There are lots of reasons websites tank. Typical non-performance issues include poor layout, disastrous design, ho-hum content, missing meta data and inbound links, confusing navigation, buried info (too many clicks required to find what the browser is looking for), Las Vegas theatrics (think way too much Flash), etc.

The good news? There are LOTS of entrepreneurs who have winning websites churning serious sales, and you can too! The starting point is to understand that your website must be all about 2 things: getting found by more prospects and converting more of those inbound leads into customers. These five easy fixes will help transform your website metrics (and grow your sales)…

Get Organized

Great websites are intuitive. They reflect serious back-end homework and have been strategically developed to engage specific target audiences. If you want your website to work as it should, anticipate what your prospects and customers are looking for at the get-go.

Be Clear

Forget fancy jargon and get to the point quickly, using compelling, professionally-written, keyword-enriched text. Remember your competitors are literally a click away, so strong keyword-rich headlines and terrific content will help to convert browsers into buyers. This applies to everything the casual visitor sees when landing on your URL’s, as well as the back-end stuff they don’t. Your meta data, which is read and ranked by the Search Engine spiders (titles, descriptions, keywords and alt tags) should be crystal clear and unique to each page.

Ask for Business

This may seem like a no-brainer, but you’d be surprised how many websites get a “zero” on this one! No matter how obvious you think you might be, your site will fail Marketing 101 if you don’t have multiple “asks” or calls to action. Words like” call now”, “get more info today”, or “contact us for a free quote” are all still very effective interaction motivators.

Give Something Away

Successful marketers couple many of the “asks” with a promise to deliver a valuable freebie (an e-book, white paper, podcast, etc.) Winning websites also make it easier to convert visitors into solid leads, using multiple, short data collection forms on different pages (not just on your Contact Us page) as well as hyperlinked email boxes with specific client-focused Subject lines. Again the concept here is to make it easier for your prospects to get what they want, when they want it. By testing and assessing the results of a variety of different methods, mediums, and offers, you’ll define what produces the best results.

Brag Alot

Forget about being coy. Make your site a cash cow with the strategic use of glowing testimonials – not only on a specific “Success Stories” page, but liberally sprinkled around your entire site. Make sure each testimonial highlights specific services/products you want to sell more of, along with engaging copy that details the core benefits that your delighted client got as a result of doing business with you. Showcase different industries and diverse outcomes. Get creative and post pictures of your smiling clients, and use podcasts or videos as much as you can. People respond better to a combination of visuals, audio and tape.

By adopting these simple fixes, you are on your way to making your website the winning sales engine it should be. This article was provided by Hubspot.

If your company is looking to develop or redesign it’s website, then call Interactive ID at 423-508-0251. You can view our website design portfolio here.

Why Redesign Your Website?  7 Thoughts.

1. Goal: More visitors and leads.

The reason you are redesigning your website is to impact your business, not because you are bored with the design or because your CEO wants it to be blue not red.  So, focus on the results you want.  More visitors, leads and customers.  Every decision you make should be focused on improving those goals.  Keeping that in mind, you might spend a bit less time worrying about the exact shade of reddish-orange on the callout background, and more time worrying about things that will improve your marketing results.

2. Avoid pitfalls. Inventory your assets, then protect them.

There are countless ways a website redesign can actually negatively impact your results. In fact, more often than not, website redesigns do have a negative impact on marketing results.  Your existing website has a lot of assets that you have built up.  These assets help your prospects find your website and help you turn them into leads and customers.  You need to find out what those assets are (great content, keywords you rank for, inbound links to individual pages, conversion tools) and protect them carefully during the redesign.   PS – Many “web design experts” get this stuff wrong.  They are design experts not Internet marketing experts.

3. Spend resources on remarkable content that attracts and converts.  Not unique design.

There is a great article from Seth Godin about this.  He says “I’m going to go out on a limb and beg you not to create an original design. There are more than a billion pages on the web. Surely there’s one that you can start with? …Your car isn’t unique, and your house might not be either.” Most people care about the content more than the design.  The design should be good, but that does not mean unique and expensive.

4. Create an ongoing content building strategy.

If you have more content, on average you will have more website visitors and grow your business faster.  A 100-page website will beat a 10 page website 90% of the time.  And a 500-page website is even better.  And if some of those web pages were written recently, that’s even better.  So, build a strategy to continue to add more and more content to your website over time.  Hint: Blogging makes creating content easy.

5. Enable conversion experiments.

The key to driving your conversion rate and the number of leads you get from your website over time is to constantly improve the effectiveness of your conversion tools – this usually means your landing pages.  If you build a completely static website and have to go to a consultant or IT person each and every time you want to set up a new landing page or to change an existing page, you might be limiting your ability to quickly experiment and improve.  I am a believer that some sort of system that lets you edit content and build landing pages without having to know coding is a good idea.

6. Include a blog, RSS, landing pages, SEO.

Any website built today should include these basics.  They are not expensive, and they work.  A blog is a great way to create content on an ongoing basis, and to start to converse with your customers and prospects.  RSS allows some content from your website to be automatically pushed out to other websites and people, increasing the reach of your content.  Landing pages are critical to actually get value out of your traffic.  And SEO is not hard, and it really works.

