The latest news and information from AB Strategic. We'll publish details of our latest projects and share development solutions that will help the larger community. Feel free to leave a comment, we encourage it.
Let’s say you’re in a fairly straightforward business, such as construction, and you like to work face-to-face with your customers. You’ve been running the business on your three-year-old PC. So there’s no need to invest in a website, right?
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First there was MySpace, then there was Facebook and Friendster. Then came the likes of Digg and Delicious. These days, people are on to Twitter. No, these aren’t characters from a children’s show. They’re what the marketing industry calls social media—a growing body of content created by the masses as opposed to mainstream providers (like TV and radio). And in the fast-paced world of online marketing, they’re the next big thing.
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One thing that sets Web communication apart from print is the shortened attention span of its readers. Anyone with the patience to pick up the paper most likely has the patience to read through one article. But on the web, your readers are practically swimming in a sea of distractions: checking their Facebook, watching videos, pressing the back button.
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Competition on the Web is ten times stiffer than the brick-and-mortar world, and a site needs a savvy blend of design, content, and credibility in order to stand out. Four elements make up the foundation of a good online business: the buying path, product placement, pricing, and company information.
You’ve heard it a thousand times: good design is essential to an online business. Web marketing isn’t a personal project; it’s a public performance. You’re not designing for yourself; you’re addressing an entire potential market. Outlined are design errors that should be avoided in your Internet marketing campaign.
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You’re designing your business website. If you’re like most designers, your first instinct is probably to draw up a catalog of layouts, color schemes, icons, and stock photos. But chances are you’re missing one important factor: white space. Good design requires you to treat white space as a vital part of the project. Just as you carefully plan out what to put on the page, you should also choose wisely what to leave out.
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No other industry has a landscape as varied as Internet marketing. With 100 million sites pouring out a constant stream of content, your most ingenious catchphrase can become cliché in a matter of seconds. Whether you like it or not, change is the only constant rule in Internet marketing. You need the occasional shift in strategy to stay in business. If the following techniques still make up most of your plan, it’s time to change your approach.
Artists have called web design the most erratic of creative pursuits, and for the most part, they’re right. While music trends last at least a couple of years, and art movements at least a few decades, web design can change its course in a matter of months. So if you’re still sporting last year’s designs, chances are you’ve already slipped from cutting edge to the age of dinosaurs.
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Market research shows that colors account for around 80% of the information retained on a website. But we don’t need studies to know that—just take a look at the pristine whites of Apple.com or the organic greens of Starbucks. Colors are never just colors for a business—they’re as closely tied to your identity as your trade name.
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They say your favorite colors say a lot about you. Whether it’s true or not, it certainly holds true for your online business. In a market where people judge websites in the blink of an eye, your choice of colors can either give you a unique advantage or drag you down the ranks.
