E-volve Creative Group :: Web Tips & Ideas

Writing for the Web

noreply@blogger.com (E-volve Creative Group) — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 13:44:00 +0000

I’ve been eagerly awaiting to write about this subject for quite some time. There is a lot to cover, but in lieu of the main lesson here…I’ll keep it short and sweet! Let’s get started.

KISS – Keep it Simple Stupid…remember this one? It holds true more than ever on the web. Web users are impatient. You only have 3-8 seconds to grab their attention.

People don’t read web pages word by word on the web. THEY SCAN. If you perform a simple usability test, or just simply watch over someone’s shoulder as they browse the web, it’s pretty obvious…we’re scanners! Impatient and ready to move on.

As a result, Web pages have to employ scannable text, using:

Highlighted keywords (hypertext links serve as one form of highlighting; typeface variations and color are others)
Meaningful sub-headings (not "clever" ones)
Bulleted lists
One idea per paragraph (users will skip over any additional ideas if they are not caught by the first few words in the paragraph)
The inverted pyramid style, starting with the conclusion
Half the word count (or less) than conventional writing

Provided by Jakob Nielsen's Useit.com

Eyetracking visualizations show that users often read Web pages in an F-shaped pattern: two horizontal stripes followed by a vertical stripe.

F for fast. That's how users read your precious content. In a few seconds, their eyes move at amazing speeds across your website’s words in a pattern that's very different from what you learned in school. View eyetracking study heat maps from Useit.com

New Web Words
The internet has become a part of our everyday life. And so we’ve adopted some new words into our vernacular. Many of us (including myself) often wonder what's the best practice for spelling these words. I’ve pulled together some resources below to help explain this.

Great resource for AP style. http://www.tameri.com/edit/style.html

Web Site - capitalize. AP style also capitalizes Web site and Web page.

Email - preferred AP style, though Email and email are preferred by some publications. We prefer e-mail, but assume email will become standard.

Home page - preferred AP style, though homepage is preferred by some publications.

Writing for Search Engines
When you start writing content for your Web Site, it’s very important to keep in mind that search engines are sifting through the content and looking for “keywords/phrases” that are relevant to your business. Start with a Keyword Strategy. Decide what keywords are important to you for search listing rankings. Then try to integrate these as best as possible into the content of your site. The copy should still be relevant and make sense to a human. But tossing in relevant keywords, when it makes sense, will help with your search engine placement.

To learn more about SEO – Search Engine Optimization strategies give us a call.

Double Spaces NO MORE
One of the most common mistakes in writing these days is putting a double space after a period. According to Wikipedia, Double spacing at the end of sentences is a typographical convention that has sometimes been termed English spacing.

Should you put one space or two spaces after a period?

The debate over how much space to put between sentences (whether they end with a period or other punctuation) may seem petty, but often it's the little details that make or break a design.

It is generally accepted that the practice of putting two spaces at the end of a sentence is a carryover from the days of typewriters with monospaced typefaces. Two spaces, it was believed, made it easier to see where one sentence ended and the next began. Most typeset text, both before and after the typewriter, used a single space. In short…let’s all start to adapt the ONE SPACE motto.

Would you like to learn more about Evolve Creative Group and our services? Visit our Web Site or give us a call today at 330-620-6572.

Billboard Advertising Gone Wrong

noreply@blogger.com (E-volve Creative Group) — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 14:35:00 +0000

Two weeks ago I noticed this billboard in Akron, OH (corner of Miller/Market, right by Dominos) that caught my eye for several reasons. This is a good case of billboard advertising gone wrong!

What’s wrong with this picture? You be the judge.

Two in One! - This is one of a few locations for Clear Channel billboard advertising where there are two billboards on top of each other.
Both billboards are using a yellow background. Yikes!
One billboard is for breast feeding. The other billboard is for a Hair Salon.
It appears to me that these billboards start to run together. Are these one ad? Is this Hair Salon offering breast feeding? Probably not, but you see where this is going.

