Cement Marketing

We now offer Responsive Design

2012-01-23T20:55:49Z

An overwhelming majority of websites aren’t built to display nicely on mobile devices like iPhones, android-powered cellphones, or tablets like an iPad. These mobile devices do their best to display desktop websites, but zooming and panning around a website built for a desktop computer isn’t ideal for your mobile customers.

The growing trend of web users coming from mobile devices has presented a challenge to designers and developers. We all want websites that will look great on essentially three different sized devices:

Desktop Computers
Tablet Computers, like an iPad
SmartPhones, like a iPhone, Android Phone, or Blackberry

How can this be done? Meet “Responsive Design“.

“Day by day, the number of devices, platforms, and browsers that need to work with your site grows. Responsive web design represents a fundamental shift in how we’ll build websites for the decade to come.” - Jeffrey Veen

What is Responsive Design?

Responsive design is a design and development approach that allows one website to morph to fit nicely on many different sized devices. It’s easier to see examples than to explain, so let’s see some responsive designs in action:

The design on the left is what an iPhone user would see. The design on the right is what a large desktop user would see. The in-between sizes are for small desktop computers and tablets. If you are curious to see more examples, check out mediaqueri.es.

Why Should You Go Responsive?

The business case for a responsive design is clear. Mobile and tablet user growth is fast and accelerating. It’s expected that mobile users will outnumber desktop users in the next one-to-three years. You want to engage mobile users if you hope to keep your competitive edge online.

Cement Marketing Offers Responsive Design

Our commitment to keeping clients ahead-of-the-curve is what sets us apart. As part of this commitment, we are proud to offer responsive web sites. Contact us if you are curious about how a responsive website can help your business. We can explore your business and determine if a responsive website makes sense for your online presence.

Damn Fine Words

2012-01-17T15:23:06Z

This is an entry into the Damn Fine Words Writing Contest. Our SEO copywriter, Sara Bradley, is writing for a chance to win an entry into a writing class valued at $1,400.

I had just walked in after a workout at the gym, burning off stress and clearing my head after a long day working as an interactive copywriter, when I saw my boss pop up on chat. I jumped to the computer.

“This is crap,” she wrote. ‘This’ was the latest blog post I’d written.

I was mad and tried to focus on deep breathing before writing back, “I’m sorry, it won’t happen again.”

She replied, “It’s okay, you are learning, I just need you to learn faster.”

Once the anger wore off, I felt empowered. I didn’t want to have this conversation again. I knew there would be more mistakes, but I had to keep trying. I wanted to do better.

I graduated from college in the summer of 2010 from The Ohio State University. The proud owner of a Journalism degree and a newborn baby, I landed a job as a copywriter at an interactive agency in Columbus, Ohio. That’s where I am now.

Prior to copywriting, I had written for a few newspapers during college. The experience and skills I earned there were good. They bulked up my resume, but they didn’t give me a full set to excel as a copywriter.

To me, being a writer as a living is an [altered] dream come true.

In 2008, I was in my second year of college, failing miserably. Having marginal science and math skills, I was floundering in my nutrition major and business minor. The only classes that I was doing well in were writing-based. A little pressure from my parents beckoned me to either choose a new path and do well, or come home. I decided to switch to Journalism.

From there, I thought I would merge my two passions: writing and fashion. I was going to get multiple internships at magazines in big cities and eventually become Anna Wintour. In my mind.

My path veered a little from my dreams. I had a baby in college. I was obviously not moving to any big city that published any reputable women’s magazine. I was going to have to make the best of my situation.

I have made the best of my situation thus far and have realized that dreams aren’t always set in stone. I’m happy in my position as a copywriter. But I want to continue to grow and change my dreams. To me, writing is not just my current job. It’s a skill that is always changing.

But it won’t come in my sleep. I need to work for it. I don’t believe in luck. I believe that good things come to those who work hard. I was ‘fortunate’ to find the job that I did after college. I wasn’t lucky. I worked 20 hours a week as an intern, then 40 hours a week as a full-time employee both while finishing college, while taking care of a baby alone.

I know I can do anything I want with hard work. I know I need to keep learning and working hard to become a better writer. If I won the Damn Fine Words writing contest, I wouldn’t be just earning a free writing class. I would take opportunity to learn and combine it with my own hard work. With that formula, the only outcome is success.

————–

Contact Sara at: Sara@cementmarketing.com

Social/SEO Drink & Learn

2012-01-06T16:01:55Z

Join the Cement Marketing social and SEO strategists for our first Social/SEO Drink & Learn.

On the fourth Thursday of every month, Cement Marketing will host free drink & learn sessions for our clients, friends and colleagues. Join us for cocktails and walk away with insider tips and tricks on making your social and SEO campaigns as successful as possible.