7. Metrics: Visitors and leads.

We have come full circle.  If the goal was to increase visitors and conversions, then that is the metric we should track.  What does this mean?  It means if the CEO hates the new design, tell her to go pound sand and show her your improved lead conversion metrics.  If your creative director says he loves the new design, ask him to explain why you are now getting fewer leads and why you should not change the website back to the old one.

What is graphic design? from AIGA Career Guide

Suppose you want to announce or sell something, amuse or persuade someone, explain a complicated system or demonstrate a process. In other words, you have a message you want to communicate. How do you “send” it? You could tell people one by one or broadcast by radio or loudspeaker. That’s verbal communication. But if you use any visual medium at all—if you make a poster; type a letter; create a business logo, a magazine ad, or an album cover; even make a computer printout—you are using a form of visual communication called graphic design.

Graphic designers work with drawn, painted, photographed, or computer-generated images (pictures), but they also design the letterforms that make up various typefaces found in movie credits and TV ads; in books, magazines, and menus; and even on computer screens. Designers create, choose, and organize these elements—typography, images, and the so-called “white space” around them—to communicate a message. Graphic design is a part of your daily life. From humble things like gum wrappers to huge things like billboards to the T-shirt you’re wearing, graphic design informs, persuades, organizes, stimulates, locates, identifies, attracts attention and provides pleasure.

Graphic design is a creative process that combines art and technology to communicate ideas. The designer works with a variety of communication tools in order to convey a message from a client to a particular audience. The main tools are image and typography.

Image-based design
Designers develop images to represent the ideas their clients want to communicate. Images can be incredibly powerful and compelling tools of communication, conveying not only information but also moods and emotions. People respond to images instinctively based on their personalities, associations, and previous experience. For example, you know that a chili pepper is hot, and this knowledge in combination with the image creates a visual pun.

In the case of image-based design, the images must carry the entire message; there are few if any words to help. These images may be photographic, painted, drawn, or graphically rendered in many different ways. Image-based design is employed when the designer determines that, in a particular case, a picture is indeed worth a thousand words.

Type-based design
In some cases, designers rely on words to convey a message, but they use words differently from the ways writers do. To designers, what the words look like is as important as their meaning. The visual forms, whether typography (communication designed by means of the printed word) or handmade lettering, perform many communication functions. They can arrest your attention on a poster, identify the product name on a package or a truck, and present running text as the typography in a book does. Designers are experts at presenting information in a visual form in print or on film, packaging, or signs.

When you look at an “ordinary” printed page of running text, what is involved in designing such a seemingly simple page? Think about what you would do if you were asked to redesign the page. Would you change the typeface or type size? Would you divide the text into two narrower columns? What about the margins and the spacing between the paragraphs and lines? Would you indent the paragraphs or begin them with decorative lettering? What other kinds of treatment might you give the page number? Would you change the boldface terms, perhaps using italic or underlining? What other changes might you consider, and how would they affect the way the reader reacts to the content? Designers evaluate the message and the audience for type-based design in order to make these kinds of decisions.

Image and type
Designers often combine images and typography to communicate a client’s message to an audience. They explore the creative possibilities presented by words (typography) and images (photography, illustration, and fine art). It is up to the designer not only to find or create appropriate letterforms and images but also to establish the best balance between them.

Designers are the link between the client and the audience. On the one hand, a client is often too close to the message to understand various ways in which it can be presented. The audience, on the other hand, is often too broad to have any direct impact on how a communication is presented. What’s more, it is usually difficult to make the audience a part of the creative process. Unlike client and audience, graphic designers learn how to construct a message and how to present it successfully. They work with the client to understand the content and the purpose of the message. They often collaborate with market researchers and other specialists to understand the nature of the audience. Once a design concept is chosen, the designers work with illustrators and photographers as well as with typesetters and printers or other production specialists to create the final design product.

Symbols, logos and logotypes
Symbols and logos are special, highly condensed information forms or identifiers. Symbols are abstract representation of a particular idea or identity. The CBS “eye” and the active “television” are symbolic forms, which we learn to recognize as representing a particular concept or company. Logotypes are corporate identifications based on a special typographical word treatment. Some identifiers are hybrid, or combinations of symbol and logotype. In order to create these identifiers, the designer must have a clear vision of the corporation or idea to be represented and of the audience to which the message is directed.

Interactive ID is a graphic design company.

Graphic Design: A Career Guide and Education Directory
Edited by Sharon Helmer Poggenpohl
Copyright 1993
The American Institute of Graphic Arts

Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising is an innovative way to tap into your online audience. Whether you know it or not, there are people interested in your product or service looking for you online. PPC advertising lets you target these people at precisely the right moment – when they search for a keyword related to your business. If you operate a dry cleaning business in Chattanooga Tennessee for example, it makes sense to target people searching for things like “Chattanooga dry cleaners,” “dry cleaning in Chattanooga,” and “dryclean chattanooga tennessees.” With a PPC campaign, you can. Moreover, since your ads are displayed only when a user searches for one of your keywords, PPC the most cost-effective form of advertising available. There is no wasted effort. There are only results.

