What would your life look like without Apple?

People who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.” — Apple Commercial

Apple Computer, now the most valuable company in the world.

The most valuable public company today is not an oil company, or a car company, It’s a company that designs and builds machines for those who think different.

Apple showed the world what it wanted, and what it wanted was great design. Not just the way their products look and feel, it’s the way they work. Steve Jobs and Apple inspired a generation of creatives. I’m one, how about you?

“Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes.
The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can praise them, disagree with them, quote them, disbelieve them, glorify or vilify them. 
About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things. They invent. They imagine. They heal. They explore. They create. They inspire. They push the human race forward.
 Maybe they have to be crazy.
 How else can you stare at an empty canvas and see a work of art? Or sit in silence and hear a song that’s never been written? Or gaze at a red planet and see a laboratory on wheels?
 While some see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.” — Apple Commercial

Update your website for a competitive edge

Get ahead of the competition by updating usability, including images and video, then creating a community of followers.

Is your website old? Has new business from it slowed or stopped? Do you have a new message but cannot easily update your content? Does your web presence lack visual media like photography and video?

A yes to any of these questions means it’s time for a website design tune-up. Internet marketing and website design have come a long way in the past few years. Competent design, compelling text and visual content are essential to be competitive and claim a share of your market.

Website traffic building tip

According to Forrester Research, video marketing now increases the chance of a front-page Google result by 53x. Internet marketing with short, informative video will give your website much better ranking on search engine report pages. Internet video.

When it’s time for strategic thinking, clear, convincing design, compelling visuals and persuasive copywriting ADimagination can help. Here are a few simple ideas that can help your website compete for attention and gain authority in the marketplace.

A Blog to sent traffic to your website

It doesn’t have to be the time vampire many think it is. When you post two or three articles a week, it enhances your credibility and forces you to think critically about your business. It also signals Google that your website has fresh content and they’ll return more often to index your pages. They are searching for reasons to rank your online presence better or worse than your competitors. When you frequent provide quality content Google awards your website greater authority and higher ranking among your peers.

A Simple Blog Post Formula

A post with a short, compelling headline,  written to make a single point about things your clients search for. Adding photography or video keeps visitors focused and reading about your products and services. When a visitor views a stream of informative or entertaining content they are far more likely to contact, bookmark or subscribe to your blog.

Social Media

Professional services, restaurants and specialty retailers are using YouTube, FaceBook and Twitter to form relationships with prospects and customers. If done correctly it can give your brand tremendous reach and frequency. Hosting an interactive dialogue in the context of your offer helps you effectively build a community of prospects that become loyal clients. Integrate your social media streams such as Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn directly into your site. This makes it easy for your audience to share your products and services with their friends. Social media is a great way to meet new customers and convert them into enthusiastic champions of your brand.

E-Commerce Accepting payment for goods and services provided on your website is a natural. There are plenty of ways to turn your website into a money making device that works 24/7. Experts who are willing to give away just enough information to prove it’s value can sell that expert knowledge if it is packaged and presented correctly.

Website updates will make you more competitive

The point here is to give your web presence a competitive advantage. We can redesign your website to help your prospects discover and navigate your site, then find and buy the products and services they want or need. Or redesign your website to persuade a prospect to request a quote or proposal that will compel them make a decision that favors you with confidence. It’s all about assessing your competition and presenting your offer with a clear competitive edge.

And you thought it was complicated!

Contact art director John Couté to get an uncomplicated proposal for website tune-up headed your way.

(949) 645-0123 or john@adimagination.com

Website and blog content are now more important than ever. Google does mass deindexing of sites that use linkfarms for backlinks.

All of our design and production for content subscribe to Google’s specifications and best practices.

Better search results are direct result of Google cleaning up websites  employing blackhat techniques like linkfarm generated backlinks.

Here are the basic rules we use to prepare content for websites.

◦ Make a site with a clear hierarchy and text links. Every page reachable from at least one static text link.

◦ Offer a site map to your users with links that point to the important parts of your site. If the site map has an extremely large number of links, break the site map into multiple pages.

◦ Keep the links on a given page to a reasonable number.

◦ Create a useful, information-rich site, and write pages that clearly and accurately describe your content.

◦ Think about the words users would type to find your pages, and make sure that your site actually includes those words within it.

◦ Try to use text instead of images to display important names, content, or links. The Google crawler doesn’t recognize text contained in images. If you must use images for textual content, consider using the “ALT” attribute to include a few words of descriptive text.

◦ Make sure that your <title> elements and ALT attributes are descriptive and accurate.

◦ Check for broken links and correct HTML.

◦ If you decide to use dynamic pages (i.e., the URL contains a “?” character), be aware that not every search engine spider crawls dynamic pages as well as static pages. It helps to keep the parameters short and the number of them few.

The new web. HTML5 and CSS Web Standards Solutions

We build hand-crafted web pages using well-structured XHTML and lean and efficient CSS.

