RG Design Talk
Response Rates
by RgDesign (rgrauphics) on Jun.29, 2010, under RG Design Talk, Tech News
Larry Chase’s Web Digest For Marketers Read the full story here.
Below are six quick tips that will help you boost response rates right away. There’s one tip for each of six areas: Landing Page Optimization, Sales, SEO Marketing, Copywriting, Email Marketing and PPC Marketing.
1. Leave Your Landing Pages Up Longer
Users click on offers in newsletter ads and dedicated solo email messages in unpredictable ways. For example, they might not click on call-to-action buttons until many months after the time of transmission.
This means you should look at the response rates long after transmission. No need to obsessively watch them daily or weekly if the message went out months prior. But, do check in to see the increased number.
People will save an appealing offer. Or, they might bookmark the landing page for when they have more time. If you held a real-time Webinar, put a link to that event’s archive on your landing page for latecomers.
2. Unexpected Value-Adds Prevent Buyer’s Remorse
Give your customers and clients something more than what you promised them. Let them be delighted at finding the extra value, be it a gift certificate, or a bonus ad in a media buy.
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WordPress on Blackberry.
by RgDesign (rgrauphics) on Jun.02, 2010, under RG Design Talk
Our first post on our new mobile app WordPress for Blackberry. We will keep this post short due to typing on a phone. We will write later on what we did to connect our phones to our blog. Will be back soon.
Hmm no seo fields, I wonder if that will be in a future update.
New Twitter Feed
by RgDesign (rgrauphics) on May.19, 2010, under RG Design Talk
We just got done setting up a new TwitterFeed feature on the blog and on the Twitter Account, the idea behind this is that Rg Design has now connected the Rg Design Blog to out Twitter Account. So hopefully… what should happen is… we can create an awesome post and then TwitterFeed will send it out to our account on Twitter. This is posting is basically a test to see how everything is running and to do some tweeking, not twitting but tweeking. So we shall see how this goes and then we will write on our findings.
Total Pages vs Indexed Pages
by RgDesign (rgrauphics) on May.07, 2010, under RG Design Talk
I got into work this morning and thought to myself “How many pages does www.rgrauphics.com have?” then it lead into another question “How many of my pages are indexed?”. So I started to do some research on locating how many pages we had indexed with in Google. I have always known to go to Google and search my own website (i.e. www.yourdomainname.com) and it will display all the pages that Google has indexed.
RgDesign results had 9 pages with 82 results.
OK GREAT I have 9 pages within Google, but when I go to my Google Webmaster Tools > Click on your site > Site Configuration > Sitemaps with 165 pages total with only 49 indexed.
MSN Webmaster Center says that we have 83 pages with no blocked content.
Yahoo Site Explorer says we have 111 pages indexed
I did some research on the net to try to locate some tools for finding out how many pages you had on the web vs how many total pages you have. I have come to find out that you have to take these answers with a grain of salt.
SelfSEO – just type in you url and it give you results of how many pages are listed in Google, MSN Search, Yahoo, All the Web and AltaVista. Mixed results here also, here are our results.
Google – Not Available
MSN Search – Not Available
Yahoo – explorer
AlltheWeb – web
AltaVista – 111
So I guess my question to everyone out there…
- Are there any good tools to use to track and identify this information?
- Is this information useful?
- How can it help with SEO or Marketing?
I am sure there are quite a few more questions……so what are those questions? Anyone?
Landing Pages for eCommerce
by RgDesign (rgrauphics) on May.05, 2010, under RG Design Talk, SEO Tips
Executive Vice President & Co-founder, ion interactive
View the video on ION Interactive’s website here
Great information on how to handle what pages you send your clients to via PPC or AD Campaign. Tough to control organic results but it allow you to really think about the content on the site and how it can drive the call to action.
