Five Web Design Books Every Creative Marketer Should Own

Part three of five.

As content and creative markers, we need to be polymaths. A part of that is embracing, at least, a common knowledge of the disciplines surrounding us and our output. I worked directly on the web for a long time, creating eCommerce sites and SEO copy for an eclectic array of products and services, both in-house and in agency. Many of these books I’ve picked up on my travels and had recommended by folks I respect, from UX experts to web developers, and their words of wisdom have stood me in good stead.

 

Even if you’re just speaking with external web agencies, creating approachable content for search engines, want to create compelling web copy, or may be diligently posting thought-leadership to WordPress, we need to (at bare minmum) understand the basics of good web design theory. While you’re here, and to further broaden horizons, please also consider my thoughts on my favorite Graphic Design Books, Marketing Theory Books, Copywriting Books, and Film Production Books. Some of the books below will invariably cross into the realms of design and psychology, but that’s the nature of the web design beast.

 

Design is Storytelling by Ellen Lupton

Design goes beyond showing off our brand's traits, creating navigation, or displaying what we think our audience likes. It plays a huge role in people's feelings, guides their choices, and molds their view of what we offer. Is this strictly web design? I don’t care. A smart design can make a packet of biscuits seem tastier and healthier than it actually is, boost someone's focus, or even stir up anxiety—which applies to the web as much as it applies anywhere else. It's all about the impact our design has on the viewer. Lupton effortlessly breaks down complex theory into engaging, bite-sized lessons. She explores the psychology behind design through storytelling, offering insights for everyone, from filmmakers to web professionals. With principles given context, she illustrates these models in action, making it a must-read for anyone interested in the hidden power of design.

 

A web designer bookshelf indispensable for under £12, it includes the essentials of visual storytelling, the impact of color on emotions, and the intriguing principles of behavioral economics. It’s worth it for a clear definition of the "rule of threes," to which I thoroughly subscribe, a powerful storytelling and design principle she puts in cultural and historical context, from ancient myths to modern advertising. 

 

Laws of UX by Jon Yablonski

In 12 insightful chapters, Yablonski demystifies design laws and theories with clear examples from familiar digital interfaces like Facebook and Twitter [X]. This is a great read for designers who want to get a grasp on how users psychologically engage with digital platforms. 

 

Effective design should simplify user goals and enhance positive interactions, and it acknowledges that while complexity can't always be eliminated, it can be managed to make the user's journey smoother. With a light, approachable style, it’s a fantastic intro to UX principles and a convenient refresher on design theories. It's a quick, enriching read and a perfect guide for anyone looking to further their understanding of the user experience. 

 

I picked this up off a colleague's desk and inadvertently never returned it (sorry, Jon). It's not a cheap one, but if you take your time, you can find it for under £30 on eBay, and it should be a staple of any web agency library.

 

Web Designers Idea Book by Patrick McNeil

"Web Designer's Idea Book," available (used) on Amazon for under a fiver, is a visual feast and creative companion, packed with over 700 website designs sorted by themes like layout, color, and style. Cherry-picked from Mr. McNeil’s vast online catalog of examples, it’s the perfect tool for sparking ideas and being able to say, “No, I mean like this.” The designs are categorized for easy browsing and brainstorming sessions, and it’s a treasure trove when consulting with colleagues or clients. Grab this one when kicking off new projects; it’ll keep the inspiration flowing.

 

Don’t Make Me Think by Steve Krug

I’ve bought at least four copies of this book, in its various iterations and revisions, and given all of them away or lent them to the needy, never to be seen again. When I briefly lectured on web usability, it was on my required reading list (and still is). Not being able to find a copy on my shelves, at the time of writing, actually makes me a little anxious. 

 

Easily one of the best work-related books I've read, it's aimed at those looking for the core fundamentals of user experience design and content strategy. A clarion call for the path of least resistance in navigation and messaging, it’s chock full of indispensable wisdom. It’s a breezy read that practices what it preaches, and I find myself mulling on its principles with regularity, especially as the face of our web design best practices when talking to designers and our external web agency. 

 

Get the latest version; it’ll be worth it. And pick me up another copy while y’there.

