Web Image Insight

Ecommerce Sales Tip: Crowdsource Customer Photos

2012-07-26T08:00:00.000-07:00

Free People's "#myfpdenim" Campaign

Selling products online can be a challenge, but the best way to showcase those products and make more sales is through photos. Yes, having a detailed product description is great, but people also want an accurate visual depiction of what you’re selling.

In a previous post we talked about how to tell the story of your company through photos, which is something that many businesses are now doing through sites like Pinterest and apps like Instagram. There’s something about a picture that can convey what words or text on a web page cannot. According to an article posted at GetElastic.com, websites that include photos of real people seem to convert more than those without photos of people. However, keep in mind that using stock photos of models may not be as effective either.

This brings us to this idea of crowdsourcing customer photos in order to add even more value to the shopping experience. What if customers could upload their own photos of them using or wearing your product(s) to your website? This would give potential customers a better idea of how your product(s) look in “real life”. Fashion retailers such as Free People and Giorgio Armani have already embraced this concept and are using crowdsourcing, or customer contributions, for marketing campaigns and ways to make their websites more interactive.

Giorgio Armani's "Frames of Life" Campaign

How Crowdsourcing Photos Benefit Your Business

One way that crowdsourcing can benefit your business is that it can reduce photography costs. The thousands of dollars that you spend hiring a professional photographer and models can now be used for something else. You still may want to have a professional take close-up shots of your product(s), but the photos you use for ad campaigns can now be outsourced to customers.

Photos from your customers can also be more creative than anything you could ever come up with. These photos may even give you ideas on how to improve your product(s).

Having your customers submit their own photos to be included on your website creates a sense of community that you may not get through your Facebook or Twitter pages. If you have loyal customers who are enthusiastic about your brand, they are more than willing to contribute to your success. Some customers may need more compelling incentives like prizes or monetary incentive, while other customers simply like the personal recognition and knowing that they are featured on a popular website.

Have you considered crowdsourcing photos as a way to enhance your ecommerce site?

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Are You Losing Sales Because Your Website Is Slow?

2012-07-18T16:00:00.000-07:00

Have you ever visited your website to see how fast it loads? In this day and age where people have more things to do and more articles to read, they just don't have the time to sit around for even 10 seconds and wait for your website to load in their browser. This could adversely affect your sales and readership.

An article In the August 2012 issue of Website Magazine breaks down the intricacies of what is called web performance optimization (WPO). This concept of WPO came about as more and more companies wanted to publish a variety of media on their websites. The bottom line is that WPO enhances the user experience, thus increasing traffic to your site, which ultimately means more sales for you. What website would you rather buy from: one that is slow to load or one that allows you to find what you want and to be able to purchase it quickly?

Steve Souders shares these statistics about page load time:

Bing – A page that was 2 seconds slower resulted in a 4.3% drop in revenue/user.
Google – A 400 millisecond delay caused a 0.59% drop in searches/user.
Yahoo! – A 400 milliseconds slowdown resulted in a 5-9% drop in full-page traffic.

What many people don't know is that delivering content on the Internet consists of very sophisticated technology. If your site contains multi-media information such as text, graphics, video, ecommerce, and downloads, it's important that the communication time between the server and the web browser is done very quickly.

As you're probably well aware, faster and better will keep your business more competitive. Make your customers wait to do something on your site and they'll click away to your competition in a heartbeat. That’s why it’s vital to continuously monitor your website to ensure that pages load fast.

So, what goes into creating a speedy website? This article over at the Yahoo! Developer Network offers up 35 best practices for making web pages fast. Google also has their version of web performance best practices. Keep in mind that when optimizing site performance, you have to take into account all the different devices and browsers that are viewing your website.

If all of this seems overwhelming, we’re happy to take a look at your website to ensure that it is loading properly and quickly!

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Why You Can't Ignore Mobile Marketing Any Longer

2012-07-03T07:00:00.000-07:00

As we’ve mentioned before, mobile is changing the way we think about web design. Along with that comes changes in how companies will market themselves for mobile users.

Consider a couple of these statistics about mobile marketing:

70% of all mobile searches result in action within 1 hour. 70% of online searches result in action in one month. (Mobile Marketer, 2012)

61% of local searches on a mobile phone result in a phone call. (Google, 2012)

Mobile marketing doesn't just mean buying ads on Google, it encompasses other channels of communication such as Facebook, Twitter, and even mobile apps. Most people who do own a smartphone typically have Facebook or Twitter on their phone. As they're waiting at the doctor's office or standing in line at the grocery store, they're on their phones. They search for apps that help make their lives easier or apps that entertain them.

Could your business develop an app that could provide value to your customers?

One of the industries that has benefited from creating mobile apps is the travel industry. According to a study conducted by TripAdvisor.com, six out of ten mobile users are downloading travel apps.

Just offering an app for the iPhone or Android market could potentially put your brand in front of millions of eyeballs who are looking to fulfill a need related to your industry. For example, companies in the travel industry have developed apps that make it easy for people to plan their next vacation, research destinations, and even go ahead and book their trip.

Another side of mobile marketing is SMS messages and email campaigns. There are people now who are open to receiving a text message to alert them of any special sales or promos. Companies like Redbox and IHOP have been successful with text messages as a form of marketing. What made them successful is that the offers were compelling enough for people to take action. Offer people something free and they will act!

Develop a Mobile Marketing Plan

Your mobile marketing plan should be an integral part of the overall marketing plan for your business. Just like you should have a strategy for your social media marketing efforts, marketing for mobile devices requires a well-thought out strategy. Before spending any money on mobile marketing, take the time to find out what your target market will be receptive to.

