It’s Not Like Print

TweetIn my previous post Are You Showing Your True Value? I made mention to those Marketing people with a print background about learning the limitations of web browsers.

Here’s a quote from that post:
If you come from a print background, remember that web design doesn’t work the same; sometimes you’ll need to adjust a font or part of a layout because of the limitations of web browsers.

I’d like to cover a couple of those differences to help you understand why the IT people will sometimes balk at your requests. It’s only fair that you understand why after all the hard work you put in to get that brochure or ad just so that the IT people are resisting your efforts to have that perfectly consistent look on the web site. If you’re new to the web world, this will hopefully help ease your frustration.

Text
In my experience, text rendering on web sites has been the thing which causes the most friction between Marketers and IT people. The reason why text doesn’t work on the web the way it does in print has to do with the way browsers render web pages.

Fonts: Although it is possible to specify a font in HTML and Cascading Style Sheets (CSS), there is a hidden trap: the font you specify must be installed on the visitor’s computer. If the font is not installed, the browser will render the page using the default font specified in the browser’s settings (usually Times New Roman or Arial on Windows computers).  So, if you specify a special font you purchased just for your project on your web site, chances are your visitors won’t have that font installed on their computer. Imagine how much the layout might be affected if you design your site around a special font and the page ends up being viewed with Times New Roman.

An easy remedy to this is to either set up the text portion of the web site in an image or Adobe Flash file. While either of these solutions will solve the font issue, they bring in a potentially bigger problem. Search engines cannot index text embedded in image or Flash files. So while your layout will be perfect, it will be very hard for potential customers to find your web site via search because your site will be invisible to search engines.

Layout
Although there is a lot talented and knowledgeable developers can do with HTML and CSS, there are still some limitations to what can be done with web pages. With print, everything can be placed ever so precisely, but that’s not always the case with web pages. Embedding large image files or Flash will get around this just like the font problem. But, without search engines being able to index the text, the site will be all but invisible.

Solution Suggestion
It is a great idea to coordinate on line and off line marketing so a consistent look is presented. Instead of struggling in an attempt to make the web behave like print, why not create all the elements at the same time? If you approach your print media with the idea that you want a very similar look and feel on your web site you can take into account the limitations of web pages and plan accordingly. It’s not to suggest totally dumbing down your high-resolution ideas; keep those for where you can easily achieve them. But, keeping in mind up front there are certain compromises you need to make for the web and you’ll be able to plan for them ahead of time. This will allow you to create the best possible presentation in both.

When picking fonts for web pages, it’s best go go with a neutral, “web-friendly” font which is easy to read even on a low-end video/monitor setup. Many agree that sans-serif fonts are the best for overall readability, but exceptions can be made. When specifying a font, go with a list of similar fonts for Windows, Mac and Linux as well as a “catch-all.” If your IT folks are not familiar with how to do this, a quick search on Google will bring all the instruction they need to get it done.

Regarding Flash
I’m not a “Flash basher.” I think Flash is a great tool for creating excellent visual content. I believe, though, it needs to be used judiciously.  Although developments in recent months have allowed search engines to delve into Flash content, they still can’t index very much in the Flash file itself. Although this may change, it’s better to go as if Flash cannot be indexed for now.

Final Note: Test Like Crazy
Although HTML, CSS and other web languages are standards, there is still a lot of room for interpretation of those standards. To understand this, look at your web sites in different browsers, different versions of browsers and even on different platforms. Your web site may look great in Safari on a Mac, but it may look terrible in Internet Explorer on a Windows machine.  Don’t trust others to do all the testing for you. If you design it, take the time to check out the site in different environments. It takes a little more effort, but it’s effort well-spent to make sure your product is the best it can be.

photo credit: WordRidden

Tags: in-house, marketing, sem, seo