Lessons to be learned
Always, and I mean always travel out to the site for which your billboards are located. Make sure everything looks as it should. If you happen to purchase space where two billboards are on top of each other, ask to see the art for the other board. You’re spending a good fortune for them and Clear Channel should be able to give you info on the other board.

Who’s at fault here?
Clear Channel? In the end, it’s the buyer’s responsibility to check out what they’re purchasing. If I was this Hair Salon, I would certainly have my board taken down, and then ask for a refund. Just my 2 cents. Take a drive and check it out for yourself. Let me know what you think...Leave a reply below.

2009 Web Statistics and Trends – Year End Review

noreply@blogger.com (E-volve Creative Group) — Sat, 26 Dec 2009 12:49:00 +0000

For web designers, web statistics are a very important element to be aware of as you develop websites for your clients. At Evolve, we take our web stats very seriously and we always do an end of year review to see what the latest trends are. These trends may dictate changes we implement in our development for the upcoming year. We look at a variety of online national trends as well as our own client statistics to summarize our year end analysis. Before you make any changes to your website or clients website, it’s always best to review your own Google Analytics or similar trends data. This data will give you insight about your web visitors. Depending on your user demographics, age, race and web savviness, the data could fluctuate considerably.

As a whole, the data we complied is pretty conclusive. Below is a summary of what we’ve learned and take ways per item. Enjoy!

National stats we used for comparison
http://www.thecounter.com/stats/
http://www.w3schools.com/browsers/browsers_stats.asp
http://marketshare.hitslink.com/report.aspx?qprid=17
http://www.registrarstats.com/

Browser Statistics
Yes, the browser saga goes on! This category saw the most fluctuation compared to national stats. I believe our own client data depicts a more accurate story. This year we saw the introduction of Google Chrome and IE 8.0 enter the browser conundrum. We’ve also noticed the uprising of some mobile devices like, blackberry and the iphone/ipod. I suspect these mobile browsers will only increase over time. But for most of us (local business and B-B) these numbers are still very low.

Data summary
Overall Internet Explorer still dominates at about 75% of all total browsers used.
IE 8 (20%)
IE 7 (50-60%)
IE 6 (5-10%) It’s unfortunate for us web developers, but web users/companies are still using this antiquated browser.
Firefox (15-20%) Depending on your web users savviness this stat could be higher. For the most part this browser has leveled off over the past couple years.
Chrome (1.5-2%) Gaining traction, but I suspect it will not grow in popularity to the general public.
Safari (5-15%) This browser has the largest fluctuation. Based on your user audience, if you’re mainly targeting MAC users, this will be their main browser. But still very low for the overall general public, as is the MAC OS.

Display Resolution
1024x768 (20-30%) This display still rules the screen.
Higher than 1024 (50-60%)
800x600 (2-5%) Say bye-bye to this display. Thank goodness!
In summary, the best viewed websites are designed for 1024x768. I don’t see this changing for quite some time. This is the perfect display size for all monitors. Even with 50% of the general population using larger display sizes and monitors, 1024 keeps the content compact, usable and intimate. Our client stats were very much aligned with national trends.

Java Supported
YES (93-98%) NO (2-6%)
Most everyone supports Java. No worries here.
However there is some fluctuation based on user web savviness.

Flash Version
10.0 (or some version of 10) 70-80%
9.0 (or some version of 9) 25-30%
This is good to see as flash becomes more and more widely used. A little flash goes a long way. Just don’t overdo it! And now that Google is starting to index flash, I suspect we’ll see much more flash being integrated.

Domain Registrar Stats
Godaddy.com 33%
Enom 19%
Tucows 7%
Network Solutions 6%
As much as Network Solutions tries to re-brand itself, they are still trending downward. They days of ruling the domain game are over. Hurray!

Search Engines
Google 85%
Yahoo! 6%
Bing 3%
This year we were introduced to Microsoft’s new search engine “Bing”. But no surprises here. Google still owns search. And Yahoo! is losing traction each year as it re-brands itself to more of a web portal for news and entertainment.