 

Web Design Playground by Paul McFedries

The full title of this book is “Web Design Playground: HTML & CSS The Interactive Way,” but I didn’t want to put you off. Trust me, this is the perfect starting point if you're new to web design. It’s a surprisingly entertaining, interactive guide that takes us from the basics of HTML and CSS to the more advanced tricks of the trade. Through these pages, we get to play around with actual code, building our own web pages as we go, and there are questions after each chapter to check our progress and drive things home. Yours for under a fiver on World of Books. Do it.

If you have opinions, and I hope the suggestions above stimulate the creative juices, feel free to grab me for a chat and connect on Threads or LinkedIn. If you know of other web-related books I should have in my TBR pile, I’d love to hear about them. I can always put up more shelves.

Also in this series:

5 Writing Books

5 Film Production Books

5 Marketing and Psychology Books

5 Art and Design Books

Ten Obvious Tips for SaaS Marketing

Standing out among a rapidly swelling and roiling sea of SaaS offerings, fulfilling every software niche from AI podcast managers to ML behavioral baselining solutions (or whatever) is going to require an innovative strategy and (likely) a deeper understanding of your audience and the ongoing friendship of your resident Product Marketing Manager. 

However, there are similarities and basic principles we can explore as a foundation for some good working strategies. By way of bullet points (and rocket science, it ain't), the notes for this post were corralled together as part of my visiting lecturer series at Nottingham Trent University in 2013, basically the same but now fluffed a little for 2024. Software as a Service (SaaS) is a cloud-based service model that allows users to access and use software applications over the internet, typically on a subscription basis. In 2013, it was a moderately cutting-edge and a mildly revolutionary thing where I wanted to show that core marketing theories, with a twist, still apply. I’ll leave you to expand on these bullets yourself, but trust me, if it was difficult, I wouldn’t do it for a living.

1.  Audience Understanding

Success begins with knowing your audience inside out. Use analytics, surveys, and direct engagement to uncover their needs, preferences, and pain points. Create buyer personas. Tailoring your marketing efforts to address these specific prospects and their genuine needs and cares can seriously increase any product's appeal and customer satisfaction. What boxes does your SaaS product tick for prospects?

2.   Sell Solutions, Not Features

It’s a classic. No one wants to buy an electric drill; they probably just want a perfect hole. Customers are looking for solutions, not just software. Sell them the perfect hole. Highlight how your SaaS solves problems or improves their life or business. Transform features into benefits in your messaging, making it more relatable and compelling. 

 

3.   Content Rules

Create valuable content that prospects will give a damn about that educates, entertains, and engages your target audience. Blogs, eBooks, webinars, sales support with solution briefs, and videos that address cover the challenges or questions position a brand as a thought leader and build trust with potential patrons.

 

4.   SEO: Your Best Ally 

Visibility is gold, and organic SEO is still an important factor for any content marketing efforts. Bootstrap your site for mobile. Do some keyword research and lovingly roll content in relevant keywords. Use H tags, internal cross-linking, meta descriptions, and court high-quality inbound links with guest-posting and digital PR to increase rankings. For more in-depth advice on this, see my post on SEO in 2024.

 

5.   Harness Social Proof
Testimonials, reviews, and case studies are gold in establishing credibility. The SaaS audience also traditionally loves things like the Garner Magic Quadrant and (sponsored) brand placement in Forrester Reports etc. If you can afford to take part, it’s also good for decent inbound links from reputable and decent PageRank sites.

We can showcase customer success stories and ratings on our website and across social media to build trust and encourage conversions. If you’re one of those industries, like microsegmentation tools, where getting clients to take part in case studies is as rare as rocking horse do-do, get creative with something like this (which I made last year).

 

6.   Prioritize Customer Success 

Beyond acquisition, focus on retaining customers through exceptional support and success programs. Happy customers are more likely to become brand advocates and contribute to organic growth through word-of-mouth. The importance of keeping punters happy and keeping them renewing can’t be overstated for SaaS products.