Part of that strategy is to conduct research and discover how your customers are using the mobile web and what they’re searching for. Is there an underserved need in the app market that your company could take advantage of? Are your loyal customers open to receiving exclusive text messages?

We’re here if your company needs help developing an app or launching a marketing campaign. If your company already participates in mobile marketing, we’d like to hear more about your experiences via comments below...

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How to Nurture Relationships With Customers

2012-06-21T15:03:00.001-07:00

In our last post we talked about how to create trust with potential customers who visit your website. So when they do become a customer, then what? How do you continue to nurture that relationship and create deeper connections with the people who buy from you, subscribe to your blog, or subscribe to your newsletter?

Ted Rubin wrote a great article about how to create real relationships with social marketing which inspired this post. Ted talks about being real and authentic, which can be a challenge when you're interacting online, but as he points out, there are ways to show people who you really are.

The first step in nurturing relationships is to follow up with customers. This is one thing that many businesses forget to do. It's like sleeping with someone on the first date and not calling them afterwards...or ever.

Do you treat customers like one night stands? You'd be surprised how many businesses do.

Treat your customers like they are your grandparents. You call them every once in awhile and send them cards or gifts on special occasions, right? Why not do that with customers?

Remember that people do business with a variety of companies. They’re busy and can sometimes forget about your business. That’s why it’s important to make your business memorable. Perhaps it’s cliche to say this, but people remember how you make them feel. What is it that you do that creates a warm and fuzzy feeling with customers?

You may have heard all the great stories about Amazon or Zappos and how they treat their customers - like mailing purchases overnight when it wasn’t expected or sending flowers on a special occasion. Those stories have spread fast, which has helped boost these companies’ sales and image. Can you grow your business like Amazon and Zappos have done just by offering great service and nurturing relationships? Absolutely.

The social web has made doing business so much easier given all the different communication channels available. What used to cost thousands of dollars and take up a great deal of time can now be done with a few taps and a push of a button on the computer. Sending messages to your customers costs you virtually nothing except some time to actually craft up the message. A quick tweet to wish someone happy birthday or a Facebook message to thank them for participating on the fan page does wonders for your brand’s reputation.

What can you do today to begin nurturing relationships with your customers?

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How to Create Trust With Potential Customers

2012-06-18T12:17:00.002-07:00

Source: Uploaded by user via Tammie on Pinterest

With so many websites and businesses out there today, it's a little more challenging to figure out the scammers from legitimate businesses. If a person is on your site for the very first time, how do you go about enticing them to stay on your site? How do you build trust with these potential customers?

How do you get people to purchase your products or services if all they know about you is the information you’ve shared on your website? Here are a few tips...

Offer a glimpse behind the scenes - Give people a sneak peek into your business operations. Let them know that you're a legitimate business and not just some nameless face hiding behind a computer collecting their information. Post pictures of you or your team members on your “About Us” page to give site visitors a more “human” element to their experience. You could also share pictures via your Facebook page, Instagram, or Pinterest.

Professional pictures - If you operate an ecommerce website and have physical inventory, then spend the time to create professional-looking pictures of your products. Offer as much detail as possible so that people know exactly what they are purchasing.

Blog - Share more information about your company, industry, and offer tips or advice via a company blog. Your blog is also a great way to answer frequently asked questions or share feedback from customers. A blog allows you to establish a deeper connection with customers that your website may not provide. Don’t be afraid to show your personality so that customers get to know more about you. Remember that people do business with people they can relate to.

Money back guarantee - Let people know that you stand behind your products or services with some type of guarantee. That puts some relief in their mind that if they're not satisfied with your offerings, they can get their money back. Moreover, if you are going to offer this guarantee, you have to stick with your word. Nothing diminishes the integrity and credibility of your business more than backing out of a promise.

In order to generate repeat business and create a community of loyal customers, you will need to establish trust with people. People are more willing to pay a little more for products or services when a business provides great service and establishes trust with customers.

What little changes to your website can you do today to create trust with potential customers?

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3 Marketing People to Follow on Twitter

2012-06-08T07:00:00.000-07:00

One of the biggest challenges for most business owners is marketing their products or services. In this social media world where we’re constantly bombarded with marketing messages, it’s become even more of a challenge. The old days of marketing are gone, so how do we keep up with all these new trends in marketing?

Well, we turn to Twitter for inspiration and ideas about all things marketing. Instead of simply listing a bunch of names and doing the standard “Follow Friday” using the #FF hashtag on Twitter, we thought it would be more beneficial to share with you via a blog post the 3 marketing people we follow on Twitter and why we follow them...

1) Seth Godin (@SethGodin) - Seth is considered by some to be the “king” of marketing, and we wouldn’t argue with that. He’s helped build Squidoo to become one of the most popular content publishing platforms and has written many international bestselling books on marketing including titles such as “The Dip” and “Purple Cow”. He’s quirky and unique, which makes him stand out from the rest. Seth mainly just posts links to his new blog posts on Twitter, but if you spend more time on Twitter and don’t subscribe to RSS feeds, then you can keep up with his muses on marketing this way.

2) Chris Brogan (@ChrisBrogan) - Chris is very active on Twitter and interacts with his followers. If you ask Chris a question about marketing on Twitter, there’s a good chance he’ll have an answer for you. If you read a few posts on Chris’ blog, you’ll begin to realize how he takes pride in his craft and the passion he puts into blogging and helping people. We consider Chris to be an authority on social media marketing, and with over 68,000+ readers, we’re pretty sure he knows what he’s talking about.