Summary
Overall, there are no real show stoppers here. But some good data to keep in mind as web designers start the process for developing a successful and usable website for their clients. The biggest item to note, is that you need to make sure you are testing your website for compatibility on all of the main web browsers. This continues to be the biggest challenge for the past 14 years. In the end, the best advice, is to review your current web analytics. If you’re re-designing a website, see if you’re client has access to current web data/trends. The proof is there. Use it!

These web development details are just a few of the many nuances that go along with GREAT web design and development. Who will you trust with your website? Give us a call, we’d love to help you out. 330-620-6572, Say Hello! Or visit our website for more information: www.EvolveCreativeGroup.com

301 Redirects – Launching a New Website (Part-2)

noreply@blogger.com (E-volve Creative Group) — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 13:29:00 +0000

As I mentioned is Part-1 of this blog series, there are many nitty gritty details that are behind the scenes, that can make or break the transition of a newly launched website. In this post I will discuss the importance of utilizing 301 Redirects and how to get these set up.

What is a 301 Redirect?
In short, a 301 Redirect is a URL redirection, also called URL forwarding. This is a technique on the Web used to send a user from an old url (web page) to the new url (web page). 301 Redirect is the most efficient and Search Engine Friendly method for webpage redirection. It's not that hard to implement and it should preserve your search engine rankings for that particular page. If you have to change file names or move pages around, it's the safest option. The code "301" is interpreted as "moved permanently".

How to set these up
You may need some technical help on this. I would recommend calling your web hosting provider to get details on how to do this on their server. Or contact your IT guru and have them help you out. However here is a good reference on how to implement these based on the coding technology you're using.
http://www.webconfs.com/how-to-redirect-a-webpage.php

Why should I do this?
It’s a no-brainer. Most likely you current web pages (urls) have been indexed by Google (and other search engines). Congrats, this is a good thing! However, most likely your site structure or web page names will be changing, or even the technology (code behind the html). One slight change in the url name or site structure will create a dead link for your website. I would say that MOST of us, do NOT want to lose any pages we have indexed by search engines. These are like a GOLD-MINE!

So basically you want to put 301 Redirects in place (for EVERY page of your old site) to help in this transition from old to new. Your telling the search engines what you’ve done and how to handle it. Over time they will eventually remove the old links from their index. Also, don’t forget about creating your custom 404 error pages (Part-1).

When you get ready to launch your new website, make sure you have all your basis covered. There are a lot of behind the scenes details that need addressed. It’s always best to consult with a web professional.

Would you like to learn more about creating 301 Redirects for your website? Let us help you E-volve! Say Hello today at 330-620-6572. Or visit our website: http://www.evolvecreativegroup.com

Pay it FORWARD – a story of kindness

noreply@blogger.com (E-volve Creative Group) — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 17:41:00 +0000

This blog entry has NOTHING to do with web design, marketing, advertising, or the likes…It’s just a real life story that happened about two hours ago. It moved me, and I felt compelled to share it with others.

So here it goes…about two hours ago, I left my apartment to go wash my car at a local DIY carwash (5 minutes from home). After washing my vehicle, I then started to dry it off. As I finished the outside, I then moved to clean the inside door wells (I know, who does that? Hey I’m a designer, it’s all about the details !), anyhow, back to the story…I was cleaning the door wells and by accident wiped over the automatic door lock latch. To my surprise, it locked ALL the doors. (Lesson to be leaned here). So, there I am, locked out of my car, keys in car, cell phone in car, and my wallet in plain day sight with my signed checks ready to be deposited! Yeah, oh what fun!! What to do now?

My first thoughts
1. I’ll call someone – Cell phone is in the car!
2. I’m only 5 min from my apartment I can jog home – I had my sandals on!
3. I’ll walk into this store and call someone. – All my numbers are in my cell!
4. Last but not least – ASK for help!

