Search Engine Marketing Tip!

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In my past efforts, as a search engine marketing provider, I was often just trying to get warm bodies to the site I was promoting. Well, perhaps I was being a bit broad in my vision.

For those who are confused by the terms of digital marketing, SEM or Search Engine Marketing is the process of bidding for keywords to inject your advertising message into the search results of search engine users who are actively seeking information on the keywords you are advertising to.

Search Engine Marketing Gets Your Message To The Top of the Results

SEM can be a truly powerful tool for promoting your business, but is it enough to just get people to your site? Does it not make much more sense to drive a targeted and motivated audience and position tools on your site to capture that lead, for future contact? Of course it does, and that is what I want to discuss with you today. I will start by describing my prior efforts with SEM and finish by explaining why my new strategy works much, much better.

In the past I wanted visitors. Without visitors I could not allow the powerful marketing tool, which is the website, to do its job and entice those visitors to become clients or customers. I would bid on extremely broad terms, keep the bids really low and and use the information within the website to funnel those visitors into the sales stream. The problem I had, and did not even realize, was the cost of conversion. I knew conversion was low, I just did not realize how horribly expensive it was. Allow me to post two (2) examples and see which you would choose.

EXAMPLE 1: I am selling Christmas tree ornaments using broad terms to get ‘warm bodies’ to the site. I would use keywords such as ‘Christmas’, ‘holidays’, ‘ornaments’ and ‘decorations’. Let’s assume I get an average cost per click of $.15 (fifteen cents) and get 2500 visitors, I will have spent $375.

EXAMPLE 2: I am still selling the ornaments, but I am targeting a much narrower audience and I have created a separate landing page with a marketing message directed specifically towards the keyword the visitor used to get to me. I will have bid on keywords such as ‘custom Christmas ornaments’, ‘hand made ornaments’ and ‘unique Christmas decorations’. My keywords are much more refined, and therefore are more expensive. I get an average cost per click of $1.15 and get 325 visitors. I have spent $373 in this scenario.

My campaign cost was nearly identical, but in scenario #2 I get less than 15% of the clicks I got in scenario #1. Which example would you choose?

Let’s look a little deeper into our results, before we say ‘final answer’. In example #1 I got 2500 visitors to a general landing page (in some cases even just the site home page) which advertised my message to the visitor. It cost me $.15 to get each visitor, so what did I get for my money. I had 15 new newsletter subscribers and 2 new paying customers. My newsletter conversion was .6% (just over 1/2 percent). Each newsletter subscriber cost me $25 ($375 / 15). Of those subscribers, only 2 ended up purchasing. Each new customer cost me $187.50 ($375 / 2). If I am not making more than $187.50 profit on each new sale my only hope for a profitable campaign will rest upon having captured 15 new email contacts for my newsletter.

Now let’s move on to example #2. I created a separate landing page for each keyword. Each landing page drove for a newsletter subscription by giving away some valuable information for each sign up. I also marketed directly to the keyword, making my message much more targeted and relevant. Of my 325 visitors I would have gotten an average 10% newsletter subscribers, or 32 new email contacts costing me approximately $10 each. I will also have gotten approximately 3% (9) new purchases, costing me $36.11 each.

In example #2 not only did I double my new contacts, for future sales opportunities, but I also reduced my cost per new sale to a manageable amount offering me the chance to make my campaign profitable.

The moral of the story is this: do the extra work, up front, and create a more well rounded campaign. Create customized messages for each keyword, or at least funnel like keywords to a common landing page. Create some unique and valuable content you can give away in exchange for a newsletter subscription. Last, but not least, avoid common keywords which waste clicks on general searches which are not really looking for your products or services.

If you are interested in having me and my organization help you build a successful digital marketing plan call us, The Cobi Group, at (704) 249-3825 or use the contact form to email me directly.

The scenarios and examples on this page are for representational purposes only and do not imply a guarantee of results. Each situation is unique and results will vary.

