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The key to a great social media strategy is in its simplicity. Just be awesome.

Posted by | Social Media | No Comments

In educating our clients on the intricacies of a great social media strategy, we at Webrank always try to paint a real-word picture to accurately convey our points.  We found an incredible cartoon at The Oatmeal that will greatly help with us paint this picture:

Be a Good Friend

Say you have this friend.  This friend is a talker.  You know the type, usually just speaking to hear their own voice.  Often, the subject winds up with some sort of self-promotion or trying to lead you in a decision that may benefit them but not necessarily you as well.  You value this friendship, but really only enough to not hurt your friend’s feelings.  To accomplish a desired state of a more distant & non-confrontational friendship status, you must slowly start to tune them out of your life.  When you are around this friend you really don’t pay attention, definitely don’t place value on what the friend has to tell you, and are usually trying to find a point of rescue or escape.

Now, say you have this OTHER friend.  This friend always seems to add something great to your life.  Whether its bringing just the right thing to your party, telling you about something awesome that might be right under your nose, sharing great experiences with you, or always suggesting killer restaurants.  This friend you really enjoy talking to.  You may not call this person everyday | every week |  every year, but when this person calls you, you smile and ALWAYS answer.  You value the communication that you and this friend share.

A great social media begins by YOU or your company becoming that great friend, not the super annoying friend that really doesn’t add any value to your being.  Its seems so easy, and it can be, but many complicate this process so much that they loose their way in an effective strategy.  In social media, you can become this great friend by producing great content, that’s it.  Content that your friends will appreciate, find useful, and of course want to share with their friends.  To some it up:  just be awesome

Social Media and Content Marketing

What kind of primo content do we speak of?  Well, it’s different for everyone, and this the key behind content marketing.  Drop us a line here at Webrank Media and let’s talk, we’ll hook you up with a custom social media strategy that conceived is just for you.  Our social media consultants will teach you exactly what kind of media to produce that will strengthen and expand your social network while adding authority and value to your brand.  We can make you awesome.

This cartoon by The Oatmeal sums it up wonderfully, check it out:

http://theoatmeal.com/comics/facebook_likes

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What Does the Introduction of Microsoft’s Surface Tablet Mean to Web Developers? A Whole Lot.

Posted by | Web Design and Development | No Comments

With this week’s introduction of Microsoft’s “Surface” tablet, web developers all over the world should be realizing one key point: This tablet was made to replace the laptop and PC. All of Microsoft’s Surface marketing, features, and hopefully price-point is screaming the message that MS wants consumers to hear. This is a personal computing device, not a tablet. Now, what does this mean for web developers and marketers? It means that we should no longer be developing websites to look beautiful on laptops and PC’s, but sites that will look super awesome on any device.

A Big Step in the Shift from PC’s & Laptops to Tablets for Working and Everyday Use

Of course, we at Webrank Media have long known this swing in paradigm. Our latest web projects are now fully responsive. What does this “responsive” mean you ask? Well, responsive website designs rearrange themselves to fit whatever size screen they are being viewed on. This means no more PC-only or mobile-only sites, and no more having to add sub-domains to main urls to achieve mobile-friendly goodness. Basically, cross-platform compatibility all on one place. One url to rule them all.

Stay tuned, our first two responsive designs should be out in about two weeks, and they are awesome. The BEST part of all this responsiveness: no more having to build 2 or 3 websites to ensure a sweet presence on every device. Nope, just one, and that means a HUGE cost savings for all. So we have that going for us, which is nice.

mobile-websites

Get Your Business Mobile… Yesterday

Posted by | Web Design and Development | No Comments

Mobile phones and tablets are revolutionizing the way we use the internet.  More people are now accessing the web on mobile devices that personal computers and laptops.  Mobile users are a different breed that pc people.  The mobile user is motivated, impatient, and picky.  They do not want to re-size and navigate your site with even two fingers.  Mobile websites should be effective, easy, and fit whatever screen they are being viewed on.  Your business’s website needs to be mobile friendly, yesterday, because your competition’s will be (if they are not already!)

Contact the Webrank team if your business or website needs to get mobile.  Mobile website has gotten more and more affordable in just this most recent year with the popularity of HTML5, mobile plugins, and really nice responsive designs.  Developing a really nice and super functional mobile website probably doesn’t cost as much as you think.

Drop us a line on our Contact Page and see for yourself.

