engine ranking systems were too dumb to tell the difference between legitimate informa-
tion and falsified junk. Today, search engines are more sophisticated. They base their rank-
ings on site popularity, taking into account factors such as the number of incoming links,
the source of those links, and the context surrounding them.
Search engine marketing (SEM) is actually a combination of crafts related to procuring a
favorable position in a search engine results page (SERP). Part of the work comes from
search engine optimization (SEO), which defines the steps taken to organically grow a site’s
relevancy by building links, writing strong content, submitting to search sites, and so forth.
The complement is
search marketing, which involves actually laying out cash for paid posi-
tions, mostly pay-per-click (PPC) ads. (See Figure 13-1 for the difference in these two dis-
ciplines.) This chapter will cover the basics of SEO.
There are many myths about search engines, especially Google. The most egregious claims
that attaining a top position in the organic results requires actually paying the search sites.
This is categorically false. If it were that easy, the biggest businesses would own the best
keywords, regardless of whether they were relevant to their products or services.
Obtaining a top spot in a SERP requires worthy content coupled with time, effort, and
skill—not a bucket of payola.
People trust search engines because of the objectivity of the results. When someone types
in “external hard drives,” they get a list of recommended destinations, formed by the
Internet community at large, and then filtered through Google’s algorithms. Even the top
ten results have a mix of content, from analysis to editorial to commercial.
SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION
287
13
8393CH13.qxd 8/7/07 1:53 PM Page 287
Figure 13-1. Google’s results page shows a mix of paid and organic results. The blocks with a
number 1 show the PPC ads, which cost money; the block with a number 2 shows the organic
results, attained by following SEO strategies.
Studies continually demonstrate that users are likely to click an organic result over a paid
result.
1
To compound that, other studies show that appearing in the top ten results is a
dramatic competitive advantage, and appearing in anything after the third page is nearly
worthless.
2
In fact, a study from iProspect revealed some more interesting statistics:
3
62 percent of people click on one of the top ten results.
90 percent of people click a link within the first three pages.
41 percent of people will change their query if they do not find a satisfactory result
in the first page of results. 88 percent will do the same after the first three pages.
82 percent will start a new search using additional keywords because they trust the
search engine to deliver the correct results if given more detail, rather than trust
their original choice of keywords.
WEB DESIGN AND MARKETING SOLUTIONS FOR BUSINESS WEBSITES
288
1. iProspect, “iProspect Search Engine User Attitudes,” April–May 2004 (www.iprospect.com/
premiumPDFs/iProspectSurveyComplete.pdf).
2. Oneupweb, “Target Google’s Top Ten to Sell Online” (www.bb2e.net/google_topten.pdf).
3. iProspect, “iProspect Search Engine User Behavior Study,” April 2006 (www.iprospect.com/
premiumPDFs/WhitePaper_2006_SearchEngineUserBehavior.pdf).
8393CH13.qxd 8/7/07 1:53 PM Page 288
Clearly, appearing in the top ten results matters. This is where SEO comes into play, and
where an investment of effort and patience can have huge dividends.
Why the emphasis on Google?
In a nutshell, Google is the one to beat. Any broad search study will show Google domi-
nating market share, although different tests disagree on how much. In April 2007,
comScore showed Google leading the pack with 49.7 percent; Hitwise, from the same
period, attributed them a 64.13 percent share. None of the competition, at least at the
time of this book, is even close.
4
To add insult to injury, Google also powers the search
results of other major websites and software vendors: browsers such as Firefox and Opera,
plus other search engines such as Excite, AOL, Netscape, and more.
Google basically reinvented the way search engines work. Just about every other provider
has modeled their techniques after the giant, which is why the effort of optimizing a site
for Google often cascades to competing search engines. Their innovative approach boils
down to ranking results by link popularity. (This does not preclude link quality; in fact, the
quality of the link, which we’ll explore in this chapter, has just as much influence.)
Because Google continues to adjust its algorithms to produce better results, the world
keeps coming back to find reliable answers. This constant tweaking places Google firmly in
the crosshairs of SEO experts. It is harder than ever to crack the top ten, but despite this,
their system continually proves to reward sincere and honest effort on the part of website
developers. This objectivity in ranking is what makes SEO such an interesting game.
Everyone has exactly the same chance of ranking number one—it’s just how the many
optimization tools are used that determines who gets there.
Laying out an SEO strategy
When a company decides to embrace SEO in an effort to complement its marketing effort,
it has embarked on an “SEO campaign.” Like any advertising or broader marketing cru-
sade, it is a two-pronged effort: strategy and tactics. Common SEO methodology is well
known among search professionals. What separates successful campaigns from failing
campaigns is the strategy behind the effort. While anyone can drive a car in the dark, hav-
ing a map, headlights, and street signs sure helps get there faster without disaster.