How To Make Smooth Borders and Shadows In GIMP

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Pixelated VS. Smooth Borders

Today we are going to be discussing borders and shadows in GIMP. If you have ever tried to make web graphics, with borders or shadowing, in GIMP, you have no doubt been confronted with pixelated and rasterized outlines that look just terrible.

Today I am going to teach you a way in which you can make these same outlines and drop shadows, but they will be super smooth and professional looking.

The first thing we want to do is, of course, open GIMP. Create a new 640 pixel X 480 pixel document at 72 dpi (dots per inch). I create my document with a black (#000000) foreground and a white (#FFFFFF) background. Using the ellipse tool, create a circle in the middle of your new canvas (circle size and proportion do not matter).

Create a circle on a new 640px X 480px Image at 72dpi.

With your new circle outlined,mouse up to your menu and click ‘Select’ → ‘Border’. A small details window will pop up, type 5 into the border size text field and select ‘px’ from the drop down menu. Leave the two check boxes unchecked. Click ‘OK’. Your single line circle outline will become a double line outline.

Create a new 5px border around your circle.

Create a new layer, making sure your background layer is left solid white. With the new layer selected hold in the Ctrl key (on PC) and press the ‘,’ (comma) key. Your double line border should now be filled with solid black, leaving the circle in the middle unfilled.

Fill your border with black.

Mouse up to your menu and click ‘Select’ → ‘None’. You now have a rather choppy black circle in the middle of your page. This rasterized border is absolutely not professional looking nor fit for publishing.

We have created a choppy and unprofessional border.

So, how can we fix our border to make it smooth enough to proudly publish on our site? Easy! We just create our image, initially, at 300 dpi. Because we are creating a much more detailed image, we will need to multiply our sizes by approximately 4.17. Start over, at the beginning of this tutorial, with the above instructions, but this time create a new image 2670px X 2002px at 300dpi.

Create a new 300dpi canvas.

When creating your border, size it at 21px. Once your border is created, you simply mouse up to your menu and click ‘Image’ → ‘Scale Image…’. Change your image size and resolution to the settings in the image below.

Change your image size and resolution.

You now have a nice and professional looking border which you can proudly publish, for the world to see.

You have now created your professional looking smooth border.

GRADIENTS / Drop SHADOWS

You can use this same technique to create smooth gradient transitions and shadowing. Just initially create your canvas at 4.17 times your finished image size. Once your image is complete just resize the image and change the resolution to 72 dots per inch, it is just that simple.

Be sure and contact me about creating a tutorial on a technique you would like to learn. Together we will make the web a much nicer looking place to be.

SEO Magic! Get Found By The Search Engines

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Have you ever wondered how to get your web site or blog found and indexed higher up in the search engines? There is a little known trick I have found and I will share it with you today.

Before I tell you the secret, allow me to brag a bit about the results I have gotten, in a very short period of time, by using this fantastic technique. On www.google.com using the search term “gimp glass button tutorial” I have gotten the #2 position on the first page. I check my site stats regularly and have been seeing this search term, as well as other similar terms, referred to in my analytics.

Page 1 Second Spot on Google

The above image is an actual screen capture of my search results. You can see that my post was created on Jan. 17, 2013 and today is February 10, 2013. In fewer than 30 days Google has picked up, indexed and ranked my post in the top five results for my search term. If you are not getting these types of results, give me a call at (704) 249-3825 and we can get to work boosting your search engine rankings.

OK, now for the secret. Would you hate me if I told you there is no secret? As bloggers and web site owners we often forget what search engines are actually for. They are not made to help people on the internet find your web site, they are to help searchers on the internet find relevant content that matches their search terms. The two scenarios sound similar, but are actually polar opposites. Search engine developers strive to provide their visitors with the best results possible based on their search. So, how does a web designer get to the top? Simple, stop trying to get to the top! Start writing your posts for the people who will be reading your content. Use the best possible spelling and grammar you can. Your grammar does not have to be perfect, but it needs to at least look and sound like the language it is written in.

