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Sep
12
2011
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Mindgruve’s Top Web Design Trends for 2012
With 2012 fast approaching, it’s time we took a look at where web design is headed for the coming year. In 2010, web design started to move towards minimalism and it’s being fully embraced in 2011. Minimalism is nothing new in graphic design, but when applied to websites, there’s more breathing room, a distinguished hierarchy and straightforward information. More importantly, the focus is on the content. Minimalism shows no signs of stopping in 2012 as technology gets more immersive and users continue to demand instant gratification. The average attention span of web visitors is 8 to 10 seconds. In that short amount of time, we have to tell them they’re at the right place, then organically lure them in. While part of that is having a “cool” website, the minimalist concept of “less is more” needs to be applied where aesthetics marries function. Based on popularity, visual appeal, effectiveness and awesomeness, we believe the following web design trends are here to stay. |
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Aug
23
2011
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Behavior Targeted Advertising is About to Blow Up
Amazon announced in late June 2011 that they will be jumping into the advertising industry, and you can be sure that other online retailers will follow. Amazon will expand from just selling targeted ads on their site to selling targeted ads on other websites too. This is how the process works: Amazon mines through their data and creates buckets of potential marketing targets. With the help of the ad tech start up, Triggit, and the use of cookies, they then track where visitors to their site go after they leave. Amazon then purchases ad space those visitors are looking at, delivers a relevant ad, and then charges the advertiser for the impression. So who wins in this system? It is actually a win for everyone because the consumer sees ads for products they want to buy, Amazon (or any other online retailer) makes money off of its own data, and the advertisers see their ad dollars become more effective. The numbers show that behaviorally targeted ads dramatically outperformed the entire display ad category in 2008 and 2009. These numbers attest to the opportunity this win-win-win scenario has for Amazon and anyone who follows them. |
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Aug
16
2011
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A Mindgruve Review: Google+ is a Plus
In June, Google’s navigation bar got a new look as part of the release of their own social network called Google+, which is supposed to be an extension of Google. Hence, the plus sign and why the navigation bar appears in some of their other products. Many articles have dubbed it as, “Google’s answer to Facebook” or even a “Facebook Killer.” According to comScore, Google+ already hit 20 million visitors, while Facebook and Twitter took 2 years to reach 10 million. The reason Google+ was able to reach this number rapidly was because of the credibility behind its name, the substantial amount of Gmail users they reached out to, and not to mention all the work Facebook and Twitter did to introduce social networking. At this point, it’s too early to make any predictions of Google+ overtaking Facebook. However, it does have a lot of potential to be an alternative based on its features and plans for growth. Most importantly, Google has taken initiative to capitalize on the effect social has on search, which is a good reason to keep an eye on it as it improves. |
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Jul
19
2011
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The Struggle Between SEO & PR
The battle between SEO and PR has been occurring for quite some time now and we’ve decided to see if we can bring some sense to this altercation. PR has been around longer, dominates the traditional realm and takes a proactive role in making the web a source for news and information. Alternatively, SEO is newer, but well-known to anyone with a website who is concerned with high search engine rankings, community-sites, widgets, virals, etc. With overlapping tactics and differing goals, it’s hard to tell which better handles the client’s online presence. SEO’s goal is to improve organic search rankings through relevant search terms, while PR’s is to develop relationships and positive brand image through relevant content. One’s priority is attracting the attention of robots and the other is of people. An example of how the two can clash is SEOs see blogs as an opportunity for keywords and PR sees them as a place for meaningful articles and news. Another is SEOs use link building to obtain website links, while PR uses relationship building to get featured on websites. Despite their differences, we have quickly learned that both are important for an online marketing strategy. Each just needs to be understood more in order to work together harmoniously. For smaller businesses that don’t have dedicated SEO and PR departments, it’s even more critical to have a strong understanding of both, and know that content isn’t just for ranking or for creating a press center. |
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Jul
14
2011
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Foursquare Specials: How Local, Small Businesses Can Use Them
If you’ve been following our Foursquare blog series, you may have read “What is Foursquare?” and “3 Big Brand Campaigns To Learn From On Foursquare”. This article will build on those and focus on how the local, non-chain or smaller chain businesses can utilize Foursquare effectively. Types of Foursquare Specials
The Strategy Behind Each Type of Foursquare Special Swarm Special: A large group checking-into a venue together can take advantage of this deal. It works similarly to Groupon in that a critical mass must be reached before anyone gets the deal. This would be perfect for a local restaurant that would give $0.25 wings if a group of 30 showed up. This can draw more people and lots of business from things like office happy hours and sports related fan clubs looking for a place to all watch the game together. Friends Special: A business can use this deal to get customers to bring their friends on their next visit. It gives a deal when checking-in with a certain number of friends and that number is determined by the business itself. This can be very useful for businesses where customers go to together naturally like a bar or restaurant as opposed to something like a hair salon which is typically an individual activity. This special helps attract new business and trials when those current customers who are familiar with the business bring their friends who don’t know about it yet. |
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