Strategic Guru, Inc. » Web Marketing

Voting Update for Day Two – Worst Website Ever

Chelsea Junget — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 21:16:52 +0000

After almost two full days of voting, we have an early leader. Amy Elk, voice actress, has pulled into the lead with nearly 9,000 votes. She must be marshaling the troops! But there is plenty of time left for the tides to turn.

Voting is open through Monday, June 28^th. Vote early and often to be sure your favorite is awarded the title of “Worst Website Ever”!

The World’s WORST Website

Chelsea Junget — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 13:11:23 +0000

Submit Your Website As The WORST Website – Details Here

We found a website that has been featured in blogs, web design advice, and many other links lately – a self-proclaimed “WORST” website. Check out some of the explained mistakes. After all, frames are so 1995.

Website Tip: Design For Easy Reading

Chelsea Junget — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 16:46:48 +0000

People read text on a computer screen at about 1/4^th the speed that they read a printed publication. Limiting website content to brief points organized in a reader-friendly fashion will ensure your website copy gets read.

Font choice for website content can also have an impact on readability. Debates on the readability of serif vs sans-serif typefaces have taken place for years. Many serif typefaces (such as Times New Roman) were created long ago for printing presses. Though they print with clarity they may not be easy to read on a computer monitor. Some sans-serif typefaces (like Arial and Verdana) were designed specifically for computer screens and can improve online readability.

Font color and background also play a role in readability. A white or pastel background helps emphasize dark text. Dark backgrounds with light or white font colors can tire the eye and may not work as well for text heavy website pages.

Finally, computer monitor size and resolution plays a big role in readability of your website content. While it’s impossible to know the dimensions or resolution of a visitor’s monitor, you can set your site to display the optimum text size for the most common settings.

Time Magazine's Worst Websites

Chelsea Junget — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 14:49:44 +0000

Don’t forget about the deadline to submit YOUR worst website – coming up this Monday, June 21 at 5pm. Here’s the next round of terribly bad websites:

Time Magazine decided to try their hand at determining their “5 Worst Websites”. And like PC World, MySpace made the list.

5) eHarmony.com – After taking the time to answer the site’s 436 compatibility questions, what happens if the site delivers terrible recommendations? Is there any hope for you?

4) Evite.com – A useful website, it desperately needs an overhaul to update their clunky system to one that embraces newer media sharing tools and updated scripts.

3) Meez.com – The company insists the app is neither spyware nor adware, but it can still slow your computer down with their lengthy email signatures.

2) MySpace.com – Like PC World, Time feels that the site is too cluttered, too risky, and, well, just too much.

1) SecondLife.com – Time Magazine says they’re “sure that somebody out there is enjoying Second Life, but why?” The software takes a long time to load, only to have users experience lag throughout. Time continues to say “The corporate world’s embrace of the place as a venue for staff meetings and training sessions does seem to lend Second Life a layer of legitimacy. But maybe it’s a case of some CEOs trying too hard to be hip.”

What do you think? Are any of these websites worth defending?

Don’t forget to enter your submission – voting begins next week!

Blast from the Internet Past

Chelsea Junget — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 14:07:05 +0000

Remember the good old days when GeoCities ruled the Internet? Before Flash, social media and the blogosphere. Before Facebook, Twitter and WordPress. We’re talking even before MySpace!

If you’re feeling nostalgic for animation, funky (or annoying) music and dizzying patterned backgrounds, take your website back to the 1990s with the GeoCitiesizer!

Of course, if you don’t need to run your site through the GeoCitiesizer to bring back the 90s, you might want to consider submitting it to the Worst Website EVER contest.

Strategic Guru can help you bring your website into this century.

Google’s New Backgrounds a Bust?

Chelsea Junget — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 18:56:08 +0000

For years Google has been known for their stark white website, with an ever-changing look to their bright and colorful logo. Many users look forward to seeing how Google will decorate their logo next. So imagine users surprise when the white page with multi-colored logo they’re accustomed to seeing was replaced by a large photograph with a plain white logo on top!

Within hours, “remove Google background” became one of the most searched phrases of the day. Google discovered that so many people hated the new background images, they ended their experiment quickly.