How does it happen?

First, we will submit your website to the major search engines, including Google, Yahoo!, MSN, Alta Vista, as well as to online website directories. We then sit down with you and create a tailored pay-per-click advertising campaign based on keywords related to your business. When a user searches one of your keywords, your ad is triggered and prospective customers are presented with your website.

According to WikiPedia

Pay per click (PPC) is an Internet advertising model used on websites, in which advertisers pay their host only when their ad is clicked. With search engines, advertisers typically bid on keyword phrases relevant to their target market. Content sites commonly charge a fixed price per click rather than use a bidding system.

Cost per click (CPC) is the amount of money an advertiser pays search engines and other Internet publishers for a single click on its advertisement that brings one visitor to its website.

In contrast to the generalized portal, which seeks to drive a high volume of traffic to one site, PPC implements so called affiliate model, that provides purchase opportunities wherever people may be surfing. It does this by offering financial incentives (in the form of a percentage of revenue) to affiliated partner sites. The affiliates provide purchase-point click-through to the merchant. It is a pay-for-performance model — if an affiliate does not generate sales, it represents no cost to the merchant. The affiliate model is inherently well-suited to the web, which explains its popularity. Variations include, banner exchange, pay-per-click, and revenue sharing programs.

Websites that utilize PPC ads will display an advertisement when a keyword query matches an advertiser’s keyword list, or when a content site displays relevant content. Such advertisements are called sponsored links or sponsored ads, and appear adjacent to or above organic results on search engine results pages, or anywhere a web developer chooses on a content site.

Although many PPC providers exist, Google AdWords, Yahoo! Search Marketing, and Microsoft adCenter are the three largest network operators, and all three operate under a bid-based model. Cost per click (CPC) varies depending on the search engine and the level of competition for a particular keyword.

The PPC advertising model is open to abuse through click fraud, although Google and others have implemented automated systems to guard against abusive clicks by competitors or corrupt web developers.^[1]

Determining cost per click

There are two primary models for determining cost per click: flat-rate and bid-based. In both cases the advertiser must consider the potential value of a click from a given source. This value is based on the type of individual the advertiser is expecting to receive as a visitor to his or her website, and what the advertiser can gain from that visit, usually revenue, both in the short term as well as in the long term. As with other forms of advertising targeting is key, and factors that often play into PPC campaigns include the target’s interest (often defined by a search term they have entered into a search engine, or the content of a page that they are browsing), intent (e.g. to purchase or not), location (for geo targeting), and the day and time that they are browsing.

Flat-rate PPC

In the flat-rate model, the advertiser and publisher agree upon a fixed amount that will be paid for each click. In many cases the publisher has a rate card that lists the CPC within different areas of their website or network. These various amounts are often related to the content on pages, with content that generally attracts more valuable visitors having a higher CPC than content that attracts less valuable visitors. However, in many cases advertisers can negotiate lower rates, especially when committing to a long-term or high-value contract.

The flat-rate model is particularly common to comparison shopping engines, which typically publish rate cards.^[2] However, these rates are sometimes minima, and advertisers can pay more for greater visibility. These sites are usually neatly compartmentalized into product or service categories, allowing a high degree of targeting by advertisers. In many cases, the entire core content of these sites is paid ads.

Bid-based PPC

In the bid-based model, the advertiser signs a contract that allows them to compete against other advertisers in a private auction hosted by a publisher or, more commonly, an advertising network. Each advertiser informs the host of the maximum amount that he or she is willing to pay for a given ad spot (often based on a keyword), usually using online tools to do so. The auction plays out in an automated fashion every time a visitor triggers the ad spot.

When the ad spot is part of a search engine results page (SERP), the automated auction takes place whenever a search for the keyword that is being bid upon occurs. All bids for the keyword that target the searcher’s geo-location, the day and time of the search, etc. are then compared and the winner determined. In situations where there are multiple ad spots, a common occurrence on SERPs, there can be multiple winners whose positions on the page are influenced by the amount each has bid. The ad with the highest bid generally shows up first, though additional factors such as ad quality and relevance can sometimes come into play (see Quality Score).

In addition to ad spots on SERPs, the major advertising networks allow for contextual ads to be placed on the properties of 3rd-parties with whom they have partnered. These publishers sign up to host ads on behalf of the network. In return, they receive a portion of the ad revenue that the network generates, which can be anywhere from 50% to over 80% of the gross revenue paid by advertisers. These properties are often referred to as a content network and the ads on them as contextual ads due to the fact that the ad spots are associated with keywords based on the context of the page on which they are found. In general, ads on content networks have a much lower click-through rate (CTR) and conversion rate (CR) than ads found on SERPs and consequently are less highly valued. Content network properties can include websites, newsletters, and e-mails.^[3]

Advertisers pay for each click they receive, with the actual amount paid based on the amount bid. It is common practice amongst auction hosts to charge a winning bidder just slightly more (e.g. one penny) than the next highest bidder or the actual amount bid, whichever is lower^[4]. This avoids situations where bidders are constantly adjusting their bids by very small amounts to see if they can still win the auction while paying just a little bit less per click.