3) Becky Carroll (@bcarroll7) - Becky has built her business around helping people understand the Hidden Power of Your Customers, and has even become a local celebrity with her morning segments on NBC San Diego about social media. We like to think that creating a great customer experience is a form of marketing because when you treat your customers right, that will turn into word-of-mouth marketing. Developing a loyal fan base of customers who spread the word about your business is the cheapest way to market your business.

What marketing people do you follow on Twitter...and why?

Make sure to follow us on Twitter: @WebImage

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3 SEO Changes You Should Know About

2012-06-04T15:51:00.000-07:00

SEO has been one of the biggest enigmas of the online marketing world. The industry of SEO (search engine optimization) is an ever-changing field. As you read this article, the search engine algorithms have probably changed a million times. (Ok, maybe just a few thousand times...)

If you don’t keep up with SEO, your business may not be as successful, but if you over optimize your site, you can be penalized. It’s a double-edged sword that companies like us have to deal with on a daily basis. Even if you have a firm working on the SEO of your website, it’s still good to be in the know of the latest changes.

Here are three changes in SEO that you should be aware of:

1) Google Places is now Google+ Local pages - Google announced last week that Google Places pages for businesses are being automatically converted into Google+ Local pages, which offer a number of new features including integration & availability of Zagat reviews, integration of “circles” (reviews and recommendations from your network on Google), and the ability to build a following and message them.

Google+ Local pages are now much more visually appealing - that is, if you have pictures of your business to share. As before, your customers can also contribute pictures as well.

2) Facebook news feed optimization - People have been talking about how Facebook posts and pages have been dropping in the search engines, but that shouldn’t deter you from optimizing your news feed. Thanks to a new startup called PostRocket, you can get help analyzing what types of posts work best, how often to post, and what time of the day to post. They also provide a checklist on how to improve the reach of your page, what you can do to get people to click on your links, and how to make your posts more viral.

PostRocket is in beta right now, but you can see how your page is performing with their prelaunch gift. Visit: www.getpostrocket.com

Bing features social sidebar - Bing now has a three-column design which features a core search, snapshot, and the new sidebar that consists of social integration with search. You’ll be able to get results from your networks that are on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Quora, Foursquare, Blogger, and even Google Plus. Bing will search through tweets, blogs, and Google Plus posts to give you information based on the topic you searched for.

As you can see by some of these SEO changes, social media and social networking sites play an important role in your marketing plan. How you leverage these sites can make a huge difference in whether or not your business receives more exposure in search engines. It helps to be well-connected!

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How to Stay on the Path of Business Success

2012-05-21T18:15:00.000-07:00

Running a business or selling a product/service has its ups and downs. In the current economy where opportunities to make sales appear to be scarce, there are businesses that are still thriving. Is your business one of them?

There are a couple questions you should address to ensure that your business stays on the path of success...

Do You Know What Your Customers Need?

Over at TheCustomerCollective.com, Mark Hunter questions whether or not we are helping customers or clients clearly define what it is that they want or need. Oftentimes customers are not even sure what they are looking for.

Good salespeople not only can help a customer determine their needs, but they are also passionate - not pushy - about the product or service they are selling. Think of yourself as a consultant offering advice.

Take, for instance, a client wants their website redesigned. They’re not real happy with the current design and know it’s time for an update because sales have gone down. As a website design firm, it’s our job to show the client what it is we offer and what exactly their new website will need to attract new customers, more leads, and more sales. It’s our job to ask the right questions and help manage the expectations of our clients.

What Problem Does Your Product or Service Solve?

We could talk all day long about how we’re the best web designers for our clietns, but if we’re not solving their problem (a website that doesn’t drive sales), then they’re going to end up looking for another web design firm to help them.

In the article, “What Job Are You Helping Your Customers Do”, Curt Finch advises that if you’re unsure what needs your product (or service) speaks to, then start a conversation with your customers and ask them why they purchased your product. Also, ask yourself why you created the product in the first place.

Simply put, we all purchase products or services in the hopes that it will make our lives better. As a business person, it is your job to create something that adds value and then communicate to people how that creation will benefit them.

Combine that with delivering excellent customer service plus sharing useful content via social media or newsletters, and you have the formula for a highly successful business.

What is your definition of a successful business? What brands come to mind when you think of a truly successful business?

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Google Plus For Business: Virtual Ghost Town or Huge SEO Opportunity?

2012-05-16T15:16:00.001-07:00

Are you using Google Plus to market your business?

At a recent San Diego Social Media Breakfast meeting, one of the topics was the use of Google+ for business. Only a handful of attendees said that they used the social network, while the majority said that they do have a Google+ account, but never use it.

People who do use Google+ on a regular basis say that they like the clean, uncluttered interface. If you log into Facebook on a regular basis instead of using a social media management tool such as Hootsuite, Sprout Social, or any of the many tools available nowadays, you can suffer from information overload.

The one feature that Google+ has which Facebook or Twitter does not have is "hangouts" where you can video chat with a group of people or livestream events. Instead of being bogged down trying to figure out how to use the technology offered by services that offer video chat for a fee, you can easily communicate via a Google hangout. The only stipulation is that anyone who wants to participate must have a Google+ account. Most people already have a Google account through YouTube, Gmail, etc., so getting started with Google+ only requires a couple clicks.

Talk show host Conan O’Brien recently hosted a video chat via Google+, which gave him an opportunity to connect with some of his biggest fans. As a business you could also host a chat with a few of your VIP clients or loyal customers to share “insider” content, give them a “sneak peek” at upcoming products, and at the same time gather feedback from them.