And ask for help I did. I walked over to a women drying off her car and told her my story. Honestly, I really didn’t believe anyone would help me. She doesn’t know me from Adam. And I’m a guy…a stranger! But not strange! :-)

With NO questions asked, she said “Sure, I’ll give you a lift”. I was floored! I could not believe it. She even offered to take me to my apartment, get my apartment door unlocked ( I have no spare key), and get my spare car key, and drive me back to my car. And that she did!

As we departed, I offered her money and she adamantly would not take it. She said so sincerely “I hope your day gets better”. I said “Are you kidding me, my day couldn’t have got any better. I just met a new amazing person, who was willing to stop her day to help out a total stranger.” “I said, YOU MADE MY DAY!”. “Thank You!”.

Moral to the story
There are still great, amazing people out there. Willing to help others at no cost. You only hear about the bad stories. This is one of the good ones.

If you’re out there Melissa, Thanks again. You truly inspired me. I used to be that person that stopped to help strangers out. But in the haste of our busy lives, I have stopped doing that. It’s my turn now.

Pay it forward, I know I will. You never know when you’ll need a helping hand!

404 Error Pages – Launching a Website (Part-1)

noreply@blogger.com (E-volve Creative Group) — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 12:56:00 +0000

When launching a new website, particularly a re-design for an existing website, there are MANY, what we call “lint items”, that need to be addressed. Unfortunately, these items are often overlooked. In fact, most businesses don’t even know they exists. These are basically the nitty gritty details that are behind the scenes, that can make or break the transition of a newly launched website.

In this post we’ll discuss the 404 error page. I’m sure many of you have run into this before while surfing the net. You have a webpage bookmarked, you go back to the bookmark several months later, to find…THE PAGE DOES NOT EXISTS! Ooops! That stinks. This is a very common issue with websites. Typically when you re-design a website the technology will change (look at your page name extensions), .php, .asp, .aspx, .html, etc. Or, the actually name of your page changes from “About-us.aspx” to “Aboutus.aspx”. Well, that’s an issue. Google (and the other search engines) have most likely already indexed your old page name. So it’s a best web usability practice to put a “Custom 404 error page” in place to explain to your visitors what has happened and what to do now. This could be a potential lead you just lost. You should also deploy “Page re-directs”, but we’ll discuss this in part-2.

404 Error Page technical details

Creating a custom 404 error page does require some setup and integration on your web server, so you may want to contact your web designer or web hosting service to get more details. But, on the design side, you can get very creative and clever with these pages. Here’s a link to some great 404 error pages.

To tell if you have a custom error page on your site, just go to your main site directory and type in something extraneous…then hit the Enter Key. What page comes up? For example, take a look at our custom 404 error page: http://www.evolvecreativegroup.com/about_evo

When you get ready to launch your new website, make sure you have all your basis covered. There are a lot of behind the scenes details that need to be addressed. It’s always best to consult with a web professional.

Would you like to learn more about creating a custom 404 error page for your website? Or just best web usability practices in general?
Say Hello today at 330-620-6572. Or visit our website: http://www.evolvecreativegroup.com

Website Videos

noreply@blogger.com (E-volve Creative Group) — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 13:45:00 +0000

According to a new study by Frank N. Magid Associates, 77% of U.S. Internet users are watching online video and 43% viewing weekly.

Website videos have been around for awhile, but this last year they have really increased in both viewing and user generated content uploads. While broadband penetration increases and the ability to easily upload videos to your website or social network increases, we will continue to see the rise of video replace the need of static text on a given web page. Why read, when you can watch.

Adding a short video to your website brings another element of content to engage your audience. Web videos add a voice and face to your company, allowing user to connect with you before they even meet you in person. But you need to keep it short and simple-any more than 30-60 seconds and you may lose their attention. Useit.com has some great tips on usability studies they’ve conducted on this subject.

Another great aspect of uploading web videos to your website that’s often times overlooked, is how beneficial these are for search engine optimization (SEO). Google and Yahoo! are now indexing these videos and they can be search separately. With local geo-targeted keywords you can earn some great positioning and possible leads. Just be very strategic with the “tags & titles” you use for your videos. These are the keywords that are being indexed by the search engines.

