Editor's Note: Garrett French

Hello Readers,

From the Forums: PPC going to eliminate need to Optimize

Jake Brothers:
We are a small company paying significant dollars to Google and Overture. We have doubled our sales. However, we have thought that finding a company to "promote" our site bringing us up in the rankings would reduce the need to depend on PPC so heavily and reduce our promotion cost. However, I am beginning to think that as long as we and others pay to be ranked any "natural" ranking due to Optimizing and Submitting will not give us the exposure PPC does...

seoimage:
Optimizing sites for the web is just as important, if not more important than PPC. Some searches do not even look to the right on Google. In MSN you have to advertise. Your message, your approach, and your product will do more for you than PPC...

Click here to read the whole discussion.

Click here to visit WebProWorld!

Free Logo Review

Free Logo Review
I would like to invite you to submit your logo for my credibility meter test. Please include a description of your business and what makes you unique in this business.

I will let you know if you are projecting your business as credible or not credible on a scale of one to ten. If you score high, I will tell you why. If you score low, I will give you suggestions for improvement. I may also comment on your company name.

Thanks, Bill

Visit Bill in the forums and submit your logo for review!

Learn The Eight Traits Of A Powerful Logo

This article tells you the eight criteria your logo must have to be a POWERLOGO.

These criteria are based on the teachings of logo design legend, Saul Bass (AT&T, Rockwell International, United Way, Alcoa, Minolta, United Airlines, Continental Airlines circa 1968 -1982 among many others). Saul’s teachings were refined in university-supervised research I conducted as part of an advanced degree in Communication* which later became the premise of my best-selling book, The Power of Logos: How to Create Effective Company Logos.

(Note: the following traits are excerpts from Bill's article. Please click here to view the complete article. -G)

1. Logos must be credibility-based. This is essential. It is based on a simple principle: credibility persuasion. Just as credible people are more influential, so are company logos on the business card or letterhead. Many studies in people to people communication conclude that if a person as the source of the message is competent or knowledgeable as well as trustworthy, then the message will be more readily accepted by the receiver. The person is considered credible and more influential.

The research I conducted several years ago supports my premise that if a company logo as the source of the message is also designed as competent, knowledgeable, or expert in its field of business as well as trustworthy, then the company’s message will be more readily accepted by the receiver --- most often the customer.

Knowing “what” to put into the logo in the first place is 90 percent of the logo design job! Design is important. Content is more important.

2. Logos must symbolize the company business to be credibility-based. Ok, how does a logo become credibility-based? It is easy to understand that when a computer wiz talks about the best compact to buy, he will be more influential on this subject than, say, a chef. And, if a chef talks about a new restaurant in town, he will be more influential on this subject than the computer wiz (well, in most cases).

The first thing a competent credibility-based logo designer does is symbolize the company business in the logo. Voila! This says that the company is an expert in that business. Like the shoe repair or key shops with their signs depicting their business. We know their business specialty. This is the key to a successful logo, but there is more.

3. Logos must also be designed to communicate that the company is trustworthy. This gets a bit more tricky to understand, but here we go. Tom Housen of Housen Painting is a house painter. In the beginning process of creating this logo, we first symbolized “house painting,” which is Tom’s area of expertise. Here are examples of some of the steps we went through in the course of its development.

Our planning process is based on substance. We want to know what content and what design form the logo is to “say” to be effective.

Powerlogos Design first asks our clients to fill out a questionnaire. When we analyze the questionnaire what do we look for?

We look for traits which make this client credible.

5. Logos must use the symbol over (or beside on the left) the company name. There are three trademarking systems almost all logos fit into:

6. Logos must communicate, communicate, communicate. Here are the most common mistakes:

· Adding too much to the symbology so that the whole logo is confused and cluttered. Less is more. Often designers have to explain each detail in the logo. There should not have be an explanation that the “O” stands for the sun rising; the “wiggly lines” stand for “the lush landscape”; the “spaces between the wiggly lines” stand for the water flowing through the landscape; the “red” color stands for…etc. Everything in a logo must be simple and evident. A great logo needs no explanation.

· Making the name font compete with the symbol. This is the font that is a design statement in and of itself. It is always complex. The name font should always be simple, supporting the symbology. The symbol carries the burden of communicating credibility. Not the name font.

7. Logos must be very prominent in application. Frequency and consistency are the key points here.

Frequency means that all areas of public contact must be utilized: Business cards. Stationery. Forms. Trucks and vehicles. Shop or office signs. Site signs. Employee caps, shirts and uniforms. Giveaways. Brochures. Advertisements. Proposal covers.

Basic psychology tells us that the more frequent we experience something, the more likely we will remember it. And it should be the same, or consistent, each time.

Consistency is the most common breakdown in logo application. Try this. Put up a “logo wall” somewhere in your office with all areas of current logo application. More often than not, this is normally a hodge-podge -- as either no one is responsible or implementation just happened without consideration as to the logo working as a brand communication system.

8. The logo symbol and name must work together. Logo symbology and the company name must both express credibility traits.

The symbology is a “visual” expression of company credibility. The name is a “verbal” expression of company credibility.

Names like Mail Boxes Etc., The Closet Factory, and United Parcel Service are all good descriptive of the company’s expertise. They are therefore credible names.

On the other hand, names like Cebit, Retrospex and Hebasco do not describe the company business, thus negating the opportunity to express their expertise in their respective fields. These names are also hard to remember.

Trustworthy attributes can also be incorporated into a company’s name. Names like Compaq for the personal computer is not only descriptive, but with the “q” at the end suggests “high technology.” Zippy’s Restaurants sound like a quick place to get a meal. Le Nouveau Riche Gourmand restaurant connotes something more formal. And better to check the wallet before going in.

Company names should also have longevity, as they are what we recall as the company brand. If the credibility-based logos which express the brand image are in the symbology, then the name must support the symbology for the entire logo to be effective. (Already well-established names excepted.)