The Web Smart Blog
The Web Smart Blog exists to extend the information provided in our monthly Web Smart Newsletters. Web information changes so quickly that a monthly publication can't cover enough ground. Also, additional information to past topics can't wait for future publication so we add related newsletter information here.
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Thanks for the Feedback and the Links!
April 2, 2008 at 2:39 pm by Eric| Thanks to some of the folks who linked to the past two month's video newsletters on SEO. Andy Beal added the videos to his "Pilgrim's Picks" and Debra Mastaler, (the link expert) gave us a couple links from her blog. SEO expert Aaron Wall gave some great feedback, correcting my approach to using the meta description area. He has a video on his site providing more depth on using descriptions more strategically. Thanks everyone for your responses, links and feedback! (Added 4/3/08) And late thanks to Bill Seaver at Micro Explosion Media for the post and links! |
Tags: seo search
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Google Analytics Adds Benchmarking
March 21, 2008 at 10:59 am by Eric| When it comes to interpreting website analytics the most important frame of reference is the past performance of your own site. Seeing overall improvement and growth over time is the main thing to look for. Figuring out where there may be problems or opportunities is the main goal. But often I wonder how my stats compare to other sites like mine. Unfortunately, my competitors aren't likely to welcome me into their analytics reports to compare. But recently Google has offered an option in their Analytics package to anonymously share your traffic data in order to provide aggregate comparison benchmark reports. Once you opt in you'll get a new "Benchmark (Beta)" option under the "Visitors" tab. This page allows you to pick an industry that most closely matches your own and creates benchmark comparison reports for some key metrics. Here's our comparison to other website design and development sites.  The reports include overall visits, bounce rates, pageviews, average time on site, pages/visit, and new visits. I'm pleased with our comparison especially in overall visits. Because we produce a lot of content, not all directly related to our web development services, I'm not surprised by the higher bounce rates. And these high bounce rates also effects the Pages/Visit report. This new feature should prove very helpful in measuring website performance. Thanks again Google! |
Tags: google analytics
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GM to put $1.5 Billion Online
March 21, 2008 at 10:42 am by Eric| That's half their current advertising budget! According to a Media Buyer Planner article "GM Changes Game, Puts $1.5 Billion Online GM will shift 1.5 Billion, that's Billion with a capital "B" of their annual marketing budget toward digital marketing. And as Bill Seaver reported in a post on this subject "As goes GM, so goes the country." Mitch Joel also reported in his Six Pixels Of Separation blog post "When GM Shifts 1.5 Billion From Traditional Advertising To Digital Marketing..." that GM knows this is not good news for traditional marketers. All the more reason for advertising agencies to catch up quick on digital media and Internet marketing. |
Tags: agencies advertising advertising20 onlineadvertising
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Case in Point: Creative Flash Preloaders
March 13, 2008 at 1:51 pm by Eric
[Note: to be read with a tone of bitter irony] In my post How to Know if You're a Super Bowl Web Designer I railed against the absurdity of splash pages and Flash preloaders.Flash websites are extremely creative and visually compelling. The creativity exudes, overflows, and even spills over into the preloaders. Smashing Magazine put together a wonderful gallery of Flash preloaders for all us designers to gawk at. As long as designers are putting in all the effort to create amazing dynamic Flash sites they might as well stun us with brilliant preloaders too. Their clients paid them a ton of money to build them so we might as well enjoy. It's a good thing they spent all this effort, boy if they failed to capture my attention with such clever and entertaining preloaders I may not have ever stopped by their website in the first place. And while I hate waiting for a website to load (aren't all websites supposed to be fast loading, or is that just a suggestion for boring websites?) I'm glad they at least were considerate enough to keep me entertained while I wait. Please designers, will you ever realize that your client's website is not about entertainment but about their content? Just give me the information as fast and easy as possible, then go design a movie poster or something to placate your pent up creative urges. |
Tags: flash design agencies advertising advertising20
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Forrester Takes Aim at the Dis-Connected Agency
February 20, 2008 at 9:30 am by Eric