To maximize success and achieve scale, automated bid management systems can be deployed. These systems can be used directly by the advertiser, though they are more commonly used by advertising agencies that offer PPC bid management as a service. These tools generally allow for bid management at scale, with thousands or even millions of PPC bids controlled by a highly automated system. The system generally sets each bid based on the goal that has been set for it, such as maximize profit, maximize traffic at breakeven, and so forth. The system is usually tied into the advertiser’s website and fed the results of each click, which then allows it to set bids. The effectiveness of these systems is directly related to the quality and quantity of the performance data that they have to work with – low-traffic ads can lead to a scarcity of data problem that renders many bid management tools useless at worst, or inefficient at best.

History

In February 1998 Jeffrey Brewer of Goto.com, a 25-employee startup company (later Overture, now part of Yahoo!), presented a pay per click search engine proof-of-concept to the TED conference in California.^[5] This presentation and the events that followed created the PPC advertising system. Credit for the concept of the PPC model is generally given to Idealab and Goto.com founder, Bill Gross.

Google started search engine advertising in December 1999. It was not until October 2000 that the AdWords system was introduced, allowing advertisers to create text ads for placement on the Google search engine. However, PPC was only introduced in 2002; until then, advertisements were charged at cost-per-thousand impressions. Yahoo! advertisements have been PPC-based since their introduction in 1998.

For a more in-depth presentation of PPC’s history, see Fain and Pedersen (2006).^[6]

Search Engine Optimization Chattanooga Company Chattanooga Tennessee

So what is search engine optimization? Check out this search engine optimization link to get a description. So now that you have your website up and running you need to make sure of something. Can the company you hired, get your website pulled up in the search engines? I have noticed a number of companies myself that focus clearly on just the design and programming of a website. Then I notice companies who advertise that they do search engine optimization as a service but you can’t even find their website in the search engines. If you preach it! Teach It! So why do some website design companies not do search engine optimization? The most likely reason is that search engine optimization is too much to keep up with. It is a daily grind and can be very time consuming. Search Engine Optimization is just not getting your website pulled in the top 10 but maintaining those rankings. One day your website is number 1 or 4 in Google then 3 weeks later your website is listed on the second or third page. Why? Again, you might of had new companies launch their website that was optimized better than yours or maybe you changed something on your website. It’s funny to see how one change can really influence how your website gets ranked.

If you are looking to hire a company I would ask them two things. One) Does your company provide search engine optimization? Two) Provide proof of at least 5 companies that have at least 5-10 different keyword phrases pulling up in the top 10. If not, then I would be hesitant to hire the company. Remember, who you hire is important to the success or failure of your website.

So you hired a company and now you want to know where do I stand in the search engines as far as keyword phrase placement. For example) You have 10 key phrases and you want to know each month where you rank amongst your top 5 competitors. Can the company you hire tell you how your competition ranks versus where you rank?

It’s great that you hired the search engine optimization company but this is valuable information that you need to see every month. This tells you your success or pitfalls of your rankings.

Watch for a search engine optimization company Chattanooga, TN blog posting about website statistics in the near future.

Introduction
As many of us web developers already know, Google is rated by many as the number one search engine in the world. We personally know that our websites get about 90% of their search engine traffic direct from Google searches.

Getting indexed by Google can be a pain, but getting highly placed rankings for specific keywords seems to be the nut that not many web developers without SEO (search engine optimization) experience or seo training can crack.

Today we’re going to give you an informative primer on the basics of search engine optimization techniques — many of which we use everyday to optimize our websites and stay ahead of our competitors.

4 Steps to Better Rankings
We personally believe in the “practice what you preach” approach to all things business related — especially SEO. So, before we continue, here’s a sample of keywords and Google rankings for some of our websites:
Website Keywords Google Ranking
Activekb.com Knowledgebase software #2 of 4,980,000
DevEdit.com Online HTML editor #3 of 9,080,000
MyFreeTemplates.com Free Dreamweaver Templates #4 of 93,600

Step 1. Choosing The Right Keywords

Choosing the right keywords to base your site optimization around is an important first step. General or generic keywords are usually not the best approach, and sometimes it’s better to be a little more specific and focus on niche keywords relating to your product or service.

For example, let’s talk about www.devedit.com — DevEdit is our WYSIWYG HTML editing component that drops into browser-based applications.

The problem is, there are a LOT of WYSIWYG HTML editors, but how can we get DevEdit to appear in Google’s top 10 rankings? Well, let’s see. Trying to optimize for the keyword “HTML” alone would be a tough task, as it’s too general. There are HTML editors, HTML tutorials, HTML articles, etc.

We need to be more specific, which means:

1. Targeting a more suitable market that is looking for a content editing solution
2. Competing with fewer websites targeting the same keywords
3. Optimizing for keywords that people actually use when performing searches

Targeting a suitable market will depend on your website, as well as the products and services you offer. Try to be specific with your keywords, and remember that people no longer use single keyword search phrases – the average search phrase contains 3-5 related words.

