Coordinating Web Sites And Printed Materials

by Jay Williams

A Web site and a brochure combination is a new service now emerging in which a company is offered a one stop shop approach to some of its marketing needs. There are many graphic design firms doing print work (brochures), and some of them are struggling to learn the Web site industry, but few Web site developers have any idea how to produce a high quality brochure.

The Web site and brochure combination means that once your words and visuals are in the computers, they can be transferred from one into the other, maintaining the basic design feel and concept that has been created. It is better to do the brochure project first. because the resolution requirements of visuals (graphics and photos) are much higher for print then for the Web. You can’t take low resolution visuals developed for the Web and then make them proper high resolution visuals needed for quality brochure printing. Of course you can always take the visuals made for print and scale them down for Web use.

In cases where a Web site inspires the desire for a brochure, it is necessary to recreate the graphics in the higher resolution required for offset printing, which is not an economical move.

Many have the misconception that once you put up a Web site you need only sit back and watch the people come to your site via those search engines you hear so much about. In fact, search engines just do not cut it. Marketing outside the Web is the only effective way to get traffic to your site. You have to be the one to point visitors to your site, using the www address as often as possible in all the standard media -- your stationary, business cards, displays, flyers, ads and yellow pages. Put ads in your trade magazines that cater to your subject, and don’t forget ads in The Business Monthly. Do not place your www address in small print with your phone number and fax number. Scream it. Let people know that you are an up-to-date firm with an informational Web site.

Think of your Web site as your centralized, main information resource that tells about you, your services and/or your products. Everything else you do should point to it.

Remember that the power and impact is enhanced when your company’s Web site matches your printed materials, reinforcing your image as being a well coordinated and up-to-date firm.

Jay Williams is president of Jay Williams Design Company, a graphic design firm. He can be reached at 301-937-8633, via e-mail at jwdc@jwdc.com.