When considering building a micro site. Think user experience.

Opponents of building micro sites argue that it makes dollars and sense to drive traffic to subdomain or a special section of a larger site. That way users are forced to experience your entire brand and hopefully they will become engaged with more than one specific product or bit of information.

The question is, do users want to experience it all?

Most users when searching for something on Google expect to find exactly what they are looking for. If they don’t find it very easily, they’ll pop right back to Google and visit another page. That ultimately hurts your business and your ranking.

Micro sites because of their size, lend themselves well to search engines and to users who really want specific information. They also lend themselves well to designers who don’t have to deal with strict parameters of making the special section fit within a larger site.

If you really want your visitors to experience your entire brand. Find a way to make it obvious where your visitors can go to learn more. Just don’t be too over the top. Blinking red text screams scam and users usually don’t like to be fooled. One of the best methods of creating a conversion online is making the user feel empowered like they came up with the idea. Baiting them into a area might cause them to walk away from something that feels fishy.

To build or not to build a micro site? Go for it!

Go to McDonald’s. Order an extra value meal. Eat it and leave.

How many times do you think you were exposed to the golden arches?

Think about this typical experience:

You drive into the parking lot, look at the building, walk in the door, order some food, talk with an employee, go to the bathroom, look at the kids toys, get your cup, fill your cup, get some napkins, get some ketchup, pick up your food, sit down, unwrap your burger, look at your tray, eat some fries, drink some soda, threw away your trash, walk out the door and drive out of the parking lot.

If you are anything like me, chances are you thoroughly enjoyed your #2 extra value meal. And perhaps you didn’t realize it, but everything you did while you were at McDonald’s, constantly reminded you of where you were.

Not that seeing all those arches, changed whether you had a good or bad experience, but next time you are driving down the freeway looking for a place to eat, you’ll have some associated feelings with the golden arches based on what your last few visits were like.

How does this apply to healthcare?

If you create a positive experience for patients and their friends and family, don’t you want them to remember where they were?

Think about your patient’s experience in your clinic – from the time they set up an appointment, drive in the parking lot, walk in the door, visit the front desk, talk to the scheduler, pick up a pen, fill out the health history form, read a magazine, watch television, talk to a nurse, sit in the exam room, talk to a physician, take with them a patient education piece and care plan, walk out the door, get better – how many times were your patients reminded where they were?

With approximately 50 percent of patients utilizing the recommendations of friends or family members to select a primary care physician and 20 percent of patients utilizing the recommendations of friends or family members to select a specialist physician, branding your practice should be a major part of your marketing plan.

Companies choose to brand and rebrand themselves for a variety of reasons. A new logo is good for telling the world that something significant about your company has changed. Perhaps you’re opening a new building, acquiring another company or adding new services, whatever the reason a new logo will grab the attention of your current client base and communicate to them a change. If you are considering a new logo design, below are a few recommendations for designing a new logo.

Logo Design Recommendations

• Have a clear objective. Do you want your logo to trigger an emotion? Trigger a memory? Convey a message? Does the logo need to represent your core business?
• Keep it simple. Keep in mind all of the various places your logo may be displayed – on letter head, online, on business cards, in advertisements, on the side of your building, ect. Logos that are too complex are expensive to reproduce across various mediums and are often times screwed up when manipulated by partners, customers, employees and vendors. Gradients can be especially difficult to print and reproduce. Your logo must also look good in black & white.
• Carefully consider shape and color. Don’t pick colors that could in anyway trigger a negative emotion or thought. Brighter more vibrant colors and sans serif fonts are often better fitted for trendy, progressive companies (retail and technology). More conservative colors and serif fonts are often better for suited for companies that want to show stability and prestige (banks, churches and schools).

Best Logo Breakdowns

Nike: The Nike logo is one of the simplest, most recognizable logos in any industry. The logo is stamped on anything produced and has been placed on the jerseys and shoes of championship teams and athletes.

McDonalds: The McDonald’s logo is simple, yet works on multiple levels. At the time a consumer tastes a McDonald’s burger they are surrounded by the golden arches on their tray cover, on their french fries, on their drink, on their burger wrapper, on the tables, on the workers shirts, on the menu, everything. You better believe the sight of golden arches while driving down the interstate will trigger the memory of a time they satisfied their hunger at McDonald’s.

Coca-Cola: The same principles with McDonalds apply with Coca-Cola. At the time of thirst satisfaction, the consumer sees the red color and the coke logo on the coke bottle. The next time the consumer goes to the grocery store, Coke hopes that the red and the logo in the store will trigger a positive memory and prompt the consumer to buy more Coke.

If you are looking for a great place to design a logo for cheap, checkout CrowdSPRING.com. A site that connects designers with people in need of a new logo.

Steps to getting design bids on CrowdSPRING.com.

1. Post the creative project you want. Let the designers know what you want, what you like, when you need it and how much you’re willing to pay for a logo design. Make sure to ask for your logo in an .eps format so that it can be used on anything.
2. Watch the world submit ideas. After watching the designs come in, you can review, sort, rate, give feedback and collaborate with the logo designers until you find ‘the one.’ This part of process allows you get what you want.
3. Pick the logo you want. Pick the logo you want and implement it all over.

Please let me know if you think I left out any important recommendations for designing a logo. Good luck!