GUEST BLOGGER: Matthew Gallizzi, CEO - NotixTech

Mobile-friendly websites and mobile optimized websites are two different types of websites. If a website is Flash-based, it falls into neither of these categories. As the mobile space continues to see unprecedented growth, the importance of understanding the difference is becoming crucial. It could mean the difference between winning or losing a prospective client.

Recently, I spoke at a Legal Marketing Association (LMA) Conference regarding web technologies and how advancements are changing the way professional services firms respond to the delivery of information needs to clients. Today, just realigning or “refreshing” your website, while helpful, may not be enough to stay competitive. When I reached the section on mobile websites (mobi) during my presentation, I was bombarded with questions regarding the difference between an app and a mobi, including.

Your firm’s website is the single most important component to your firm’s marketing communications efforts. Period.

It’s the lynchpin on which all of your other mar/com efforts rest, it’s your “first impression”, your opportunity to communicate with targeted clients on a regular basis via blogs, and hopefully it supports your firm’s business development efforts.

We hear it all the time in blogs, white papers, newspaper articles and from industry experts. “….marketing budgets continue to be slashed, programs are being dropped and marketing staff are being laid-off.” This creates the challenge of strategically choosing the marketing tactics that make the most sense for your firm and your brand.

If you ever built a house, you understand the importance of designing the structure or floor plan with an architect before laying the foundation. If you are an attorney, you understand the importance of doing some discovery about your client and case before presenting to a judge.

GUEST BLOGGER: Matthew Gallizzi, CEO - NotixTech

Facebook mobile has over 100 million users and is growing faster than desktops. Morgan Stanley believes that more users will be connected to the Internet via mobile devices than desktop PCs within five years. Motorola CEO Sanjay Jha told Reuters that Android-powered mobile devices are selling faster than they can be manufactured.

I remember being eight and all I wanted for Christmas was "Game and Watch" games. Game and Watch by Nintendo, was a handheld gaming unit made in the early 80s, with an LCD screen and very simple motion. In my mind, this was the seed of the moblie generation and I'd like to believe that this revolution may have started with me. ;)

You just bought a parcel of land and are planning to build a brand new home, your dream home. Would you start building this home without an architecture or floor plan? I would hope not. And the same goes for building a website.

Blueprints are to a house, like sitemaps and wireframes are to a website. Information architecture requires a significant amount of hours of research and discovery long before the designer touches the canvas with their interactive tools.

We all want our websites to be found, positioned and ranked high by search engines. Are you checking to see that your site is attracting traffic? Or, are your professionals sending you emails asking you why your firm’s site doesn’t appear on the first or even the second page of search results? SEO is not optional; it is critical to the success when designing or redesigning websites. We all have websites; we all have to take SEO into consideration when building our sites!

A couple of weeks ago, a friend a mine asked me if he could pick my brain about developing his website. After talking for a while, I realized the questions he was asking were probably common for many professional service marketers as well. While he understood the basics of developing a website, his questions were more about the big picture and what makes an effective website.