Strategic Website Architecture is the Secret to Large, Successful, Engaging Business Websites

Jun 5 2013 by Nikita Semenov
When I started writing this, the idea of a skyscraper construction project came to mind.
I thought of a huge skyscraper with restaurants, retail stores, offices, gyms, and residential spaces — a large self-contained, compact community all by itself.

Source: Bernt Rostad
No one would ever start the construction process of a skyscraper like that until everything is properly planned and drawn out.
Source: Steve Newfield

I’m not a building architect or construction contractor, but I can still see the innumerable requirements you need to draw out before proceeding to construction. Room planning details, sourcing of good construction materials, managing the different teams involved in the building’s construction, zoning permits, funding allocation, natural disaster planning in case of earthquakes, the list goes on.

Everybody considers design as an important component of things; whether it’s the design of a skyscraper or the tires of your car.

Design is about not only bringing convenience, innovation, and comfort into people’s lives, but also in many cases such as skyscrapers and your car tires, people’s lives and safety becomes dependent on it.

I’m not an architect.
I’m an IT person. I’m a concept designer to be more exact.
For years, I’ve been designing strategies and conducting research for very large, ambitious website projects.

Concept design is the foundation of a robust website architecture. Like in the construction of a skyscraper, you need to have a sound blueprint for building large-scale websites.
In this article, I’ll share our company’s process for architecting large websites.

The Website Architect

Let’s first figure out whose role it is to do this thing called website architecture.
To me, this job is carried out by a website architect.

I deliberately avoid mentioning UI/UX designers and the IA guys here because website architecture goes beyond — or rather encompasses — the user interface, user experience, and information architecture of the site.

The website architect needs to have a solid understanding of usability, in-depth knowledge of web development tools, online marketing technologies, and everything else involved in the construction and maintenance of a website.

Just like an architect of a skyscraper or a residential home, she must be well-versed with the tools, materials, and processes of construction in order to plan the product efficiently and effectively.
This person, our website architect, should possess strong logical thinking, has an analytical mind, is smart with commercial aspects of websites, and be attentive to details.

Of course, for a guaranteed quality product, the architect can/should consult other specialists: designers, developers, etc.

As you see, the ideal web architect in my mind should be a broad specialist, because, as you’ll soon see below, there’s no getting away from that.

Overview of the Website Architecture Process

I’ll give you just a general overview of my company’s website architecture process.

The process is divided into these 11 stages:

1. Project Brief
2. Website Goal Definition
3. Define the Target Audience
4. Competitor Analysis
5. User Goal-Problem-Solution
6. Scenario Mapping
7. Mind Mapping
8. Information Architecture
9. Prototyping
10. Prototype Usability Testing
11. Project Specification

As you can see, all these stages are related to each other, and we’ve organized it in a sequential manner. Let’s discuss each stage.

Stage 1: Project Brief

Gathering the needed data from the client and your team can usually take 2 days. Though you should be as thorough as possible, also keep in mind that there’s always room for elaboration and additional data-gathering in the other stages of the website architecture process, so don’t get too off-track if some pieces of information haven’t been transmitted to you.

Determine Goals and Expected Outcomes

What is the client’s goals and expected outcomes of this project, and how does she envision the end result of the project? You should be clear about the evaluation criteria of these goals and expected outcomes to make sure you’re both on the same page. You have to be as specific as possible; goals and outcomes should be quantifiable and measurable.

Brainstorm with the Client

Ask the client to tell you everything he has on his mind. Listen to what he says patiently and thoughtfully. Take notes. Focus on what they’re saying and resist the urge to chime in. Your ideas and remarks can wait. If the client is passionate about his ideas for the project, he can spend hours talking about it, which is completely normal. When the client is really into the project, he’s a great help and pleasure to work with.

Client Idea Summary

At the end of your brainstorming session, you should ask the client to sum everything up — if he succeeds in boiling his idea down to one sentence, then the idea is clear. If not, you will need better clarity and focus.

