Steve Hasselbach CTO

“Our rescuer is coming … and its name is Windows 7.” 

Windows 7 is coming.  It is slated for release on October 22nd.  Is it our knight in shining armor?  Yes, I think it is.  Saving us from a bloated operating system in Vista, a tired old workhorse in XP, providing us a solid 64-bit platform, faster boot time, faster hibernation time, more stability and cool new gadgets.

Let’s break this down.  We have reached a hardware refresh time here at Bayshore Solutions and need to replace the majority of our desktops.  We have chosen to install the Windows 7 Release Candidate (RC) that shipped on April 10th for all the desktops.  We have been running the Beta and the RC internally since the Beta was released and feel that even the RC is ready for prime-time.  The stability and speed improvements that we are seeing are incredible on existing hardware that is 2.5 to 3 years old.

The target users of our desktops are Web developers and designers.  They always have several applications such as Visual Studio and Photoshop open, which take up loads of memory.  We currently run XP 32-bit on our workstations, but our desktops need more memory to really function well.  Our current desktops will only see about 3.5 GB of memory due to 32-bit limitations.  We really need to go up to 64-bit to get over the 4 GB threshold.  We could use VP or Vista 64-bit, but why when the Windows 7 RC is so stable and has functioned so well in our testing.

The Windows 7 RC is good for up to 1 year of use before it will expire.  We typically perform an OS re-image of every machine every 6 months to keep it fresh and eliminate the common RegRot phenomenon that slows down machines over time.  When we perform the re-image, we will do it with the Gold Code that is shipping at the time.

Normally I stay away from Beta and RC code, but Microsoft has really impressed me with the speed and small footprint of Windows 7.  If we were not going through a hardware refresh I would wait until October, but I am confident after all the testing we have done that our rollout will succeed.

A few things to watch out for are compatibility of your applications running under a 64-bit OS, hardware driver issues and Anti-Virus support for Windows 7.  Make sure you have support before you make the move. 

If you are getting a new machine, run the 64-bit OS and cram it full of memory.  6 GB would be the minimum right now.  8 GB if you can.  This way you will have the memory that you need for the machine over its 3 year lifecycle.  Don’t cheap out on the memory.  It might make you happy to save $100 now, but in 1 year, you are going to be feeling pain and regret that you didn’t get the memory at the time.

If you have an existing machine that is less than 1.5 years old, make sure you have enough memory and do a fresh install.  Start from scratch.  Do not do an upgrade.  You want to start with a clean slate, trust me.

Don’t be afraid of Windows 7.  Embrace it.  This comes from someone who has run XP and Vista.  I was an early user of Vista and switched back and forth between it and XP every 3 or 4 months due to frustrations with it.  I push my machines to the edge in terms of resources having 15 applications and 25 windows open at any one time.  I am a super-power user and I am happy with Windows 7.  So happy that I will push it out to my beloved users.

Additional Note:  Windows 7 is really Vista Version 2.  Vista was an attempt by Microsoft to completely rewrite the majority of Windows to solve problems that it knew it had.  In that process it tried to do too much, too fast and the rewrite process became extremely rushed.  Many parts of the code were left bloated and unoptimized due to time constraints.  Many of the performance and User Interface (UI) tasks were left out to meet a constantly slipping deadline.  This is evidenced in a resource intense operating system and a UI that had some portions in Control Panel with a new look and feel, but the detail screens were still the same old XP screens. 

Windows 7 is the completion of the vision to rewrite Windows.  The Windows 7 team was able to take advantage of all the rewriting of the core kernel that the Vista team did and finish the work.  Put the performance improvements in place and the spit and polish on the UI.  I feel bad for the Vista team as they did so much good work under the covers.  Their efforts do not go unnoticed with me.

Bookmark:

 

Doug Pace Executive Vice President and COO

Recently (March 19, 2009) Microsoft upgraded their Internet Browser Internet Explorer to version 8 sending the interactive community into frenzy.  Web sites had to be tested for compatibility, potential issues needed to be identified, and enhancements needed to be scheduled for deployment.  One would think the Microsoft would just publish a bulletin outlining some of the most common compatibility issues seen when deploying the new browsers, but they tend to focus on the new features and functionality.

In researching Internet Explorer 8 we have found that it receives mixed reviews.  Although many people are pleased with the browsers new functionality, many are negatively influenced by having their favorite sites not working correctly.  InformationWeek recently reported a decline in the browsers market share from 2.59% on March 19th to 1.86% on March 22nd.  The decline was thought to be attributed to the browsers compatibility issues resulting in users switching back to a more reliable platform. 