Here are a few bullet points that may help:

Watch your spelling. THERE, THEY’RE and THEIR are NOT interchangeable. “Their is a boat on the water” makes absolutely no logical sense. Computer algorithms will discard this as meaningless.
ALT tags and <meta> tags should always be used. This is as close to SEO black arts (“black hat” in SEO lingo) as you should ever get. Make sure your ALT and <meta> tags are relevant to your content.
There is a time and place for the Ellipsis (…) Yes, I know, I am guilty of this one too. WE should immediately stop using the ellipsis as a stand in for proper grammar. Let’s try to not confuse the search engines algorithms.
Write for human readers. Don’t try to “fool” the search engines. You may actually be successful fooling them. However, once they discover the spoof (and they will) you will be penalized and your site may never see a top 1000 result ever again (OK, so I am being a bit over the top, but you get the picture).

My secret: stop looking for secrets. Write good content. Share, teach and contribute, you will be amazed at just how powerful this little “secret” will work for you.

Another Glass Button Tutorial For GIMP, The Glass Pill

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glass_pill In a previous tutorial I covered the technique to create a “glass” button or menu. The style of that previous tutorial is well suited to creating menus and “chicklets”, those little square buttons that are used to promote FaceBook, Twitter and other social media links. That tutorial can be found by clicking here.

In this tutorial we will be creating the more popular “glass pill” style glass button. In our next tutorial we will create a sprite of our button and create a PHP class to dynamically build buttons to be placed into your web page content.

Ready? Great! First launch GIMP and create a new document. I created 640 pixel X 480 pixel at 72 dpi. Immediately create a new layer and name it gradient, our background needs to remain unused so we can create a transparent .png file. Once you have the gradient layer created grab the “Rectangle Select Tool” and turn on Rounded Corners, set the radius to 20. 20round

Draw a rectangle in the middle of your new document (making sure the “gradient” layer is selected pill_outline

You can create your button in any color you want, just set the foreground several shades darker than the background. The background should be very light. set_gradient

Next fill in your gradient outline. gradient_fill

Now, create a new layer, above the gradient layer, and name it “Lg Shine”. We will create, as the name suggests, a large light reflection, or shine, on the button. The next step will be to create another new layer, again on top, and name it “Sm Shine”. You guessed it, to create a small reflection. To create the reflections you will need to set your foreground to white and your gradient tool to “FG to transparent”. The steps are grouped into a two images: white_trans

Draw your Lg Shine and Sm Shine outlines as seen in the image below. When creating the shine, position your mouse according to the upper and lower plus marks, in each reflection, when filling the shine layers with the white to transparent gradient.

steps

That’s all there is to it. It is truly a simple technique which can add a fantastic, and professional looking, style to your web site.

I hope this tutorial has been helpful.

Podcasting Can Mean Traffic!

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When you, I or anyone creates a web site we are ultimately looking for traffic to come to our site. Often, one of the most frustrating problems a budding web site owner faces is the same problem faced by nearly every other site owner on the web; how do you get traffic to your site?

One of the most exciting marketing tools to come along, for marketing your site and your message, is podcasting. Making a podcast is quite simple, all you need is a microphone, a computer and an idea. Your podcast does not have to be a huge production, you can get by with just recording your thoughts and putting the recording up on the pod cast stores, such as iTunes. For the more creative minded podcaster you can use background music and sound effects to create a full production recording.

Looking for a cheap and simple marketing tool, look no further. You control the content, you control the recording and you control the message. So, what are you waiting for, start recording your podcast today and perhaps you can start enjoying your new site visitors tomorrow.

How Much Should You Pay For Web Design?

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How much should you pay for your web design? Now there is a loaded question. I am certain the opinions on this topic run the board, from free to tens of thousands of dollars. Realistically though, how much should a good quality web design cost?

Before you try to answer the question, ask yourself a few other, relevant, questions first:

What is the purpose of the web site?
If your site is a personal site, you may actually be able to get by without spending any money on web design. There are thousands of nice looking theme templates available for WordPress, Joomla and other CMS (Content Management Systems) software. If your site is not a business, this can save you a lot of money. If your site is for your business, you would be well advised to allow a professional to design your site. A web design pro will know how to use color, image compression, media elements and page layout to maximize your message. A business’s web site should be an extension of the company brand, not just a thrown together second thought.
Who is the intended audience?
Your audience is critical when designing your site. The more sophisticated your audience the more compelling your design may need to be, to attract and hold their attention. If your site cannot hold the attention of your audience, there is no reason to have it in the first place.