For example, if you’re optimizing for a web development site and you’re located in Sydney, Australia, use keywords such as “web development Sydney” or “web development services Australia”.

To find out how many websites are competing with your keywords — either intentionally or not — simply do a search on Google and note down how many results are returned. In our case, for “online html editor”, we’re competing with 9,080,000 sites. The more sites that are competing for your keywords, the harder it will be to get on the front page.

Alternatively, to get a rough indication of how many people are actually searching for the keywords you want to optimize your site for, use the Overture search suggestion tool. It’s not exact, and doesn’t measure Google searches, but it does give a very good estimate.

The Overture search suggestion tool will also provide you with a list of similar keywords, based on the keywords you enter. This can be a great way to find other keywords to optimize your site for.

As a rough guideline, try to optimize every page on your site for a different search phrase. Each search phrase should contain 2 to 3 highly targeted keywords.

Step 2. Your URL and Title Tag

Two of the most determining factors in Google’s ranking are your domain name and title tag. For example, a domain name such as:
http://www.web-development-sydney.com will generally get ranked higher than http://www.companyname.com, assuming that they had identical keywords and page content.

For some of us, keywords in the domain name look too unprofessional, and we’ve already registered our domain, so it’s too late to change. An alternative — and also a useful tactic — is to add your keywords into the names of your pages, such as
http://www.companyname.com/web-development-services.html

Your title tag is equally as important as your domain name. Using keywords in your title tag can improve your Google ranking significantly. Trying to achieve a balance of professionalism with keyword density in the title tag however is sometimes a little more difficult.

Going back to our example of a web development company earlier, a good title tag would be:

Usually, the closer to the front of your title tag the keywords are placed, the better.

Step 3. H1 Tags and Keyword Density

tags seem to have been depreciated by stylesheets these days, and are not used as often as they used to be.

The Google ranking algorithm dictates that if you’re using a

tag, then the text in between this tag must be more important than the content on the rest of the page. Here’s a quick example:

Google sees this text as more important

… than this text

By default, H1 tags aren’t the prettiest in terms of formatting, so using a CSS style to override the default look is usually a good idea:

H1 { color: blue; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px }

Sprinkling keywords throughout your page content can also improve your sites keyword density. Keyword density simply means the ratio of optimized keywords to the rest of the content on your page. It is usually expressed as a percentage, and should be between 7% and 10% for each page on your site.

Don’t overdo the keyword density, however, but don’t overlook it either. A good example would be:

Before:

* Company name provides web design and site management services to our clients.

After:

* Company name provides web development services to the Sydney region in Australia

Notice how we use the keywords more efficiently the second time around?

Step 4. Links, Links and More Links

And this leads us to the toughest part of the Google SEO process — back-links. Back links are websites that link directly to your website. The general principal is the more back links you have, the higher your pages will be ranked, as your website must be good if so many other sites are linking back to it.

If you run a web development company, then adding a simple link to the bottom of each of your client’s websites, such as:

Web development by Company Name

… (With your clients permission of course) can help boost your back links, which will help boost your ranking position in searches.

Submitting your site to dmoz.org, Yahoo! and other directories is also an important step to increase the number of sites linking back to yours. Do remember however, that setting up back links takes time. I would recommend emailing 5-10 websites each and every day to request back-links or partnership links (keeping in mind that the sites contacted should be relevant but not competitive) e.g. – If you sell chocolate, partnering with a company that sells Roses may just be a good idea. Within a couple of weeks, you should have a good 100 or so sites happily linking back to yours!

Conclusion
Google can be one tough search engine to crack. Hopefully, however, in this article we’ve provided you with enough basic tips to get started optimizing both yours and your clients website.

By Eddie Machaalani

All business owners know that the most vital part of a promotional material is the message that it communicates to the customers. That is why even the logo has to be carefully designed and created to make sure that it gives the right meaning.

In the past, there was actually no need to put logos in stores or in the products. This is because there was little competition and oftentimes, towns only have one clothing store, restaurant or general store. But today, things have changed. From everyday necessities such as toothpastes and soaps to expensive jewelries and clothes, there are literally hundreds of different suppliers and retailers. Competition is stiff, that is why most of these vendors are looking for the best way to make their products stand out among the rest.

Picture you are in a grocery store. You need some soaps and shampoos. So you went to the section where these products are displayed. You will be surprised to know that there are quite a number of brands to choose from. If you are the kind of customer who doesn’t stick to one brand you will have a hard time choosing which brand of soap or shampoo is best for you. But most customers today look for consistency and familiarity when it comes to products they need on a daily basis. Hence, a good logo will create a differentiating characteristic of a brand that will eventually become familiar to customers.

