Mar
9th

Oneupweb : Google Makes Your Site a Star!

Posted by Dave on March 9, 2010 at 10:55 am

Last week Google introduced their latest attempt to personalize the search experience, Google stars. This works by providing you with a star marker that shows up next to your search results. If you like a site, simply click the star, and the site will be starred for future related searches.

What does this mean for your online business? Showing up in search results is still key, but now, how you show up in those search results is even more important. By allowing users to star your site for future searches, Google stars is giving you the opportunity to turn users in the “research” phase into potential customers—and one-time buyers into long-term customers.

Here’s how it could work. Let’s say you have been tasked with finding and purchasing new shirts for your company’s softball team. The players on this team are known for being a bit persnickety, and the white t-shirt with the company logo will not do. So, you begin searching the web for a design that provides function and fashion.

You start by trying to settle on a style. Your search query is “softball t-shirts”. After searching through a number of basic, uninspired sites, you find a site that offers hundreds of different styles and colors. Perfect. Now you need to get a logo idea.

Your next search query is “softball logos”. After compiling a number of logo options, you send them out for the team to vote on. Three weeks later, when all the votes are in, you have your new shirt design.

Now, it’s time to order your shirts. Your final search query, “create custom softball shirts”, provides you with a daunting list of sites offering custom designs and graphics. Now, if you could only remember that site you came across three weeks ago. Oh, well. Looks like the white t-shirt will have to do.

How could Google stars change this? Well, when you performed your first search for “softball t-shirts”, if you had Google stars enabled, you could have “starred” that site you found. Then three weeks later, when you searched for “create custom softball shirts”, that site could have shown up above the regular search results with a star by it.

So, who will Google stars impact? It will impact sites that position well, provide a good user experience and have the ability to quickly impact users in a positive way. Does that sound like your site?

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Feb
8th

Oneupweb : Try Not To Get Lost Out There

Posted by Nick on February 8, 2010 at 10:02 am

I am, as my sister recently called me, a “Lost Junkie.” You know, that television show about a plane crash on a mysterious island full of whispers, monsters and all sorts of other crazy stuff. With the recent start of the show’s final season, I’ve switched back into full addiction mode, which has naturally caused my pondering of the show to cross over into my day-to-day thinking about digital marketing. Specifically, it got me thinking about marketing strategies as a whole, which led to the following idea:

When it comes to your marketing strategy, don’t get stuck on an island.

Yes, it sounds cheesy, but hear me out. What I’m basically saying is that from time to time it pays to step back and take a look at the big picture. Take a look at your marketing strategy and ask yourself what’s working, what’s not and whether there any areas of your business that could benefit from additional marketing efforts. There are a variety of exciting, new marketing methods available to businesses today, but not everyone is utilizing these channels to reach their existing and potential audiences.

So what do I mean when I say, “Don’t get stuck on an island”? I’m talking about not being afraid to try new marketing initiatives and not focusing so much on a single marketing effort. Sure, a single method might be working like gangbusters for you and that’s great. You should continue to pursue it. Just don’t be afraid to try something new. Perhaps you’ve already established your business in its specific natural search space. But have you thought about branching out into social media? Maybe you’ve promoted your business through PPC for years and have never given much thought to your site’s natural presence in the engines, or the site’s design and how it might be affecting your user experience. Some SEO or design work might be just the thing you need to establish yourself in the natural space.

The overall lesson here is that there’s a lot of opportunity out there. While your current efforts might be working great, if you don’t take some time every once in a while to look at your total marketing strategy, you may find that you’ve also become stranded on a veritable marketing-island. And monsters or not, that sounds a little scary to me.

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Feb
1st

The New Agency Selection Model: Listening

Posted by Luke on February 1, 2010 at 10:12 am

In both our personal and professional lives, it’s a well known fact that humans think faster than they listen. Rather than listen, we’re more concerned with pulling together a response or answer which often comes at the expense of the key point or message.

As a digital marketer, 99.9 percent of communication with clients is done through either email or phone. This leaves no room to pick up on body language, hand gestures or other nonverbal cues. As a result, it’s imperative that we constantly confirm and validate the words of our clients.

With an arsenal including web design, SEO, PPC, app development, social media and more, we have quite a few creative and technical minds within the Oneupweb office. However, experience and creativity go out the window if there’s a listening breakdown during the early stages of a client needs assessment. When you combine strong listening skills with creativity and experience, you lay the foundation to not only deliver a bull’s-eye proposal, but to also exceed expectations and goals.

At Oneupweb, we pride ourselves on being strong listeners with integrated solutions. Based on what we learn about your company, we’re not afraid to tell you that what you’re looking for may not be the best solution. You may be looking at one channel and we may propose three. And you can bet that one of those channels will be social media.

