Importance of Brand Identity

March 3rd, 2010

Brand identity is the most critical element of retail and business design. Bluesky Web Company offers branding services as part of our web design services package. Brand identity is the overall graphic representation that people will associate with your company or product.

In today’s market, competition for customers is fierce, so you can see why a strong brand identity is crucial for companies.

Ask yourself these key questions:

* What kind of company are you?
* Who are your clients?
* What is your company’s target demographic?
* What services do you provide, etc.?

The same applies to product branding.

* What kind of product is it?
* Is the product targeted at males or females and what age group?
* How should the product be associated with the company that is selling the product?

he ultimate goal of branding is to speak directly to your target audience in order to motivate them to action. In order to do this you better be sure that your target market is clearly defined.

Establishing your target market means identifying who your audience is specifically. To help you find out who your target audience is exactly ask questions like:

* Where is my audience located geographically?
* What colors should be associated with the product or company?
* Who is my brands direct competition?
* What elements have made my competition successful?
* Who are my competitors targeting?

You can do a large amount of this investigating on line. The more accurately you can assess your target market the more effective your brand will be.

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Engage Subscribers

February 23rd, 2010

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Improve Your SEO Ranking

January 27th, 2010

There aseoSearchre many ways to easily and quickly improve the rank you achieve. Don’t think that you can get something for nothing as it takes effort, knowledge and time to achieve these gains and it’s important to know what you are doing as too much onsite optimization could be classed as bad or ‘black hat’ optimization and will result in your site being downgraded or marked down in the indexes!

TITLE
This is shown on the bar at the top of your web browser and normally shown as the main heading in the search engine results. This is the most important onsite factor in your SEO and it’s essential that your site title has the main search terms / keywords in it

A poor choice of title :
‘Delicious ’ or ‘Home Page’ or “Untitled” !

A better title would be:
‘Web Design and SEO for Bluesky Web – www.blueskywebco.com ’

Ensure every title one on every page varies to reflect what is in the page and they all should feature the key ’search terms’ that you want to attract. The title and description should have the most important search term at the start.

WEBSITE CONTENT
This is important because Google etc actually looks at all the text on your page which is used then to value your page to work out if your page actually reflects what is in the title and description. ‘Content is king’ holds true almost without exception. Ensure that the text on your page isrelevant to your theme (title / description), readable and has a high density of your key search terms, but more importantly ensure that the content in your site reflects one that that you would value as a website visitor yourself.

BACKLINKS
Backlinks are hyperlinks from a site to a target site. Google used this method as one of the factors to establish the popularity of a site and after a certain amount of backlinks are established the relevance of that site in relationship to a certain search term / keywords.

Due to the massive success of Google in identifying popular and relevant sites all the main search engine use back links to establish the sites seniority and relevance to certain keywords. Websites that are in the same business to yours or sites that regulate your industry or are associations of your industry are ideal sites to get your website link.

Links to your website from other websites are as discussed earlier counted as plus points even if they are reciprocal links but if they are not reciprocated then that link holds higher value. It’s a good idea to develop reciprocal and non-reciprocal links, this is time consuming and requires time and financial commitment but is worth it long term to develop your website standing in the indexes.

META TAGS

Previously important but now not really read by Google but only possibly by Yahoo and MSN and some of the smaller engines.

Summary of Search Engine Rankings
Google, MSN and Yahoo search engine rankings are now vital for your business to succeed on the Internet, as the vast majority of people will use a search engine to find a product or service they need. Always think that search engines are there to provide the most relevant, important and correct information content for their users and this should be remembered when creating your website.

Writing For Websites: Tips For Effective Communication

December 21st, 2009

When people search for information they search by keyword, and when search engines catalog your website, they rank it according to keyword. Therefore, if you want to have a successful website, you must focus your writing around keywords.

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Writing for a website is different from any other kind of writing. You might be an excellent journalist, novelist, or academic writer, but all the rules change when it comes to writing for websites.

Two reasons for making your website writing clear, concise, and simple:

1. People who surf the Web are usually trying to find information quickly. They don’t want to spend a lot of time trying to find what they’re looking for, and they won’t spend a lot of time on your website if you don’t get to the point.

2. Reading online is about 25% slower than reading from a book. So not only are people scanning your writing to find the information they want – their reading is slower than usual.

TIPS

  • Pick your keywords before you start.
  • Put a title on every page.
  • Break up your writing with sub-headlines.
  • Keep your paragraphs short.
  • Use lots of white space.
  • Use bullets and numbered lists.
  • Keep important information “above the fold” by putting key information on the top part of the screen.
  • Keep your writing conversational.

Expand Your Business With Blogging

September 11th, 2009

You’re probably reading this post outside of normal business hours. wordpress-icons

If you have a life, a majority of your time is spent away from the computer. But the sun never sets on the internet. It operates 24/7/365 for online and offline businesses both. The doors are always open and the lights are always on!

Blogging is increasingly being used to effectively to present businesses and products to the market. A free, easy way is now available – to share your knowledge and experience – through blog posts.

Helpful blog posts on relevant content establish you as a leader and creates a relationship that your people don’t normally get from just visiting your website. Just today in a phone conversation a client said, “I was so glad to see you are a real person!” The personal touch works.

Need  examples? I’m a fan of blogs like one of my own clients

www.brennanking.org/blog as he shows a painting in progress and painting on locations in the beautiful Florida landscape.