Photo of Day – Trees
by RgDesign (rgrauphics) on Apr.30, 2010, under Photos, RG Design Talk
Been so busy around here almost forgot to do our postings. Been working with the photography site off and on for the last couple of days making sure everything is still working. Had some issues but got them worked out. We have added quite a few NEW pictures under the water fall section and now we have moved onto our photos of Trees.
I know I know how exciting, but I think we have some great shots of Autumn in Rocky Mountians, a fresh snow fall on a Pine Tree, Sunsets through trees and more. Here are a few of the Trees we have on the photo site.
Social Media Marketing
by RgDesign (rgrauphics) on Apr.21, 2010, under RG Design Talk, SEO Tips, Tech News
Read Heidi Cohen’s article at ClickZ.com
What’s Wrong With Social Media Marketing?
By Heidi Cohen, ClickZ, Apr 19, 2010
Social media marketing is all the rage and every marketer feels that they must have a social media marketing campaign to be in tune with the times. But the reality is that most organizations are doing social media marketing wrong. It should not be a do-it-once, time-limited campaign, created by your marketing, communications, and/or PR department(s). It should be much more.
To take full advantage of social media marketing requires breaking down internal corporate silos and integrating social media strategies across your entire organization. It needs to permeate your entire organization. Social media marketing is the glue that truly enables integrated marketing across channels.
12 Tactics for Integrating Social Media Marketing Across Your Organization
To help expand how social media marketing is used within your company, here are 12 practical tactics:
- Create social media-friendly content on a regular basis:This content should be used across corporate communications. This information must not be leftover or recycled content. To work effectively, it must be high quality, useful information that consumers want and find useful. Examples include additional ways to use your product such as mixing and matching a variety of clothing pieces or photographs showing step-by-step how to install your product. Ask visitors what type of information they want. Useful metrics: Monitor views, shared content via social media and other channels, and customer comments.
- Cross-promote social media marketing in online and offline marketing: Mention social media marketing efforts in online advertising, Web site, e-mail, mobile, packaging, direct mail, television, print, out-of-home, and other advertising/marketing efforts. Useful metrics: When possible, track where social media references come from. Also, assess increases in social media activity that corresponds to initiation of other marketing campaigns.
- Integrate social media marketing into annual corporate budgeting and marketing planning processes: Social media marketing isn’t free and can’t be done when an employee has extra time. It requires dedicated resources and support. Useful metrics: Track social media-related budgets and resources including time dedicated to social media efforts.
- Extend customer service reach and responsiveness: This can be done by using social media to respond to customer questions, comments, and appropriate conversations. A relevant, personalized response is needed, not an automated answer. Useful metrics: Track the number of customer engagements and sentiment over time.
- Encourage employees to participate in social media as company representatives: This can be done by establishing guidelines for their participation. For example, tell employees how they should identify themselves as your representatives and support their efforts by calling attention to positive results. A good example of an employee who blogs is Dan Blank’s blog. Useful metrics:Count the number of employees involved in social media, monitor-related links into your Web site, and new prospects.
- Extend the reach of company events online: Extend by using a variety of social media tools such as Twitter, slide sharing, and video sharing. This includes live demonstrations that are videotaped or photographed and/or live blogging and/or tweeting of meetings, shows, and conferences. For example, a travel firm could use Flickr to enable travelers to share their photos and comments of their tours while a tool supplier could use YouTube to post “How To” demonstrations. Useful metrics: Monitor views of your company content across social media channels as well as customer comments, blog posts, and tweets.
- Extend PR efforts through social media use: This includes social media press releases, blogs, video, photographs, Facebook Fan Pages, Twitter, slide sharing, and other social media options to get the word out quickly and broadly. Also, engage outspoken consumers identified via social media tracking in appropriate channels. Useful metrics: Monitor press and other forms of media pickups as well as consumer conversations across social media environments.