Social media provides one of the ultimate channels to listen to your customers—like an online focus group. We’re going to listen to you and then we’re going to help you listen to your clients. As fundamental as listening may be, it’s probably the weakest skill across any position within an organization.

When it comes to decisions based on price alone, you get what you pay for. Try to find that agency that makes you say, “Wow, they were really listening.”

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Jan
21st

I Read It, So It Must Be So!

Posted by Jak on January 21, 2010 at 5:00 pm

Being a system administrator, I do a lot of reading online about server hardware, networking, new software programs and security. With information being so readily available, you have to consider how much of it is actually legitimate. Did you know that only 43% of the chickens that were polled actually crossed the road? I sure didn’t. Or how about how many people die each year from eating peanut butter straight from the jar? It’s a whopping 91%. I guess I’m one of the lucky ones.

When you read something online, are you sure you’re getting all the facts? I can’t tell you how many times a relative has sent me an e-mail saying something along the lines of, “The government is going to take away your right to speak English and your first born if you don’t stand up and fight for gun rights.” Really? With a little extra effort they would have found that the government would have only really taken their first born.

On the contrary, Oneupweb’s website states, “Cutting edge digital marketing is no longer a luxury reserved for the big brands.” And this is 100% correct and truthful.

My point is this: it is a proven, fabricated fact that 67% of statistics are made up on the spot. As you read through my blog post, you probably thought that everything I posted would be accurate information when really, the statement made by Oneupweb was the only true one. The point is that when you read anything on the internet that could have an affect on important decisions, it is always a good idea to find other sources of information that back it up. Now, I cannot give you a list of sites to run your information through, but you can double-check your facts against other credible sites. Just make sure it’s not the same regurgitated article, blog or forum that you originally found.

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Jan
20th

Weeding Out The Good From The Bad

Posted by Heather on January 20, 2010 at 3:48 pm

I come across ads nearly every day offering design services at dirt cheap prices. And at first glance, the cost might seem appealing to some. But it’s important to consider the quality of the services that are being offered. Will they produce results that are actually going to land your business on the A-list?

Choosing the right design agency to manage your creative and marketing efforts is a daunting task. And I think it’s safe to assume that finding an agency that you can build and grow a working relationship with is ideally what you want to find.

But first, there are a few things you must do to get yourself ready. Before you even start scouring the internet for a compatible design agency, you must figure out exactly what you want—it’s time to create a brief. This is done in order to clarify things, including the message you want your brand to relay, the purpose behind the project, your target audience and of course, your tentative budget. Having these things established will help you communicate better with whichever agency you choose to work with.

After you’ve created your brief, it’s time to determine what you’re looking for in a creative agency. What factors are most important to you? Is it location, experience, company culture, a well-rounded portfolio—all of the above? Whatever it may be, establishing a few guidelines detailing what you’re looking for in a design agency will aid you in your search to find the right one.

When you find an agency that sparks your interest, be sure to refer back to those qualifying factors (location, experience, company culture, etc) you had initially established. If this agency lives up to those standards, there are a few more things you should look for before contacting them, including:

Portfolio
Check out their portfolio. Are they offering a wide range of creative services? Are the pieces well executed and void of spelling errors and funky photoshop disasters? Does the copy make sense and match the imagery and style? Is the style aimed at the right audience? For example, using kittens and puppies in an ad selling hot rods to middle-aged men most likely isn’t the appropriate approach. And don’t overlook the details. You can usually tell if a design firm is credible by closely examining their work. Do they have a good handle on typography? Is there a sense of hierarchy? Keeping all of these things in mind will help give you a little more insight into what type of work a creative agency is capable of.

Accessibility and Web Standards
Take a look at their site on multiple browsers (Firefox, IE and Safari are fine for starters). Does it look right? Be sure the company practices good web standards. And it might be a good idea to ask a friend who is web savvy to be sure their code doesn’t look like spaghetti (they’ll know what you’re talking about). Syntax is the discipline that exams the grammatical rules and structural patterns that a web developer should adhere to when writing code for a site. A company that takes web standards into account is usually on the right track.

The Future
Do they offer services that are essential for growing a business? Can they offer you other services besides web design, such as print, point-of-purchase, media planning/buying, copywriting, and public relations? Hiring an agency that can provide a variety of services might be your best bet.

Once you find an agency that fits your standards, go ahead and give them a call. Pay attention to how they answer the phone and how they treat your request or questions. Be sure that you feel comfortable and at ease when communicating with them.

Choosing a creative agency is not an easy task. Be sure to take the time to find the right fit for your needs. And do your homework—you’ll be glad you did.

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