Posts Tagged ‘ecommerce internet marketing’
Designing for Brand Identity
Posted by David Redfern in Blog, Branding, Design Wednesday, 3 March 2010 10:10 No Comments
Brand identity is probably the most critical element of retail and business design. As a packaging designer you must be able to offer branding services as part of your design services package. Brand identity is the overall graphic representation that people will associate with a company or product.
In todays market, competition for customers is fierce, so you can see why a strong brand identity is crucial for companies.
Business owners rely on design professionals to invest time into researching, defining, and ultimately building a brand that people can trust. One could say that branding is the foundation of your design and marketing campaign.
For graphic designers who are new to building brand recognition this article will highlight the research process that experienced designers who are successful at building brands will implement in their graphic approach before offering up any directions. When building brands it’s not simply a matter of creativity it’s a matter of doing the right research.
Whether you’re branding a product or a company you will need to put in a good amount of time doing research.
Ask yourself some key questions such as:
* What kind of company are you trying to establish a graphic representation for?
* Who are their clients?
* What is the company’s target demographic?
* What services do they 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?
Once you’ve collected your preliminary data from your initial questions, filter through and analyze your information to really hone in on your target audience. The 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.
If you spend enough time properly researching answers to your questions you will find that you have provided yourself with a guide to direct your creativity in the design process.
Remember, every element of your design is something that will be associated with the business or product you are branding. These elements should evoke emotion, create a reaction, and will not only define the company but be a part of it for as long as it exists.
These may seem like very simple questions, but the trick is making sure that you spend the time to answer them properly.
Many designers throw the term branding around without a true understanding of what that term means or how effective branding is accomplished.
A strong brand builds relevance, credibility and establishes trust. A strong brand speaks to your target market – it motivates customers to act. When done correctly it establishes the company or product as an industry leader.
By answering a few core questions you will be provided with a system of guides to help direct you when it comes to the actual design process. This is your map to an effective brand.
How to hire an Online Marketing Agency?
Posted by David Redfern in Blog, Latest News, SEO Friday, 19 February 2010 12:33 No Comments
If, despite your best efforts, your website is not making the inroads you would hope in the search engine rankings, it may be time to consider recruiting a online marketing agency like Footprints SEO.
The job of appointing a search engine optimisation company can be daunting if you have never worked with an SEO specialist, will likely make or break your online success. For many firms, their SEO is a sales tool so you’ll want to be sure you’re making the right decision. Hiring an online marketing agency can also be difficult if your own web site optimisation knowledge is basic as you do not want to be blinded by science or thrown off course by the use of technical jargon.
As we speak to hundreds of businesses throughout the UK, Europe and USA, we’ve compiled this guide of questions to ask.
1. What new SEO related skills and services have been recently developed?
Online Marketing consultancy is a crowded and competitive marketplace, so you shouldn’t have any problems finding companies to approach. Because SEO changes so quickly, you’ll want your new agency to be on top of their game. A great opening question is to ask the SEO agency you are considering what new techniques they have added to their optimisation repertoire in the last 3 months. Although search engines like Google keep their algorithms a closely guarded secret, a good SEO company will constantly be adapting and updating their methodology and services.
2. Can they offer an SEO site review?
If possible, ask agencies to produce a brief report focusing on problems and opportunities with your current website in search engine optimisation terms prior to signing an agreement. This doesn’t have to be a detailed report, a conversation about the site will suffice. Can the SEO consultant identify possible barriers to stronger rankings? Do they approach the site in a methodical and logical manner? Do they ask questions to get some background to the site and previous SEO efforts? You can request an SEO site audit from Footprints SEO here.
3. What kind of link building strategies will be used and what is their position on link buying and link bait?
The importance of an experienced link builder cannot be underestimated, so have a detailed discussion about the SEO firm’s preferred methodology and previous experience. Be sure to check that link building and off page optimisation is included in the package quoted as some Online Marketing agency representatives will quote separately for each SEO module so you may be looking at an extra cost. All Footprints SEO packages include link building.
Look for an emphasis on relevant links and tactics to increase inbound links from sources likely to drive good quality traffic to the site.
4. What kind of reporting and analytics packages will be used to track SEO results?
You’d expect any direct hire to be able to report back to you about job progress and tasks completed, so don’t expect any less from your new online marketing consultancy. Ask for a breakdown of reporting methodology and copies of dummy reports.
5. Will competitor analysis be used in on and off page optimisation?
Keeping an eye on the competition is a must in any well-executed SEO campaign, so you’ll need to know that your SEO consultancy can bring competitor analysis skills to the table. Ask for examples and a detailed breakdown of what will be included in the competitor research. It’s also worth checking that you can specify sites yourself to be included.
About Footprints SEO
Footprints-SEO.com is an internet marketing company whose priority is to make your organization rise above the competition, we are a group of talented and dedicated individuals with a passion for search engine optimization. We will custom-tailor marketing strategies that are right for you and your business, while ensuring top search engine optimization and web-site design.
Footprints-SEO.com has the answer to all your internet marketing needs.
Award Winning Online Journalists Will Research And Write Your Press Release
Posted by David Redfern in Latest News, SEO Monday, 15 February 2010 11:37 No Comments
Whether you have a lot to say or a little, Footprints SEO’s press release research and distribution service puts your message in front of the world’s press at exactly the right time.
Our award-winning in house team of online journalists and SEO specialists will research and write your press release. Available as both a one-off and recurring service, your press release has no word limits and is optimised for media publication.
Setting out your new product, boasting about a client win, introducing an innovative new service or announcing your presence at a major event, our press release service is tailored to your individual needs.