Determine the Target Audience

Who is the client’s target audience? Who’s going to use this site, and how might they benefit from the site?
The client should have a clear idea of who the end user is, so that we can produce a website for them. Otherwise, it’s like playing darts with your eyes closed: You know where the target is, but it’s going to be nearly impossible to hit it.
You can also start discussing what the client already knows about their target demographic: gender, age, location, etc.

Determine Competitors

Who are the website’s direct and indirect competitors? The client and the website architect should be aware of the existing competitive environment.
There are always competitors. Even if the website’s idea is completely unique, there are at least indirect competitors.

Meet the Decision Makers

Meet with the people who make decisions. Discuss the deadlines, the budget limit, resource availabilities, and so forth.
Organizational matters, matter.

Results and Deliverables

Some of your other questions will need to wait to be answered later on in the website architecture process. What you get out of the project briefing stage will be basic data and just to get a general feel of what your client already knows about his project.
It’s crucial to understand the client’s needs and expectations at this early stage, and to choose the right direction for the project right at the starting line. The price you pay for not giving enough time to this simple but critical first stage exponentially grows as the web architecture process and website production progresses.
A project brief template. Source: docstoc.com
The deliverable of the briefing stage is a written document with detailed information given to you by the client and the decision-makers. This document should be approved and verified by the client. It can be in the form of a design brief.

Stage 2: Website Goal Definition

A website needs goals. The client’s goals might be these: to monetize the site, to increase the offline market share through online marketing, to better engage customers online, and so forth.
The goals define the direction of the entire website production process.
Besides determining the website’s goals, you also need to define success criteria according to the client.
A good way to establish goals is by using the SMART criteria. That is, each goal should be:

• Specific
• Measurable
• Attainable
• Relevant
• Time-bound

For example:

• Generate $50,000 income within 5 years through ads, information products like e-books and paid subscription plans
• Assist users in making a choice of what pet to own
• Provide users with advice on pet issues
• Create a marketing platform for pet products

Results and Deliverables

As a result, you will have a document containing 2 lists:

• A list of project goals
• A list of the client’s goals

This document needs sign-off by the client/decision-makers.

Stage 3: Define the Target Audience

This stage involves researching the target audience. We need to identify what types of users will go to the site, and also define the needs of each group.

Gather Characteristics Data

We need to create a common persona for each group. The user interface design depends greatly on the results of this stage. To get started with this, we first need to define what our audiences’ common characteristics are.
Define Socio-Demographic Characteristics: We should figure out the sex, age, education level, and occupation of our target audience. Targeting teenagers (15-18) is going to differ from a site meant for people over 60.
Define Psychological Characteristics: We should determine the lifestyle, personality, temperament, motivation, value system, philosophies, etc. of our target audience. This information is even more important than socio-demographic characteristics in terms of user interface design. If, for example, our users are early adopters, the user interface and pre-launch strategy will be different than other websites.
Define Wants/Needs Characteristics: We should figure out why our user would want to sign up to our website, what problems they’re looking to solve with our site, etc. We define their pain points and aim to solve it with our website.
This information is vital, though it’s hard to find. If you’re working on a website redesign project, the client may already have this information if they have user feedback tools in place.
Sometimes the competitor can have it (but good luck getting them to share it with you). In this case, you need to perform user research studies and conduct surveys.
Geographic Location Characteristics: Country, city, region, continent — these are all helpful information. Being online does not completely eliminate the location factor.
Sometimes geotargeting is the first thing to think of when creating a national site, government website, or any location-dependent website.
Moreover, website content and website copywriting is heavily determined by the audience’s location.
You will need this when you’re in the information architecture (IA) stage.

Create User Personas

When the target audience portrait is well-defined, we can then create personas.
Example of a persona. Source: uxmag.com
The main goal of the web architect here is to determine all the possible groups of users, starting from the largest (core) group, and ending with the smallest one.
Then we create a persona for each group.
Each of the personas you develop should have a:

• First and Last name (Don’t use the names of real people to avoid distortion of the story)
• Photo
• Age
• Location
• Occupation
• Marital status
• Hobby
• Skills
• Problems they need to solve
• Personal and professional experience

To get a better image of your target audience you can interview potential users. This is about marketing research at this point.

