Here at CoolBlueWeb we do a lot of Our Design from scratch. Although being unique from project to project is our absolute goal,  some tasks are simply recurring actions that we can streamline so that we can focus our development on larger customizations. One of which comes up quite frequently and that is the effect of letterpress.

Included in the download is an illustrator File that contains an letterpress graphic style that can be applied to any object.

Instructions

• Open Any Illustrator File
• Go to View -> Graphic Style
• In the Top-Left Corner Click The Menu Icon and Navigate to Open Graphic Style Library -> Other Library…
• Navigate to the Downloaded File an walaa! You now have a preset Letterpress style that can be applied to any object

Download File:

  Note: In order to alter variables select object  and open your Appearance Window

]]> http://coolblueweb.com/blog/freebie-illustrator-letterpress-graphic-style/feed/ 0 http://coolblueweb.com/blog/landing-page-optimization/ http://coolblueweb.com/blog/landing-page-optimization/#comments Tue, 07 Feb 2012 22:45:02 +0000 jonathan http://coolblueweb.com/?p=425 Read More...]]> What is Landing Page Optimization?

A landing page is where people go when they click on your link or ad.  Optimizing your landing page means you will convert more of those ‘clicks’ into paying customers.

Factors Leading to Poor Conversion Rates

There are many reasons why your landing page is not as effective as it should be including:

• Color is off
• Poor Call to Action
• Messy Site Navigation
• Too Much Info
• Too Little Info
• Confusing Message

Do I Need LPO?

Chances are, almost every website could benefit from an improved landing page.  Some specific guidelines are:

• Do you have high traffic?
• Low conversion rate?
• Design questions on new landing page?
• Want a higher Return on Investment?

If you fit into one of these criteria, then your landing page can be improved and therefore will yield higher profits. We have years of experience fine tuning landing pages to attract customers and give them what they are looking for.

Next Step

Contact us today for a free website development consultation.  We will review your website and give you a no obligation quote. 

Even with the internet enabling people to buy and search products and services all over the world, many still purchase locally.  Why?  Comfort.  Security.  They like to know that they can go visit the store or talk to the owner in person.  That is why it is imperative to advertise your business locally as well as globally.

 How do you advertise locally?

That’s where we come in.  CoolBlueWeb has years of experience and research into what exactly is an effective way for you to optimize your location.  It can be as simple as adding your city to a key word search.  We work with you and study your target demographic and your local competition to create the best optimization plan for your business.

 What can you gain?

Aside from increased visibility, you will benefit with:

*Brand recognition

*Local reputation

*Increased conversions

*Increased local visitors

 Soar to the top of local search rankings!

Take advantage of local search advertising and ensure your business pops up first when searched locally.  Call us today for a free consultation.  We will review your business, your location and your demographic to create a custom plan. And we do this with zero obligation on your part, for free.

Most people know of Facebook.  But to recap, Facebook is a site that millions of people (over 750,000,000) use to stay in touch, share pictures, contribute ideas and opinions, and advertise their business with friends, relatives and strangers alike.  It keeps us constantly connected.  With so many daily visitors, how can you not take the opportunity to advertise your business?

FACEBOOK= TARGET DEMOGRAPHIC

How does it work?  While Google utilizes the search pay-per-click, Facebook takes advantage of targeting a demographic to advertise to. So instead of waiting for someone to search for your specific product or service, we help you determine who the most profitable demographic would be and then set up a plan to advertise specifically to them.

How much does it cost? There are two ways of advertising on FB: Cost-Per-Click (CPC) or Cost Per Thousand Impressions (CPM).  CPC is a tactic to use if you want people to actually click on your advertisement to take them to your website and convert the ‘click’ to a sale or phone call.  This works for businesses with products or services they want to sell.  CPM is for businesses looking for exposure.  If you just started up your company and you want to be seen, CPM might be the best bet for you.

