Have you noticed SEO seems to change almost as much as a teenage girl? If your website doesn’t keep up with the ever changing demands of SEO, be prepared to watch from the sidelines while your competitors reap the rewards of search. SEO can be a very powerful tool, but can be overwhelming to keep up with. Even within the past year, Google released its panda ranking algorithm update which lowered the rank of “low-quality” sites, incorporated social platforms to search, and is now offering features such as site-links and ratings in search engine results. With the changing climate of search, make sure your business is taking advantage of these three SEO strategies in the new year.

Integration of Search & Social

With more social platforms than ever trying to rival Facebook, there is no doubt that 2011 was the year of social media. Within 2011, search and social media have been integrated more than ever. Search engines have realized that people are getting more and more valuable information from social media platforms, which has significantly narrowed the gap between the two. In fact, search and social are only going to become more integrated in the years to come. Twitter ‘shares’, Facebook ‘likes’, and even Google+ ‘+1s’ have become a huge channel for sharing information and significant influencers in search rankings. Within Facebook, businesses are taking advantage of promotion opportunities that generate ‘likes’ through the development of custom pages. This helps in creating an audience for your business to engage and interact with. If you do not currently have a social media presence, let Starkmedia help build and integrate it into your priorities for 2012.

Content Links

One of the most effective ways people are gaining traction in SEO today are credible, authoritative content links from other sites. This can be harder than you think. Google is smart enough to know whether a link is credible or not. In fact, Google has gone out of its way to penalize websites who link to ‘spammy’ sites or content farms. So instead of attempting to trick Google, look for avenues to write fresh and creative content that the web will want to link to. Many will rely upon blogs or guest blogging to accomplish this task. Some businesses will contact publications or associations they may be a part of for content links. Other sites will naturally attract quality links. Regardless of the website, authoritative content links are necessary in the long-term stability of your search engine rankings. Not sure where to start? Starkmedia can provide you with a clear strategy to build your web presence.

Get Local

You may have noticed that the majority of searches that you perform will have a Google Places section. There is a reason for it. A study from SEOmoz has revealed that visitors gravitate toward local listings even more than the top few positions of the page when they are displayed. What does this mean? If your business generates revenue from a physical location, make sure that you are taking advantage of all local listing channels such as Google Places, Yelp, and Yahoo! Local Listings. It is a great way to build more visibility to your site. Be sure that all the information across these channels are consistent and accurate.

The future of SEO presents new opportunities for you and your business to grow your web presence and increase interaction with your customers. Having trouble establishing an online presence? Are you unsure of your website’s next step? From design to SEO, let the team at Starkmedia guide you on a path toward online success.

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3. Making the Right Connections on the Web

When a visitor lands on Google’s home page there’s pretty much one thing to do – search for something. This is a great example of a clear call to action. Often websites are littered with so much information, it becomes difficult to know what to do or where to go next. This is why knowing your goals and creating a call to action that is rooted in those goals is essential to the success of your website.

What exactly do you want a visitor to do when they visit your site? Is it clear? Below are a few examples of clear calls to action.

Browse: Upon arrival to Mandel’s site, your eye is drawn to the scrolling images of condos and apartments. With several listings highlighted on the right that include eye-catching images and appealing descriptions, the visitor is invited to browse their properties.

Donate: Although MPTV’s website has a barrage of information on the home page, a clear call to action is visible. The ad box on the right draws the visitor’s attention using bright colors and typography that emphasize on a call to donate and support MPTV.

Volunteer/Get Involved: Involvement is the cornerstone of Wisconsin Breast Cancer Coalition’s organization. With two callouts on the home page asking visitors to contribute and volunteer, they are able to enhance the opportunity (or possibility) for visitors to get involved.

Subscribe: Mead & Hunt leaves little room for misinterpretation, highlighting the ability to download or subscribe to their publications as you arrive on their publications page.

Connect: Meriter Health serves a large base of clients in the greater Madison area, so they wanted to provide multiple ways for their visitors to connect. They devoted a section of the home page for the opportunity to connect with Meriter, providing the visitor with direct access to newsletters, volunteer opportunities, and social networking sites.

Learn More: With countless products that live within the Briggs and Stratton brand, it is crucial for the visitor to learn the extent of what their products have to offer. By providing a delicate balance of white space around ads that ask the visitor to learn more, Briggs and Stratton emphasizes the opportunity to become educated on their products.

Apply: Northwest Healthcare is the largest employer in Kalispell, Montana. To emphasize the importance of employment, they have a prominent ad at the top of the page inviting visitors to learn more about jobs at NWHC.

Multiple Calls of Action: The Vital Voices home page highlights multiple calls of action, encouraging the visitor to learn more, make a donation, download the newsletter, or register for their latest event.