If anything, Google+ poses a huge opportunity for your content to rank higher in the search engines. As P.J. Fusco from Search Engine Watch points out, Google Search Plus Your World is changing how SEO works.

If you do have the resources to use Google+, then by all means take advantage of what it has to offer. Despite what has been written about it being a virtual ghost town, there are companies that do use it on a regular basis. If you're involved in B2B, then perhaps Google+ may be a marketing channel to explore. At the very least you could give it a 3 month trial period to see if you get any feedback or interaction from the community.

What has been your experience with using Google+ for marketing your business?

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3 Ways to Make Your Business Memorable

2012-05-09T12:11:00.000-07:00

As a business with a web presence, you want to attract people to your website and then convert those visitors into customers or clients right away. The reality is, most people who are browsing the web are looking for information and doing research first before actually making a purchase. According to a study conducted by the Pew Internet and American Life Project, 58% of Americans are reporting that they conduct online research on products or services that they are considering purchasing.

So what can you do to get people to remember your company as they are doing online research for the products or services that you offer?

1. Create a landing page that captures their information. Once you have their information, you can follow up with them and deliver useful content related to your business and products/services. You will be viewed as a resource and people will remember you. If you’re unfamiliar with landing pages, here is an article that shares key components of an effective landing page.

2. Create a modern, professional-looking website. Believe it or not, I came across a site the other day that came straight out of the dinosaur ages of web design. If your site looks out-of-date, most likely people are going to think that you are not in business anymore, and they will probably not remember you other than the bad web design! Remember that your site’s design is the first impression (consciously or subconsciously) a person will have about your business.

3. Care more. Seth Godin wrote an inspiring post sharing a simple antidote to a corporatized, unfeeling, profit-maximizing world:

“Care more than you need to, more often than expected, more completely than the other guy.”

Ask yourself if you really and truly care about your customers and making their lives better. Your product or service should solve a problem and add value to their lives. When you genuinely care about your customers, they can sense that. Maybe it’s going above and beyond the call of duty or simply sending them a Thank You card. Whatever you do, do it like you mean it and do it with passion.

Set an intention and take one action each day towards your goal to become a business that people automatically think about when they need your product or service.

Is there anything you would add as a tip to help your business be memorable? What are you currently doing to provide a better experience for customers?

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Color Psychology in Web Design

2012-04-27T14:46:00.001-07:00

The color theme that you use for your website has an effect on how visitors and customers perceive your business. Certain colors evoke particular emotions within people. How do you want site visitors to feel as they are browsing your website?

Do you want to inspire visitors to purchase products from your website?

Do you want them to know that you are a professional business?

Do you want them to trust you?

All of these questions can be answered with the help of colors.

The use of color is an important facet in the design of commercial products and marketing materials. There’s a reason why Target uses red in their iconic logo.or AT&T uses blue in their logo. It’s not because someone in their marketing department just chose those colors.

For many years now, psychologists have researched and studied how colors influence people’s thought processes and actions. The color red has been linked to men’s attraction to women, so perhaps this is why many marketers use women wearing red lipstick in their advertising campaigns. Colors are perceived differently across various cultures, so this is something to consider if your company targets a particular niche.

Below is an infographic that provides more information on color psychology...

Courtesy of NowSourcing, Inc

We generally recommend using no more than 2 - 3 colors for your website, but it also depends on the type of business you have. If you’re an artist or company that is geared towards children, a variety of colors might be used to represent your brand.

Keep in mind that the colors used in a website is the first thing that people register in their minds. They may not remember the name of your business, but they will usually remember the color theme of your website.

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Using Facebook For Customer Service?

2012-04-19T16:21:00.000-07:00

Facebook has certainly come a long way since the days of just being a place for college students to hang out online. It’s grown exponentially to the point that it’s normal to see big brands and companies’ updates along with personal friends’ posts comingling in your timeline.

Along with these changes in online social interactions, people’s actions and expectations have also transformed when it comes to communicating with companies online. Customers expect to be able to contact a company via sites like Twitter or Facebook and receive a prompt reply.

Now that companies understand the virality of information shared via a site like Facebook, they’re paying more attention to the activity and interactions on their Facebook pages. It only takes one negative comment or experience with a company for that information to spread at lightning speed, so if you don’t take the time to monitor customer conversations, comments, or questions, you could be damaging your company’s reputation without even realizing it.

A very popular incident that occurred a few years ago involved United Airlines and a broken guitar, which may be partly to blame for that dip in stock price. There are many more stories like this because people now know the power of social media.

So, how do you go about providing a better experience for customers on social sites like Facebook?

Stacey Politi offers 8 ways to offer customer service on Facebook. Here’s another article by Jackie Cohen that offers 5 ways to beef up customer service on Facebook.

Although there are other modes of communication available for customers to contact you, Facebook is probably one of the most important ones to pay attention to because that is where the majority of people spend their time. In fact, Facebook is expecting to hit 1 billion users sometime this year.

Social media can be one of your best tools to deepen the relationship with your clients or customers. Many of us use Facebook to connect with friends to find out the latest news on each others’ lives, so why not use it in a similar fashion with your business? Offering your customers a more personal, authentic perspective into your organization while respecting and responding to their feedback fosters loyalty and trust.

If you currently don’t have a strategy or plan to use Facebook for business, but would like to start, feel free to contact us for help!

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The New Rules of SEO: It's Still About Content

2012-04-18T22:02:00.000-07:00

The rules for SEO change constantly. It used to be that the number of inbound links to a website weighed heavily and helped to increase your ranking in the search engines. Nowadays, it’s all about providing unique, relevant content and making sure you’re not “overdoing” SEO, or over optimizing your website.