Here are a couple of web strategies to consider adding to your website:

Company Introduction Video
Video Spokesperson
How to/Product Demo Video
Client/Customer Testimonials

You can learn more about these strategies and view samples on our Web Videos page.

Are you ready to add web videos to your website? They’re not as expensive as you think. Give us a call today at 330-630-6572.

The New Microsoft Search Engine - bing

noreply@blogger.com (E-volve Creative Group) — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 12:37:00 +0000

Botta bing, botta bing
As you have probably already noticed, Microsoft has re-invented their search product again. Most recently with their new search engine “bing”. There has been a numerous amount of blog posts about this launch, but I wanted to wait and see how things panned out before commenting myself.

It’s been several weeks now, and we’ve noticed a tremendous amount of traffic coming from bing to our client websites. In some cases, bing has risen above Yahoo! in referred traffic. This does not surprise me with the mass advertising blitz Microsoft has done of late. Will they be here for the long haul is the question.

With the launch of Yahoo!’s newly re-designed homepage, they just might weather the storm. It appears, at least to me, that Yahoo! has gone in a different direction. Not totally abandoning search, but focusing more on what they do best, which is connecting to their consumer base and providing relevant news, stories and now social media.

It’s too early to really tell, but my prediction is that bing will continue to grow and grow. Microsoft has a way of bullying themselves into our lives, whether we like it or not. I do admit, for the first time, I do like their new streamlined search product. They did their research and pulled the best functionality from Google and Yahoo! and tossed in a few of their own ideas.

At the very least, you may want to check to make sure your site is spidered by bing and local search. You could be missing out on some great leads.

If you would like more information about our Search Engine Optimization (SEO) capabilities, visit our SEO page or call us today at 330-620-6572. Let us help you E-volve!

The dip…will you get through it?

noreply@blogger.com (E-volve Creative Group) — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 13:34:00 +0000

I’ve recently finished another great book by Seth Godin entitled “the dip”. It’s a small book (only 80pgs.), but worth the read. Like most of Seth’s books, he really tries to get you to think about your life and your career. The subtitle sums it up best “A little book that teaches you when to quit and when to stick”. I know at first glance you’re thinking, “How to Quit”? I’m not a quitter. I thought the same thing. It was ingrained by all my coaches NEVER to QUIT. Especially in wrestling. However, this book is more about looking at your life, your career and asking yourself: “Am I happy? Am I going forward? Challenged, still learning? Will I be the best in world? If your career or new business is about to hit a “dip” (or a rough patch in your journey to be the BEST) can/will you survive? Is it even worth it? Is it better to just re-direct your energy and skills to something new?

It’s ironic, that I did just what the book recommend. However, I did it…BEFORE I bought and read the book! But it was nice to get the reassurance that I made the right choices. Of course, NO book will force you to do anything, but it’s reassuring to see that others are going through the exact same things. I hit a dip last year and started my own business year, E-volve Creative Group. The BEST decision I’ve ever made. Will I be the best in the world? You better believe I will do everything in my power to be. Or at least the best in Akron, Ohio!

In this economic climate I think this book is a must read for those who are hitting a dip or rough patch in their life/career. Now is the time to reflect and make some changes. Very cliché but true…LIFE is SHORT, we work TOO HARD, you should enjoy what you’re doing every day. Get up every morning and be excited. Make a difference!

You can buy this book on Amazon.com. Where else would you buy it! :-)

How will you utilize the web to celebrate earth day?

noreply@blogger.com (E-volve Creative Group) — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 18:22:00 +0000

Earth day is Wednesday April 22nd and many local communities are preparing to spread the word. Since the inception of the PC and the Internet, many of us had believed this would cut down on our waste and paper products. However, as we quickly found out, this was NOT the case. In fact, in most cases, it’s created more waste. How many times have you printed off an email or web page, to find out that 2-3 extra pages of senseless garbage prints out as well? Many people would still rather print something and read it, rather than read online and/or store in a tidy folder on their PC. I’m a victim to this habit as well, but I think we should all try to consider in our daily workings how we can best eliminate some of this useless waste. Below I’ve outlined a few things to consider when going through the work day and thinking about your online marketing activities in relationship to being more earth friendly.