The complexity of the site’s architecture may push your investment up, considerably. As a developer/designer I am amused by statements such as, “I don’t want to spend a lot, I just want a simple site, like Facebook.” Really, a SIMPLE site like FaceBook?! The reason FB looks so simple, to the user, is because of all the pain staking coding and development that took place in order to make the site so “simple”; not to mention the $12.7 million that was invested to make it what it has become. What I am saying is simply this, divide your investment into two parts, your design budget and your development budget. Here’s why I say that. If you ask me to build you a FaceBook, I will inform you it will takes hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of dollars to develop. However, if you tell me to create you a site that LOOKS like FaceBook, I can do that very inexpensively. FB has an extraordinarily simple layout. The real cost of FB comes in when each of the design elements starts to function.

So, how much should you pay? While I can not answer that directly I will give you this advice. When choosing a designer, get references. Look at the designer’s portfolio and compare his or her work to others you are interviewing. The less developed the portfolio and the lower the quality of the designers’ previous work, the lower your offer should be. Just like any other art based service, you will have to pay more for high quality. If your site has little to no artistic flair, don’t pay too much for your design. Just remember the previous paragraph though, design and development are two different things and should be budgeted and priced accordingly.

Content, Content, Content…

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As I learn more about blogging, and strive to develop my skills, I am learning that one of the most important components of your blog is your content. Your logo, color schemes, layout and widgets are all useful, but the articles you write are what will make or break your blog.

Coming from a web design background it is hard for me to place my design and layout on the back burner, especially when I am just learning what makes for good content. My article writing skills are far from perfect, yet I refuse to allow myself to hide behind ‘site development’ as an excuse for not launching and moving forward. I have, in my inventory, around a dozen really great web site ideas that are partially developed. Why partially developed? I would spend six or eight months developing my site, tweaking and then re-tweaking until I came up with another idea → repeat.

Researchitis – The condition or state of unending research of a project. A crippling and debilitating condition which prevents the afflicted from moving forward.

Ok, so my homemade definition for researchitis doesn’t exactly stand up to Webster’s standards, but I think it gets the point across equally well. Those of us who suffer from it know it is a terrible and powerful force; one which I was determined to beat, this time. Therefore, I present to you a blog that is infinitely imperfect and flawed… but it IS! My greatest challenge now is to attempt to create compelling content which entices you to read, respond, contribute and return for more. I am not sure how well I am doing yet, but I will keep digging and producing. Hopefully you will keep reading, learning and sharing.

If you have not done so, I invite you to read through my prior posts. They are all very short and take no time, at all, to read. Send me your honest input about how well or poorly I am doing, I would love to have your honest constructive criticism. I can’t grow and move forward if I am not aware of what I am doing correctly and what I am doing wrong.

Slow Down and Do It Right!

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I have recently decided to read back through my prior posts. I wanted to see if I had made any improvements in my writing style and/or the quality of my content. What I have discovered, much to my dismay, is just how poorly I have monitored and edited my materials. In my welcome post I stated that my grammar sucks, and that is true. However, there is no excuse for the poor editing, misspellings and lack of apostrophes in contractions.

What I have discovered, mostly, is that I need to slow down. I need to write what’s on my mind, save a draft then go back and critically proof read the article. In my haste to share my thoughts, I have made my articles nearly impossible to enjoy reading.

My promise, going forward, is to maintain better control over the errors in my content. I wish I could guarantee no errors, but I will strive to keep them to a minimum.