The choose-your-own background feature was actually launched over a week ago. It was announced only on the official Google blog, and not on the main site. What was meant as the promotion of a new feature delivered an unexpected backlash from Google users.

Introducing new new features can be tricky business, delighting some customers and aggravating others. The key is to communicate the change well in advance and in the broadest way possible to ensure all customers get the message. Focusing communications on the value and benefits of the change are likely to improve the reception of the message as well.

Is personalizing your Google background important to you?

Worst Website Ever Contest Right Around the Corner!

Chelsea Junget — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 21:10:43 +0000

This week we’ll be making a big announcement about our 2nd annual Worst Website Ever Contest! Last year’s contest was a big success and we’re thrilled to bring it back for 2010. We have a few changes – this year you can nominate a website anonymously. Should your next door neighbor’s business website be terrible, but you still want to be invited to their pool parties, rest assured you can nominate them and remain unknown.

To kick things off, take a gander at WebPagesThatSuck.com’s selections for worst business websites of 2009. Warning: we can’t be responsible for damaged retinas!

Website Tip: Test Your Site Like a Visitor

Chelsea Junget — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 15:15:03 +0000

Before releasing your site to the world, take some time to view it as a visitor might. If you preview your new site only from your own computer using your own internet connection, browser and monitor settings, you may not be able to see the errors visitors could encounter.

Test your new site on computers connected at 14.4 kb and 28.8 kb speeds to see how fast it really is.

Preview your site in different browsers, including Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, among others.

Most of website visitors today use 1024×768 as their screen setting. Take the time to test your site on different screen resolutions, especially for laptops.

Look at your site on multiple mobile devices, including BlackBerry, Droid and iPhone. More people today have internet-enabled phones and may visit your website on them.

New Marketing Strategies: Augmented Reality

Chelsea Junget — Thu, 13 May 2010 18:15:06 +0000

Get consumers actively involved with your marketing! Ready to look beyond tired social media strategy? New technology can use consumers’ webcams to create an interactive 3D image from a printed marker. See how USPS embraced Augmented Reality technology:

Augmented reality (AR) combines the real world with a computer-generated virtual 3D experience. Unlike virtual reality, AR does not replace reality completely; it supplements consumers’ existing reality. Augmented reality is one of the Top 10 strategic IT technologies of our time, according to Gartner, Inc.

AR can show how green energy works or help consumers “try on” clothing through virtual mirrors. Some companies are even selling the AR experience itself. Topps 3D Live line of baseball and football cards look like regular trading cards at first. But when you point the card at your webcam, the player leaps off the card and into your hand. You can use your 3D player to play online versions of baseball or football.

Desktop-based webcam AR seems to have more practical applications than mobile AR. Although, there are applications that overlay subway maps with your current location to help you get around large metro areas.

What other ways could AR be used in marketing strategies?

Increase Your Likelihood of Getting Found Online

Chelsea Junget — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 21:29:28 +0000

Achieving Page 1 rank on Google is becoming harder than ever. Between savvy SEO professionals and Google’s ever-changing algorithm that ranks websites, moving to the top is a challenge. However, data indicates that video might be the key to helping your website improve page rank. In fact, Forrester Research found that videos were 53 times more likely than traditional web pages to receive an organic first-page ranking. They also assert that video raises click-through rates up to 200%.

So where to start? An affordable Flip cam can produce great looking videos with a little effort, too. If you don’t have video-editing capabilities in house, there are several options for creating a video for your business. Here are a few.

What to create? Zappos, the online clothing and shoe giant, has a YouTube channel dedicated to providing a peek at the life inside the office. If your company has a reputation for being fun or offbeat, use video to enhance that perception!

Use video as a how-to. Sell a product that requires assembly? Create a step-by-step installation video that gives your customers the info they need at home. Here’s a video on how to hang a type of temporary wallpaper.

Feature customers that have found a creative or new use for your product. Enlist them to “star” in a series of satisfied customer videos.

Tell us how you’ve incorporated video into your marketing plan. Has it helped SEO? Increased customer engagement?