Save paper

Instead of printing off copies, save a copy of a web page to a pdf file to your desktop. And/or create a tidy directory of folders for your email correspondence.
Instead of printing on “new clean paper”, save those extra “wasted print outs” and print on the backside. You won’t believe how much paper and waste you save. You can also create some scrap notebooks or pads, great for doodling or sketching out some ideas.

Marketing

Annual Reports
Instead of creating an expensive Annual Report for your organization create an online interactive version. You’ll save money, be earth friendly, and create an interactive experience that could be ten times more interesting than a printed version.

Newsletters
Instead of printing thousands of copies, of which no one may read or just toss in the trash, try creating an online version of your newsletter. It’s a very cost effective way to communicate with you consumers or constituents and drive traffic to your website.

Benefits:

Cost effective and easy to set up. No postage!
Stories are easier to write than a full length printed version
Save on printing and waste
Draw visitors to your website
Create an archive of past issues

Let us help you evolve and help conserve the environment as well. To learn more about our creative services give us a call today at 330-620-6572 or visit our website at www.evolvecreativegroup.com

The ART of saying of Hello!

noreply@blogger.com (E-volve Creative Group) — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 20:31:00 +0000

What does your business card say?

Most companies still overlook the importance of creating a GREAT business card.

A business card is your first opportunity to tell your story and establish your branding image. Yes, I’ve been told that many people do toss the business card after they’ve entered it into their Outlook contacts. However, it’s your first impression, your first or second touch point with a potential client or customer. Make it GREAT! Make it standout, and tell your story.

Tips for creating a successful business card

Make sure it reflects your branding image. Correct colors, logo, messaging, etc.
Give it some WOW. Don’t just have Kinko’s set it up for. Hire a professional designer. It’s worth a couple extra bucks.
Take advantage of both sides. Full color printing is very cost effective these days, and many printers offer online solutions at dirt cheap costs.
KISS – Remember the old adage…”Keep it simple stupid”. Too much and you’ll lose the function of what a business card is all about. Keep it clean, and legible.
Choose an un-coated stock, a die cut, rounded corners…be different!
Make sure your contact info is legible. Some designers (including myself), tend to go with a font that is too small. Again, remember what this is used for.
List your services. This is your one chance to promote what you do. Take advantage of the back side of the card. You have their attention… make an impression.

Creating a successful business card does not have to cost you a fortune. But it will go along way with making a great impression and standing out amongst the competition.

To learn more about our creative services give us a call today at 330-620-6572. Or visit our website at www.evolvecreativegroup.com

Local search…Are you listed? Are you missing out? Get Local!

noreply@blogger.com (E-volve Creative Group) — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 15:06:00 +0000

If more than 85% of web users use search engines to find products or services their looking for, how many of them are using “local search terms” to find your business? You’d be surprised by the numbers.

According to TMP Directional Marketing Local Search Usage Study November, 2008 - 31% of consumers are now using Search Engines as their primary resource for local business information. Combined with IYPs (Internet Yellow Pages) and Local Search Sites (such as Google Maps or Yahoo Local), online now accounts for 61% of all primary sources of local business information.

Local search is not an entirely brand new technology; however more users are starting to embrace it, and searching with local terms in their keyword search, both on their desktops and their mobile devices. Take a look at your web stats and I bet you’ll see that some of your referred visitors are from local search. If not, well…it’s time to get going in local search. Why not, it’s (mostly)FREE after all. Within minutes you can sign up, add your business listing and be on your way to getting listed. Approval process for the major search engines like Google and Yahoo! Search vary, but it’s worth the wait.

Older websites with some web history may have already been indexed by the local search engines. But don’t trust the search engines to get your listing correct. You can “claim” your business listing and add additional information about your products, services, hours, reviews and even photos. It’s like getting a FREE Yellow Pages ad.