 

7.   Free Trials and Demos

Offering free trials or product demos lowers the barrier to entry, allowing potential customers to experience the value of your SaaS firsthand. Show ‘em it’s good and get ‘em hooked—if it works from drug dealers in 80s cop shows, it can work for us. Make sure the trial/demo process is straightforward and supported by sales engineers to make the most of conversion opportunities.

 

8.   Pricing Strategy

How is this the job of marketing? A pricing strategy can make or break a SaaS product, trust me. It needs to reflect the value you provide while remaining competitive. It's too expensive; there are plenty of alternatives. If it is too cheap, our skeptical online audience won’t see the value. How about flexible pricing tiers to cater to different customer segments or needs? Be transparent with the cost, and clearly show the ROI. Marketing absolutely should have a say here. Do some competitor research and come to the pricing meeting armed with the facts and a solid solution. 

 

9.   Build a Community
Fostering a community around a product encourages engagement, feedback, and loyalty. Make the most of your own technical/community forums, social media groups, or user events/webinars to create a space for patrons to connect, share experiences, and provide valuable insights for product improvement. Do not underestimate content and community marketing for renewals, as well as new business; this is where we give away our swag and make our evangelists.

 

10. Be Data-Driven
Make the most of analytics to track the performance of marketing efforts—continuously. If you’re not data-driven, even casually, you were dead in 2013, and you’ll be doubly so today. Know what you want to achieve; qualified leads, demo requests, installation documentation downloads, whatever, and measure it religiously. Understanding what works and what doesn't lets us iterate and adapt strategies quickly, meaning our marketing remains effective, agile, and ROI-positive. 

 

By way of inspiration, dive into these tips, and you can not only attract but also retain customers, which is absolutely death-row serious for safeguarding any long-term success for any SaaS business. Who’s demoing the new features and getting the existing customers talking? Who’s answering the FAQs? How are you teasing the next release? How’s the community using the software already?

 

Now, SaaS marketing is an admittedly evolving field that requires a blend of creativity, analytics, and customer-centric strategies—and far more in-depth than the bullets above. This, however, is a starting point and will hopefully get the creative neurons firing. Stay agile, keep learning, and always put your customers at the heart of your marketing labors. 

If anyone wants to buy me a coffee, I’ll be in the refectory.

Five Film Production Books Every Creative Marketer Should Own

Part two of five. 

Continuing my recommendations for the books that should be on every content marketer's shelf, and because I’m a big believer in paper, it’s time to look at five for film and video production. Please also see Five Writing Books, Five Graphic Design Books, Five Web Design Books, and Five Marketing Theory Books that I believe we should own as tomes of inspiration and reference to improve our work.

 

I studied (experimental) film and TV production and worked in the feature industry just long enough to get jaded and tired. I share a BAFTA for an interactive project I directed. Cinema on a Sunday is my church. Federico Fellini, Akira Kurosawa, Lulu Wang, and Sam Raimi are part of a pantheon of Corinthian gods. I script and produce explainers regularly, talk to animators and editors daily, and still revel in my own video projects—dabbling in AI video, machinima, doing voice-overs for friends projects, and still writing for pleasure. Some of these books are personal, and I’ve had them for decades, and some are more accessible recent acquisitions. All are worth a read.

 

Film Directing Shot by Shot by Steven D Katz

This was required reading when I studied for my MA, even though I studied Production and Script Writing rather than Direction. I swear by this one and have bought it as a gift for other people, usually when I see a second-hand copy in the wild, many, many times. Probably the best and most accessible pre-production film book I have ever read, mainly due to his ability to cut through the industry jargon and offer clear illustrations to match its explanations. There are at least two copies in the house right now—one in the downstairs loo. 

 

"Shot by Shot" offers a time-tested take, providing tools, rules, and a wealth of glorious examples from cinema history. Applying these insights effectively is up to the filmmaker, but whether you’re heading for a career in game design, animation, storyboard illustration, or want to create content in the aspect ratio of TikTok, this is a bargain secondhand for as little as a fiver at World of Books or Oxfam.

 

Making Movies by Sidney Lumet

In a reply on Twitter, this was recommended to me by my old friend Matt Cooper. Matt is a BAFTA shortlisted/RTS nominated scriptwriter and filmmaker with credits from EastEnders to Emmerdale. As a long-time collaborator of some 30+ years from the halcyon days of the indie-film-making Leeds mafia, I picked up a copy, knowing I was probably onto something good. I’m very glad I did.