Barry Schwartz of Search Engine Roundtable quotes Matt Cutts of Google and shares an audio from a panel that Cutts participated in during SXSW:

"...We are trying to level the playing field a bit. All those people doing, for lack of a better word, over optimization or overly SEO - versus those making great content and great site."

Of course, as always we don’t know the specifics of what kinds of changes Google will make to ensure that search results are relevant. What exactly is “over optimization”? Stoney of Search Engine Journal speculates what this could mean. The consensus among most SEO professionals is that the keywords used within content will be scrutinized - whether it’s placement, keyword density, or the links connected to those keywords.

The Key to Successful SEO

I think the key to being successful with SEO is to not overthink it too much, which brings us back to one of our previous posts, "Why Content Will Remain King For Infinity". The person who writes the content for your site should simply focus on providing useful content that inspires people to want to do business with you. Don’t worry about keywords. Worry more about not sharing helpful information. Worry more about not making a connection with your customers. Worry more about retaining customers and keeping people on your website long enough to convert them into customers.

As you review the copy on your website, always keep in mind that one of the 15 things that people absolutely hate about your website is SEO-driven copy. The flow of your content should be natural. Nothing is more irritating than to read an article or come across a website that contains the same keyword in the title and every single heading.

Besides creating great content, another area of focus is social media and developing meaningful interactions in each community. People do business with people they like and trust. Likewise, people link to content they like and trust. Getting links via social sites may not necessarily count towards SEO, but it will definitely give you brownie points with your customers. After all is said and done, that’s what matters anyway, right?

What are your thoughts about the new “rules” of SEO? If you outsource SEO, do you know what strategies are being used to optimize your site?

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Are Your Customers Tech Evangelists?

2012-04-13T15:29:00.000-07:00

Are your customers tech evangelists? An article at Website Magazine reports:

"A recent study from International Data Corporation reveals what many mobile marketers have simply assumed all along – that targeting “tech evangelists” will lead to a higher return on investment and greater success with mobile apps."

When you know who your customers are, what drives them to buy, and what inspires them to share information, it's easy create content and personalize their experience with your company.

As a society we've become better researchers because of the Internet and mobile apps. Thought research was just for college, eh? We've become more informed and can make better shopping decisions. We have choices about who we want to do business with. We no longer rely on what a business tells us ("Oh, we're the best!") Best of all, we can actually check to find out by doing a simple web search if they're the real deal or just paying us lip service.

We've shared before how the use of mobile apps has become rampant in recent years. People who own a smart phone are more likely to be active on social sites such as Facebook or Twitter. When you do offer better service, people are more apt to pass on information or recommend products on your website. They'll gladly "like" your status update or retweet to their followers.

Segmenting Your Customers

Through web analytics, customer surveys, and other testing, you can determine which of your customers are tech evangelists. Once you figure that out, you can create deeper relationships with these customers by providing helpful and interesting content via email or social media channels. You become a source of timely, useful information, which inspires customers to quickly and easily share with their friends with their phone, tablet, or whatever tech item of choice they use.

Here’s an article about customer segmenting for more information about this:
"Segments of One: Smarter Targeting for Your Customers"

The challenge for businesses now is ensuring that the content and design of their sites translates well via these various channels and devices. Is the site user friendly and can visitors find the info they're looking for quickly?

So your mission now - should you accept it - is to offer great service to all of your customers, not just the tech evangelists :)

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Tell the Story of Your Company Through Photos

2012-04-04T16:27:00.000-07:00

This week Instragam, the popular photography application that was once available to iPhone users only, has been rolled out to Android phones. According to PCMag.com, 1 million copies of the app were downloaded in less than 24 hours.

Many businesses have used Twitter and Facebook to market their brand, but as we’ve witnessed from the success of sites like Pinterest, the sharing of photos offer another opportunity for companies to share more about their brand.

Just as much as humans like to read and soak up knowledge while browsing the internet, we are also stimulated visually through pictures. This is why so many internet marketers tell you to include pictures on your website or blog.

It is true that a picture is worth a thousand words, so why not tell a story about your company through pictures?

What Photos Should I Share?

Portraits of employees. Highlight an “Employee of the Day” and share what contributions they make to the company.

Products your company sells, if any. Give your followers a sneak peek into a new product or showcase your existing products. What’s nice is that an app like Instagram can make it look artistic and fun.

Photos related to your business. If your company sells a service, then share pictures of everyday objects that you encounter or use while doing business. For instance, if you’re a lawyer, share a photo of your briefcase or the boardroom at your firm.

Events you attend such as tradeshows or networking meetups related to your business.

The idea is to take your clients or customers through a journey into your world. This gives them an opportunity to get to know more about your company and what you do. Even if you’re not telling them in words, they can visualize it through the photos you share.

Companies Using Instagram to Tell Their Story

Audi USA
The automaker continues to embrace new spaces to highlight and feature their brand. As of the writing of this article, the company is sharing photos from the New York International Auto Show...

Burberry
This company was one of the first fashion brands to set up an account on Instagram. Now they have over 230K followers, sharing photos of advertising campaigns as well as pictures of the city of London where the head office is based.

How to Get Followers on Instagram

Just like any social network, the best ways to get noticed and followed on Instagram is to be consistent in posting photos in addition to following other users and posting comments.

Also, when you do post photos, include at least one or two hashtags or keywords in your caption so that when other users are doing a search in Instagram, your photos will show up.

