Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Son Born, Blog on Back Burner
It's been a long, long time since I wrote anything for this blog. Mainly it's due to my second child being born, another is that I've been swamped in work.
January through March were just plain dead for this company, a fear seemed to grip businesses and pocketbooks remained closed to any kind of marketing. But lately it's like everyone has finally realized that you can't NOT have a website, if not an entire web presence.
If you are looking for one good piece of advice, when it comes to how to market online, there here it is:
Build a website.
Then stick the URL on every piece of traditional marketing you do. Coupons, Specials, Newspaper Ads, Business Cards, TV and Brochures.
There are a ton of great ways I can help you build a web presence online... even ways that you don't even need a normal website. But the most effective and well recognized way to get yourself acknowledged by potential sales leads is by having a website. Everyone is expecting one, just get it done, even if it's a small 1-3 page site.
January through March were just plain dead for this company, a fear seemed to grip businesses and pocketbooks remained closed to any kind of marketing. But lately it's like everyone has finally realized that you can't NOT have a website, if not an entire web presence.
If you are looking for one good piece of advice, when it comes to how to market online, there here it is:
Build a website.
Then stick the URL on every piece of traditional marketing you do. Coupons, Specials, Newspaper Ads, Business Cards, TV and Brochures.
There are a ton of great ways I can help you build a web presence online... even ways that you don't even need a normal website. But the most effective and well recognized way to get yourself acknowledged by potential sales leads is by having a website. Everyone is expecting one, just get it done, even if it's a small 1-3 page site.
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Panoramio Photos Can Now Be Viewed on Google Maps
Google has decided to use Panoramio to serve up images of locations from around the world. Anywhere 'Street View' is available, you can now see user submitted photos of locations, when you click the 'Explore this area' link on Google Maps.
Philadelphia, Wilmington, NYC are just a few of the areas where Street View is available, but after doing some checking around in some non-street view areas, I've found you can upload a photo anywhere.
What does this mean for you? Well before now you could only upload a company logo to the little red dot or pinpoint on Google Maps. Now you have the opportunity to add photos of your company's store front, interior, even yourself, if you're so inclined. This is a nice feature, especially considering it's currently very under used. Doing a search in my neighborhood of 10,000 people and at least 500 businesses I only found three photos, and that's in the heart of Philadelphia. Jumping out there now can get you exposure by being ahead of the curve on technology.
www.panoramio.com
There are of course some restrictions, here is the Photo policy for Panoramio:
Photo acceptance policy
Logos, mini-images, not real photos, scanned documents, text documents, screenshots, collages and copyrighted images from someone else are not acceptable in Panoramio because of legal issues.
You can't upload photos from someone else to Panoramio even if you credit the original author of the photo because you need explicit permission from the author to do so. We are aware that some people just want to contribute to Panoramio and illustrate a place with photos taken from the Internet, but that's not possible according to the law. Because of legal issues uploading photo from another author can lead to user deletion without notice.
Photos of businesses and descriptive texts are allowed in Panoramio, but advertisting printed over the photo or in the title is not acceptable. For example the title "Pepito's Bar" is Ok, however "Pepito's bar; snack and beer" or "Order prints and t-shirts, call 394845" is not OK. Panoramio is a site for exploring places and sometimes business are a part of the place, but Panoramio is not a place for advertising, so please, flag those photos as inapropriate in those cases.
Sexual explicit pictures are not allowed until we can develop a filter for this kind of content. Discriminative, xenophobic or racist photos will be deleted. Picture of children are especially sensitive, if we have the shadow of a doubt about the intention of the photo it will be immediately deleted. Nudity is a little bit more complicated to judge, but if the nude is suitable for a museum, then is suitable for Panoramio. Nudity is also ok for naturist locations.
Photos that are not illustrative about the place (people posing, pets, cars, planes...) are not suitable for Google Earth / Google Maps, but still are accepted in Panoramio because some people asked us to keep them. However those photos are only visible if you click in the "all" tab in Panoramio's map or if you go directly to the personal page of the user, you don't see them by default, so it is your choice to watch them or not.
If you want to report a photo that is violating this policy, please, click on the "inappropriate or offensive" link on the right sidebar of the photo. If the photo is not violating this policy, but you still don't like it, I would suggest you to take further action and upload your own photos to Panoramio. Each photo in Panoramio.com has a popularity level, so if your photo gets more popular, it would be more visible than the ones you don't like ;)
Philadelphia, Wilmington, NYC are just a few of the areas where Street View is available, but after doing some checking around in some non-street view areas, I've found you can upload a photo anywhere.
What does this mean for you? Well before now you could only upload a company logo to the little red dot or pinpoint on Google Maps. Now you have the opportunity to add photos of your company's store front, interior, even yourself, if you're so inclined. This is a nice feature, especially considering it's currently very under used. Doing a search in my neighborhood of 10,000 people and at least 500 businesses I only found three photos, and that's in the heart of Philadelphia. Jumping out there now can get you exposure by being ahead of the curve on technology.
www.panoramio.com
There are of course some restrictions, here is the Photo policy for Panoramio:
Photo acceptance policy
Logos, mini-images, not real photos, scanned documents, text documents, screenshots, collages and copyrighted images from someone else are not acceptable in Panoramio because of legal issues.