January 26, 2012

3:00 PM Session
Are You Listening? The top free tools you should be using to monitor what people are saying about your brand.

Led by Cement Marketing Social Marketing Strategist, Jessie Eckert – discover what free tools you should be using to monitor the social conversation about your brand.

4:00 PM
Blackhat SEO: What You or Your SEO firm should NEVER do.
Led by Cement Marketing’s SEO Strategist Bradley Spencer, this session is for any one interested in or currently working with an SEO firm. We’ll arm you with today’s best practices for an effective SEO campaign.

5:00 PM
Happy Hour
Stick around for our Social/SEO Drink & Learn Happy Hour. Meet your new friends from the workshops and network with Columbus SEO and Social Marketing experts.

The event is completely free.

The only thing we ask – if you are attending, please invite at least 5 of your fellow Facebook friends to the event. RSVP and invite others here on Facebook.

Does the Google +1 Button Help with SEO?

2012-01-02T15:18:42Z

When Google introduced the +1 button, a lot of webmasters raced to add it to their websites. The logic seems that if Google offers the button, then adding it to your website must help your rankings, right?

While it’s impossible to know for sure, here at Cement Marketing we expect that it won’t help move your website up in the rankings, but it may help you get more traffic anyways. How can this be?

First, lets talk about why it most likely doesn’t help move your website up the rankings…

Why Doesn’t Google’s +1 Button Improve My Rankings?

Google uses hundreds of signals (or variables) to determine the relevance and quality of your website. Google continually tests the value of different signals. Some signals Google looks for that you may be familiar with already are…

Number and Quality of Inbound Links
Age of your domain
Keywords on your page

Most signals don’t turn out to be very useful. For instance, I’m sure that google is working hard to figure out how to factor twitter’s results into their rankings, but early attempts gave really bad results. It is just too easy for spammers to manipulate twitter.

Other signals have turned out to be unsavory too. Meta Keywords used to be a strong signal but they were easily spammed (and therefor irrelevant) and now Google doesn’t even factor meta-keywords into their Algorithm. This sort of devaluing happens all the time as the state of the internet changes what signals show the true worth of a website.

Currently, the +1 signal is unsavory too. The reason for this is that so few websites have the +1 added to their site. It just wouldn’t be good for search results if Google started ranking websites with the +1 higher than sites without it. The addition of a +1 button doesn’t mean the website is any better quality, it just means the webmaster is more active. It would be silly for Google to phase out older sites with higher quality content just to make room for worse websites that added the +1 button.

Should I Add the +1 Button Anyways?

We recommend you do. And here’s why:

See the +1?

Do you see the +1 in the result? Hint: It’s the little face under the Raven Tools result.

The face shown is a google contact of mine. And if your users see a face it will be a google contact of theirs. What could be a better way to draw people into your website than pictures of their friend and family beckoning them in?

The simple truth is: Even if your website shows up 5th in the results, it has a much better chance of getting a click with some pearly whites.

What About the Spammers?

After the announcement of +1′s, it was only days before you could pay someone to have thousands of fake accounts +1 your website. (This is yet another reason why the +1 button makes for a bad search ranking signal). But when you consider the value that +1′s truly offer, then having thousands of fake accounts +1ing your site won’t help at all. Why?

Fake accounts won’t have many friends or contacts. So no one will ever see the fake accounts pearly whites when they search. Simple.

Convinced you want to add the +1 Button? See how on the +1 Button Page or let us do it for you!

We’re Hiring: Web Designer

2012-01-11T02:14:57Z

Cement Marketing is searching for a Lead Interactive/Web Designer. The ideal candidate has at least three years of interactive design experience or a vast portfolio with a track record of awesome interactive designs. This is an incredible opportunity for the right person to join our business while it’s still young. You’ll be the lead designer responsible for designing our client’s Web sites, Facebook landing tabs and mobile Websites or apps.

Cement Marketing is a growing interactive firm in Columbus, Ohio. Our team of nine are all incredibly passionate about what we do, but our motto is life first, work second. As a result, we work shorter hours than typical agencies but are more productive while we’re here. In addition to allowing our employees to live their lives, we also offer full health benefits including vision and dental.

Duties will include:

- Working closely with Web and Social project strategists to create the best possible work for our clients. Your creative leadership and input will be expected from start to finish on all projects.
- Communicating directly with clients when presenting design concepts or wireframes
- Creating graphic concepts and designs for Websites, banner ads, Facebook landing pages, and mobile sites.
- Working closely with Web strategist to create Website architecture before design.
- Meeting deadlines agreed upon with project strategists.