Last week Forrester Research released "The Connected Agency" report by Mary Beth Kemp and Peter Kim. In it they discuss how advertising agencies need to evolve from pushing messages to facilitating connections, from push to pull interactions, and from campaigns to conversations.When I read this kind of report I always keep in mind the kind of agency (and the kind of client) that these changes effect the most. In this regard, I found the report a bit overstated in how they characterize the traditional marketing agency. The report tended to overstate the importance social media trends and used easy targets like consumers' dislike for interruptive advertising to make its case. To be fair, report co-author Mary Beth Kemp did admit that they were directing their declarations and predictions to the top "A" list consumer brand agencies. The drama of the report plays best against these front lines, consumer-oriented brand agencies. But, the typical B2B client or mid-sized advertising agency isn't impacted nearly as much as the large consumer brand agency. Most mid-sized B2B companies barely register in social media "conversations." A few weeks ago, I sat through a demo of Radian6, a very impressive social media monitoring system. My main question for the rep giving me the demo was how the average mid-sized B2B client would benefit from the tool. We ran a few sample reports to see how much attention some our clients were getting. They got very few hits in blog posts, comments, and other social media conversations. The disruption and changes effecting national and global brands with regard to consumer conversation, engagement, and social media activity is very dramatic. The Forrester report does a fantastic job of quantifying these changes and forecasting their impact on the future model for the connected advertising agency. However, the practical realities of low attention volume for the typical mid-sized B2B in the social media universe decreases the urgency for social media engagement. But wait, that does not mean mid-sized agencies and clients can afford to fall asleep here! There is still crucial impact for all companies, even when they rarely get pinged in the blogosphere. Harry Beckwith points out in my favorite marketing book, Selling the Invisible, "More people every day have experienced extraordinary service. Many have seen Disney World; they know how clean, friendly, and creative service can be. They have seen world-class service, and now every service has to accept it." Even small local services who aren't Disney World still get evaluated on a scale that has Disney World on the "best" end of the scale. If I'm a small coffee shop, I still have to compete against Starbucks whether I like it or not. So while the typical mid-sized technology company, whose brand is hardly known outside their specialized industry, and who rarely get blogged about, are still going to be evaluated against a social media backdrop. Mid-sized B2B branding efforts will be seen and judged by the same people who, as general consumers, are being changed by the forces of social media. As social media, conversational engagement, peer-review, open commenting, sharing, collaboration, and all other other dynamics of social media change how consumers relate to brands, all companies will be judged, in some measure, by their responsiveness to these changes. One practical area of change for the typical mid-sized agency with their typical mid-sized B2B client is in their marketing vocabulary. Social media is having the effect of forcing consumer brands to get more real. Hyperbolic advertising slogans, and outrageous and unsubstantiated claims are failing on deaf ears. Marketing language has to change its tone or else risk seeming out of touch and embarrassing themselves. "Marketing speak" has to give way to human conversation. What brands claim about themselves using fairy tale language must come down to earth with real, open and honest talk. As brands are forced to be more real, because they are facing the rapidly changing marketing landscape, the change in tone, and language in marketing as a whole must change. And as consumers adapt to these changes, come to expect them, and even demand them, these same adjustments will be expected of all the marketing they receive. Even small companies will be judged on the basis larger brands are feeling now. After all, we're all consumers, and the service we receive at Starbucks carries over to Open Eye Cafe (Mark's favorite coffee shop). And the same branding language we begin to expect from Dove and Doritos we'll expect from Dover Rugs, and Dominion Technologies. So while the criticism leveled at the traditional advertising agency in the Forrester report may need some context and though it is not as dramatic a report when applied to most mid-sized agencies, it none-the-less underscores some important changes in the dynamics of all marketing that all agencies should stand up and take notice of. Update: Peter Kim just posted an update of all the reactions to the Forrester report--he highlights many of the comments from post. |
Tags: socialmedia blogging web20 agencies copywriting advertising advertising20
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