You can't upload photos from someone else to Panoramio even if you credit the original author of the photo because you need explicit permission from the author to do so. We are aware that some people just want to contribute to Panoramio and illustrate a place with photos taken from the Internet, but that's not possible according to the law. Because of legal issues uploading photo from another author can lead to user deletion without notice.
Photos of businesses and descriptive texts are allowed in Panoramio, but advertisting printed over the photo or in the title is not acceptable. For example the title "Pepito's Bar" is Ok, however "Pepito's bar; snack and beer" or "Order prints and t-shirts, call 394845" is not OK. Panoramio is a site for exploring places and sometimes business are a part of the place, but Panoramio is not a place for advertising, so please, flag those photos as inapropriate in those cases.
Sexual explicit pictures are not allowed until we can develop a filter for this kind of content. Discriminative, xenophobic or racist photos will be deleted. Picture of children are especially sensitive, if we have the shadow of a doubt about the intention of the photo it will be immediately deleted. Nudity is a little bit more complicated to judge, but if the nude is suitable for a museum, then is suitable for Panoramio. Nudity is also ok for naturist locations.
Photos that are not illustrative about the place (people posing, pets, cars, planes...) are not suitable for Google Earth / Google Maps, but still are accepted in Panoramio because some people asked us to keep them. However those photos are only visible if you click in the "all" tab in Panoramio's map or if you go directly to the personal page of the user, you don't see them by default, so it is your choice to watch them or not.
If you want to report a photo that is violating this policy, please, click on the "inappropriate or offensive" link on the right sidebar of the photo. If the photo is not violating this policy, but you still don't like it, I would suggest you to take further action and upload your own photos to Panoramio. Each photo in Panoramio.com has a popularity level, so if your photo gets more popular, it would be more visible than the ones you don't like ;)
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Daily Coupon for Website, Blog and Online Marketing Services in Philadelphia
Recession Discount!
Contact us before the first day of Summer and get 30% off all web services we offer!
You can get additional, exclusive coupons, discounts and specials at our Twitter feed:
http://twitter.com/SeigfriedDesign
Every day a new tip and a daily special.
Contact us before the first day of Summer and get 30% off all web services we offer!
You can get additional, exclusive coupons, discounts and specials at our Twitter feed:
http://twitter.com/SeigfriedDesign
Every day a new tip and a daily special.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Google Maps – New Update for Business Listings
It used to be that if you did a business search on Google Maps you would only pull up 10 businesses at a time. Recently Google has improved on this highly annoying and barely relevant feature by adding dots to the map for ALL listings. Now you get 10 listings on the left hand side BUT all the listings they have are represented on the map with a single dot.
So why is this a big deal?
Well now you can immediately see the density of listed businesses on the map. In the past the search feature had been so incredibly poor that if you did a search for a web designer in Philadelphia you would pull up ten listings, randomly placed throughout the city. Now all you have to do is do a business search and then zoom into the are you intended to originally. Ignoring the 'top ten' results, which are vaguely ranked at best, you can click on any dot you like to get more information.
So you can now find all the businesses listed in a particular area.
You can see IF you're listed at all and you can sign-up if you are not.
I've been playing around with this feature and it's very cool. I can now find the density of coffee shops in my are with great accuracy as well as places to cut my hair. I can located 'dead spots' where no businesses are listed for a particular category, not just in my city, but at the state and national level as well.
Looking for a part of Pennsylvania that is devoid of insurance companies? Type in 'insurance' at google.maps.com and zoom in on PA. The dots will multiply as you zoom in closer and closer and so reveal an area of the state you may want to pitch your services to.
Friday, February 6, 2009
Company Blogs – Do's and Don'ts
If you have a website and you're considering putting together a blog there are a few things you should keep in mind when building it.
First, continue your branding techniques from your website to your blog. If your website is blue and gold, make your blog blue and gold. Include logos, catch phrases and similar navigation. Don't confuse people by thinking they've left your website. Don't settle for a 'template' blog if you can help it, because putting no effort into your blog design says you put no effort into the blog content.
Always link back to your main website and make reference to it in the blogs profile or about us page. I go so far as to include links in your sidebar that are the same on your website. Make it easy for people to travel back and forth between your blog and website.
When choosing a blog format, consider the ease of use for updating posts. If you've created a blog for someone but they have to know how to code or there are too many steps involved to make updates, you'll upset your client. Keep it simple. This is one reason I perfer Blogger over Wordpress, Blogger has a very simple, very easy to understand layout. For those of you who think Wordpress is just as easy, ask your grandmother to make an update and watch as she gets confused by the navigation.
Use images, to break up the constant stream of blocky text so that visitors are not overwhelmed by information. After all, a picture speaks a thousand words and will often be the factor that decides if someone will ready that post or pass it by without reading the title.