In an effort to assist users and Web developers alike we have identified some of the most common compatibility issues.

Popular IE8 Issues

• Rendering Engine is Too Good – One problem with IE 8 is that it is very good at rendering code. Although this may not seem like a problem, many websites make use of conditional formatting tags or hacks to create workarounds for previous versions of Internet Explorer. These now conflict with IE 8, resulting in layout errors.

• Menu White Issue - If you are using the ASP.NET Menu control, you may encounter an issue where the menu appears as a white box in IE8 Standards Mode.  This issue has been reported multiple times and what IE8 is doing is actually correct. IE 8 is following the standards and (element).currentStyle.zIndex returns “auto” in Standards mode when zindex has not been set. The ASP.NET Menu control assumes a different value.

Bookmark:

 

Eric Ritter Account Associate

 What is branding? Simply put, it is the relationship and experiences that consumers develop with brands. It is all about loyalty.  A brand is an identity, it is what makes a company, product or service recognizable and distinguishes it from its competitors. But a brand is more than a logo, a color palette or a font. A brand has a personality built upon emotional values and associations.

The term Brand originated in the 19th Century when production companies would literally brand their logo or insignia on the barrels that left the factories.

James Walter Thompson was the first to develop the idea of advertising for brands in the early 1900s.  Now more than 100 years later in the age of media fragmentation, social media and user generated content, the need for consistent and managed branding is greater than ever.

Branding is the reason a Lacoste™ polo shirt costs $80 and a Tommy Hilfiger™ costs $35. It’s the reason that a cup of Starbucks™ coffee costs $5 and a cup of Folger’s™ coffee is 35 ¢.  Starbucks understands the fundamental concept that if they get consumers to buy into their brand and create a high perceived value or emotional connection for that brand, they will not have to compete on price. Their product or service will offer enough value for the consumer to justify the cost. 

This fundamental concept is even more applicable online. Online branding is the process of migrating the offline brand personality to the Web. If done right, your Web site can be the most (cost) effective brand-building tool for your business.

 A Web site and engaging online presence can do a much better job of building relationships than any other form of marketing communication. But what’s effective on the Web?

Here are five tips that help bring success when building your efforts with online branding- taking your customer relationships to new levels:

1) Be True to Your Brand

Don’t use some sort of gimmick to attract visitors, fans on Facebook™, or followers on Twitter™. Don’t develop irrelevant giveaways, games, or desktop backgrounds that have no connection to what your company does or its style. These gimmicks are the same as sales promotions like coupons or discounts: They might cause a spike in traffic but they don’t deepen customer loyalty.

2) Be Engaging and Relevant

Remember that Interactive experiences build relationships. Establish and follow a Brand-Customer Relationship model: a consistent experience with the brand across all touch points.  If you provide a positive experience for users, they’ll do business with you.

Identify and clearly present the information prospects and customers are looking for.  Provide prospects and customers with an experience that rewards them for the time they spend interacting with you online. In addition, make sure your online presence represents the style or personality of your company.

Does your Web site, Facebook page, or Twitter Account reflect this? What makes your company unique? Make sure that you find out and stick to it with the tone you choose and the actions you take.

3) Provide Brand Value through Content

An engaging and relevant Web site along with a social media presence creates branded value for consumers.  Visitors to your Web site and to your social networking profiles want to know how you are going to add value to their professional or personal lives. Does your Web site answer all your visitors’ potential questions? Are you posting relevant original content, information, and links for consumers through your social media presence?

4) Branch out and add Brand-Relevant Sponsored Content

Sponsored content offers something of value that is not directly related to your product or service. Sponsored content creates positive associations with your brand through classic conditioning and gives the opportunity to build brand awareness.

 A classic example is Miller Brewing Company that turned its long-term Super Bowl sponsorship into a sponsored-content relationship by creating a site in conjunction with ESPN, called Superbowl.com. While the site featured information on the Super Bowl, it is full of Miller’s brand imagery. The result was 8 million unique visitors in a single month vs. the fewer than 250,000 visitors Miller received at its own Web site.

This tip can also work on a small scale by creating display ads on Web site or content channel related to your brand. Search Engine Marketing falls under this category.  Best practices include ensuring that your site pops up at the top when someone searches for your brand name or for related keywords.  You don’t want competitors poaching potential clicks to your website by appearing above you in search results by placing ads in the sponsored links above you.  Additionally you want to make sure that your brand pops up when a search related to your products and services takes place.

