We'll present and explain the latest online marketing and web design strategies in a clear, get-to-the-point style, and we'll close the loop: Wheel Media can help you implement nearly every idea you find here.
Grow with us.
Venture capitalists who invest in start-ups and recover their money by taking them public or selling them, say a flurry of dealmaking has begun.
Many expect more sales and spin-offs in the next few months as companies squeeze their assets for cash and reassess business strategies. Read more
f'REAL!, the super-delicious smoothie+milkshake company, engaged Wheel Media to help with a range of design and marketing projects, the first being a fancy new store locator. Most East-coasters know (and love) these shakes-- you pull 'em out of the freezer and whip them yourself using their fancy blender. Most Wawa, CirlcleK or 7-Eleven's will oblige.
Your 'FREAL! confection is now easy to find thanks to the development of our fancy store locator. For the technically curious, we used the Google Maps API on a .NET framework and MSSQL dB. It's no simple coding exercise.
If you're in Philly a search will reveal 239 locations faster than you can say "I'll have a mint chip!"
Search here.
Saw this over the weekend:
Now that the Yellow Pages are (nearly) dead and local newspapers seem to be in big trouble the question for small business is, where to advertise?
This article suggests that new websites that focus on the neighborhood-level will try and fill the gap, and my quick search of www.everyblock.com was very interesting. There are plenty of ways to discuss the future of the local newspaper, but from an advertising perspective for the small/medium enterprise we're still years away from these sites being the best option.
The key is exposure and traffic. An example: If someone is looking for granite countertops for their kitchen in the San Francisco Bay Area, are they going to go to everyblock.com? 1 out of 100 sure, becuase they heard about the site. The other 99 people are going to the search engines like Google and searching for "granite countertops in the bay area." The search engines are where people go for answers, and if your site is on the first couple pages of the search, your phone will probably ring.
As information resorces on local neighborhoods, these sites are very cool. read the full article here.
Wheel Media recently launched a new website for Cricket, the global leader in salon shears and products. I'll spare you the puns when describing our cutting-edge work (oops, that one slipped...) and keep it simple.
The new site contains hundreds of products and detailed information on each. We used a programming structure that is especially friendly to search engines, because the broad range of product brands in the Cricket family are well known in the salon industry.
We opted for very large detail views of products because we want the visitor to see and appreciate the quality and precision in the product design.
Next, we created an easily searchable database of suppliers, moving our visitors seamlessly from browsing to purchase. To stay top-of-mind with our clients and coordinate efforts at tradeshows and events we envisioned an email marketing campaign. We'll use rich HTML emails for promotions, product launches and more, and the back-end will manage the mailing and tracking of each campaign.
You'll also find a pretty engaging animated product tour on the homepage. Thanks to all the sharp folks at Cricket for their work on the project.
Take a look at www.cricketco.com.
OK, so it's not the new, new thing, but on LeverageBlog, I've always fancied the useful thing.
I've found that Social Bookmarking is still unfamiliar to most of my clients, so I've posted another fantastic video from Common Craft to help people along. Hey, click the arrow.
The most common question we heard last week: What is a Podcast?
I'll rely on the talent at Common Craft again, and thank them again for sharing the info. Ready for your first podcast? I recommend the earnest, enlightening stories of This American Life. Find them here.
Wheel Media is pleased to announce the launch of a new blog from The Center for Citizens Initiatives: Russia: Other Points of View (ROPV).
ROPV is an alternative perspective on the current economic, political and cultural environment in Russia
today. In-depth news, research, interviews and more inform academics, analysts and everyone interested in following the growth of Russia.
Our services included the creation of a design to meet client preferences, custom programming to enable the posting of images, articles and files within the blog's pages, and training to enable the CCI team to maintain and grow their blog. Unique features include email subscriptions to help drive traffic to the blog, and a search tool to enable visitors to find information on topics of interest.
Congrats to CCI for their introduction of a new voice in media coverage of Russia.
Great new article in Forbes about how to hire a firm to optimize (i.e., SEO) your site for the search engines. Here's an excerpt:
For small companies that rely on search engines to drum up customers, search engine optimization is an essential part of doing business. While a committed individual can learn the basics of optimization, the process can be complicated and time consuming. But if you're thinking about hiring a consultant, avoid going with a firm whose pitch sounds too good to be true... more
To see some search engine optimization results, see this google search for "san francisco web site design" GO. Wheel Media is our result (and also the SEO firm)
For a product specific search, see this google search for "used anesthesia machines". GO. Anesthesia Plus is the client.
SEO doesn't need to cost an arm and a leg. Get a quick quote here.
This Friday I offer you some smart ideas about Public Relations in today's online world. A few highlights:
- Optimizing news releases for search.
- Utilizing online distribution services to reach thousands of web sites and blogs.
- Leveraging advanced social media features including TrackBacks/PingBacks and Technorati tagging to extend the reach of your news.
- Developing content that attracts your key audiences and drives traffic to your site.
Thanks to PRWeb and David for the open distribution.