Results and Deliverables

After finishing this stage, you should now have two things:

• A document presenting the general characteristics of the target audience
• Personas

Stage 4: Competitor Analysis

To ensure the success of the project, you need to know your competitors and have good ideas on how to get ahead of them. You should discover their strong points and weak points.
There are several methodologies involved in conducting competitor analysis research, including market participant polling, and Internet and print media research.
If you’re creating a local website, don’t limit yourself only to your country. Look through international websites that are doing similar things. Most likely, there are similar or analogous projects up and running somewhere in the world. Some of these projects can be rather inspiring.
For example, we’ve been working on a social networking site for pet lovers for a client in Russia. We didn’t find direct competitors in the local market. However, there are several foreign sites and indirect local competitors. They are:

Competitor	Characteristics
www.dogster.com	international, popular, quality
www.dogster.ru	Russian project, quite popular, satisfying quality
www.catster.com	international, popular, quality

Your website’s competitors can be direct competitors or indirect competitors.

• Direct competitors can be defined as any website operating for the same user base and who offer analogous products. For example, a direct competitor of Microsoft Windows is Apple Mac OS.
• Indirect competitors are competitors who offer similar products, but only partially satisfy the target audience’s needs.

SWOT Analysis

There are different approaches towards competitor identification and analysis. I like SWOT analysis the best.
SWOT — which stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats — helps indicate the strong points and weak points of your competitors, and more importantly, aids you in figuring out project opportunities.
SWOT matrix. Source: wikipedia.org
While analyzing competitors, you can discover useful site features and ideas worth adapting onto your own website — general, universal site features like commenting systems, web forms, etc. There’s no need to reinvent the wheel in these cases.
All good ideas you end up with during the competitor analysis stage will be needed for the mind mapping stage (which we’ll discuss later on).

Results and Deliverables

You should now have:

• A list of direct and indirect competitors
• A SWOT analysis for each competitor
• Research summaries (ideas generated, market opportunities, etc.)

Stage 5: User Goal-Problem-Solution

Proceeding from the personas we’ve developed, we can start working on goal-problem-solution.

User Goals

Every person has short-term and long-term goals.
There can also be sub-goals. For example, a person might desire to improve his career, but first he needs to find a job. The sub-goal is finding a job to reach the goal of improving his career.
For our website project, we identify a person’s goals, problems, and we look towards providing solutions for them.
All goals should be designed well. Fuzzy goals won’t help, as it’s impossible to solve all problems within one site. Focus on primary goals and keep the list of goals short.
Some clients think if users listen to music online, their site should also provide such a service, even if their website isn’t looking to solve this problem. The more features we add, the more diluted our core objectives become.

User Problems

When we have a list of concrete goals, we can determine concrete problems.
For example, a user goal on our website might be to find a contractor that can build his construction project. That goal is more complex than it seems: How do we locate the right contractor for the user’s specific construction project? Is it important that the contractor is located close to where the construction project is? How do we allow them to quickly evaluate many candidates? Due to questions like these, you’ll generate ideas easily.

Our Solutions

When we’re done identifying goals and problems, it’s time to design and develop solutions for them.
This process brings great fulfillment to the website architect because she’s looking to solve pain points that her users have.

Results and Deliverables

As the result, we’ll have a goal-problem-solution matrix designed for each persona we’ve developed for our website.

Stage 6: Scenario Mapping

Scenario mapping is the stage dedicated to revealing possible user flows.
User experience mapping. Source: adaptivepath.com
Once again, we need to think like an end user and create probable scenarios of his actions on our website.
Every goal of every persona has his/her own set of scenario maps.
These scenarios help reveal weak points in our existing ideas and knowledge. Scenarios also help the website architect develop good user flows later on.