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Battle of the Ad Giants: Facebook Vs. Google

Posted by | Web Advertising | No Comments

In the online advertising game, Facebook and Google are the obvious heavy hitters.  They reach the most people, have the most targeted ad delivery systems, and they are completely scalable to fit your budget.  Now the question is…do I advertise with Google Adwords or with Facebook Ads to best reach my audience?  Here’s our take…

Facebook

Facebook knows a whole lot about their users.  They can match ads to what kind of mood someone is in.  Not really…, but pretty close.  If someone talks about a subject pertaining to your business, BOOM! out comes your ad.  Since the average Facebook enthusiast spends about 20 mins a day on the site, that 20 mins could have your advertisement front and center in front of people talking about goods or services that you provide.  Sounds like a match made in heaven huh?

Google

Google knows where you’ve been, and they are starting to get to know users a little better with Google +, however the fledgling social network has been slow to catch on.  If you are cruising the net looking for a toaster, Google knows to show you ads from toaster retailers.  They also have ads on MANY websites out there, including most leading publishers.  This means news sites, gossip sites, community sites, social sites, magazine and video media, and a whole lot more.  They are everywhere on the web, not just restrained to one website.

So Who Wins?  You do.

In our minds, each of these two advertising venues may be better or worst depending on what is being advertised.  Entities that need laser-guided targeting may want to go with Facebook to reach a niche market.  Companies that operate on a global basis and have extremely high volumes may want to go with Google advertising to reach a more broad audience.

Of course what most businesses would want is the best of both worlds without having to spend big $ on a regular basis to keep the adverts going.  This can be accomplished.  Having effective social media strategy and quality SEO can get you there.  By building an online community within social networks, businesses can reach their targeted audience for free.  With kick-ass SEO, your website can appear at the top of search engine rankings, along with ads placed by Google.  This is also for free.  Establishing great SEO practices early on  and taking the time to get to know your consumer is a great way to keep your advertising budget down and keep your business on the “up & up”.

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3 Reasons to Choose Boutique Web Development VS. Large Corporation

Posted by | Web Design and Development | No Comments

Several large companies offering web development are putting out some great stuff, there is no doubt about that.  However, there are some pretty lofty drawbacks to dealing with large corporate entities when it comes to web design and development.  We often get asked – Why should I choose Webrank Media for my website over corporate entities such as Wix.com or Hubspot.com?  Well here it is…

“Freemium”

Corporations are WAY to good at drawing in clients with free services and then charging for those SAME services once the client has become in-twined with their company and web design software.  Sure you will save $ in the short term, but in the long term it will wind up costing you MUCH more.  Clients often do not realize that small to medium monthly payments add up.  If they get you on the hook for $99 per month, your stuck for the life of your website.  In two years, you have paid $2,400+ for a website that may not have cost nearly that to develop using a boutique web development firm such as Webrank.

Business to Web Integration

Big companies that do web development work on hundred if not thousands of projects at once.  They boast personal touch and support, but can it be effectively delivered with that kind of volume?  We say no.  Our internet professionals dig deep into your business to discover how you should be best represented on the web and what your audience is looking for in websites and web media within your market.  Customer service reps may brag similar services, often don’t pony up and personal touch is lost.

Mobile Devices and Tablets

Many of these big web development houses do not even offer mobile development, a key factor to future online success.  Others do work in Flash, which is greatly disliked by Apple products and usually will not function on them at all.  Since Apple is leading the way in mobile device technology, why would you want a website that doesn’t work on their products?  Here at Webrank, we are all HTML 5 and Javascript, no Flash will be found on our sites.  We were within Web 2.0 standards before they were standard.

panda

We Love Pandas! ..and Apparently So Does Google

Posted by | Search Engine | No Comments

Google has officially rolled out its new search update this week, Panda.  This new update is engineered to basically weed-out “low-quality sites” from its index.  It focuses on giving more search ranking weight to websites that continuously add fresh content, leaving static, stale websites to filter out of search results.

What does this mean for you?  Well, it means that you have to keep information on your website fresh and up-to-date in order to be ranked or stay in top rankings.  Many times, this is done with a blog function to keep users current on any news, media, or promotions you may be running.  This also keeps an stream of new, relevant content being added to your site.  Really its win-win.

What does this mean for Webrank?  Nothing.  We saw this coming from miles away.  Our websites come equipped with blog functionality and social media tools to keep fresh content coming in to your site.  We even have a program to teach clients how to take control of these features to add content themselves!  Get in touch with one of our team members to talk about how adding fresh content to your site can help increase visibility.