Web Standards badge

By embracing a web standards approach, HTML and CSS Web Standards Solutions enables us to create web sites that not only look great in all modern browsers, but are also accessible to a wide variety of audiences across a range of platforms – from those browsing on everyday computers, to those accessing the web on the latest, emerging mobile devices.

The latest version of most web browsers support HTML5, CSS3, and JavaScript.

These web standards are open, reliable, highly secure, and efficient. They allow web designers and developers to create advanced graphics, typography, animations, and transitions. Standards aren’t add-ons to the web. They are the web. And you can start using them today.

What is HTML5?

HTML5 is being developed as the next major revision of HTML, the core language of the World Wide Web.  These new instructions imbedded within the Web reduce the need for proprietary plug-in technologies like Adobe Flash and Microsoft Silverlight.

HTML5 introduces a number of new elements and attributes that describe and render modern website design. Some of them are semantic replacements for common code. Others provide new functionality through a standardized interface that plays audio and video. Many elements from the old HTML 4.01 standard have been eliminated and replaced with Cascading Style Sheets. There is also a renewed emphasis on the importance of scripting like JavaScript in Web behavior.

The new HTML is backward compatible with common parsing of older versions of HTML. It comes with a new introductory line of code that senses older documents and interprets them.

See for yourself.

The latest version of Google’s Chrome and Apple’s Safari and Mozilla’s Firefox web browsers,  all support the capabilities of HTML5, CSS3, and JavaScript. Make sure you have the most up to date version of your browser installed so you can take advantage of this new web standard — and the amazing things they enable web designers to do. IE 8 and 9 are not recommended.

These demonstrations show the technical capabilities of HTML5, from the way it handles video to the manner in which it can support photo galleries and audio features.

Apple HTML5 Demo

There’s a perfect ad for every website user and advertiser.

The next wave of online advertising technology will be focused on the web user. Google’s Neil Mohan predicts huge growth due to user’s opt-in authority.

By: John Couté,  ADimagination, Web marketing + Design

In the next few years we will control our online experience and see primarily ads for products and services we specify we want and need.

Neal Mohan, Google's VP display advertising.

Online display advertisers will pay for fewer ads, but those will be seen only by people who specify interest in advance. For that reason they will be far more likely to love, remember and share the ads and purchase the products and services in them.

Here are a few other interesting things to look forward to.

1. There will be substantially less advertising presented on webpages.
2. Users will have a direct say in the types of ads they see.
3. Interactivity and opt-in authority will promote as much as 50% more user time with ads.
4. At least 30% of all ads will have a primary response metric that assesses emotional brand engagement and online to offline sales, not just clicks and impressions.
5. 25 billion ads a day will show each unique user why the ad is seen by them and give them an opportunity to opt out in the future.
6. Within a few short years Mohan expects online display advertising to grow into a 200 billion dollar industry.
7. Online advertising will become the preferred advertising format by nearly half of all web users.

Google’s +1 button gives friends your advice when they search.

Click +1 approval and friends see it when searching.

Google introduced the +1 recommend button in March. When you click see this button next to a website it reports to your friends while they search on Google search results pages that you recommend it.

As of yesterday you can click your approval of a webpage while you are on the page because Google has released the +1 button across the entire web. You will see it on websites large and small across the Internet.

You’ll also start to see +1 buttons on Android Market, Blogger, Product Search and YouTube.

+1 is as easy on the entire web as it is on Google search results pages. With one click you can recommend that camera, recipe or favorite new movie to friends, contacts and the rest of the world. When your connections search for something you have +1 clicked, they will see your +1’s right in their search results, providing your recommendations at the moment they’re most useful.

SEO basics for smart small businesses

At ADimagination we’re committed to helping small businesses grow. To compete effectively online your business must be included high up in the search results page being looked at by your potential customers. This post will give you a checklist for establishing authority for your website or blog in your marketplace. Follow these SEO basics keeping your website content updated and your business will be included in search results for the products and services your website offers.

1.       Content. First, write original, relevant information in short clear sentences. Include the words that your prospects use to search for your product or service. Communicate your expertise and knowledge on the nature of your business. Include information that your clients are looking for, your customer wants to make the best choice from the search results page. Share interesting pertinent information about your products and services that equip them to make the best decision and they are more likely to choose your website.

Search engines like Google and Yahoo! use techniques that evaluate your website content for relevance and writing quality. They rank you on those issues among your peers and report the results. Google updates their evaluation of your website almost as often as you update your content. This enables the search engine results pages (SERP) the most up to date results possible.

Describe your customers needs and how you satisfy them better than the competition. Clarify your location. Talk about the things that interest the people you want to do business with. We help small businesses communicate their message, so we talk website design techniques for small businesses.

2.       Keywords. A keyword points to your content, it’s an integral part of the SEO process. Think about what words your clients search for, identify them, and distribute them liberally on your website. Each post on your blog or each page on your website should target a few keywords. This doesn’t mean repeating the same keyword over and over again, that will count against your relevance score. Try to have about 1% of your copy be keywords.  For example, we are a internet marketing and website design agency for small business. That is the right frequency of keywords for about 100 words.