Mary Bowling of the ClickZ network published a GREAT article informing small business about some great (mostly FREE) tools for checking your listings. One website she mentioned was “GetListed.org”. This is a must see website that will check all the major local search directories for your listing and your status per site. And it’s FREE with no sign up. What a concept.

Local search is growing rapidly and is here to stay. This is definitely a trend that can significantly help the growth of your local business. It can provide you with opportunities to every customer located within the zip code areas you service at little or no cost. So what are you waiting for? Get local today.

Would you like to learn more about how to get your business listed in local search engines like Google and Yahoo!? Give us a call today and we’ll walk you through it. 330-620-6572

His horn went beep, beep, beep!

noreply@blogger.com (E-volve Creative Group) — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 23:12:00 +0000

I had an interesting conversation with my very inquisitive 10yr old son the other day, and I wondered how I could incorporate that conversation into an interesting and relevant blog post. So here it goes…it went something like this…”Dad, why do you beep your horn at people so much?” Well son, good question. There are many different levels of beeping and they consist of:

A quick “double hit”…beep, beep – used to say hello to a person you know
A medium triple hit…beep, beep, beep – used for safety to warn other drivers
A long …beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep, beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep…used to let a driver know your upset because they did not use their turn signal or that they pulled out right out in front of you.

Ok, so how does this relate to business or marketing? Well, I believe there is direct correlation with your beeping style to your “Email etiquette” style.

Proper email etiquette is so important these days as email has became our primary source of communication in business. So how DO YOU respond to emails? What “beeping style” do you use? I use to be a “knee jerker” and respond quickly to emails that maybe I should have thought about before clicking the send button. However, a very close friend and colleague made me privy to his email etiquette strategy. I coined him “The Email Draft-Box KING”. He could potentially have 200-300 emails in his draft box at any given time. He takes his time and reviews each email very carefully prior to sending. I have adopted this technique and it has proved to be a life-saver.

Each email you send, is an extension of your brand. What is the tone you use? Are your emails professional? Each touch point of communication could be critical in getting that next project or keeping your current clients happy.

Before you “beeeeeeeeeeep”, and send off that next furious email, save it to your draft box, review it the next day, and see if you feel the same way. You may quite possibly change your mind. I know I have!

Other important rules of email etiquette
http://email.about.com/od/emailnetiquette/tp/core_netiquette.htm

Are you on Facebook?

noreply@blogger.com (E-volve Creative Group) — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 16:03:00 +0000

Let’s “Face it”…Facebook is the most popular social media network on the web today. And it’s not just for high school and college kids anymore. It’s a SUPER powered database networking system that connects you with your friends, family and colleagues.

I’ve honestly never experienced a more powerful, viral network than this one.
It truly is amazing. And fun too! But how does this work for your business? Well, just as you can connect quickly with your friends, you can do the same with your current and potential consumers. It’s easy to setup and it’s also FREE! You can honestly set this up on your own in virtually 10 minutes or less. Create a business (fan page) for your company or non-profit organization and start building your network immediately. For non-profits you can also create fundraisers and collect funds online. As an additional bonus, a Facebook page will give you extra web links that will help with your search rankings.

There is really no downside, so we recommend this to all of our clients and friends. E-volve can help and educate you on setting up your own Facebok page as well as integrate some cool advanced features, like your blog and photo galleries. Give us a call, and we’ll get you set up today. Let’s connect. Check out our Facebook page and become a fan!

Homepage Buttons/Links

noreply@blogger.com (E-volve Creative Group) — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 13:26:00 +0000

Oh where oh where to put the homepage button on a website. Typically from usability studies it should be provided in on the left side in the main navigation bar. Also, your logo should be hyper linked to your homepage as well. But I seen the homepage button in many other areas as well. Users still want and need this little button to get back home. Most newer web users are not familiar with clicking on logo. Just make sure its somewhere in the header of each page to be safe. Thought? Comments?
tb-