How To Make Glass Buttons & Menus with GIMP

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Today, we will be creating this glass bar effect glassbar

UPDATE: I have also posted the tutorial to create a “Glass Pill” style button (below). CLICK HERE to visit that tutorial. glass_pill

Pages across the web are decorated with fancy buttons and menu bars. Among the most popular styles I have seen people attempt to create are glass or refractive/reflective colors, popularized mostly by the Apple website in years past. The unfortunate thing is, it can be tricky to properly achieve the effect of light passing through and reflecting back into the color. When done correctly the effect is quite realistic and impressive, when done wrong it can be a disaster.

Let’s start small. Open GIMP and create a new document 640×480 pixels, 72 dpi, white background. Once your new document is ready create a rectangle with rounded corners, say 5 pixels. Make your rectangle long and thin, about 450×55 pixels.

GIMP Rectangle Select Tool

Once you have created your rectangle set your foreground color to a base color for your bar, I will pick blue. You will also need to set your background color to a much lighter shade of your color.

Select a dark and a light color

Create a new layer and name it ‘Gradient’. Be sure to leave your background layer solid white. Fill in your rectangle, on your Gradient layer, with the gradient tool, set (FG to BG RGB), from top to bottom, holding the CTRL key to keep the gradient straight.

Create your gradient base

Keep the same rectangle shape and create a new layer, naming it highlights. reset your colors to black and white then revers the order making white your foreground color. Set the gradient to (FG to Transparent) making it fade from white to nothing. In your menu click SELECT->SHRINK set the shrink selection by: 1px. On the Highlights layer make your white gradient from the top down.

Create a white gradient highlight

A lot of tutorials would call that finished. Well, no me. I want my glass to look like glass. So, let’s continue. in the menu SELECT->FEATHER feather your selection by: 25 pixels and hit delete.

Delete after feathering your selection

We now need to create some light reflection, to give our colors a more realistic look. Grab your rectangle tool again and set rounded corners to 20px. Create a new layer and name it reflection. Now draw a thin rectangle just inside the corner highlights at the top of your bar.

Create a new solid white rectangle

Set your reflection layer opacity to 10% (10%-25% depending on how much reflection you want to bring out) and reposition the reflection layer until you are satisfied with the effect.

Your Finished Glass Bar

You can now add ground reflections, textures and other effects to customize your look.

Add Texture to Customize Your Look

How To Make Your PHP Scripts More Secure

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From time to time it is necessary to build complex php scripts which span several files, such as dynamic CMS systems. These scripts build a central page by calling the individual parts of the page and assembling them before rendering the finished page on the client browser. There is a slight security risk involved with this technique, however. If a client were to properly guess the file name of your page components it could be possible to reveal information you don’t wish to be divulged, or more likely it is possible for someone to use your page content outside your site without your knowledge by rendering your content within their page.

There is a very simple security fix to prevent this from happening. By defining a variable within your main script you are able to check that the variable has been set within each of the component scripts. In your main script put your variable definition in place prior to calling your components:


<?php
define('YOUR_PRIVATE_VARIABLE_NAME','true');
include_once('component.php');
?>

Now, in your component script you need to check if the definition has been set. This should be done before your script renders any information.


<?php
defined('YOUR_PRIVATE_VARIABLE_NAME' or die('This script can not be run stand alone.');
...PHP SCRIPT CODE...
?>

In the main script you use the command ‘define’ to set the variable. In each component script you will use the command ‘defined’ to query whether the variable has been set. Because you have set the variable in the main script and called the component using ‘include_once()’ your component will inherit all of the variables that are set in the main script, including your defined variable.

Should the component.php file be called by itself the check for the defined variable will fail, triggering the ‘or die()’ section of the ‘defined’ statement. The client browser will simply render the text ‘This script can not be run stand alone.’ instead of processing the script’s code.

RL Connelly

Web Design, PHP, CSS and SEO …Let's share…

Search Engine Marketing Tip!

How To Make Smooth Borders and Shadows In GIMP

SEO Magic! Get Found By The Search Engines

Another Glass Button Tutorial For GIMP, The Glass Pill

Podcasting Can Mean Traffic!

How Much Should You Pay For Web Design?

Content, Content, Content…

Slow Down and Do It Right!

How To Make Glass Buttons & Menus with GIMP

How To Make Your PHP Scripts More Secure