 

With critically acclaimed movies under his belt like 12 Angry Men [1957], Serpico [1973], Dog Day Afternoon [1975], and Network [1976], Lumet’s words are a gift for anyone curious about the filmmaking process. Dripping with on-set anecdotes, this is a seminal work on wrangling the best from performers and the overall creative method, told in Lumet’s trademark pragmatic style and easy to read, non-technical, entirely relatable, and wholly unpretentious. I worked in the features industry back when I was young enough to embrace a young man’s game, and making films is hard work, tricky, and packed with challenges—but it's also rewarding. As runners and production assistants, we’d grumble in our ignorance that directors had it easy, just picking the right people to handle everything on their behalf and being two-faced to the talent. However, Lumet clearly demonstrates just how essential and involved a director's role truly is. Why does a director pick a certain script or keep actors genuine across so many takes? How can you stage a big shootout in New York with extras and taxicabs or satisfy studio bosses? "Making Movies" is the perfect insider's view from start to finish, packed to the rafters with clear, honest, inspiring insights you can take to any production, regardless of size and scope.

 

How to Shoot Video That Doesn't Suck 

by Steve Stockman

Gotta love that title, and to be fair, it does what it says on the cover. This a straight-shooting guide to filmmaking that easily drew me in, and it's particularly accessible for those interested in creating YouTube/Vimeo content or the likes of Reels. Stockman shares his golden rules to improve our videos and covers everything from storyboarding to technical tips on lighting and sound—useful for both vloggers and feature filmmakers. He briefly skips over specific equipment and software recommendations, which was useful on my first pass. He does repeat himself a bit, which, while making it easy to follow, makes a cover-to-cover read somewhat déjà rêvé, and it’s best dipped into. Check out this interview with Stockman ℅ YouTube.

 

Special Effects in Television by Bernard Wilkie

Wilkie spent a quarter of a century creating special effects for Auntie Beeb, where he was manager of probably the largest and most specialised visual FX unit in the world. I’ve got the second edition of this, and I’ve had it a very long time. I’ve had it so long, since 1993, that I was a pence-poor student and I had to save up to buy it. This is the Spons' Workshop Receipts of practical film and video effects, with instructions on everything from shooting matte shots to building wind machines and from blowing up miniature landmarks to Peppers Ghost. It’s an insight into the Magic Circle that was the BBC Visual Effects Department. I’ve had my money back from this book tenfold, especially in my student days. 

 

Alas, a mint one of these now goes for the price of a working kidney, but it is possible to find a reasonable (all be it stained, likely singed, and invariably dogeared) copy on eBay at the price of an artisanal sandwich. Mine also has the Jagoroth spaceship on the cover from Doctor Who/City of Death [1979], which has to be a further plus, and I don’t lend it out. You can pull it out of my cold, dead, obsessive hands.

 

The Smartphone Filmmaking Handbook 

by Neil Philip Sheppard

Something more recent and probably more applicable to the modern content marketer, this is a lexicon of advice for those who want to embrace mobile filmmaking. Nine times out of ten, as content creators, all we have available is our devastating good looks and the contents of our pockets. Armed with just a smartphone and some basic know-how, this is the doorway to creating decent video, no matter the technology at our disposal. Whether we're a budding filmmaker, vlogger, educator, student, wanna-be influencer, or in-house marketing Shemp, it’s packed with solid tips to help us get the best results with just an HD phone.

 

From picking the right equipment and apps within our budget to mastering lighting, sound, and some decent camera tricks, this is an easy-to-read point of reference that covers all we (probably) need to know about smartphone filmmaking. Great for beginners, and cheap as chips second-hand, Sheppard gives us the scoop on the best gear, video editing, live streaming, squeezing the best from the format, and sharing our masterpieces online. The updated 2023 edition—because things move on—is probably worth considering and includes welcome advice for the foibles of the iPhone 14 Pro.