Here are more tips on how to get more Instagram followers.

Is your business using Instagram or other photo sites to connect with customers? Why or why not?

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Does Your Website Look Like a Cookie?

2012-03-21T06:00:00.000-07:00

Does the design of your website influence a person’s decision to do business with you?

There are many web development companies out there who serve a particular industry, and they market themselves as specializing in designing websites for lawyers or dentists. Yes, these companies can create fancy websites with video and the whole nine, however, upon closer inspection, you discover that the content and design for one lawyer’s website is the same as other lawyers’ websites in other cities or states. This is what I discovered recently as I was doing research on lawyer websites.

Essentially what you have is a “cookie-cutter” website with everything the same except the name of the firm. If you’re a lawyer or dentist, this idea may seem fine because after all, you’re not really competing with lawyers in other states. What you do have, though, is duplicate content on your site, which may not go over well with Google and how this search engine ranks your site.

Even if duplicate content is a myth, the fact remains that your site is just a standard template. There’s nothing about it that stands out, except for an annoying video that autoplays when someone visits the site. The experience is almost like that pushy, overly talkative car salesman who runs up to you the minute you step foot on the car lot.

A study conducted by RainToday.com revealed that 74% of those surveyed said that a service provider’s website has at least “some influence” over their decision to buy services from the provider.

We’ve preached about how content will remain king for infinity, but it’s the design of your website that makes the initial impression. Everything from the colors used on your website to the links in your navigation bar has to grab the attention of a potential client or customer. Whether they are aware of it or not, these details make an impact on their decision to do business with you, and if your website is just like all the rest, it will be difficult for people to remember you.

Think of your website like the clothing you wear; you want to be unique and express yourself in the best way possible. A quality black suit is nice, but you can easily get lost in a crowd.

What are your thoughts about website design and its influence on your decision to buy from a particular service provider?

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Are You Losing Website Visitors Because of Navigation?

2012-03-16T16:10:00.000-07:00

Example of a clear navigation bar on a website

One of the most important elements that we consider when designing a website is the navigation. How easy is it for your site visitors to find the information that they are looking for? Can they navigate through your website without having to go back to your homepage to see the list of pages on the site? Navigating through a website can be simple or complex depending on how many pages your site has or how much information needs to be organized.

One of our clients, City Tree Christian School, has a site where we included the main navigation menu in the left sidebar. This is typically where you want your navigation to be located, if not at the top of the site right below the logo or header. These are the areas where people are used to looking for navigation. Remember that you only have a few seconds to capture a site visitor’s attention, so if they have to scroll down to hunt for your navigation bar, then they might end up leaving your site.

The City Tree site also has a navigation right beneath the header with the most important information that new visitors are looking for such as content about the school, admissions process, the program, and the school calender.

City Tree has a moderate amount of information on its site, but if your site contains a great deal of information, consider including a drop-down menu within the navigation that has sub-topics. The last thing you want to do is overwhelm site visitors with too many choices on the main navigation bar.

We like Barry Feldman’s analogy that your website is a vessel and you are the skipper. Your goal is to help navigate your guests through the waters without a shipwreck. The important thing to remember is to make sure that there is a navigation bar on every page of your site.

So, how do you know if the navigation bar is working for your site? One thing you can do is survey your customers and ask if information they are looking for is easy to find. You can also have your webmaster look through your site’s analytics to see how long visitors are staying on your site and what page(s) they are looking at before they leave your site. If people are leaving only after viewing your site for a few seconds, then they might have trouble finding the information that they are looking for.

Is your site ready for a redesign so that people can navigate through the site more easily? We do offer special discounts for schools and universities. Contact us at info@corporatewebimage.com or call (951)764-6677.

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What Do You Want From a Modern Web Design Agency?

2012-03-09T07:00:00.000-08:00

As a firm that offers website design, we have to walk the walk and talk the talk. Our website is due for a total redesign, and we would love your input...

Even though we are specialists in website design, we still appreciate and value your feedback. We like to think that many minds collaborating and working together can produce something much more fun and exciting. We’re all about building a community that helps and supports each other, so this is an opportunity to follow through on that philosophy.

What is it that you want from a modern website design agency? What kind of information would you want to know about us? How can we design our site better so that it’s easy for you to find information? Should we go with a light or dark design? These are the questions to ponder as you browse and evaluate our website.

So, what’s in it for you?

We will consider all your suggestions and feedback regarding our website, and if you’re one of the top 10 people who provide the best ideas, you will receive 10% off your next website redesign. Besides that, you can say, “Hey, I was part of a big web design project!”

Participating in this project requires three steps:

Step 1) Visit our website: www.corporatewebimage.com and take note of your initial thoughts about the design.

Step 2) Browse through a few pages of the site and consider some of the questions we asked above. Do we provide the kind of information you would like to know about us? Are we missing anything?

Step 3) You can leave your feedback and suggestions via comments below, in this post on our Facebook page, or via the contact form on our website.

We’ll be collecting all your feedback until March 31st and notify the top 10 people during the beginning of April. Have fun and good luck!

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The Link Between Pinterest, Jeremy Lin, & the iPad 3

2012-02-27T11:24:00.000-08:00

Source: blessyoursweetheart.tumblr.com via Andrea on Pinterest

What do Pinterest, Jeremy Lin, and the iPad 3 have in common? They’re new, exciting, and creating a ton of buzz on social media and around watercoolers all over the world. As much as people often gripe about change, humans actually like new and shiny things. We like excitement in our lives. What better way to inspire excitement than to introduce something new to the mix.