Results and Deliverables

We should have scenarios mapped out for critical site goals that we’ve established in the previous stage.
Here’s an example of a scenario:
User Goal:
Choose a dog
Scenario:

1. Go to main page
2. Go to "Zoopedia" section of the site
3. In "Zoopedia" section, find topics and discussions about dog breeds
4. Read topics and discussions of interest
5. Go to the Read Also section, located at the end of the topic because there’s more information there
6. Choose 3 preferred dog breeds
7. Return to "Zoopedia" top-level web page
8. Read some more
9. Find links to people selling dogs of these breeds
10. Make an informed, final decision
11. Go to a pet store to purchase a pet

When we wrote out this scenario, we ended up adding these site features:

• "Zoopedia" rubricator
• "Read Also" widgets
• Links to pet stores and dog sellers on the breed information pages

As you can see, scenarios help us find opportunities for improvement.

See Also:

• Customer Journey Maps

Stage 7: Mind Mapping

When we have a bunch of ideas, it becomes helpful when we start visualizing and interconnecting them.
The mind mapping stage is dedicated to creating a solid system of logically connected ideas and also helps us cut out unnecessary things. It’s a popular design conceptualization tool.
To create mind maps, we should use Xmind.

Find your list of ideas and divide them into logical categories. For example, let’s say we’re working on a real estate website. The real estate website’s sections might be:

• Property Catalog
• Community Forums
• Articles/News
• Information Center

Map all of your ideas into one of these categories.
If an idea fits in more than one category, choose the best fit for it.
Brainstorming will help sift out the useless and unneeded features, web pages, etc.
Each website section should be planned logically. Don’t forget about section-dependent features (such as the user being able to rate each property, in our example). Mark this connection with an arrow to remember the dependence (in our example, it would go to the Property Catalog).
You can design your own symbols to indicate different functional sections. If the web architect, for example, is undecided in terms of which section a certain site feature belongs to, she can mark it with a question mark. These symbols are really important if the project is large.

Results and Deliverables

As a result, we have a bird’s-eye view of the interconnections of site features and sections.

Stage 8: Information Architecture

Now that we have a detailed mind map of our website, we can start working on the website’s information structure, which will be the foundation of the website’s prototype.

The website’s IA can be created with the help of flowcharting software like Visio.

Results and Deliverables

You should end up with an information architecture (IA) design after this stage.

See Also:

• Information Architecture 101: Techniques and Best Practices
• How to Create Content Maps for Planning Your Website’s Content

Stage 9: Prototyping/Wireframing

You will need prototyping software for this stage. I recommend Axure, though there are a number of other similar programs.

The home page prototype doesn’t necessary have to be prototyped first. For example, in the case of an online shop or a blog, the product page or blog post page should come first, because these are critical pages, and will typically be the landing pages of most users on the site.
The website architect is going to lean on the mind map and information architecture diagrams to develop this prototype.
When creating each web page prototype, you should focus on how the user can achieve his/her goals. Before prototyping, you should refresh your knowledge of your target audience using the previous stages in the website architecture process.

Prototype the Primary Navigation Menu

The primary navigation menu is the first to create. We need to figure out the number of menu items and the number of drop-down menus.

Prototype the Header Section

Then we design the header section that typically contains these items:

• The primary navigation menu
• Search form
• Contact information
• Website logo

Prototype Contextual Areas

Now we start designing contextual areas, which will differ depending on the web page you’re prototyping. We will make content blocks, some of which are constant for every page, some of which won’t.

Prototype the Website Footer

The footer typically stays the same on each web page. Usually, the footer duplicates the main menu. It also contains auxiliary information such as the website’s privacy policy, links to social networks, contact information, copyright information, and so forth.

Client Feedback

The first web page prototype should be shown to decision-makers, and the reason for the layout should be explained to them. The client might revise and suggest some adjustments. That’s OK, because having this done on a low-fidelity prototype is much easier than if we had a higher-fidelity prototype.
After the first page is approved, we can move to the next prototypes. All the ideas represented in our mind map should be found in these prototypes. It’s crucial not to forget about the smallest detail, as it can turn to hell in the long run if you do.

Test the Prototypes Against Scenario Maps

Our scenarios will help test the mockups to ensure the logical order of every action.
This is the most time-consuming component of this stage and requires a lot of patience and attentiveness. In the case of large websites, there could be over 100 unique interface prototypes.