 

Also, for your consideration: 

• 5 Writing Books
• 5 Web Design Books
• 5 Marketing and Psychology Books
• 5 Art and Design Books

I hope that’s useful, and if you have other suggestions, I’m all ears. Please let me know via Threads; I’m always up for connecting with like-minded souls and for reading something new or just chatting about movies and video production—if that’s your bag.

Has Using AI Made Me a Better Writer?

Unexpectedly, yes. I think it has.

As I’ve said, many a time and oft, I’m not a trained writer nor hold any formal degree in copy creation beyond a module in scriptwriting when completing my MA. And, for the record, I don’t use AI to write things for my blog. I have been doing this for over 30 years, however, and do use Artificial Intelligence (AI) regularly for work (check out my interview w/ Skedler) and in creating imagery and copy for RP games and personal projects—daily.

AI has been a massive disruptor over the past year, revolutionizing fields including (but not limited to) brand journalism, marketing, and copy/design creation. As a writer, though I hate to leverage the title, integrating AI into my workflow has undoubtedly enhanced my efficiency and, surprisingly, sharpened my skills, making me a better wordsmith in directions I’d have never anticipated when I penned my initial feelings less than 12 months ago.

Here are a bunch of ways I’ve found that using AI has made me a better scribe, specifically within the arena of daily copy creation, as a hobbyist RPG writer, and as a head content marketer for the world’s leading zero-day protection solution.

Research

At advantage one, AI tools have drastically improved my research capabilities. I mean, DRASTICALLY.

AI has access to vast databases of content and can process information rapidly, meaning I can gather and sort relevant information quickly, providing a solid foundation and helpful reassurance for my daily output. I don’t have to constantly be hassling people for general facts, explanations, and figures, asking, “Is this right,” and cruising the Interwebz for assorted fluff to inspire and pad out my copy. It’s all a (curious) prompt away, all backed by accurate and comprehensive data, seriously elevating the quality and the speed of publication for the bulk of the content I produce. I mean, sure, I still double-check anything I’m not 100% sure about, especially in relation to our specific product or in reference to the AIs knowledge cut-off date, but (certainly for mostly top-of-funnel things like blog posts) it’s a game changer.

It's worth browsing around and adding a few bolt-ons and specialist plugins. I use Chat GPT with Wolfram Alpha, AskYourPDF, Advanced Data Analytics (to give me insights into CSV files, etc), Show Me plugin, WebPilot (super handy for rewriting and translating), and others.

Google Scholar, boosted with AI capabilities, is a great one for casual researchers and scholars needing up-to-date academic research, including scholarly literature, articles, conference papers, and theses. With the traditional Google interface (so we don’t cut ourselves) and the painless ability to find elusive publications and citations, I’ve found it indispensable for more academic learning.

Scite, another academic research tool, uses natural language processing to analyze articles and find definitive references and sources, assessing the dependability and “impact” of references, and offering visualizations and metrics for those of us with a more visual appreciation of things—which is often inspiring.

Grammar and Style

AI writing tools are excellent for refining style and morphology, and I’m a big Grammerly fan-boy. They provide suggestions for syntax, word choice, and sentence structure, letting me polish my work to a more professional level, or not if that’s the voice I’m using, inline and as part of the process. This constant feedback loop has honed my understanding of grammar and style, undoubtedly making me a more proficient writer, with and without AI tools.

Learning and Improvement

Having used copy assistants like this for a while, it’s had a direct impact on my initial output, meaning I now rely on them a lot less, but having a copy editor in my pocket is a serious boon. Being able to specify brand traits for voice, as well as general assistance with clarity and form, is a constant teacher of the best form and a reminder of best practices. I don’t need to know all the in-depth punctuation and grammar rules when Grammarly has my back, but having a constant tutor has significantly upped my personal and professional growth as a writer and content creator, and this kind of feedback is far harder to get outside of an agency environment.

Writing for the Audience

AI's can review large sets of data and have empowered me to tailor my content to the preferences of my target audience more effectively. By understanding trends, industry terminology, reading patterns, and engagement metrics, I can subtly adapt my writing style, tone, and content to better resonate with my readers, a notoriously skeptical and specialist audience of CISO, network engineers, and the c-Suite, undoubtedly making my writing more impactful and relevant.