Conversions: Once your goals have been linked to a clear call to action, it becomes crucial to define and monitor your success. This could be as simple as completing a form or a successful transaction. Analytics can help provide the tools needed to measure success through conversions. Looking at specific metrics can either give you the satisfaction of a job well done, or provide the information you need to make revisions. This is accomplished by looking at things such as:

• Where are your visitors coming from?
• How much time does a visitor spend on a specific page?
• Are visitors leaving shortly after visiting the site?
• How many visitors are taking advantage of your call to action?

Let Starkmedia help you examine your goals, implement them through a clear, and track your success.

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1. Does Your Site Direct Actors?

The Who:
Sump and Sewage Pump Manufacturers Association, SSPMA, is an organization that has been representing over 90% of the manufacturers of sump, effluent & sewage pumps, together with component and accessory suppliers for 55 years. Their mission states that they “represent the industry in a manner consistent with the highest standards of business practice . . .” Starkmedia’s goal was to align their presence on the web with their mission.

Starting with the Basics:
The website design was completely revamped to be more professional and present a clean streamlined look. Along with the design was an update to the size of the site to meet today’s standards for browsers. Special attention was paid to simplifying the navigation to allow users to find information easily. While addressing the usability of the site, we decided to implement floating navigation so that as the user scrolls down the page they don’t lose important navigational elements.

The Wow:
One of the largest changes made was taking a static site and making it interactive. The education page now boasts hotspots on the ad block. Providing hot spots presents a less traditional approach by giving the user the opportunity to interact with the information. When landing on the page the visitor is presented with a large interactive image of a home and the places within it where sump and sewage pumps are most commonly used. As they scroll over the image information pertinent to each spot appears. Finding new ways to communicate your message can make the difference between a mere visit and an interaction.

The Result:
SSPMA now represents their industry consistently both online and off. After interaction was applied to the site visitors now spend more time on the site using all the resources that it provides. Most business owners flock to social media for a quick fix of interaction, but there are many ways to add this element. Is your site still static? Consider other avenues for interaction on your site.

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2. Creating an Online Experience

A company we worked with a while back was having difficulty finding the focus for their redesign. After going through the exploration process and determining the goals of the website, we discovered their people were the “rockstars” of their company and yet they weren’t anywhere on the website. The new design focused on highlighting the people that powered this amazing company.

Have you lost focus? What are you trying to achieve and how are you tracking your success? Who or what is the “rockstar” of your company?

Photo Credit: Simon Howden

PRODUCT
Prent is a global leader in the plastic thermoform industry. When you arrive on prent.com you see their product showcased in large scrolling ads that highlight their products and how they are used. The diversity of their products is sure to inspire confidence within their customers. The design is clean and understated so that the eye is drawn to the product and message.

PEOPLE
First Business services many different areas within the banking/financial industry, but their selling point is the quality of their people. In addition to the plethora of information and resources you will find on FirstBusiness.com you will also see that their people are showcased throughout the website. By incorporating people through the site, they are able to incorporate the personal service that sets them apart.

SERVICE
As personal injury attorneys, Davis and Gelshenen needed their service to be apparent upon landing on their site. Once arriving on the site a strong call to action is made and their messaging speaks directly to the services they provide. Not only are their services apparent, but their credibility is as well. Everything from awards to testimonials supports the services that they provide.

MISSION
The Wisconsin Breast Cancer Coalition is a not-for-profit organization that focuses on speaking out about breast cancer through education, collaboration, and legislation. Their mission resonates on the home page as evidence through distinct colors, imaging, and tag lines. The combined effort of all of these elements communicates the strength of their mission and encourages participation.

Do you need to regain your focus?  Is it time to realign your website to support your company’s goals?  Through our exploration process, Starkmedia can help determine goals for your online presence.  Whether you are using imagery, placement, design, or messaging, Starkmedia can help bring it into focus online.

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The evolution of social media has stirred up the marketing game and new platforms continue to surface. Which ones are worth your time? . . .

QR codes have arrived on the scene and are making quite an impact. In June 2011, 14 million American consumers scanned QR codes with their mobile devices as reported by bizreport.com. With a vast array of uses and possibilities, these eye-catching bar codes could be the perfect fit to your marketing strategy.

One way to target both potential and current customers is to use two different strategies when creating your QR codes. In order to target potential customers, create QR codes and display them on products at retailers. When the code is scanned the user is taken to a specifically designed mobile page that highlights specs for that product. For current customers, place a QR code within manuals for each specific model that leads the user to a resource page with information on that model’s parts, maintenance, etc. These vastly different approaches will give you the opportunity to successfully target each audience. Is there an opportunity you’re missing?