When President Obama ran for president, he built his whole campaign on the idea of change. At the time, the U.S. was ready for something new, so we voted him into office. Whether or not we’ve actually seen any changes is up for debate, but that’s a subject we’ll leave for a blog on politics to talk about.

Have you inspired excitement in your customers with something innovative and new? Maybe it’s a new design for your website, a new product that adds value to people’s lives, or sharing a new story on your blog.

Complacency Kills Business

Unfortunately for many companies, they get comfortable and complacent in their business. Meanwhile, their competition is getting creative, growing, and making life more exciting for their customers. Apple is a prime example of a company that continues to build brand loyalty because of their innovation and bringing new technology to the market.

We’re not saying that you have to come up with something completely new every month or every week, but we are saying that every once in awhile think about what you can do to improve your business. Survey or poll your customers and ask them what your company can do to improve - whether it’s customer service, social media communications, or website design.

Get Creative

People tend to blame the economy for the dip in profits and sales, and yet, even in this unstable economy there are many businesses that are growing and thriving. You can’t blame your customers for the lack of sales. Maybe it’s time to look at your business to see what it is that you can do to inspire customers to continue to buy from you. There are plenty of opportunities out there. It’s a matter of getting creative and coming up with new ideas. Sit down with your team and brainstorm. Never fall into the mindset of, “We’re fine just the way we are.”

We live in a world that changes by the second. What can your business do to change along with it?

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Is Social Media Necessary? The Case For Customer Service

2012-02-18T10:21:00.000-08:00

It’s interesting that many business people ask, “What’s the point of setting up a social media account? Is social media really necessary? What do we use it for?”

For marketing specialists who have been involved in the “interwebs”, the answer is clear. Yes, social media is essential. Many marketing gurus will push the idea that social media is a necessity to get the word out about your company. After all, millions of people are now using sites like Facebook and Twitter to gather news, resources, and information, so why not go where people are hanging out?

Yes, social networking sites are a great way to market and promote your brand, but have you thought about using social sites for customer service?

In the following video, we share our thoughts about how social media can impact your brand’s reputation and what you can do to monitor feedback online from customers who do share their experiences about your company...

There are many tools that your company can use to monitor your reputation, and as we mentioned in the video, you could easily set up a Google alert or save a Twitter search for your company name. Best of all, these tools are free to use.

The quicker that you can respond to negative feedback about your company, the less likely that those bad experiences will escalate and go viral. It’s been said that a person who receives bad customer service tells about 10 of his/her friends. Well, when you’re dealing with online social networks, that message could be spread to hundreds, if not thousands, of people.

So, going back to the initial question we posted at the beginning of this article about whether or not social media a necessity...If you want a way to communicate with your customers in a way that’s quicker, easier, and much more cost-effective than traditional advertising, then our answer would be, “Yes, social media is a must.” Even if you’re not directly making money from these sites, the amount of brand awareness, exposure, and the brownie points you receive from customers who love it when you respond to their questions on sites like Twitter or Facebook is limitless.

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5 Infographics About Web Design

2012-02-10T14:43:00.000-08:00

It's Friday and you're brain is probably fried from reading emails, blog posts, tweets, and Facebook status updates all week. Instead of writing up a post about how cool web design is (Ok, we're a little biased), we thought of sharing a few infographics about web design that we came across this week.

Click to enlarge each infographic...

Source: Six Revisions

Source: WebDesignLedger.com

Source: TestKing.com

Perhaps this will give you a little idea about the web design industry, the things that we do here at Corporate Web Image, and all the thought processes that go into creating websites. Remember that although people will remain on your site because of the great content you provide, you initially want to grab their attention with excellent design, and you only have a few seconds to do this!

Why Content Will Remain King For Infinity

2012-02-03T14:45:00.000-08:00

Back in the early days of the internet, many marketers used to say, "Content Is King!" You have to provide good content in order to be noticed by people. Then social media came along, and the word "engage" became a huge buzzword. You had to engage with your customers in order to build brand loyalty and get word-of-mouth marketing.

While social media is all the rage and yes, engaging with your customers is very important, but when all is said and done people are looking for content. Content is what makes up the internet, right? Without it there would be no internet.

The reason why content is still king and will remain king for infinity is because people will never stop reading and searching for information. That's why they go to the internet. When people browse the web, they are usually doing one of these activities:

Research and education - whether it's researching a subject, finding out more information about someone or something, reading news, or gaining knowledge about a topic that interests them
Interacting with people via social media
Shopping or researching products or services to purchase

Regardless of what activity people are doing on the internet, it involves some form of content. Even when you’re participating in social media such as blogging, Facebook, Twitter, etc., you’re providing information to your customers, subscribers, or followers.

The challenge now is that there is all this “chatter” on the internet. Everyone has an opinion and there is an abundance of information on the internet. Companies are clamoring to grab the attention of their target markets via all these various channels.

So, how do you stand out from the crowd?

If you can provide unique content or share your own perspective or experiences that inspires, you’ll most likely connect with like-minded people who value what you have to offer. They’ll subscribe to your blog, like your Facebook page, follow you on Twitter, and buy from you. In this day and age of social media, your customers want to know more about you on a personal level. Who are the people behind your business? What compelling stories or unique perspectives can you share that they can’t find anywhere else?

From a SEO standpoint, publishing fresh, original content on your website is still the formula for success. If part of your marketing plan is to get to the top of search results, then content reigns supreme.

The bottom line is that content is and will forever be the best way of marketing online.