We are highly experienced with both CPC and CPM advertising and we can help you figure out what route would be the most beneficial to your business.  As well as pinpointing the right demographic by considering the following factors:

Age

Gender

Location

Interests

Facebook allows you to specifically target your viewers.  And that is ingenious. We look forward to assist you in catapulting your business to new heights using Facebook!  Contact us today and let’s begin the journey towards success.

CoolBlueWeb started in 2009 when President Jonathan Martin saw a real need from local businesses for a trustworthy web marketer.  He started the small company and watched it grow as the city recognized Jonathan’s talent and genuine care for the businesses.

Why are we different?  Because we take on clients we are sure can profit from our work, not just ones we can profit from.  And at CoolBlueWeb, you get a full package.  We meet with you several times to go through the process and teach you how to update your site, make changes to hours of operations, all the little things that come up.  This way, you have no extra fees piling on.

Our team includes: web developers, web designers, SEO specialists and content writers.  Whatever you need, we have you covered.

Besides web development and design, we also specialize in:

PPC

SEO

Magento

Have we piqued your interest?  Do you have questions?  We invite you to contact us today!  We look forward to working with you and your business.

Accessibility

1.    Limited time to load site

2.    Optimized for various operating systems, browsers, and monitor resolutions

3.    Links provided download applicable plug-ins

Conversion

4.    Attention immediately captured on homepage

5.    Company message clear within 5 seconds

6.    Contact information easily located

7.    Clear call to action

Identity

8.    Logo is prominently placed

9.    Identity consistent with business goals

10.  Style favorable/ compares with competition

11.  Colors and design elements consistent

12.  Company information aligns with identity

Navigation

13.  Primary navigation easily identifiable

14.  Navigation labels clear and concise

15.  Logo linked to homepage

16.  Contact information easily located

17.  Links are simply recognizable

18.  Site search system accessible

Usability

19.  Ads and pop-ups are unobtrusive

20.  Font type, size and spacing is easy to read

21.  Emphasis is used sparingly

22.  Limited use of animation, video and sound

Content

23.  Critical content “Above the Fold”

24.  Heading clear, concise, and descriptive

25.  Copy content is explanatory and concise

Search Engine Optimization

26.  Site registered with popular search engines

27.  Adequate number of incoming links from a variety of sources

28.  Anchor text of incoming links includes descriptive keywords

29.  Page titles are accurate and descriptive

30.  Title, H1, and Bold Tags have consistent keywords

31.  Enough unique content on each page

32.  Website is “spider-friendly” (search engines can find and read site)

Encourage Positive Customer Reviews

*Email Send an email thanking your customer for their business and ask that they follow a link to the review site of your choice to share their experience with others online.

*Incentivize Offer your customers an incentive to review your site. If you have a customer base of largely repeat business, give a discount coupon or freebie with the submission of a review.

*Publicize Post positive reviews on your website, and include their source (i.e. Yelp, City Search, etc.) as testimonials and other customers may get the idea to follow suit.

Get Listed on Customer Review Sites

Before you can direct customers to review your business, you must be first listed. There now are thousands of places on the web to list your business and get reviewed. If you are unsure of where to begin, start by registering your business with these ten popular customer review avenues:

1. Maps.Google.com
2. Local.Yahoo.com
3. Bing.com/Maps
4. Yelp.com
5. YellowPages.com
6. CitySearch.com
7. Kudzu.com
8. HotFrog.com
9. InsiderPages.com
10. RateItAll.com

Bonus Benefit to Online Customer Reviews

Getting customer reviews will not only boost your reputation online, but will also actually help your business rank better in the local mapped listing results on Google, Bing and Yahoo. Make the most of your effort to increase customer reviews and improve search engine standing by doing the following:

*Variety Direct customers to review your business from a variety of online review sites, not just one or two. Taking this approach will allow you to reach a wider audience and you will score extra points with the search engines for getting reviews from multiple locations.