3.       Links. There are basically three types of links you need to know about; Inbound, Outbound, and Internal links. They each have different effects on your website, it’s important you know how to use them.

a.       Inbound links come from outside websites. They direct visitors to a specific page in your website or blog. These incoming links are very important for effective SEO. Search engines look for inbound links, rank how many there are and their relevance to your offer. Your page authority and relevance score is based on these links. Negotiate or create opportunities for as many incoming links as you can. Social media profiles like linkedIn, Facebook and Twitter are a great place to get started. Link farms that sell you incoming links by the hundreds are no longer effective. Your best bet is to develop legitimate links that come from websites that recognize your website or blog has quality information.

b.      Outbound links are links from your site to the pages of other websites.  Outbound links for websites are to be used carefully. Inbound links hold value, outbound links have little value. You need that value for the next type of link.

c.       Internal Links.  Internal links are links on your website or blog that point to other internal pages. These links help guide your prospects to the information they are searching for. The linked text is called a hyperlink, or anchor text. It’s important that the linked word(s) are relevant to the content it’s pointing to. “Click Here” other unrelated words do nothing to let the search engine know what the page the link points to is about. If we hyperlink the words Logo Design then both the reader and the search engines will know the nature of the content there.

Summary

These are basic SEO techniques for small businesses. If your website or blog isn’t ranking high enough to appear on the first page of search results for your business consider an expert to help you get your business recognized and established. We have a variety of solutions adapted to meet the needs of small business including local search.

Television ads worth spreading

Ten favorite commercials.

* Chrysler: “Born of Fire” (Wieden+Kennedy) for chrysler Corp.

* The Nike Foundation: “Girl Effect, The Clock is Ticking” (Wieden+Kennedy)  “Beautifully executed NFP spot. support at  www.girl effect.com

* Dulux: “Dulux Walls” (Euro RSCG London) A color revolution “The “Let’s Color Project.” “Powerful community message meets inoffensive product placement.”

* Intel: “The Chase” (Venables Bell & Partners) “Multi, Multi, Multi, Media.”

* Nokia: “The World’s Smallest Stop-Motion Character Animation” (Wieden + Kennedy London) “The first macro chase sequence.”

* Hornbach and HEIMAT Berlin: “Infinite House” (@radical.media) ” If you can imagine it you can build it.”

* The Topsy Foundation: “Selinah” (Ogilvy Johannesburg) “See what  your support at topsyfoundation@ogilvy.co.za can do in 90 seconds”

* Batelco: “Infinity” (FP7/DXB, Bahrain) “Bleeding edge CGI meets Toronto.”

* Savory Institute: “Changing Our Future” (Foresight Multimedia) “Profoundly simple, money making land degradation reversal program now underway in New Mexico, Tuscany and Zimbabwe .” More at http://www.savoryinstitute.com/deserts-grasslands/

* Target: “Kaleidoscopic Fashion Spectacular” (Mother NY and Legs Media)

4 ways to get more referrals using credible client reviews

Good at what you do?  Give your prospects a reason to believe it. Word of mouth referrals are great but you should expect you and your company will be scrutinized online for more reasons to respond. 

Everyone agrees, referrals are priceless, but they can be hard to come by if you hesitate to ask for one.

At the end of every project email your client with a short request attaching a tabulated pdf form so they can quickly rate your service from 1-10 in 5-6 specific areas you define.

Examples might be; returns phone calls promptly, writing quality, value compared to other sources or perhaps keeps commitments.

Create a place for them to write a 150 word or less review and attach their email address so a prospect can contact them about their experience. Compile the reviews by project type, place on your website and include a few with your proposals for similar projects.

Send a handwritten thank you note including a 10% discount for services on their next project. I have set up several referral programs for clients to build their referral business. Referrals constitute over half of our new business.

Essential to this process is the ability of the prospect to contact the referrer directly getting unfiltered answers to specific questions.

Summary of referral process.

• Develop a performance evaluation form with space for a written review. Gain permission to include the referrers email address.

• Send it to your clients when each project has concluded. Follow up by phone, explain how important their opinion is to you.

• Compile the written reviews by project type, post to your website and include in proposals for similar projects.

• Send a personal thank you note for each referral with an incentive to refer again.

The bottom line… make sure every project ends with a satisfied client. Request a performance review and when they give you one use it as opportunity to reciprocate.

Logo lingo demystified

A logo is a graphic mark or emblem used by companies, organizations or even individuals to promote instant public recognition.

Logos can be purely graphic (symbols),

composed of just the name (logotype),

or a an integrated combination of both.

Before you look for a designer review your competitors, then discuss and agree on your goals for differentiation and positioning. Your preferences for a symbol or a logotype? Maybe both? Perhaps a power slogan that states your purpose and positions you favorably among your competition?

Invest the time to discover your prime prospects perception of your offer and make your identity conform to their needs not yours. Only then should you ask a designer for a tailor made plan that makes sense with your budget.

Gain instant credibility, promote recognition and communicate the essence of your offer with a custom logo design and slogan.

See our logo design portfolio