Simply put, business owners use logo because they are good stimulants that once a customer sees a particular logo they will immediately remember what brand it is. With the seemingly complex way of modern life today, people just don’t have a lot of time to research all the benefits and features of each brand. They simply take note of the logo and know immediately what these products are all about. In addition, with the advent of the Internet, shopping has never been easier. Just like when people shop in stores, they also look for familiar brands when browsing through the Internet. Hence, when you have a good logo people will not have a hard time recognizing your brand. Logos are in a way the simplest, most direct way of promoting your business. It is like an overall statement of what you are about, minus the lengthy statements. Since logos are distinct graphic images, they can easily create name recognition and easily entice your target customers.

This article or section has multiple issues. Please help improve the article or discuss these issues on the talk page.

* It needs additional references or sources for verification. Tagged since September 2009.
* It reads like a personal reflection or essay. Tagged since September 2009.

Social media are media designed to be disseminated through social interaction, created using highly accessible and scalable publishing techniques. Social media supports the human need for social interaction, using Internet- and web-based technologies to transform broadcast media monologues (one to many) into social media dialogues (many to many). It supports the democratization of knowledge and information, transforming people from content consumers into content producers. Businesses also refer to social media as user-generated content (UGC) or consumer-generated media (CGM).

Social media can be said to have three components;

1. Concept (art, information, or meme).
2. Media (physical, electronic, or verbal).
3. Social interface (intimate direct, community engagement, social viral, electronic broadcast or syndication, or other physical media such as print).

Common forms of social media;

* Concepts, slogans, and statements with a high memory retention quotient, that excite others to repeat.
* Grass-Roots direct action information dissemination such as public speaking, installations, performance, and demonstrations.
* Electronic media with ’sharing’, syndication, or search algorithm technologies (includes internet and mobile devices).
* Print media, designed to be re-distributed.

Contents
[hide]

* 1 Distinction from industrial media
* 2 Information outputs and human interaction
* 3 Examples
* 4 See also
* 5 References
* 6 Further reading

[edit] Distinction from industrial media

Social media are distinct from industrial media, such as newspapers, television, and film. While social media are relatively inexpensive and accessible tools that enable anyone (even private individuals) to publish or access information, industrial media generally require significant resources to publish information. Examples of industrial media issues include a printing press or a government-granted spectrum license.

“Industrial media” are commonly referred to as “traditional”, “broadcast” or “mass” media.

One characteristic shared by both social media and industrial media is the capability to reach small or large audiences; for example, either a blog post or a television show may reach zero people or millions of people. The properties that help describe the differences between social media and industrial media depend on the study. Some of these properties are:

1. Reach – both industrial and social media technologies provide scale and enable anyone to reach a global audience.
2. Accessibility – the means of production for industrial media are typically owned privately or by government; social media tools are generally available to anyone at little or no cost.
3. Usability – industrial media production typically requires specialized skills and training. Most social media do not, or in some cases reinvent skills, so anyone can operate the means of production.
4. Recency – the time lag between communications produced by industrial media can be long (days, weeks, or even months) compared to social media (which can be capable of virtually instantaneous responses; only the participants determine any delay in response). As industrial media are currently adopting social media tools, this feature may well not be distinctive anymore in some time.
5. Permanence – industrial media, once created, cannot be altered (once a magazine article is printed and distributed changes cannot be made to that same article) whereas social media can be altered almost instantaneously by comments or editing.

Community media constitute an interesting hybrid of industrial and social media. Though community-owned, some community radios, TV and newspapers are run by professionals and some by amateurs. They use both social and industrial media frameworks.

In his 2006 book The Wealth of Networks: How Social Production Transforms Markets and Freedom, Yochai Benkler analyzed many of these distinctions and their implications in terms of both economics and political liberty. However, Benkler, like many academics, uses the neologism network economy or “network information economy” to describe the underlying economic, social, and technological characteristics of what has come to be known as “social media”.

Andrew Keen criticizes social media[citation needed] in his book The Cult of the Amateur, writing, “Out of this anarchy, it suddenly became clear that what was governing the infinite monkeys now inputting away on the Internet was the law of digital Darwinism, the survival of the loudest and most opinionated. Under these rules, the only way to intellectually prevail is by infinite filibustering.”[1]
[edit] Information outputs and human interaction

Primarily, social media depend on interactions between people as the discussion and integration of words to build shared-meaning, using technology as a conduit. Social media has been touted as presenting a fresh direction for marketing by allowing companies to talk with consumers, as opposed to talking at them.[2]

Social media utilities create opportunities for the use of both inductive and deductive logic by their users. Claims or warrants are quickly transitioned into generalizations due to the manner in which shared statements are posted and viewed by all. The speed of communication, breadth, and depth, and ability to see how the words build a case solicits the use of rhetoric. Induction is frequently used as a means to validate or authenticate different users’ statements and words. Rhetoric is an important part of today’s language in social media.

Social media are not finite: there is not a set number of pages or hours. The audience can participate in social media by adding comments, instant messaging or even editing the stories themselves.
[edit] Examples

Social media can take many different forms, including Internet forums, weblogs, social blogs, wikis, podcasts, pictures, video, rating and bookmarking. Technologies include: blogs, picture-sharing, vlogs, wall-postings, email, instant messaging, music-sharing, crowdsourcing, and voice over IP, to name a few. Many of these social media services can be integrated via social network aggregation platforms like Mybloglog and Plaxo.