A great blog is also

blog.thomasdolby.com/2009/07/tedglobal-09-music/

Contribute to the communication in meaningful ways. A terrific way to increase networking is to be active and to comment on others’ posts. Respect the poster; comment on the post. Remember that a single post could be read by thousands, some of whom may take great interest in you and the ideas you represent.

Don’t Abuse the Blog

If you use your blog correctly, folks will appreciate your information and insight. But consistency is key. Deliver value to your business community by remaining active in blogging and in social networking forums. Don’t hold back. Give more, and you will receive more.

Google Analytics – The Best Web Statistics Software at the Right Price

August 11th, 2009

The web is all about sharing information. The things you received for free you should spread for free. This excellent web statistics package falls in that category.

Some time ago, Google bought Urchin web analytics software. It allowed you to track number of visitors, from what search engines and keywords, and so much more. From what I understand, Urchin used to cost upwards of $500/mo. Google acquires it, improves it, and releases it for free. It is available to be installed on any website, just your webmaster to put on there. You will receive a Welcome email from Google Analytics. Just click on the link and you are on your way!

Design Trends in 2009

July 31st, 2009

One of the most unexpected trends I’ve observed recently is the emergence of letterpress (actually pressed letters) in Web design. This technique has been rarely used until now and it is a fresh way to make a website look appealing and contemporary. Embossed fonts are also making the scene. Letterpress is used in many styles for various topics; in particular, it is often used in product designs and on websites for online services. Make your website nviting and fresh in 2009!

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Writing Articles to Promote your Product

July 10th, 2009

When it comes to internet marketing, there are many options one can choose from to make your marketing efforts successful. Many of them can cost a bit more than we are willing to spend.

writingIf your budget is tight, article marketing can be a helpful source to get your message out. We’ve all had experiences and some of you are experts in niche fields. People are always looking for new and improved ways to do the things they are doing. By writing articles, you will simply share much needed advice to people actively looking to be helped. This is also helps get your message and name out to the communities you are looking to target.

Along with writing articles, you need to distinguish who you are from your competition. Branding is now becoming a crucial element as website marketing becomes flooded with competition. Just having a company landing page that looks like everyone else’s just won’t cut it anymore.

People are even more skeptical these days, and they want to be able to connect with the someone attached to a certain product or service. Landing pages or “squeeze pages” have been proven more successful when there is a specific person they can connect to. A friendly, professional picture with an introduction about who you are and how you can help is useful.

Even more effective, shoot a video about you and the product or service you are recommending. Your conversion rates when people can actually see and hear you in person.

How do you define “good web design?”

June 19th, 2009

Maybe you can recognize good design when you see it on the web. But most people don’t really know what makes a design good. Although there is some subjectivity within good design, there are artistic principles that good design is built from.
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1. Design Units
Items that are in close proximity to one another become one visual unit. items that are related to one another should be grouped together. Laying out related items on a website page this way helps the eye associate the information and enables the viewer to mentally categorize the information easily.

It is important to organize information in a way that enables viewers to quickly and easily comprehend. When information is organized, people are more likely to read it and respond. People are also more likely to remember information that is organized.

How can you determine if items form a visual unit? Squint your eyes and look at the page on a website. Now count the number of times your eye stops as it views the page. On a page that is using the principle of proximity well, your eye will stop three to five times. In other words, there will be three to five groups of information for the eye to comprehend separately.

2. Repetition
Good design repeats some aspect of the website design throughout the site. It’s this repetition that makes all the pages in a site look like they belong together. Color scheme, graphic elements, typefaces-all of these elements should be repeated-used consistently-throughout.

I try to use some element in a company logo as a major graphic element in the design or create patterns that are repeated throughout the design. Sometimes it helps to take a small element and place it somewhere on each page for a whimsical look.

Repetition can create consistency and add visual interest, creating a professional, polished look that the eye is drawn to.

Getting Hits May Not Be As Hard As You Think

June 11th, 2009

seo_graphicBeing found on the first page of a major search engine like Google, is a common goal.

Success is all about bringing targeted traffic and visitors to your site for your niche. It is often one of the least costly kinds of advertising even if you hire an ‘expert’ to do it for you.

You can do a number of things yourself if you are willing to put in the effort. Before you even begin to optimize your site you need to think about which keywords you wish to rank for.

Think like a customer to discover keywords phrases they might use to find a similar product or service. The more you can think of the better. These may then be plugged into on-line tools like Google’s keyword research tool or on sites such as Wordtracker or Wordze.

These sites can give you an estimate on how often these terms are searched for. If you find some terms that have a great number of monthly searches then it is a good indication that being on page one for that phrase could equal a large number of site visitors.

Remember that frequently the keyword phrases with the most amount of searches are often the most competitive also. That does not mean that you can never rank for them, only that it may take quite a lot of time.

A good strategy is to select a mix of difficult and easy to optimize terms. This will help get you a short term and long term focus.

The content contained on the pages of your site should be your next focus. Try to use your chosen keywords into the various web pages. Despite the fact that one of the reasons for using your keywords in your site is for SEO, please don’t forget that actual visitors will be reading it!

The greater the number of pages you can add to your site the better. Every time you add new content you are attracting search engines to return and reindex your web site. This can increase the chances of getting you to page one for many more terms than the ones you are specifically focusing on.