| LED Digest 2680: White vs Dark Backgrounds |
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The LED Digest Moderated Discussion List "Effective Online Advertising, Since 1997" Data > Information > Knowledge > Wisdom http://www.AudetteMedia.com : the LED's Publisher The Internet Marketing Boutique: SEO, SEM, Social Media http://www.SEOToolSet.com/training/ : the LED's Premier Sponsor Bruce Clay's Search Engine Optimization Training & Certification ================================================== List Moderator: Published by: Adam Audette LED Digest adam, led-digest.com http://www.led-digest.com .............................................. July 15, 2008 Issue no. 2680 .............................................. .....IN THIS DIGEST..... ====== NEW ====================== --== White or Dark Background? ==-- ~ David Chapman "...should I provide a different version of the site for marketing purposes?" ==== CONTINUING ================= --== Does Google Make You Stupid? ==-- ~ John Audette "...we may be prevented from knowing anything except where to find information." --== Internet Marketing ==-- ~ Eric Ward "You gotta look at the content and the people it was designed to engage..." ========= NEW ===================================== From: David Chapman Subject: A Black or White Background? Adam's comments (about lurking) prompted me to ask the list a question! (I have not asked posted in YEARS) but follow discussions every weekday) I re-designed www.64picks.com site back in April and it now has a black background. However, 12% of visitors have complained that it is a strain on their eyes to go back to sites that have a white background (the majority of sites). After a long study about having a black background, I made a few changes to include increasing the line space, changing the font color, and font size. I also used a myriad of colors to make the site layout stand out. My question is should I provide a different version of the site for marketing purposes? My target audience range is 18 - 55 year olds and surprisingly, persons over 40 loved the design as it "easy on the eyes!" (Click on the photo gallery and re-live this year's March Madness). David Chapman ======== CONTINUING =============================== From: John Audette Subject: Stupid Google Greetings.... The idea that immediate availability of virtually infinite information makes us stupid is pretty interesting. I've been trying to think about it from the perspective of Internet marketing. So bear with me and I may actually get relevant here eventually. You've probably noticed the following that Adam publishes in the header of every LED: " Data > Information > Knowledge > Wisdom " If you're in a knowledge-based business, as most Internet marketers are, by definition the further that you move along this continuum, the more value you add to the services that you provide to your clients. Raw data can be interesting, but it's pretty useless until ordered and compiled in some way. Which moves it along to information. Information can be useful, but it gains substantially in value when a reasoning process, either deductive or inductive, is applied to it. And wisdom? Well, I'm no authority on wisdom, but my understanding is that it almost transcends reasoning. Did you say so what? One thing that troubles me about relying on Google for all of our information as opposed to having a substantial amount in our brains is that we may be prevented from knowing anything except where to find information. Which results in a bunch of random, non-compiled, unsynthesized facts. In order to perform the synthesis required to move from information to knowledge, it may first be necessary to have the information in the stew, bubbling away in our monkey brains. Perhaps a lack of absorbed information makes it impossible to make the move to knowledge. Well, so what? Perhaps then the thinking process about the buying decision becomes more shallow, based more on impulse triggered by emotional stimuli than thought triggered by an accumulation of information. That's not just theory for me. For many years I have had little patience with the emotion provoking process used by old line advertising firms to manipulate their target audiences. One of the things that I love about the Internet is the ability to honor the intelligence of our audience, to provide as much drill-down as they want in order to enable them to make informed decisions. Kind of ironic that the barrage of data and information and stimuli is perhaps having the opposite effect. I guess we gotta use the pyramid and give our audiences the opportunity to go drill down to whatever level they feel comfortable at. Our logs will tell us how far they go. I'm gonna hate it if the old-line firms have been right all along. John Audette AudetteMedia - Excellence in Internet Marketing, Since 1995 http://www.audettemedia.com -------- new post - new topic -------- From: Eric Ward Subject: Internet marketing Sorry so late to the thread. Been quite a miserable Spring and Summer here at the Ward house, and I've retired from speaking and feel like I've semi-retired from everything else. It's been one of those 'what is the meaning of life' Summers... So, regarding the 'waiting to build links' thread, I have to throw in a few thoughts. I've had many instances where I've recommended to the client that they hold off on announcing and seeking links for a new site/section due to various circumstances. This Spring I created the sitewide inbound link building plan for the official Summer Olympic web site, and held off on the link seeking until June, even through I'd created the linking plan months earlier. I'm also recommending waiting right now with a client whose about to unveil a massive green content initiative that has never existed before. They aren't known for being green. In this case it makes no sense to pursue green link target venues like happyhippie.com or greenpeople.org until that new content is live. Likewise with the green blogger linkerati. There are non-content oriented reasons to wait as well. If your content and targets are in academia, the Summer can be a terrible time to reach niche librarian link targets. It's like anything else. You gotta look at the content and the people it was designed to engage, and in some cases it will engage them more at a certain time than it will at another time. OK now, someone help get me psyched up again. Eric Ward http://www.EricWard.com Etiologic Content Linking - Online Publicity Strategies (c) Copyright 1995-2008 Orange Wheel, LLC. All Rights Reserved. ----------------------------------------------------------------- "It's what you learn after you know it all that counts." - John Wooden |