Examples of social media software applications include:

Communication

* Blogs: Blogger, LiveJournal, Open Diary, TypePad, WordPress, Vox, ExpressionEngine, Xanga
* Micro-blogging / Presence applications: Twitter, Plurk, Jaiku, fmylife
* Social networking: Bebo, Facebook, LinkedIn, MySpace, Orkut, Skyrock, Hi5, Ning, Elgg
* Social network aggregation: NutshellMail, FriendFeed
* Events: Upcoming, Eventful, Meetup.com

Collaboration

* Wikis: Wikipedia, PBwiki, wetpaint
* Social bookmarking (or social tagging)[3]: Delicious, StumbleUpon, Google Reader, CiteULike
* Social news: Digg, Mixx, Reddit, NowPublic
* Opinion sites: epinions, Yelp

Multimedia

* Photo sharing: Flickr, Zooomr, Photobucket, SmugMug, Picasa
* Video sharing: YouTube, Vimeo, sevenload
* Livecasting: Ustream.tv, Justin.tv, Stickam
* Audio and Music Sharing: imeem, The Hype Machine, Last.fm, ccMixter

Reviews and Opinions

* Product Reviews: epinions.com, MouthShut.com
* Community Q&A: Yahoo! Answers, WikiAnswers, Askville, Google Answers

Entertainment

* Media & Entertainment Platforms: Cisco Eos
* Virtual worlds: Second Life, The Sims Online, Forterra
* Game sharing: Miniclip, Kongregate

Other

* Information aggregators: Netvibes, Twine (website)

In recent years, numerous companies and brands have used the platforms and channels above as well as many others not included here to market their products. [4] Healthcare and pharma companies have been slower than many other industries to adopt these technologies due to regulatory concerns. [5] Recently, this has changed with many healthcare and pharma companies using social media to communicate with physicians and patients. [6]
For more information > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_media

Following in the footsteps of Rand Fishkin and Guy Kawasaki, I decided to come up with my own list of don’ts. There is no shortage of don’ts when it comes to SEO copywriting. It seems this niche got off to a rough start many years ago when early comers somehow misconstrued the core principles of the trade. Allow me to elaborate on how not to write SEO copy.

1. Don’t shove as many keyphrases into the copy as humanly possible.

It’s not about the sheer volume of search terms you include. Yes, Google and other engines should be able to follow what the page is about. Yes, engines are looking to match a searcher’s query with search engine optimized content on your web pages, but which pages land at the top is decided through a series of calculations far more complex than any simple ratio. When you overload copy with keyphrases you sacrifice quality and user experience.

2. Don’t lose site of balance.

If SEO copywriting isn’t about the percentage of keywords within the copy, then what is it about? Balance. You have two audiences with SEO copywriting: the search engines and your site visitors. But surprisingly, the balance doesn’t come with serving both masters well. The balance comes in how much you cater to the engines. You see, your site visitors always come first.

However, if you write with too little focus on the engines, you won’t see good rankings. If you put too much focus on the engines, you’ll start to lose your target audience. Balance… always balance.

3. Don’t let someone else choose the keywords.

If keyword research isn’t a service you offer, an SEO firm, keyword specialist or some other professional that your client hires will have to conduct the research. Don’t just accept keyphrases these folks toss your way. Ask to see the entire list with recommendations as to which terms would be best strategically. Then you, as the professional writer, can decide which will also work best within the copy.

4. Don’t sacrifice flow for numbers.

This is a follow-up to number three and is a major issue with bad SEO copywriting. SEOs or clients sometimes insist on using hacked-up search phrases that simply don’t work in a normal sentence. An example? “Candies samples free.” Many copywriters will just grin and bear it, sacrificing quality and flow for the sake of competitive values or other numbers. The result is often some obnoxious sentence like, “If you’re looking for candies samples free, you’ve come to the right place!” Forcing a phrase into the copy at all costs never turns out well.

5. Don’t use keyphrases that don’t apply to the page.

If you operate a site about wedding receptions, don’t try to force a search term about wedding dresses into the copy just because it pulls a lot of traffic. (A) Unless you sell, alter or design wedding dresses, it won’t be applicable. (B) Even if you manage to get the page ranked well for the phrase [wedding dresses], once the visitor clicks to your site and realizes you have nothing to do with wedding dresses, they will leave. It’s a waste of time and effort and it creates a poor user experience.

6. Don’t use misspellings and correct spellings on the same page.

I fully understand that the misspellings of keyphrases can be valuable search terms. However, to mix correct spellings and misspellings within the same page of copy looks like you’ve got a bunch of typos in the content. It’s just not professional. Some writers will go for the old, “We rent limousines (sometimes spelled limosenes) for the most affordable prices in town.” I don’t care for that approach. It’s just not natural. Would you ever see brochure or newspaper copy that reads that way? I think not.