To find other possibilities for marketing with QR codes as well as keys to success, scan the code with your QR reader or view it in a browser.

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Shorewood, Wisconsin is an urban village located just outside of Milwaukee.  The village prides itself on being both the first suburb north of the city of Milwaukee and being a walkable community. Their previous site highlighted the ability to walk the community, but left little reason for return visits.

What makes your website unique?  Are you encouraging visitors to return?
Armed with images and interactivity, Starkmedia redesigned the Shorewood Today website to become a community web destination. Drawing upon the appeal of the Shorewood, Starkmedia chose to hone in on the aspects that make it unique, giving visitors a location for gathering information.

Photo Gallery
To highlight the strong sense of community within Shorewood it was only logical to provide a photo gallery. The photo gallery highlights village events and allows visitors to share them through social media. Serving dual purposes, the gallery displays the strong sense of community and also gives visitors a reason to return.

Marketing Support
The village’s magazine, Shorewood Today, is quite popular among its residents. To support all marketing efforts, the website showcases the magazine by giving visitors the ability to view different issues and articles. Playing off the success of the magazine by providing a popular source of information online gives visitors another reason to return to the website.

Shorewood Happenings
With summer in full gear Shorewood is bustling with activities. By creating a designated section for news and events visitors now have a destination to return to when inquiring about future happenings in Shorewood.

New Business Development
In today’s economic climate it is a rarity to find thriving communities that are continuing to develop, but Shorewood is one such place. To continue to encourage growth the website highlights recent developments, providing appeal to potential developers. Beyond showcasing Shorewood’s vast events and walkable community, the website also provides information on being a green community.

The redesigned website now encourages repeat visits by providing valuable information.  Not only do residents now use the site as a resource, but it also appeals to prospective residents by highlighting the village’s advantages. Analyze your website to discover your daily web traffic.   Do you need to attract more web traffic?  Starkmedia specializes in interactive marketing and can help you find ways to draw more attention to your website.

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Starkmedia has been in the web industry for over ten years. Throughout these years, the industry has made substantial changes and online marketing has naturally evolved with it. In our experience there are a few important changes to recognize as we tackle our marketing budget.

photo credit:scottchan

Social Marketing:
Marketing was originally focused on throwing out a message to the masses, but the adoption of social media has turned the tables. Social marketing has turned our communication into more of a two-way conversation. Expectations have shifted as consumers assume resources and information are available rather than blatant marketing messages. Start a conversation and engage your social audience by creating a customized campaign centered on a service or product.

Foot Traffic & Web Traffic:
One of the goals of marketing was to get the prospect in the door, but now there is another avenue to think about. Most prospects are checking your online presence before they even step into your store. A company must consider what impression they are making online and how they can take that opportunity to bring the prospect closer to the point of purchase. Assess how your online endeavors can support in-store opportunities.

In With the New AND Keeping the Old:
Like every other aspect of our lives, marketing has been changed by ever-advancing technology, but just because there are new channels for receiving information, we cannot ignore the traditional means. The success of a marketing campaign often lies in the merging of all marketing efforts. Find ways to promote online endeavors offline and vice versa.

Relevance Increased:
One of the differences between online and traditional marketing is that when people come to you online they are often searching specifically for your product or service. Search engine optimization takes online marketing a step further by allowing businesses to target keywords and optimize their websites to make it easier for people to find them. In online marketing there are opportunities to gain visibility both through natural and paid search. Paid search is more effective for immediate impact with little effort, while natural search results generally evolve with time and effort. Utilize the benefits of online marketing by assessing your site for more SEO opportunities.

In Conclusion:
Begin by asking yourself: “How much of our marketing budget should I allocate to online endeavors?”  Next, think about all of the online opportunities: website improvements, paid and natural search, email, social media, banner ads, etc. and ponder which areas make the most sense for your business. Staying updated on the most recent trends in online marketing is something we pride ourselves in. As you plan new marketing campaigns allow Starkmedia to guide you in the process of merging traditional marketing methods with new online marketing opportunities.

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EverWhite a division of Glenroy, Inc. started by producing the unique EverWhite dry erase surface. The product was a success and the company developed into a 77,000 square foot production facility with a variety of high-quality visual communications products. Also contributing to EverWhite’s success is the use of high-quality materials, made with genuine craftsmanship in the heartland of America. As EverWhite grew, their online presence remained stagnant lacking the appeal it needed to reflect the ever-growing company. The previous site led the visitor through countless unorganized options leaving them confused and frustrated.

Today, EverWhite’s website is an essential component to their business because a majority of their sales are done through their online store. The following steps were established to increase EverWhite’s e-commerce success:

• Less Clicks.