- Provide faster, more effective crisis management for public issues through the use of social media tools: This means monitoring the sentiment of those conversations to understand what’s being said and how the public is reacting. This is a 24/7 process. To this end, have on-going social media monitoring, provide social media training to appropriately engage consumers, and install a process to raise potential issues through the company hierarchy. Then use social media to respond quickly and appropriately. Useful metrics: Monitor the number and size of potential issues and the effectiveness of social media response.
- Gather customer input and feedback for market research purposes: This is good for gaining useful insights about your products through forums, in-person meetups, blogs, Facebook, Twitter, and reviews. Consumers may provide suggestions that wouldn’t have surfaced within the organization. Useful metrics: Assess market research improvements through the number of customer recommendations that get implemented and speedier time-to-market. Understand that market research resources may be used differently rather than reducing their budget or headcount.
- Expand human resources’ reach and effectiveness: Do this through social media use. New talent can be acquired more quickly and cost-effectively through social networking. Managers can preview job seekers’ work online, for example, a blog. Additionally, good work by existing employees can be showcased through a variety of social media formats and environments. For example, the employee of the month might be highlighted on a Facebook Fan Page. Useful metrics: Measure effectiveness through reduced employee turnover, shorter time to hire, and reduced hiring costs.
- Enhance investor relations through the use of social media: Such as video, slides, podcasts, and Webinars. Don’t limit your efforts to information required by regulators. Create and share content that gives investors a feel for your business such as new business performance and promoting your investor day. Useful metrics: Track relevant pieces of content, especially those required by regulators, number of views per piece of content and investor engagements, and the sentiment of those engagements.
- Facilitate cross-organizational relationships: This can be done through corporate networking presence such as LinkedIn or private social networks. Useful metrics: Assess improved employee relationships as well as improved cross-organization functioning.
While many companies think that they have an effective social media marketing strategy, they’ve only started to test the waters. They need to go further by assessing how they can apply social media marketing strategies across the various areas of their company. In addition to helping make firms more responsive to customer needs and issues, expanded use of social media marketing strategies will enhance overall performance.
Real Time Search is on its way!
by RgDesign (rgrauphics) on Apr.19, 2010, under RG Design Talk, SEO Tips, Tech News
Real time search is on its way!
Back on March 29th, 2010 we posted an article about real time search and how to use it and what it was by our own search. Read about it here. Well we just read another article explaining it a bit more using the iPad as its real time search.
Remember real time search really only happens when the search term or trend has high enough activity within Twitter for the major search engines to pickup (Google, Bing, Yahoo). The creation of BUZZ is what will get the search engines to pick up on LIVE search from Twitter.
READ By Ron Jones, ClickZ, Apr 19, 2010 Article HERE or just scroll down to read his article we posted here.
Real-Time Search 101
Twitter has opened the door to the concept of real-time search. The ability to listen to an online conversation right now and hear what’s being said has brought a whole new dimension to search marketing. Let’s explore what real-time search is, how it’s being used in search engines, and how you can integrate real-time search into your marketing campaigns.
What Is Real-Time Search?
We’re all used to going to a search engine, typing in a keyword phrase, and getting a list of results. In the past, those results only showed what the search engines have collected and stored in their databases. That information can be a day or two old, or several years old.
What if you want to see what’s happened in the past five minutes? Maybe you’re interested in the latest news on the China earthquake or you’re waiting for your iPad to be delivered and need the latest news to fill the void.
Real-time search benefits those who read or write content within a short time span. Headline news, natural calamities and rescue efforts, and current events and shows are all examples where real-time search is used. Basically, your content goes hot for a small period of time before it goes cold.
For search engines, it means doing super fast indexing of sites like Twitter. This allows you to find information while it’s still relevant. To further help you understand real-time search, watch this videoproduced by Google.
Google Launches Real-Time Search
Back in December, Google launched the real-time search feature that now appears on its search results page. A search for the latest news on “iPad” tells me that the iPad will be useful for my two dogs. Also, there are links to articles and tweets ranging from five minutes to 50 minutes ago.