Results and Deliverables

The deliverables after this stage are low-fidelity prototypes/wireframes of all web page types.
Examples:



There are 90 some such prototypes for the example project above. As you can see, each prototype was broken down in detail. This way, no questions and uncertainty arose during the design of the functional prototypes and finished web designs.

Stage 10: Prototype Usability Testing

This is one of the best ways to quickly validate the effectiveness of the website architecture and make changes before things progress further.
Axure generates HTML from prototypes, which make them interactive and ready to test on users.

Usability testing at this stage will help you notice gaps and flaws in the architecture.
For testing purpose, we invite some representatives of target audience and observe how they manage to reach certain pages and results within the site.
Then, the users can be interviewed regarding the site in general.
After usability testing we make final corrections.

Results and Deliverables

As the result, we will have validated and improved the user-friendliness of our web page prototypes and we get a better picture of how users would be interacting with the site.

Stage 11: Project Specification

The final stage of the website architecture process is to create the project specification document. This should contain a detailed description of each stage of the website architecture process.
The project specification is the result of all the stages you’ve gone through. It typically will contain a detailed description of each prototype, user flows, and so forth.
The specs should be full and unequivocal. Be detailed and thorough, but also keep it as succinct and as concise as possible.
The project specification should contain all the information regarding software and web technologies required for the website.
Design requirements should be clear.
Once the project specification is approved, website development starts.

2013 The Year of Mobile Marketing

We have crossed a threshold that will change how businesses do business and get customers from here on out -- and more companies don't even realize it! Here are facts that will forever change marketing:

• As of July 2012 Google acknowledged that so many people were searching from mobile devices that it started tracking their metrics separately from desktop search, as well as give their advertisers the ability to do marketing campaigns specifically to the mobile user.
  
• As of 1/10/2013 the tipping point occurred. It is official.  51% of all Internet-based searches came from a Mobile Device. And mobile computing is growing at breakneck speed.
  
• As of  2/15/2013, 62% of online searches for finding a local restaurant came from a mobile device.
  
• By the end of 2013 the experts are predicting that 95% of ALL internet searches and uses will come from mobile devices. But get this, to date, every single prediction they have made regarding the timing of mobile marketing has been wrong -- because it has been too slow and too conservative.

Suffice it to say that your customers are more than merely "online", they are "mobile". Are you? Is your business optimized to be visible and friendly to your mobile customers?

Mobile Search: The Age of "Hyper Local Search" has not only officially arrived, it is in full swing.

Let me explain: we don't just want to know of a service in our general city; we want to know what is right around us in the specific neighborhood we are currently in.

Marketing for products and services has evolved from:

• Yellowpages and Newspapers - long dead along with rotary phones, Rolodex cards, hand-cranked card door windows and the Dewey decimal system.
• Online Search and Online Yellowpages  -- dynamically finding what you need on the fly from Google, Yahoo and Bing/MSN.
• Local Search - 2010 (that means that often times Google knows your location, the city you are in, and factors that into the search results) The closer the company is to your search location the more relevant it is likely to be for your needs, and the higher up it ranks in visibility.
• Hyper Local Search - 2012  -- Google increased the weight given to proximity between the searcher and the service. More than ever, mobile search has given rise to local search, that is, finding the solutions most convenient and near me to my purchasing needs.

The Mobile Revolution

Given that all the information you need to make buying decisions is now fast and conveniently right in the palm of your hand, it is no wonder that mobile search dominates the way the vast majority of your customers will find and do business with you.

Face it, finding your products and services through mobile devices is now easier, accessible and more convenient than a traditional Internet search on your desktop computer. There's no reason or need for consumers to reach farther than their own pocket to (a) find products or (b) locate services or (c) check reviews on local business services to inform their purchases.

This extends to every need - the lowest gasoline price near you, the local engagement ring store, finding a roofing company, how to find your real estate agent and more... well everything, actually!

What Made this Possible? Bandwidth.

Just as higher bandwidth (fast Internet access for home and office at affordable prices) made the online video revolution of 2010 possible (rocketing YouTube the #2 search engine on the planet because larger video files no longer are slow to download and view) so likewise the recent fast speeds for mobile devices of 4G and 4Gs makes your mobile device a very quick and responsive tool to get information about the products and services you are already looking for.

