Making a Zen Website

After reading section of The Zen of Social Media by Shama Hyder Kabani, there are a few key points that I came away with. Right away in the first chapter there was a methodology represented by the acronym A.C.T, which stands for attract, convert, and transform. This principle can be summed up as you have to get a consumers attention, make them into a loyal customer, and keep on turning that first attraction into an ongoing one, or a "magnetic force.

I also found it interesting after reading this part of the book, that in actuality the best site of conversion is the brands actual website. So everything you put out in social media should some point the consumer or client back to the website. In chapter two of this book, it continues this principle even further and states that your website the window to ones company. It also states that it is this way because everyone expects you to have a website and it can influence a huge audience of people, that may have not been possible without a website. Chapter two takes this concept even more in depth by saying, "Your website can't be good-it has to be great!" This concept it compelety true. I can think of so many times I have been to a brands website, or even a designer, and their website alone makes me either want to know more, or completely forget about them.  It continues to say that a "cool" website must do three of things: educate, market, and sell (EMS).  If you can educate, you will not be able to market your product well, and if you can not market your product well, then you can almost guarantee that your product will not sell well, at all. So how do you make a website that can do all of this for your brand and more? Well, according to Shama Hyder Kabani your website must have following: design, structure, content, and optimization. So all in all you must have what we call an "eye catching design" and it must be simple to use. Just because your website is really complex and cool, if it is not user friendly and easy to navigate, your website will, be considered a fail. And also it must be well built, and look good on the outside and function on as many platforms as possible. 
I found these parts about building a website especially useful not only for any social media project, but for me personally. Since I am my own brand, any of the principles in this book can be applied to me as a personal brand. In a world full of competition, this book has many useful tools to help me stand out.