What do you think?
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5 Easy Ways to Integrate Social Media Into Your Website

2012-01-31T12:19:00.000-08:00

Source: ohmygov.com via Collin on Pinterest

Are you missing out on opportunities to interact with your customers and get more visitors to your website?

If your company is involved in social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter, there are several things that you can do to make it easy for site visitors to share your content with their networks, add content to your site to keep it fresh and interesting, or get more Twitter followers or fan page “likes”.

1. Add social buttons to all pages of your website. Let people know that they can find you on social sites by incorporating social icon buttons in prominent places on your site’s pages such as the top each page or in a sidebar on your blog. Our client, VisitorTips.com, has their social media icons at the top of their site.

You could even add buttons that go with the look and feel of your site. There are a myriad of cool-looking social icons that designers have come up with. Webdesigner Depot has put together the ultimate collection of free social media icons that you could use for your site.

Screenshot of AddThis social sharing

2. Add social sharing from articles or blog posts. If people like an article or blog post and they want to share it with their networks, you want to make it easy for them to do that. There are several widgets that you could use including ShareThis, AddThis, or Lockerz. You could also add the Tweet button or Facebook "like" button to your site.

3. Add the Facebook comments plugin/app at the bottom of articles or blog posts. You can allow visitors to leave comments about your site, an article, or a blog post via the Facebook Comments plugin. When someone leaves a comment, it is posted to their Facebook timeline for their friends to see, which then creates a link back to your website.

4. Add an RSS feed of blog posts or articles around the web that you think your customers would find of interest. If you want to keep your site or blog updated with fresh content but don’t want to create the content yourself every day, you could use a site like Scoop.it to curate content and publish the feed to your website.

5. Embed your YouTube videos into blog posts or site pages. To create a multimedia hub of content and keep visitors to your website longer, add videos to your website. If you don’t have any videos that you’ve created yourself, share other YouTube videos which provide helpful information that your customers would be interested in.

What ways have you integrated social media into your website?

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Featured Client: VisitorTips.com, Virtual Travel Brochures

2012-01-20T08:17:00.000-08:00

If you do any traveling or frequent places where there are tourists, you have probably come across one of those displays containing brochures and local travel information guides. These displays are usually in car rental places and motels/hotels, but what if you wanted to find out about local attractions before you even arrive in a city? Of course you could do research on the internet, but we’d like to introduce you to VisitorTips.com, one of our clients whose website contains virtual brochures from cities across the U.S. and Canada.

Whether it’s accommodations, dining, entertainment, city tours, or transportation that you’re looking for, VisitorTips.com can help you narrow down the type of service you want. In addition, you can save these brochures in a virtual “briefcase” for future reference and get special deals on activities, restaurants, resorts, etc.

To make all this travel information more accessible, we created an iPhone app for VisitorTips that is available for free...

VisitorTips.com turned an old idea of sharing travel brochures into an interactive website so that you can take all this information on the go. Think of your own business and what your company can do to make the information on your site more interactive and easy to share. Can you make it so that site visitors can search for information based on categories? Do you have a way for visitors to share what is on your site to their social networks?

If you need help with website design ideas or iPhone app ideas for your business, feel free to contact us!
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Mobile Apps and the Future of Web Design

2012-01-12T09:00:00.000-08:00

Push Notification on iPhone

Web design has come a long way since the late 90’s when flashy graphics and simple HTML were the order of the day. If you wanted to “surf the net”, you usually had to do it on a regular computer, so all web developers (or what we used to call “webmasters” back in the day) had to think about was coding for one device. You could get away with big, shiny arrows and images. Your text could stretch on for days on end on a single page.

Well, those days are long gone...

Web design now has catapulted into a whole new dimension that encompasses smart phones, netbooks, iPads, hand tablets, and the list goes on and on. We can now browse the web on our TVs and even vehicle monitors. When it comes to designing your website, you have to keep in mind the various devices and different browsers people are using to view your site. Can you design it in a way that makes it easy for the user to access all the information on your site? Does your site load quickly? These are just some of the things you have to consider.

According to Mobile analytics firm, Flurry, the average smartphone user spent more time on their mobile apps than browsing the web, so not only do you have to design a site that is compatible with smart phones, you now have to think about creating an app that keeps your business engaged with customers.

Benefits of Mobile Apps for Business

So, how can a mobile app benefit your business? Think of a mobile app as a way of relaying information to customers and potential customers about your business. It’s virtually another portal of information, much like your static website or blog. However, one of the major differences between mobile apps and websites is that you can send what is called “push notifications” to all the people who have downloaded your app. You can’t do that with a website unless a person actually opts in to receive information from you by entering an email address via a form on your website.

You can use push notifications to let people know if you’re having a special sale or promotion. You can also inform people about the latest news or any changes to your app. Either way, push notifications are much more effective at getting your message to people versus using email. Nowadays, many of us avoid checking email - and when we do, we probably open a very small percentage of the email we receive.

Another benefit of mobile apps is what we will call the “cool factor”. If anything, having an app will create a perception that your business is professional and involved in leading edge technology. Take a look at your competition to see if they have an app. If not, that just gives you another selling point and added value to your customers. What if your app could tell them the specials of the day and gave them an extra discount if they ordered through the app? Wouldn’t that give you an edge over the competition?

Are Mobile Apps the Future?

Actually, mobile apps are happening right now....right this minute. They are part of the ever-changing web, which is adapting to what people are demanding. We see web design as becoming much simpler and more content-driven as people are using the content that brands produce as a way to judge whether or not to do business with them. Apps will not be the end-all to web design, but for right now, they are playing a huge role in the way brands are sharing their message and engaging with customers.

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