PixelMEDIA Inc.

I have received several inquiries after my seminar and webinar on social media for business and building a successful process for it. So below is a deeper dive on the two sections of my presentation (slide 9) that were most asked about. The questions were in regards to the tools used to find the right information, what to look for, and the methods on how to manage the data.

The concept of auditing and mapping is to understand the environment and how it relates to your corporation or brand. This blog is not a deep dive into daily social media tasks that need to be performed. Chris Brogan has a great blog on that.

The Takeaway

• You can’t plan a social strategy without quality information
• Focus on your goals and not the noise
• Plan ahead by documenting results
• Test tools after you have refined your focus to save energy (Read More…)

Recently there has been talk of a new metric within the PPC industry: conversions per impression.  I first read about this metric from Chris Crompton of Search Engine Land.

In my view, this metric represents the overall effectiveness of your PPC campaign.  The click-through rate (CTR) measures how relevant your ads are to user search queries. The conversion rate tells you the percentage of visitors who complete your predefined goals once the ads are clicked. These are important metrics, but it may be time to consider conversions per impression (CPI) as well.  Let’s take this example:

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PixelMEDIA is pleased to announce the redesigned website for the Working Dog Foundation, the fundraising organization for the New Hampshire Police K9 Academy.  Knowing PixelMEDIA’s track record of helping non-profits, and hoping for support from one of their community neighbors on Pease, Chairman Mark Ericson approached PixelMEDIA’s cofounder and CEO Erik Dodier, for pro bono website consulting, design, development, and hosting services back in July of 2009.

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Will 2010 finally be the year that Internet Explorer 6 (IE6) loses enough market share that developers no longer need to support it?  I know I speak for not only myself but for many of my developer colleagues when I say, “one can hope!”  IE6 will be 9 years old this year and yet there is still a column for it on our QA checklist.   Windows has come out with two newer (and better) browsers within the last 9 years that we also support; yet developers typically code for the most recent version of Firefox, Chrome, Safari and Opera.  So why do we need to support a version of IE that in today’s technology space is equivalent to a fossil? (Read More…)

Spammers are pretty clever. Wait, scratch that. Spammers are extremely clever – and becoming more-so every day. Their deviant techniques constantly evolve and for anyone that runs a website, keeping up with preventive maintenance is an ongoing challenge.

In the past, keeping spam off your blog was comparatively easy. Basically, you would block, erase or refuse any comment that provoked the user to buy Viagra, or click on adult links. As long as you monitored the comments, you would be OK.

Now, not so much. Modern spammers have taken it up a notch, and their “junk mail” is getting past a lot of moderators.

Spam will never go away, but there are a few things you can learn that will help you better deal with it. (Read More…)

The Google AdWords Content Network has come a long way in the last year.  Before some necessary enhancements were implemented I was wary of the Content Network and believed it to be a waste of money.  Though I still have concerns, the Content Network now has the ability to be much more targeted and provide conversions.

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As “Web Analytics” becomes an increasingly hot topic in our digital world, there seems to be more and more confusion about what it really means and why it is important.  Web Analytics is currently the most effective way you can measure whether your web properties are performing successfully.  Haven’t you always wanted a concrete answer to the question, “How is our website doing?”  Well, that is exactly what web analytics can tell you.

If you have already started down the web analytics path, it is important to note that there will be preconceived notions about Web Analytics that may take considerable effort to adjust.  Senior management may already be keeping an eye on website traffic, page views, or bounce rates, but those numbers are only important in light of your business goals and website objectives.

For example, a client of ours routinely provided website visit data to senior management, who relied on this information to measure the ROI of their corporate website.  If  traffic was going up, everyone was happy, but when traffic was trending down, the site was thought to be underperforming.  Yet, their business was not driven by site visits, but by sales, which are measured in submitted leads from the various forms.  A well-targeted search engine marketing campaign may actually bring fewer, but better qualified leads.  If site traffic goes down, but sales increase; management should be pleased – but they won’t see the gains if they are not paying attention to the right metrics. 

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The goal of any good web firm should be to provide clients with the best possible online face to the world.  Notice, however, that I use the term “best possible”.  The reality is that we as developers, designers, information architects, content strategists, account managers and project managers, are often limited by the budget, particularly in this difficult economy.  While a $100,000 website redesign might be off the table during tough times, “small victories” in key places can happen as part of the regular support and maintenance of your website, and often have a big impact.

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So I was asked to write a year in review of 2009.  I was challenged trying to remember all the “awful” things that happened due to the worst recession since the depression, chaos in the financial markets, and a stock market that was about 30-40% off its peak.  These things are usually a recipe for the three most common things we hear when we are having challenges closing new business – “The proposal is sitting on the CFO’s desk”, “I cannot approve that amount like a used to”, and “That person does not work here anymore.”   So, yes, we did have a few of those, but that did not deter us from pushing forward in spite of these challenges. (Read More…)

Staying productive while offering stellar customer service and support

Most web developers prefer to work behind the scenes, while an account manager handles day-to-day contact with clients.  Chances are, this is exactly why they have chosen to be a developer and not an account manager.  However, for small agencies and organizations, it’s not uncommon for developers to take on both roles.  Developer gets request; developer develops; developer stages; developer emails client; client sends approval; developer pushes live.  There’s a unique rhythm to the entire process and developers will quickly learn the rewards and challenges of wearing both hats.

Client-facing developers have the opportunity to interact on a personal level with their clients, and the challenge of juggling project management and development work simultaneously.  It’s truly a remarkable skill, especially if you provide your clients with on-demand support and handle a large volume of work everyday.

Here are some tips for the client-facing developer to maintain efficiency while delivering stellar customer service and support (these are also applicable to Account Managers and Project Managers): (Read More…)