Use labels so that you can organize your blog posts by category as well as date. Most people are not going to be interested in what was posted on May 22, 2008 but a label like 'Knitting Tutorial of Doom” is descriptive and far more interesting.
Make sure that any widgets you use are user friendly and not terribly obnoxious. Avoid music widgets that blast songs at you as soon as they load, animations that draw the eye away from your posts or poorly designed widgets that don't fit the 'look' of the blog.
Allow Commenting, always. A blog is supposed to be a communication device between users and owners, use it. If you wanted to just post up info with no feedback, then create a newsletter on your website. This is a blog, let it live up to it's full potential. That being said, monitor your comments daily for spam and crazy people.
~
Alex Seigfried; Owner
Philadelphia, PA
First, continue your branding techniques from your website to your blog. If your website is blue and gold, make your blog blue and gold. Include logos, catch phrases and similar navigation. Don't confuse people by thinking they've left your website. Don't settle for a 'template' blog if you can help it, because putting no effort into your blog design says you put no effort into the blog content.
Always link back to your main website and make reference to it in the blogs profile or about us page. I go so far as to include links in your sidebar that are the same on your website. Make it easy for people to travel back and forth between your blog and website.
When choosing a blog format, consider the ease of use for updating posts. If you've created a blog for someone but they have to know how to code or there are too many steps involved to make updates, you'll upset your client. Keep it simple. This is one reason I perfer Blogger over Wordpress, Blogger has a very simple, very easy to understand layout. For those of you who think Wordpress is just as easy, ask your grandmother to make an update and watch as she gets confused by the navigation.
Use images, to break up the constant stream of blocky text so that visitors are not overwhelmed by information. After all, a picture speaks a thousand words and will often be the factor that decides if someone will ready that post or pass it by without reading the title.
Use labels so that you can organize your blog posts by category as well as date. Most people are not going to be interested in what was posted on May 22, 2008 but a label like 'Knitting Tutorial of Doom” is descriptive and far more interesting.
Make sure that any widgets you use are user friendly and not terribly obnoxious. Avoid music widgets that blast songs at you as soon as they load, animations that draw the eye away from your posts or poorly designed widgets that don't fit the 'look' of the blog.
Allow Commenting, always. A blog is supposed to be a communication device between users and owners, use it. If you wanted to just post up info with no feedback, then create a newsletter on your website. This is a blog, let it live up to it's full potential. That being said, monitor your comments daily for spam and crazy people.
~
Alex Seigfried; Owner
Philadelphia, PA
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Who's Talking About You Online
Everyone who depends on their business's reputation should frequently Google themselves to find out who is saying what about you, online. The problem is, this isn't something you think about on a day to day basis, so weeks and months may go by where you're left in the dark.
Google Alerts to the rescue! This tool is a very quick and easy way to setup a daily, weekly or monthly report on your business or personal name. What Google Alerts does is take a keyword you want monitored and scans every page that Google indexes on a daily, weekly or monthly basis.
*Note: You can also use this to keep track of your competition.
Example:
At first you will get a lot of older listings popping up over the course of a few weeks, but once they've been mentioned once, they won't be sent to your email again.
You may end up with other results for "henry automotive" that you have nothing to do with you, such as another automotive company or a sentences that are written like "... and I saw Henry. Automotive experts will..."
If you have a business or common name such as a toy shop I know called "Happily Ever After" or "John Smith", then results can seriously muddled. In those cases I would suggest adding several more alerts with additional keywords in them.
"Happily Ever After toys"
"Happily Ever After in Philadelphia" or
"John Smith" painter (notice how I left one of the keywords outside the " ")
~
Alex Seigfried, Owner
Philadelphia, PA
Google Alerts to the rescue! This tool is a very quick and easy way to setup a daily, weekly or monthly report on your business or personal name. What Google Alerts does is take a keyword you want monitored and scans every page that Google indexes on a daily, weekly or monthly basis.
*Note: You can also use this to keep track of your competition.
Example:
- Say your business is named: Henry Automotive
- You would go to www.google.com/alerts and monitor the keyword "henry automotive". Make sure to use " " around the keywords so that you're only searching that keyword combination and not 'henry' and automotive' separately.
- Now you'll get a daily, weekly or monthly (you decide) email on links to articles Google lists on thier search engine.
At first you will get a lot of older listings popping up over the course of a few weeks, but once they've been mentioned once, they won't be sent to your email again.
You may end up with other results for "henry automotive" that you have nothing to do with you, such as another automotive company or a sentences that are written like "... and I saw Henry. Automotive experts will..."
If you have a business or common name such as a toy shop I know called "Happily Ever After" or "John Smith", then results can seriously muddled. In those cases I would suggest adding several more alerts with additional keywords in them.
"Happily Ever After toys"
"Happily Ever After in Philadelphia" or
"John Smith" painter (notice how I left one of the keywords outside the " ")
~
Alex Seigfried, Owner
Philadelphia, PA
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