7. Don’t use keyphrases the exact same way every time.

This is how we end up with horrible SEO copy that sounds like a 4th grader wrote it. (See #4.) There are lots of ways to use keywords in copy, not just one. In order to sound natural, you have to get creative with your keyphrase use. One way is to break up phrases using punctuation. Since search engines don’t pay attention to basic punctuation marks, you can easily write something using the search term [real estate Hawaii] that reads like this: “Currently there is an impressive selection of available real estate. Hawaii listings can be…” See? “Real estate” is at the end of the first sentence and “Hawaii” is at the beginning of the second sentence. The engines ignore the period so there’s no problem.

8. Don’t use all types of search phrases for every situation.

There are many ways in which this “don’t” applies. One quick example is that of an ecommerce site. It wouldn’t be advisable to use specific, long-tail keyphrases on the home page of your site. They are much too specific in most cases and are better suited for individual product pages. Broader terms are typically best for an ecommerce home page. If you don’t understand the best applications for the various types of keywords, you’re likely to have lackluster results.

9. Don’t neglect ALT tags/image attributes.

These tags are the ones associated with images on your pages and they carry a good deal of weight especially if the image is used as a link. The ALT text counts the same as anchor text in a text-based link. Depending on a few different factors, ALT text may be a good place for those misspellings mentioned in #6.

10. Don’t forget the chain of protocol.

There’s a method to the SEO copywriting madness. The idea is not to get as many different keyphrases onto a page as possible. Just the opposite, in fact. Rather than having 12 different search terms used only one time each, you need to use two to four keyphrases (depending on the length of your copy) per page. The title, META tags, ALT tags, other coding elements and on-page copy need to support each other as far as keyphrase use goes. Your goal is to let the engines know that you have original, relevant content about a narrow topic.

Unless you have an exceptional number of back links built up, just mentioning [dark chocolate], [chocolate strawberries], [chocolate chip cookies], [chocolate cake], [chocolate desserts], [organic chocolate] and [chocolate cheesecake] once each on a web page isn’t likely to do a lot of good. Instead, pick two or three terms which are closely related and use them several times each along with mentioning them in your tags.

When you avoid making common mistakes, you’ll find your SEO copywriting flows much better, is more natural-sounding and ranks higher, too.

The Author: Karon Thackston

Corporate Branding is Key to a Successful Business
Corporate branding is the process of establishing a name and image for your business. It is something, which should be done by every organization, and establishes a name for your product or service.
While you can have a successful business without the use of corporate branding, it is much harder to remain in the minds of customers when you do not have a brand or logo for them to associate your business with. Corporate branding begins with the designing of a relevant logo, website, business cards, letterheads, and any other promotional materials that you might need.

With these items in place and the corporate logo established, you will begin to see why corporate branding is the key to success.

Why is Corporate Branding so Important?

When you think about Nike, what comes to mind? I can guarantee that most of you just pictured a check mark in your head. This is because Nike has spent a lot of time and money to ensure that their logo and “just do it” motto have been set into the minds of consumers for years.

This is just one example of why corporate branding is so important. Without a brand image to quickly associate your business with, you are instantly out of the minds of consumers.

If you can on the other hand, provide consumers with a lasting memory of your brand, then yours will be the first business that will come to mind when they see that image or logo. It will also allow them to spread the word about your business much easier.

Sometimes people remember logos better than the names of businesses.

You Can’t Do It Alone

The first thing you need to understand about corporate branding before you begin selecting a logo or other merchandise, is that you can’t do it alone. Even if you could design the image, you would not be able to produce the merchandise such as business cards, letterhead, and other promotional items by yourself.

For this reason, it is important to enlist the help of professionals. Companies who provide marketing services can conduct research based on your business, and help you choose a logo, motto, and merchandise that can help you create effective corporate branding.

While you may spend a little bit of money by using one of these companies’ services, it will be well worth it when your business has a successful brand, and your traffic and sales increase. While you are new to the idea of corporate branding, these professional companies have had years of experience helping businesses get their start.

Developing a Logo

The first step that a marketing service company will introduce you to, is the development of a logo. This is the most important step in corporate branding, because it creates an image that will always be associated with your business.

A logo can be serious, humorous, or just about anything else that you like. It can communicate to consumers what type of services or goods that you offer, your quality of service, or any other important information. It is essential that you choose a logo that can’t be interpreted the wrong way.

It is also important to choose a logo that makes a statement about your company, and is not just a random choice. The more content you are with your brand image, the better your potential customers will react to it.

Completing the Image

Choosing a logo is not the last step in corporate branding. In order to effectively brand your business, you need to display that logo and brand image consistently on and in all your marketing efforts. A company’s letterhead, business cards, and any other promotional items used should reflect the logo and brand image that has been created.

If you are inconsistent, your attempt at corporate branding will fail. Corporate branding is becoming increasingly popular with local small businesses and large corporate companies as well. When you associate a specific logo, image, or motto with your business, the consumers are more likely to recognize your brand as one they know and trust.

Remember though, that it cannot be done alone and that is best to enlist the help of a professional marketing service when working on this strategy.

Author of Article ~ Aaron Howard