Dynamic Graphics & Design

Before video backgrounds and pages that could do pretty much anything websites were mostly text, blue links and whatever image you were willing to wait five minutes to load. They weren't always pretty and they weren't always easy to use. But there was something great about the idea that almost anyone could build a little corner of the internet and share it with the world.

A lot has changed since then. Websites can power entire businesses, connect customers from across the world and help them find exactly what they need without ever walking through the front door.

In honour of World Wide Web Day here's to the strange, messy and incredibly useful thing the web has become. And to building websites that still remember that their real job isn't to be flashy, it's to help people understand their purpose.

There seems to be this idea that if your website isn't converting the best thing to do is to add another call to action.

CTAs matter but adding more of then won't actually fix a website that isn't clearly defining who you are, what you do, and who you help and they definitely won't tell a potential customer why they should trust you.

Another CTA is just another thing competing for attention.

I've seen websites with another button every few inches telling the user to do something. Call now...Get Started...Learn More...Sign Up. By the time you've reached the bottom of the page the site is asking for more commitment than it's earned. That's not better marketing. That's chasing someone and begging them not to leave.

Users should reach the next step naturally. Sometimes that's calling. But sometimes it's not. Sometimes it's simply exploring more of the website. A good website should guide that process instead of constantly interrupting it.

Your website probably doesn't need another CTA. It needs clarity and purposeful messaging. It needs thoughtful usability that makes the next step feel obvious instead of forced.

There always seems to be some new shiny thing that the marketing world tells businesses they absolutely need to do. And right now that's llms.txt.

If you've been anywhere near SEO or AEO over the last few weeks you've probably seen a ton of people telling you that it's the next bing thing. Some are even saying it's absolutely the key to making sure your website si found by ChatGPT and AI searches. And this is the part that frustrates the hell out of me.

Google already said it doesn't use llms.txt for search OR AI overview. The data that's been released so far doesn't show any meaningful benefit to being mentioned by AI tools either. Could that change some day? Sure it could. If you build software or developer tools it might even bcome an important standard. But for a local plumbing company or a retail store or really for almost any small businesses I wouldn't lose sleep over it.

This is exactly the kind of thing I think is wrong with our industry right now.

There's always a new shortcut or "must have". There's always some trick sold to businesses as a "do this or be left behind". But the businesses who are doing well and will continue to do well? They're doing what they've always done. They're building useful websites with content that actually answers people's questsions. They're building brands that people will remember. None of that is new and none of that is exciting and none of it gets as many clicks as telling people they're already behind.

Honestly I'd spend twenty minutes making my website clearer before I'd spend twenty minutes adding an llms.txt file.

I think we're heading down a path where businesses are starting to mistake creating more content for doing better marketing. It's never been easier to write ten blog posts, twenty social media updates or a month's worth of emails in an afternoon. That's impressive but if all your content sounds just like everyone else's what have you actually gained?

If you took the logos off of half the websites in any given industry today I honestly don't know if most people could tell them apart anymore. We've spent years trying to make marketing faster. I'm not convinced we've spent enough time asking whether we're making it better.

I'm not strictly against AI. I'm against becoming forgettable. If your website looks like every other website. If your social posts could belong to any company in your industry. If your marketing feels like it was assembled from the same handful of prompts everyone else is using. You're not building a stronger brand. You're making it harder to remember you.

The businesses that stand out over the next few years won't necessarily be the ones creating the most content. I think they'll be the ones with the clearest point of view and the strongest identity. The ones with something genuine to say.

And there's no tool that can do that for you.

One thing that really frustrates me about the SEO industry is how often if feels like people are trying to make it sound more complicated than it needs to be.

Every week there's another video full of acronyms. Full of AI prompts. Full of secret tricks and complicated strategies that are supposedly going to change everything. And by the end of the video you're more confused than when you started. Then comes the course, the mastermind or the program that's going to explain it all.

Maybe I'm cynical but I can't help wondering if that's the point.

I think we've reached the point where a lot of SEO content is designed to impress other marketers instead of helping business owners.

Meanwhile most small businesses would be much better off making sure they've covered the fundamentals first. Keep your Google Business Profile up to date. Reply to your reviews. Make sure you're website has a clear purpose and your page titles and headings actually describe what the page is about. Talk about the services you offer and the communities you serve.

Those things aren't exciting and they don't make for flashy videos. And they probably won't sell a lot of courses. But they work.

SEO isn't about chasing every new trick someone talks about online. Most of the time it's about building.a useful website that clearly explains what you do, who you help, and where you work. Of course there's more to SEO than that but in my opinion a good SEO professional should hep you understand what matters instead of making you feel like you're constantly falling behind.

One of the things I'm most proud of is that Dynamic Graphics & Design has had the opportunity to work with businesses across Alberta.

Over the years I've worked with businesses in cities, small towns and everything in between. Different industries. Different goals. Different challenges. But the projects I've enjoyed most have all had one thing in common. They started with a conversation.

Before we talk logos, websites, SEO or marketing I want to understand the business behind it all. What's working and what's not. Where you are and where you want to go. And what makes your business different from everyone else doing something similar.

That's because I've never believed good branding stars with pretty colours or a website. It starts with clarity. When you have a clear understanding of who you are, who you're trying to reach, and what you want people to remember, the rest becomes a whole lot easier.

I'm proud to call southern Alberta home but I've never believed that great working relationships are defined by a map. If you're building a business anywhere in Alberta and you're looking for someone who'll take the time to understand I'd love to have a conversation.

It's World Emoji Day and I've got to admit I probably use emojis way less than pretty much anyone else I know. Seriously.

A lot of businesses outgrow their first logo. It happens. You reach a new stage in the business. You've grown. The team is stronger. The work is better.

But if your messaging is still unclear, if your website isn't clean and your social media is disjointed and random, a new logo isn't going to fix it on its own.

You're in a transition phase. And that's where the real fun begins. It's time to figure out what the business is trying to become and what it needs to say to reach the right audience. Then we build you the right logo.

Before Illustrator there was Etch A Sketch and for generations this might have been a lot of future designers' first tool.

No layers and no undo button. Just tow little k***s, a grey screen and the confidence to think that this time you were finally going to draw a perfect circle.

In honour of Etch A Sketch Day, here's to one of the first places a lot of us probably learned that making something look simple can be a lot harder than it seems. And that sometimes the only real fix is to shake the whole thing up and start over.

Sometimes a client comes to me with an idea and my first reaction isn't "Great, let's get started." Sometimes it's "I think you should wait."

Maybe the timing isn't right or maybe they're already stretched too thin. Maybe the idea is good but it's the fifth step not the first step. Or maybe I just don't think the money they're going to spend is going to do enough for them right now.

I've talked clients out of projects before. I've told people to hold off on a website, to rethink a campaign or to just leave something alone because I didn't think changing it would solve the problem.

Honestly I'm probably more comfortable doing that than I am trying to sell someone something.

That hasn't always been great for my own business. I've given away too much advice. I've undercharged and I've done too many little things for free because I didn't want someone to feel like I was taking advantage of them.

I'm working on that part but I don't ever want to lose the part of me that can look at a client and say "I don't think you need to spend the money yet."

Because if someone trusts me enough to ask what I think I'm going to give them an honest answer.

Dynamic Graphics & Design