*Timing If you are actively seeking to increase customer reviews, don’t encourage them all at once. If your business currently only has a couple of reviews and all of a sudden you push your past and present clients to voice their opinions and their reviews are all posted around the same time, the search engines may deem these reviews artificial and the boost you should receive from increasing customer reviews could be ignored.

Google leveled the playing field when they first launched Google Maps. The other major search engines quickly caught on and local map search results now provide better information for those looking for local businesses within a specific geographic area.

How can your business utilize the power of search engines to reach those looking for products or services your business provides in the community? Google, and other major search engines, are able to provide their users with the most accurate results for someone searching for a product or service in a defined area by taking into account the quality and quantity of the following information:

Online Reviews

When customers take the time to review your service online, they are typically really happy or really dissatisfied. No matter what their experience, as a business owner, you need to know. We will help you facilitate incentive programs that will encourage your customers to voice their experience with your business. In doing such, you will be able to identify your most satisfied clients and direct them to online review sites to let others know about their positive experience with other potential customers.

Local Directories

Many businesses and consumers rely on reputable local internet directories to find trustworthy businesses. We will facilitate the inclusion to the most popular of these sites to help your business be found where they are looking. Some of these sites may include Yahoo Directory, Yelp, CitySearch and Urban Spoon.

Citations

Managing public relations through local internet marketing citations are paramount to gaining trust with major search engines that have the power to drive customers to your business. It is our job to analyze your current local listings and determine how these listings can be optimized to best promote your business.

Every business is unique in that it has its own products and services, competition, environment, target market and goals. That is why we offer customized local internet marketing services to meet the needs of any business. Below you will find an explanation of the process taken to optimize your business’s local search engine ranking:

*Consultation A local internet marketing specialist will meet with you to ensure that we understand your business, products and services, target demographic, and goals.

*Research Each local search engine prefers different attributes for ranking. CoolBlueWeb will identify these attributes and tailor your business listings to these “preferred” attributes. This will help your business rank higher than the competition.

*Online Review Education We will educate your business on how to identify and implement an effective plan to increase positive online reviews through a variety of sources. Taking charge of your online review presence gives you a chance to outweigh negative reviews with positive ones. We will also help you identify future unhappy customers, and turn around their negative experiences before they feel the need to voice this opinion to others.

*Local Directory & Citation Execution CoolBlueWeb will increase and optimize local directory pages and citations across the web.

*Analytic Reporting With a monthly subscription, CoolBlueWeb provides reports and analysis on our results for your business. Knowing how your rankings have improved and how many visitors your website receives are important metrics to determine the effectiveness of local search for your business.

Pay-per-click marketing is the best form of advertising that specifically targets those ready to buy now. Soon after your pay-per-click marketing campaign is turned on, your phone will start to ring. With pay-per-click marketing your business will be able to target specific keywords and phrases, so that you are able to directly reach the customers actively looking for your products and services. Pay-per-click marketing can also exclusively target a market within a specifically defined geographic area. A marketing radius, as small as five miles, can be set-up to guarantee that your ads only reach customers within your local area.

Pay-per-click marketing will bring the following benefits to your marketing campaign:

Create Your Own Lead Generation Campaign Many business owners subscribe to lead generation services to gain access to potential customers. The problem with the system of using a lead generation service is that the leads are often unqualified or “tricked” into giving their contact information, the leads are given out to many businesses, and the cost per lead is enormously inflated. When you apply pay-per-click marketing directly to your business, you are in effect cutting out the middle man and the competition while decreasing the cost per lead.

Reach Potential Buyers at the Perfect Point in Time Put your pay-per-click campaign in the hands of the experts. Let us use our experience to tailor your ads to target those searching who are ready to buy. This can reduce your cost to convert website visitors into customers by up to 50%.