5) Use the Real World to Enhance Your Online Brand

As simple as it sounds, offline & online branding use the real world to build online brands. Companies too often forget to include a simple call –to-action to offline communication to drive traffic to its online properties. Beauty product multi-channel marketer Burt’s Bee recently reported that it is generating more sales through its Web site than retail stores. Still, a major driver of online sales was the inclusion of its Web site URL on its products.

Offline & online branding does not require a huge ad budget. Consider adding links to your site or social media profiles to your email signature, business cards, or any traditional advertising efforts. Or use a low-cost guerrilla advertising tactics to point people to your site and enhance their understanding of your brand.

Effective online branding does not require big budgets, just an understanding of what online brand best practices are. By making every Web interaction brand-relevant and providing your customers with brand-based value, you will increase the depth and loyalty of your customers in the long run.

Let our Bayshore Solutions’ team show you how to get a ROI in the short-term while building a strong and consistent brand for the long-term.

Bookmark:

We can have a great Web design, great development and drive traffic to a Website but when a user experience has an emotional response to your Website they are going to be coming back and spending more time there. Experience design does that.

In the Web world the line between designer and developer has become increasingly grey lately.  Traditionally design would come up with the look and feel of a Website, while development would make everything work together.  In today’s Web world experience design has blended these two roles.  The developer is not only thinking about how to build the Website but also the experience of the person using the Website. 

What is experience design?  According to the Wikipedia definition: Experience design is the practice of designing products, processes, services, events, and environments with a focus placed on the quality of the user experience and culturally relevant solutions, with less emphasis placed on increasing and improving functionality of the design.

Experience design is also a bit of a misnomer as you can’t design an experience.  What you can do is help to mold an experience out of the site hopefully invoking an emotional response that will help them to remember and recall the experience of using your Website.

Here is a picture of a snowboard.  This picture accurately depicts what a snowboard is.  There are some bindings, and the actual board.  What the image does not show is the experience of snowboarding.  There is no emotional connection between the snowboard and the experience of snowboarding. 

This next image shows the experience of the snowboard in a much different way.  You get the feeling of what it might be like to ride on the snowboard carving turns on your way down the mountain.

We can have a great Web design, great development and Internet marketing that does help to drive traffic to a Website but when that user has an emotional response to your Website they are going to be coming back and spend more time on your Website.  If they don’t remember the snowboard itself, they will remember the feeling of carving turns on the mountain.

Bookmark:

Rich Harbeson Account Manager

Small Changes can Have a big Impact

Every month, I dig into my clients Analytics to discover what keywords visitors are searching with, what’s converting, where are most people leaving or bouncing off the site, and that’s just scratching the surface.  Now that we’ve figured out what is and isn’t working….what next.

Let’s TEST.  And test for FREE!

So what do we test?  We test the most engaging elements of a website or landing page - headlines, body copy, images, calls to action, page and site navigation, and overall page or site design.

We leverage what’s working, such as a landing page with a good conversion rate, and develop a list of ideas to improve upon it.  Or, we take a look at what’s not working, like a site or landing page with a high bounce rate and see how we can make it more engaging and relevant for the visitors that are landing there to keep them engaged with the site.

Our client successes prove that testing is the most effective way to increase visits and conversions. Testing really is the most critical part of successful Internet marketing. To do all of this testing, Google provides a tool within AdWords called, “Website Optimizer”.   With this tool, we can set up two types of tests for website pages:

1. A/B Test
               a. Publish a completely different version of a page and test it against the original.
               b. Great for testing a new page or layout

2. Multivariate Test
               a. Test different elements of a page, such as a headline or call to action
               b. Recommended for pages with over 1,000 views/week

To get the tests started, you will need to have Google Analytics installed on your site.  Then you create the alternative page, put some code on the original and new page, and finally place a piece of code on a conversion page.  It’s that simple!  And Google tells you exactly where to put the code.  Once it’s on the page, you can verify in Google to make sure you did it right.

The great thing about all these tests is that they’re invisible to the visitor.  Visitor 1 gets version A, and Visitor 2 gets version B, and so forth.  A cookie is set, so if a visitor returns they get the original page they viewed.   Any time during the test, you can take a look at how the two pages are performing.

So start testing, and discover the power of making slight modifications to your site that can have a big impact.

Bookmark: