News
Archive for March, 2009
It takes no more than a quick peek at a list of the most popular and often visited websites to see how social networking sites reign supreme. Facebook, Myspace and YouTube are all within the top five sites most visited, sitting only behind Yahoo and Google in popularity. Sites like Twitter and Blogger are climbing rapidly. With social networking sites receiving such high traffic, it makes sense more than ever to include it in any successful internet business plan.
Media Genesis is currently using social networking sites to increase our client’s visibility, as well as our own, with a lot of varied and successful techniques. We have set up Facebook pages for clients’ companies, and for some unique individual campaigns. This winter, The Salvation Army and MG teamed up with Detroit Red Wings coach Mike Babcock and player Darren McCarty to use their extensive social networks to promote the “Online Red Kettle” program encouraging donations to the Salvation Army. Media Genesis created videos for Babcock, McCarty and several other advocates of The Salvation Army and the videos were then posted on YouTube. By utilizing YouTube’s far reaching sphere of influence, we were able to reach more people than with traditional methods.
YouTube is proving to be an invaluable resource for those wanting to display videos without overhauling their website to allow for it, and with the ability to add information and new content in real time. Facebook and LinkedIn can be utilized to present a fresh face and side to a business or non-profit – even a particular campaign – and reach new people in a fresh and more modern way. Sites like Twitter, which sends out updates – short messages – in real time to subscribers via the web and mobile phones can be used to inform people immediately of news worthy events, promotions, or just fun information that creates a closer bond between client and customer. MG client Belle Tire is currently utilizing Twitter to inform customers of new sales and promotions.
Lastly, more and more companies are building social networking features into their own sites. Customizable profile pages, for example, allow people to have more of a vested interest in visiting a site more often, as well as interact with other users.
The numbers don’t lie – in the last year, social networking sites have continued to climb in popularity. The most popular features for mobile phones are social network related, and in the last year, mobile phone visits to social networking sites has risen almost 500 percent. For organizations trying to reach new people and keep hold of those they currently have, social networking has provided an answer.
To get a better understanding of how to use social media, contact Media Genesis at inquiry@mediaG.com.
Or, friend us on Facebook and Twitter!
When a website visitor is prompted to enter information they seldom comply. But when some personal information is entered in exchange for something of value, getting a users information is much more likely to happen. Take IBM’s whitepapers for example; a valuable document from leaders in different fields is taken and made available to site visitors after they provide their name and email to IBM.
Good content is the key to creating comfort and trust from your audience. When you appear as an expert on a given subject, people will treat you like one. If you want to be contacted about a service or product you offer, give all the details, talk process or do whatever it is you have to show your expertise on the subject. Don’t ask questions to be answered in your content; create content that sparks interest to the point that questions will be asked about it.
Place user information intake forms directly where a site visitor may want to inquire for more information. A simple form, asking for only name, email, and a question/comment area within a sidebar often does the trick. Site visitors are on your website to learn more, this is your chance to personally teach them. A form like this sets up the possibility of a one-on-one with someone.
When approaching the task of creating contact forms the K.I.S.S. principal applies. Keeping your forms simple and non intrusive is the best way to get the ball rolling in a professional relationship. Don’t set up a link to a multiple-field form with information that is only necessary to have when a purchase is made. Try and limit intake forms to 4 fields or less and place them directly on the pages with pertinent information, when users are likely to have questions.
Even though these sound like simple principles, they are highly effective. The goal is always to give the user what they need in the least amount of clicks. If you’re not getting the conversation rates you need, start by assessing and modifying your process in big ways and small.
Believe it or not, one of our favorite things to do at MG is to reward our readers with fun and interesting gifts. This month, Media Genesis has partnered with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and will be giving away an “Ultimate Symphony Package for Two” to one lucky MG Newsletter reader.
Included in the package:
- 2 tickets to Slatkin & Mahler, for Saturday, April 25th, at 8:30PM. For more details, view the show.
- Parking Voucher
- Access to the Herman & Sharon Frankel Donor Lounge (pictured above)
- Complimentary drinks and desserts in the Donor Lounge
To be entered in the drawing, all you must do is leave a comment on ANY blog post from the April Newsletter with your first and last name. You don’t need to register, but please remember to leave us your email so we can contact you (emails are not published in the blog).
All our April posts:
- Incorporate social networking into your marketing plan
- Microsoft Silverlight shows it can play the video game too
- How To: Successfully represent your company in just one picture
- Increasing the flow of Internet leads through contact forms
- Media Genesis Launches Luxury Real Estate into Web and Mobile Web
- Antoine Dubeauclard deported to France for alleged role in cheese smuggling operation
Good luck!
(TROY, Mich.)— For real estate companies, maximizing presence on the web and the mobile web has become a critical area of focus.
Oil Nut Bay, a development on the tip of Virgin Gorda of the British Virgin Islands (BVI), recently launched their website. The sites, www.oilnutbay.com and www.oilnutbay.mobi, feature lush photography and enticing descriptions of Caribbean real estate.
The site was designed and built by Media Genesis, a Troy web development company, that previously built a mobile version of the site. Both sites—though aimed at the same audience—take different design approaches for their respective media.
The standard site displays at a 900 x 650 resolution in a normal web browser, whereas the mobile site adapts to fit the screen size of the mobile device and is optimized for mobile browsing.
Mobile browsing functionality was a critical client concern for Oil Nut Bay’s target clientele, both due to the content of the site itself, an array of photographs showcasing Oil Nut Bay’s highlights, as well as the function—simply having a mobile website targeted toward an on-the-go crowd demonstrates an extra level of customer concern.
In order to drive traffic to the correct site, Media Genesis performed special programming that would differentiate specific browser sizes and capabilities. The programming directs users based on device browser either to the .mobi site or the .com site.
Victor International is a luxury real estate developer headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan. Some of their developments include: Bay Harbor, Michigan, the Biras Creek Resort in the BVI, and Oil Nut Bay. For more information please visit www.victorintl.com.
Media Genesis has developed a range of websites tailored for specific clientele with accurate delivery and messaging, in both the mobile web and standard web. For more information please visit www.mediaG.com.
Watching videos online has become a common occurrence among many internet users. According to a CNN article, about 7.7 million people watched the inauguration of President Barack Obama online, potentially making it the single most-watched event in the history of live web video.
That said, providing the technology to stream video online is becoming competitive. Both the Presidential Inauguration Committee and 2009 NCAA March Madness have gone with the relatively new Microsoft Silverlight.
Silverlight is a web browser plug-in that streams video and audio. The viewing scale ranges from mobile devices and desktop browsers to high definition video modes. It also allows users to create graphics and animation, among other features. Silverlight’s main competitor currently is Adobe Flash, which has been around for several years and has a strong following in the market.
As with any type of technology there are some limitations. For development purposes, both Silverlight and Flash have to be created on Windows. However, Silverlight 2.0 has to be played on Windows or a Mac operating system, so people using Linux will not be able to play it on their machines. Flash can be played on any operating system, excluding some mobile devices. Also, since Silverlight is using the Windows video format, avi and .mov files can’t be viewed. A large majority of files on websites such as YouTube have these alternate types of video files.
On the plus side, the debugging process is simpler with Silverlight than with Flash. And since a variety of development languages can be used for Silverlight, such as JavaScript and .Net it is easier to maintain for a programmer. Flash, however, can only be programmed in Action Script. Also, Silverlight has XAML based presentation layer for Search Engine Optimization, which has the potential to bring greater traffic to a website. Search Engines can read XML and XAML better than they can Flash.
The development and programming team at Media Genesis is always looking for better technical solutions and are currently researching the pros and cons of using Microsoft Silverlight.
For more information contact inquiry@mediaG.com
Sometimes putting your best foot forward is all about your face. Corporate portraiture is just as much about the identity of the subject, as it is about the company it will represent. Just taking a mug shot of an executive or team member to prove that they work for you isn’t enough.
The faces that walk in the door everyday become the collective face of the company, and good photography will bring out the best in that relationship.
Deciding to get portraits made isn’t as simple as the subject putting on their best outfit and standing in front of anyone with a camera. Good portrait photography is about projection. The subject needs to exude the emotion, confidence or charisma of the greater organization. Furthermore, the photographer in charge must be able to understand the missions and public personas of the company so the he or she can best capture that from the subject. Finally, the two must have a report. A good photographer will put the subject at ease, and it will show.
Consultation with your photographer before these things happen can be critical. You should determine if you want simple portraits, environmental shots or a variety of the two. Post production of the photography also plays a role in how your images are conveyed.
If your company is trying to project engineering proficiency and hard work, you might opt for black and white headshots of determined managers and engineers. A company that is aiming to showcase creativity might, for example, choose environmental portraits with vivid colors or thematic settings. A combination of moods might also be helpful, if you want to use the shots in the media or as part of newsletters or releases.
At the end of the day, determining what the pictures are going to say, before they are taken, will be critical in having the desired outcome.
Photography has an immediate impact on viewers, who will assign a personality, temperament and level of approachability to a subject with just one glance. Creating the right image is putting your best foot forward.
(TROY, Mich.) – IISG LLC, or Inland Industrial Services Group, found that as their business rapidly expanded, a website was needed not only to bring one cohesive identity to the company, but also with the potential to grow and change along with them.
IISG acquired five unaffiliated industrial service companies since 2005, yet each company still had its own web site and individuality – making them appear disjointed and unrelated to IISG.
As a result, Media Genesis, a Troy-based web development company, created a web site for IISG, www.iisgllc.com, that provided one marketable brand and identity for the five separate and distinct industrial service companies.
The website was built in less than three months and features thorough case studies, advanced flash development, a substantial video library and a detailed location map.
It was built from a marketing stand point and caters to the different industries they service – for example, refining, steel and automotive.
Media Genesis is a leading independent provider of programming solutions, intranets, Microsoft SharePoint, and a range of web development services. For more information please visit www.mediaG.com.
Even if you are familiar with the term social networking, do you know what it means and understand everything it entails? Every day you hear about major brands and big name companies succumbing to this new form of advertising. How are they doing it and is it working?
We’re all familiar with the most popular websites for social networking, Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn, and now Twitter. The key to social marketing is to remember that it should be used as a two way communication street. No one wants marketing messages being constantly blasted directly at them. Keep these principles in mind when starting out:
1. Be authentic and human. Feel free to share fun and entertaining info, and even some annoying aspects of your workday. Tell people about your latest big event, or complain about the weather. Anything that opens up a chance for conversation. Just stay away from things that would paint a negative or derogatory image of your brand.
2. Be consistent and choose the right networks. Just like in high school, you didn’t feel the need to be friends with every single clique. Find the ones that make the most sense for your business and your consumers. And remember to keep the same messaging and personality across each network. You shouldn’t be reinventing your marketing approach specifically for online traffic. Stay consistent with the values and principles of your business.
3. Set realistic goals and measure your progress. Don’t make it all about the numbers, but more about making an impact. You want your customers to feel like they have a connection with you, and ideally you want them to include their friends into your clique. That means that you will have to put some time into this venture. Don’t start off hot and heavy and then let your communications dwindle.
If you’re interested in starting a campaign, the best advice we can give is to jump right in. In the beginning it might be a slow process, but the more time you put into it the more it will pay off for you.
Analytics are to traffic reports what shredded meat is to a burrito. They take the boring, unappealing numbers and transcend them into something deliciously more appetizing. Basically, if you currently have website traffic reports but are not using analytics to their full potential then you are missing out on all the meat.
The big question is what do you do after you get the numbers? That’s where analytics comes into play – it’s the practice of interpreting statistics and numbers into action items and benchmarks. Three measures we will focus on are bounce rates vs. exit rates, referring sites/searches and goal setting.
Bounce rates vs. exit rates
When a visitor comes to your site and goes beyond the point of entry and leaves the site this is considered an exit. When a visitor only views the page they entered your site on and leaves, this is considered a bounce. Bounce rates are particularly important because if they are greater than exit rates your site may have a usability or content issue. High bounce rates are a sign that the visitor is not seeing the info they want or becoming disinterested because of another feature on the site or webpage. Pages with high bounce rates should be studied and changed where necessary.
Referring sites
Referrals from other websites and search engines usually are the primary source of traffic for many websites. Just as in the real world, the source of referrals often determines the quality and relative importance of it. If your site is part of a blind link referral system or you have subscribed to every free business directory known to man than you may need to reconsider your strategy. In order to gain higher ranking in search engines, links must be credible. Referral sources have a direct impact on how well your site is indexed in major search engines. Search engines are most likely your largest referrer of traffic so play to them first. By seeing where your traffic is coming from, you will get a better idea of what marketing efforts are paying off.
Goal setting
Once you have identified different issues in your site using analytics the best thing to do is set goals. Use analytics to track the progress of your goals on a scheduled basis. Concentrate on getting users to complete the actions you deem important.
Here is an example of how to set a goal based on analytics:
Problem: From using traffic reports you found the most popular pages on your website, but you notice they do not allow users to submit contact information directly from that page.
Goal: Create user intake forms for each of the specific subjects and monitor the completion rate against the exit rate for each page the form is implemented on. If the exit or bounce rate is higher than consider changing the approach to conversion or changing the page.
Goal setting is a very useful measure that should take all the aspects of your business and possibilities pertaining to your business online into consideration. If done correctly, analytic based goal setting should act as a blueprint for success for site. You can see where your users are coming from and what they do while on your website. You can even tell what pages they are leaving from. So, put your traffic reports to good use.
Vegetarians are cool and all, but you definitely need the meat to make the most of your website.
(TROY, Mich.)— They say necessity is the mother of invention, and from such necessity Troy, Michigan based Media Genesis has invented a new application that will streamline the corporate assignment process.
Media Genesis’ “Whiteboard” application, named after the traditional markerboard style of assignment giving, utilizes advanced programming protocols to limit foot traffic and repetitive emailing as ways to check on a project’s status. Project managers and department heads can use the application to monitor an employee’s workload status as they work on varied assignments.
Using a web-portal, or online login, the program utilizes PHP and Adobe Flex programming technologies to make it user-friendly, graphically unique and aesthetically pleasing.
“Whiteboard” uses “microblogging” functionality, so popular today on sites like Twitter and Facebook, to allow employees to designate a color-coded status and a limited description of the workload. Employees are grouped according to department for easy survey and the employee statuses are fully sortable according to different categories.
“Being able to view status via a web portal helps both streamline and inform decisions about task delegation and greatly improves overall intra-company communication,” said Antoine Dubeauclard, president of Media Genesis.
WhiteBoard can be fully customized to conform to a company’s existing look-and-feel, as well as tailored to display specified fields of information. The application is also integrable with existing information streamline tools such as intranets, Microsoft SharePoint, and web portals, tools which Media Genesis has also provided.
Media Genesis is a leading independent provider of programming solutions, intranets, Microsoft SharePoint, and a range of web development services. For more information please visit www.mediaG.com.