Maximize Your Conversion Rate The truth is, anyone can set-up a pay-per-click marketing campaign…but unless you are an expert in the search marketing field, you will probably waste a lot of money in doing so. Search engines are constantly refining the algorithms that decide which ads get the top priority. To maximize your marketing budget and turn more website visitors into customers, your pay-per-click campaign must be regularly adjusted to be optimized for these changes.

Conserve Your Advertising Budget Your message will be displayed on the first page popular search engines, but you will only have to pay for this premium placement when your ad is clicked. This will save your marketing budget for those who are genuinely interested in your products or services.
Every business is unique in that it has its own products and services, competition, environment, target market, and goals. That is why we provide pay-per-click management services to meet the needs of any business. CoolBlueWeb uses the following steps to launch and refine your pay-per-click advertising campaign:

1. Consultation 

A pay-per-click management professional will meet with you to ensure that we understand your business, products and services, target demographic, and goals.

2. Landing Page Optimization

Before you start paying for traffic, we help create or optimize the landing page for your campaign. This is where we see many companies fail. They pay for the advertising, but once they get traffic, they can’t convert that traffic into sales. We help you turn those visitors into paying customers.

3. Keyword Research

We research the keywords your target visitors use when searching for your products or services, then refine the results to identify specific keywords for each step of the buying process.

4. Campaign and Ad Group Creation

Pay-per-click marketing campaigns benefit from several ad groups targeting specific closely related keywords. This can save up to 50% of the per click advertising cost. We help identify the best keyword grouping and tailor your ads to best convert those visitors.

5. Reporting and Fine Tuning

Each month we analyze results, fine tune keywords, ad groups and landing pages. As the competitive arena changes, it is important to stay ahead of the other players with an ever improving campaign.

The internet is full of ways to advertise on a pay-per-click basis. To make the most out of your marketing campaign and increase the amount of traffic driven to your site, we recommend starting on the most widely used search engine in the world, Google. Google AdWords will immediately gain you access to 65% of the search market share. If your per-per-click campaign saturates this avenue of advertisement, then we will add Yahoo (18% search market share) and Bing adCenter (12% search market share) to your campaign.

*If your target demographic is in their late teens to mid twenties, your business may also benefit from including Facebook into your pay-per-click marketing strategy. In 2007, poll results revealed that Facebook is the most viewed site amongst all female respondents (69%) and male respondents (56%) aged 17-25. CoolBlueWeb can expertly implement Facebook, or any other social media avenue, into your pay-per-click campaign.

Search engine optimization requires the greatest investment of time and money of any website marketing strategy, but pays off the best in the long run—40% of those who invest in search engine optimization report an excess of 500% return on investment.

Every business is unique in that it has its own products and services, competition, environment, target market and goals. That is why we offer customized search engine optimization services to meet the needs of any business. Below you will find an explanation of the process taken to optimize your website’s search engine standing.

*Consultation A search engine optimization specialist will meet with you to ensure that we understand your business, products and services, target demographic and goals.

*Website Analysis We examine your current site structure and look for issues that may affect your rankings. We also analyze visitor usability to insure they reach the pages that will convert them to customers.

*Keyword Research We identify specific keywords for each step of the buying process and use this information to customize your campaign.

*On Page Optimization By analyzing your current website, we determine the needed changes to optimize for your targeted keywords. We make recommendations for Title Tags, Meta Descriptions, H1, Bold, Above the Fold Placement, and Long Tail Keyword Density.

*Off Page Optimization We identify who links to your site and the anchor text they use. Then, we find additional link sources and target specific incoming anchor text.

*Link Building We identify potential link partners by designing programs to help your site be more “linkable” and attract internet traffic.

*Review Changes & Potential We will document your current position and changes. With this information we track the results and identify future growth potential for your business.

*Analytic Reporting CoolBlueWeb provides monthly reports and analysis on our results for your business. Knowing how your rankings have improved and how many visitors your website receives are important metrics to determine the effectiveness of search engine optimization for your business.