So, in case you didn’t realize, on this blog, I write like I speak. I’m happy with that here, and it's purposeful. It’s very useful for scripting explainers and VO, but it doesn’t translate well to the likes of technical documentation, and I have to cater my wording accordingly. I also write in other voices, as appropriate for the forum in which I'm writing or the brand style for whom I'm writing. It's like being a creative sociopath. Chat GPT, bless its little digital heart, gives me (with a consistent and well-tweaked prompt) a consistency and readability that has shown me how to better present data for maximum readability and understandability, tailored to a technical and professional audience into which, very often initially, I only have casual insight. As a content creator who’s worked on subjects as random as sustainable fisheries and kids' history education, this is pure fried gold.

Productivity 

The automation of repetitive tasks, such as formatting and even initial drafting, has freed up more time for the creative aspects of my writing and for further content creation. AI's efficiency has not only sped up the writing process but also allowed me to focus on brainstorming, structuring narratives, research, and refining arguments—leading to richer and more thought-out pieces, leading to better traction and distribution.

I’m not joking when I say that AI has given me around two extra hours a day to produce two extra hours of output. This, alone, makes AI a must-have for any marketing team and sets those of us who’ve adopted AI working practices as stand out assets to recruiters and CMOs.

Inspiration

Finding creative and relevant inspiration is a common challenge, and I wrote more about this last year in my post on Staying Creative as a Content Marketer, but AI has been a help f’sure. 

AI-powered writing assistants can suggest ideas and prompts and even draft small sections of more ‘explainer’ content, kickstarting the creative process. This not only saves me time but also keeps the creative juices flowing, promoting a steady stream of potential posts and topic ideas for a given target audience. Admittedly, it’s not where most of my inspiration comes from, but it can help.

AI has also pushed me to explore new genres and styles of writing. With AI-generated suggestions and examples, I've been able to venture out of my comfort zone a little more, experimenting with different formats, narratives, and themes, thereby expanding my creative horizons. This has been especially true in my personal work when penning scripts for my fan podcast or intros for RPG sessions.

Supporting SEO

For digital content, SEO is key. Check out my post on Why SEO is Still Important for Content Marketing in 2024.

AI tools have equipped me with the ability to optimize my content for search engines more effectively. While I don’t use AI for integrating the right keywords, creating H2/H3 titles, or for structure to improve online visibility, I believe you can. Using AI to write SEO copy, for me, is a bit like putting parking sensors on a Smart car, and if you need parking sensors to park a Smart car, you probably shouldn’t be driving in the first place. After decades of writing SEO, I don’t need it and actually find its input frustrating. However, it’s fantastic for shortening copy and writing to word (not character) length.

I do use ChatGPT to some degree when streamlining keyword research, putting target keywords into the chatbot, and requesting related suggestions before heading to Moz for confirmation and further insights.

Plagiarism

Ensuring originality in writing is crucial, and the AI plagiarism checker in Grammarly has been indispensable. It provides peace of mind by ensuring that my content is unique and free from unintentional penalties while maintaining the integrity and originality of my work.

In truth, I’ve never seen a notification from Google Search Console that I’ve been penalized for duplicate content; however, an absence of alerts doesn't necessarily imply that a website is free from penalties for hosting identical or similar content across various pages or multiple sites. Better safe than sorry, and it’s a piece of black forest gatteux with AI.

Always on 

Unlike human editors and collaborators, AI tools are available 24/7, always on, in my pocket, providing that assistance whenever inspiration strikes. Invaluable, when one works in a different time zone from 80% of one’s colleagues, and this round-the-clock sounding tool has undoubtedly made my writing process more flexible and less interrupted. 

So am I a better writer?

Yes.

AI has not just been a tool; it has been a genuinely transformative force in my career and content output. It has made me more efficient, creative, and adaptable, allowing me to consistently produce higher-quality work. I spell, punctuate, and structure content better—having been led by my learning from the copy I’ve created with AI collaboration.

As AI continues to evolve, I’m genuinely excited to see how it’ll further shape the future of content marketing and continue to improve my abilities as a writer. It's only been a year, and I look forward to the year to come.