Required Qualifications:

-A Bachelor’s Degree in graphic design or a related field
- Experience or training in typography
- Minimum of 3 years of graphic design experience, or show us an extraordinary portfolio
- Strong written and communication skills
- Must have basic understanding of what is and isn’t possible from a development perspective. Knowledge of HTML, Java, CSS, etc is a plus.
- Must be a team player and realize that all criticism is constructive
- A proven track record of designing awesome interactive experiences

Salary and Benefits

- Salary commensurate with experience
- Medical, dental and vision benefits
- SXSWi trip to Austin this Spring
- Mac Book pro laptop

Email online portfolio and resume to alaina@cementmarketing.com

Meet Rod from Scotland

2011-12-20T05:39:21Z

Meet Cement Marketing’s newest team member, Rod from Scotland. Or Rod Richmond, as he’s known back home. We had to steal him from the motherland because he is that good.

For the past two years, Rod has been with Big Mouth Media, the UK’s #1 SEO and PPC agency. Rod started as a PPC account manager with Big Mouth and quickly moved up into the role of Digital Account Manager. In addition to being a digital whiz kid, always chasing and capturing the coveted conversion, Rod from Scotland is also a front end WordPress developer on the side. He’s also well versed in Photoshop, Joomla, Drupal, HTML/CSS and a bit of PHP. And did we mention he also has an AdWords Advanced Certificate. Some of his clients have included BetFair.com, LastMinute.com, and Tastecard.co.uk.

For Cement Marketing, Rod from Scotland, will manage all client PPC accounts and also serve as our Website Design and Development Strategist. He’ll be managing all of our Web design and development projects and working closely with our lead designer, Ryan Stryker. Stay tuned for more new hire announcements as Cement Marketing continues to grow.

On the Move

2011-11-28T21:40:44Z

Just when we felt settled in, Cement Marketing’s neighbors announced their own expansion. They needed our space and we, as it turned out, needed more. So, we are moving again. When we moved into our current loft space in the Hickory Street alley off of Third Street in Downtown Columbus, there were only four of us. But this January, there will be nine members of the Cement Marketing team. And while we’ll miss our Hickory Street space, we won’t miss being cramped.

Our new office on 15 E. Gay has plenty of room to grow and overlooks the bustling Pearl Street alley and the always exciting Gay Street. We’ll be just a two minute walk from all of our favorite Downtown haunts and restaurants. Please join us for the Cement Marketing Holiday Open House on December 22nd. RSVP here. Thanks to our clients for making this possible, without you we would all be working in our parents’ basements.

And thanks for your patience as we alert the USPS and migrate our phone number. In the meantime, the best way to reach us will be by email to info@cementmarketing.com or us the contact form below.

96% of Adults Use Facebook

2011-11-28T21:18:18Z

Want a one stop shop for all your social marketing age demographics? See Facebook.

Last week, Mashable reported on a Forrester study that measured adult participation in online social networking. The study found 96% of U.S. adults who use social networking sites use Facebook.

As you can see in the chart below, Facebook reigns supreme over all other networks when it comes to user age. No age group measured fell below the 95% mark.

Photo Credit: Mashable

It should be noted that the total number of Golden Generation adults on social networking sites is significantly smaller than younger age groups. And that they use these sites less frequently. But Forrester’s findings are still significant for online marketers who promote and sell products and services that cater to those in the upper echelons of the age spectrum.

Source

Does your business need help with achieving its Facebook marketing goals? Contact Cement Marketing today.

Hunt the District: a Facebook Scavenger Hunt

2011-11-28T21:58:33Z

The Arena District’s Facebook scavenger hunt sent fans online, offline. Their mission: post photos of the Arena District to the Facebook page and win movie tickets.

When the Arena District called on Cement Marketing to create a campaign that would increase and engage their Facebook fan base, our response was Hunt the District – a photo scavenger hunt.

Every Tuesday from October 18 – November 22, the Arena District Facebook page posted two items for fans to find, photograph and upload to the District’s Facebook Wall by the following Monday. Every participant who completed the hunt received one pair of FREE Arena Grand Movie Theatre passes and each week, five participants were randomly selected to win a $50 Arena District gift card.

The Facebook landing page we designed and developed explained the Hunt in more detail. Note our use of the Facebook reveal tab: the ultimate in intriguing Facebook users and converting them to fans.

The results

Hunt the District was a huge success. Over 17 entries were received, but the campaign and our supporting advertising gained the Arena District over 3500 new Facebook fans.

Find out how Cement Marketing’s social marketing team can create ties that bind between your brand and your customers today. Contact us.

On the Launch Pad: Drop Points

2011-11-28T21:56:38Z

The Cement Marketing team recently launched DropPoints.com, a site designed to grow with the Drop Points program as it expands nationwide.

Currently, Drop Points is only available in Florida, but by creating the company a general landing page at DropPoints.com, we facilitated their ability to be found as their service area grows.

Also, Drop Points is built in WordPress, which means it is easy to update for the Drop Points marketing team and armed with search and social-friendly code.