Effective SEO strategy demands iterative testing in order to refine it. Like advertising, SEO
requires long-term commitment in order to see remarkable results; while spikes in rev-
enue can happen periodically, they are the exception to the rule. However, unlike ad
campaigns that are grounded with insertion orders and print schedules that run several
SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION
289
13
4. Enid Burns, “U.S. Search Engine Rankings, April 2007,” SearchEngineWatch, May 31, 2007
(
www.searchenginewatch.com/showPage.html?page=3626021).
8393CH13.qxd 8/7/07 1:53 PM Page 289
months ahead of publication, an SEO campaign can stop on a dime to change direction.
These are the four steps to a refined SEO effort:
1. Strategize.
2. Execute.
3. Analyze.
4. Optimize.
The medium is flexible and fast moving. Companies investing in SEO need to adopt the
same traits, because the competition is fierce, and without well-constructed strategy, the
best tactics in the world will not produce near the revenue potential.
Envision the end result
The first aspect of any strategy planning is figuring out the end goal. When there is a clear
target in the distance, it’s a lot easier to take accurate aim. In regard to SEO, this is based
primarily on keywords that define the nooks and crannies across the Web where people
will find you. Consider keywords you think are relevant to your business, plus keywords
that the user is going to type in looking for a product or service like your own. They are
not always the same.
Three levels of keyword detail
Every business has keywords that describe its products or services. Rarely is this a collec-
tion of
single words, but rather strings of words that detail the company and its offerings.
For instance, a company like Rockstar Healthcare Staffing is in the competitive field of
nurse staffing. Other companies in their industry are savvy about SEO. Cracking the top ten
of the first results page is a challenge, but there are a number of keyword combinations
for which Rockstar Healthcare Staffing can still optimize.
When writing down the words for which you want your site to perform well, consider
three levels of detail, based on string length and keyword density. These will be referenced
through the rest of the chapter, and into Chapters 14 and 15 as well, because determining
the keywords that best describe your company can impact many other marketing
activities.
Level 1: Long, low-traffic descriptions. These are the multiword phrases that precisely
describe the company and its services, but are generally too long to gamble on an exact
string match. In our example, Rockstar Healthcare Staffing might describe themselves with
the following phrases:
A national healthcare staffing firm for traveling nurses
Provides traveling nurses job opportunities with good pay and benefits
Offers personal and career growth for nurses through healthcare staffing opportu-
nities
WEB DESIGN AND MARKETING SOLUTIONS FOR BUSINESS WEBSITES
290
8393CH13.qxd 8/7/07 1:53 PM Page 290
All three are loaded with keywords, but they have a slim chance of being typed word for
word directly into a search engine. However, direct matches are not the point of level 1
descriptions; when a company can summarize its activity into a few succinct clauses, it
creates a foundational language that should be used habitually for the website’s body
copy, metadata, and external links. It also establishes a pattern for keywords and keyword
phrases that reappear inside level 2 and level 3.
Keyword selection
Sometimes, it’s not immediately obvious what keywords will draw the most traffic
from search engines. Every company speaks its own corporate language, where
terms like “per diem nursing” may have context and meaning. However, for an
external audience, those proprietary phrases mean little. The marketing effort
should incorporate a blend of niche terminology with text that is broadly recog-
nized. In either case, the best way to identify keywords is by examining patterns in
different areas—the competition, the media, and the search engines themselves.
■ Analyze competition: See what the closest competitors are writing on their
websites. Pay particular attention to companies that practice good writing
for the Web. Unambiguous text is favored among readers, so look for key
terminology that still resonates within the marketing message.
■ Read industry media: The news media effectively lives in the world between
businesses and customers. Media writers are often responsible for translat-
ing obtuse or industry-specific lingo into plain language their readers under-
stand. Look for this and build from it. Blogs are also valuable, since they can
provide a subjective, personal perspective that newspapers and trade publi-
cations avoid.
■ Keyword research sites: There are several sites that allow you to research
which keywords command attention in search engines. Wordtracker is an
independent, subscription-based service that evaluates keywords and gen-
erates a report estimating the effectiveness of the proposed optimization
campaign.
5
In addition, signing up for Google AdWords
6
and Yahoo Search
Marketing
7
(even though it costs money to do so) provides insight into key-
word popularity by how much they command in the PPC realm.
SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION
291
13
5. www.wordtracker.com
6.
7.
8393CH13.qxd 8/7/07 1:53 PM Page 291