Once a product has been selected the user is conveniently given options on the very same page. Check out is done seamlessly, providing the least of amount of clicks possible.

• Provide Resources.

The site provides visitors with a resource center that includes information on the product, maintenance, installation, shipping, and specific resources for architects. In addition to the resource center, the visitor is also provided with a savings calculator to show how their purchase will benefit their bottom line.

• Clean Design.

The new design now supports the product instead of distracting from it. With a clean and updated look the visitor can find information easily.

• Clear Navigation.

The top-level navigation includes five important buckets of information that expand horizontally to provide more direction.

• Upgraded shopping cart.

The revised shopping cart takes you through four easy steps, but also provides options along the way to ensure necessary  accessories aren’t forgotten.

Guarantee your website supports your product by providing the latest e-commerce conveniences. Online shopping should be convenient, so make sure your site provides resources to guide the customer in the buying process as well as an easy and secure check out.

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At Starkmedia, we have a detailed process for creating a website. From the exploratory phase to final testing, we take into consideration each business’ specific needs and try to translate them into a web presence. Whether you’re looking at a redesign or you’re creating a web site, below are a few important things we consider when beginning the process.

renjith krishnan

1. Think About Your Audience. Who are you targeting and what are they interested in? The latest and greatest web application may not be relevant to your audience. Instead of getting caught up in a specific design because it is appealing to you think about your target audience. At Starkmedia, we often conduct interviews to research the specifics of what your target audience wants.

2. Stand Out but Look Appropriate. When beginning the web design process it is important to think about how you can stand out from your competition. You want to look different, BUT you also want your visitor to be able to recognize that it is you. If you strip out all indicators of your industry you could potentially confuse your visitors. Our designs look unique, professional and updated while also clearly communicating your business to the visitor.

3. Think Clearly not Cutesy. When thinking about the verbiage on your website remember not to use industry speak or create names that may not translate meaning easily. Lead your visitors to important information instead of leaving them to contemplate the meaning of your words.

4. Be Informative & Provide Direction. Your visitor has come to your website for information so provide it. If they don’t find exactly what they want on the home page you’ll need to direct them to their desired content with intuitive navigation. If specific information holds a lot of weight we often create a static footer so that the information remains visible when navigating through the site.

5. Provide a strong sell. Make sure to tell your visitor what you want them to do. Not only should you tell them what to do, but also provide information on why they should do that. At Starkmedia, we help our clients develop a strong call to action that gets results.

No matter where you are in the process it is important to make sure your website is achieving the desired results. Starkmedia can help analyze your site to see if there are areas for improvement and provide direction moving forward.

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Jung Pumpen, a new brand of Pentair Water, is a premium brand of wastewater handling systems. Their innovation and engineering has allowed them to stay on top in the European drainage industry. Jung Pumpen’s recent international expansion efforts continued with product introductions in the United States.

Interaction is Key
With little initial brand awareness in the U.S. drainage market, Jung Pumpen marketed a sweepstakes offering to generate product and brand awareness through the web. Their approach was to create something that allowed them to interact with web visitors and also highlight their intelligent clog prevention that sets their grinders apart from the competition. How do you make grinders both interesting and interactive, well those questions led to the birth of the Will it Grind video series. In order for the sweepstakes to be a success Starkmedia implemented a few important components:

Add Interest Through Video Without Kittens.
The average person spends 15 minutes per day watching videos presenting a valuable opportunity. Without taking advantage of the appeal of kittens, Jung Pumpen published a video series on YouTube and embedded it into the site. By using YouTube’s platform, Jung Pumpen was able increase their potential for exposure.

That’s Entertainment Not Mindless Copy.
Rather than stare at static images a gaming element was added to the video to provide interaction. The visitor selects from a group of items and decides if they will grind or not. The video displays the outcome of their selection.

Incorporate a Message; Send Information Subliminally.
With a subtle message scrolled across the screen you’re not screaming at your audience but instead sending subliminal messages. Each video highlights a unique feature of the grinder, which displays across the screen while the video plays. The messages enable the video to provide more than entertainment potentially bringing the viewer closer to the point of purchase.

Convenience is key; Labyrinths aren’t popular on the web.
After the video has played a lightbox displays with the entry form for the sweepstakes. This allows the user to easily enter the sweepstakes and also allows Jung Pumpen to gather important information from interested prospects.

Starkmedia worked with Jung Pumpen’s creative team on the execution of their U.S. introduction. By incorporating entertaining features into the appropriate portions of your online presence you can bring life back to your website. Interactive video is a perfect way to highlight a new product on your site. Give your visitors the opportunity to engage and have some fun doing it.

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