Since this launched in December, Google has gone beyond Twitter for real-time search results, adding content from Facebook, MySpace, and Google Buzz to bring you real-time news.
The other major search engines, Yahoo and Bing, also provide real-time search features.
Make no mistake; we’ll see more features and updates to search engines in the future.
Google Replay Feature
Google’s new tweet replay search feature for real-time search gives you the ability to go back in time and catch up on what people were tweeting about within a specific time range (e.g., if you want to go back and see what people were saying about the iPad before it started shipping). Google explained that there is a constant online conversation about breaking news, people, and places. With this new feature, you can zoom to any part of that conversation and see what people were tweeting about.
Other Tools for Real-Time Search
Several tools are available to help you take advantage of real-time search. Twitter Search has been around for a long time. Other tools that have emerged since and let you see what others are tweeting about are TweetGrid,Scoopler, Collecta, and CrowdEye, just to name a few.
Facebook also has a real-time search feature similar to Twitter’s. Facebook recently bought FriendFeed, which already has a good real-time search feature that searches content across many social sites.
What Does Real-Time Search Mean for Marketers?
While real-time search is growing, it’s still in its infancy. With the major search engines on board, it’s just a matter of time before it grows in adoption. Keep your eye on opportunities to leverage real-time search for use in your branding efforts.
In addition to advertisers, it’s also important to consumers. Marketers will need to adjust their approach to reaching out to consumers. With real-time search, you now have a tool to “listen” in to what consumers are saying about your brand or product. With real-time information, you can now react quicker and be more responsive.
Tips for Optimizing for Real-Time Search
Real-time search means you need to integrate new practices into your SEO (define) efforts and optimize accordingly. So, what can you do to enhance your optimization efforts to get the rankings you’re looking for with real-time search? Here are some tips that you should consider:
- Monitor hot topics: Stay on top of hot topics and be prepared to react to those topics. Create content that is frequently updated that speaks to these topics and trends.
- Add keyword support: Make sure you integrate your targeted keywords into your tweets and updates and utilize hashtags. This will help support your own SEO and PPC (define) campaigns and strengthen your relevancy for those keywords.
- Coordinate promotion activities: Planning is important so you can time when to update your Facebook Page or send out tweets. Try to do this shortly after relevant articles and blog posts are indexed in by search engines.
- Develop relevant content: Make sure you have content that supports real-time SEO. Coordinate all of your content for your Web pages, blogs, press releases, tweets, and fan pages to work together.
Real-time search presents a great opportunity for those who know about it and can find creative ways to integrate it into their marketing mix. This area will continue to grow, so look out for more features, methods, sites, and tools for leveraging real-time search. Please feel free to share any tips or beneficial tools you’ve found in the comments section.
Email Marketing
by RgDesign (rgrauphics) on Apr.15, 2010, under RG Design Talk, SEO Tips, Tech News
I was reading an email this morning I got from one of my favorite place, Larry Chase’s Web Digest for Marketers. The email was titled “How My Email Newsletter Makes Money” so I was naturally curious by what the email had in it. I think this is a perfect read for someone who is new to email marketing or just a refresher for an experienced email marketer.
The email goes into pretty good depth on how to break apart your email content. Great article to read. Click here to read the article at Larry Chase’s Web Digest for Marketers.
Chrome Continues to Gain Usage Share
by RgDesign (rgrauphics) on Apr.08, 2010, under RG Design Talk, Tech News
Have you tried Google Chrome yet? If not you may want to give it a shot, its worth it. Download it here.
We have been using Google Chrome for almost a year now and LOVE IT. Google Chrome is a stripped down internet browser and is extremely fast at loading web pages. Google web browser seems to be catching on. Net Market Share show a steady growth in the web browsers usage.
Image provided by PC Pitstop.
You can read more on the browser wars at PC Pitstop by click here.
Google chrome has all the same great extension that FireFox has, check them all out here.