If things are quiet on the news front but you would like to maintain contact with the press, or even introduce your company to the media for the very first time, Footprints SEO understands news values and will present a series of ideas for your consideration.
Our team will brainstorm the best way to secure column inches for your brand and then suggest press release titles, themes and approaches. As with your own company news, these ideas can be used as stand alone news items or play a role as part of a more sustained campaign.
Walking the walk and talking the talk is easy with Footprints SEO. Just tell us about your product and service and let our team do the rest. We’ll research current trends, search out relevant facts, figures, studies and stats and wrap it all up in a media friendly package.
Presented in a custom designed press release template, Footprints SEO compiles a bespoke contact list specifically for your news item. For each item we issue to the media, an up to date list will be created to ensure your PR reaches only the most relevant of contacts.
Delivered directly to the inbox of each major national, regional and local newspaper and magazine, our news hounds will go the extra mile to sniff out specialist publications, relevant foreign press, online web sites and social media sites.
A series of press distribution sites are used as standard to ensure publication in RSS feeds – giving a wider net of coverage – and Google news alerts. If relevant, your press release will be given its moment in the spotlight at high traffic sites such as Google Base, MySpace, Facebook and Squidoo. All relevant forums and online business communities will also be presented with a copy and media requests carried out and followed up on your behalf.
Nosy by nature, our team will also track who reads the press release and where it’s published, giving you a fully accountable tracking service. Scouring the web, you’ll receive both real time notifications and periodic resumes of published links and media exposure. These are presented in a report format and can be discussed with your account manager at your convenience.
11 Must Have Wordpress Plugins
Posted by David Redfern in Latest News, SEO Saturday, 13 February 2010 22:17 No Comments
Wordpress has become a massive platform for internet marketers and internet users alike. The large array of themes, plugins and possible customizations make it in my opinion one of the best website/blog platforms available right now. I am going to share with you some of the best plugins I have ever come across and how they can be used for your website or blog.
1) All in One SEO pack – Many of you will have already heard of this one but it is undeniably important and effective. It allows you to specify the title, description and keywords for each post and page. You will want to enter in keyword rich titles and descriptions. This will be the information that will be displayed in the search engines. Here is a screenshot of the All in One SEO Pack plugin:
2) Pretty Link – This plugin is excellent for tracking the click-through of specific links. You are able to create unique links with you domain name. For example, I could create http://www.footprints-seo.com/prettylink. This URL currently does not go anywhere as I have not created it but if I used Pretty Link to create that URL I could redirect that URL to anywhere I wanted and track the amount of people that click on that unique URL I created. This is great for affiliate marketers or email marketers to track the click-through of each campaign or email. This is also great just to keep all your URLs appearing as your own.
3) Disqus Commenting System – The Disqus commenting system is in my opinion by far the best commenting system available. If you click the comments at the top of this post you will see what I am talking about. This commenting system is clean and neat and allows integration of Twitter and Facebook. You are able to either comment with you actual Disqus account, your Twitter account (which will also Tweet your comment), your Facebook account or as a guest. This integration is great for both you (the website owners) and your viewers. It helps to spread the word about your site as the comments are tweeted and facebooked everywhere. It integrates social networking tools that other people use so they can maintain their persona while commenting. There are also a lot of different skins for Disqus that you can use to customize the look to help it fit in with your website/blog.
4) Contact Form 7 – This is a great simple plugin that can be used to create contact forms. You can customize them as much as you like to gather whatever information you are looking for. An example of the Contact Form 7 plugin in use is in my “Contact” page. You will see a contact form there created by this plugin. Creation of the forms is very straight forward and the implementation is as easy as copying one line and pasting it into your post or page.
5) Page Link Manager – This plugin is great as it allows you to choose which pages are displayed in your Wordpress navigation. The plugin is very basic, it simply lists all your pages in the options and you can click radio buttons to select which pages are shown in your navigation. This is great for, thank you pages after a viewer has subscribed, free gifts pages or sales pages that don’t want to be visible in the navigation. It is a great little plugin that can be very useful.
6) Google XML Sitemaps Generator – This plugin is very important to help search engines like Google, MSN and Yahoo to easily find your site. The plugin creates a Sitemap with all your pages and posts. It creates a separate page where you can link to in your footer.
7) WP-Email – This is another plugin that you can use to promote your blog and website. It creates a link after your post for people to send an email to their friends about your post. This is a great way to increase traffic as it is the online version of word-of-mouth.
8 ) Ultimate Google Analytics - This plugin integrates Google Analytics with your Wordpress site. It displays statistics about your viewers and where they are coming from. This is very powerful and all website/blog owners must use Google Analytics. There are a lot features and options in Analytics so you should spend some time learning about it and how it can help you to track the effectiveness of your site.
9) WP E-Commerce - This plugin allows you to convert your wordpress site into a fully blown ecommerce website with a fully functional shopping cart. There are a few other plugins that are similar but this one is by far the best. This plugin also integrates web 2.0 with your shopping cart and allows you to for example import your products into Facebook. This plugin has a lot of different features so it is great for creating a shopping cart that works for you.
10) MobilePress – This is a great plugin that is becoming increasingly popular with the rise of 3G mobile phones. It allows you to optimize your site to be viewed on mobile phones such as the ever so popular iPhone. Allow your viewers to be able to access your site from anywhere on their mobile phone.
11) Wordpress Automatic Upgrade – All Wordpress website owners should get this plugin. It is a set and forget plugin. It will automatically update your Wordpress installation for you to always ensure you are using the latest release of Wordpress.
This is a list of 11 must-have Wordpress Plugins. I hope you found this useful. I would love to hear your comments and thoughts on your favorite Wordpress plugins.