With these faster 4G Smartphones and Tablets, being affordable enough and widespread enough, everyone from business executives to housewives use them to search for their needs. Mobile devices are ubiquitous and mobile search is everywhere.

Mobile means Action

When you are merely researching information, for academic needs or brushing up on your hobby, desktop search still dominates. You are not wanting to "do" anything, just browse.

But when you are ready to take actual action and go and purchase goods or services, mobile rules. In fact, a whopping 90% of people who use their mobile device to look for a product or service make their purchase in less than 24 hours! (source: Google)

Nothing else can say that and not even word of mouth begins to come close to the power of mobile-optimized marketing! Mobile equals results.

After all, these days, mobile devices and the widespread embrace of iPads, Kindles, and the iPad Mini mean that (unless you need hardcore computing as an engineer or programming nerd) all your activities online are now handled with ease through your mobile device:

• Communicating via Emails/Messages
• Searching for Products
• Watching Videos
• Getting your News
• Connecting with friends (Facebook, etc.)
  (source: PewInternet.org)

These are the very tasks for which mobile devices excel. There's no reason to use anything else! So it is no mystery that Mobile marketing is now king – given that 97% of what people use the Internet for is conveniently done with the device already right in their hands. Mobile devices are indeed a handy and compellingly friendly fit for our lives that changes how we access information and who we end up doing business with.

And here's the Kicker!

Google, forced to adapt to the massive surge of traffic from mobile devices, realized that all these mobile users hated the awkwardness of tiny type, unfriendly menus and when trying to view the website of a company they were interested in doing business with. In contrast, when the information they were seeking was mobile-optimized 67% of them choose to contact that business.

Here is the kicker: Even once a prospect gets to your website, if the information is not easily assimilated in a mobile-friendly way, 3 of 5 customers will actually leave within a few seconds and go on their mobile device to contact the next company – your competitor.

And for the good news: realizing that mobile users want a mobile-friendly experience, Google will reward your company with better visibility in their organic search engine results. That's right - simply by having a mobile website, you increase your chances of being found by your prospects.

Because your customers are increasingly finding (or not finding) your business through mobile devices, your mobile presence is fast-becoming even more vital than your main website. Of course, both your website and your mobile website need to be strong and strategic when it comes to customer service and so forth, but when it comes to getting new customers, Mobile is now the undisputed champion!

Presently over half of your prospects are on mobile, and by the end of the year, virtually ever prospect will be either finding your mobile business presence or passing you by for

If you are not mobile-optimized and marketing your services on Mobile, not only have you already lost many customers and profits, you are setting your business up for extinction sooner than you know it!

The Opportunity Is Now

Mobile is the new King and it is only getting smarter, faster and more responsive to customers needs. The opportunity is now to beat your competition to the punch and embrace mobile marketing in a big way. Reality is that those who hesitate will struggle or see their business die, while those who do embrace mobile marketing will enjoy the lion's share of the profits from market dominance.

The good news is that Promise Productions is an integrated marketing company. We're already up to speed with Dallas mobile marketing. We partner with you to take your business where you want it to go. We can help your main website, your mobile website, your marketing strategy and your business development needs.

Written and © by Marcus Kaiser, President of Promise Productions Marketing Communications – a Dallas-Based marketing firm using smarter technology for higher profits nationwide. Call 877-858-0071 for more clients and profits.

Warning: how to avoid the worst Website Design Disasters and get Positive Results

Friends, you invest precious time and money into a professional business website development. You should get professional results, right? Here are the worst offenders I have seen come out from some other Dallas Website Design firms that only end up killing the positive results you hoped to achieve.

At Promise Productions, our website development work is designed for visibility, marketability and profitability. That means working smarter to convert today's prospect into a paying customer.

• Multiple Navigation Menus - On the whole, heat maps of website viewers demonstrate that your business prospects are looking at your site. read top to bottom, left to right. Why would you want to create a bunch of links that take precidence over your content? Keep it simple with a tablet-friendly and streamlined horizontal navigation menu -- or you will look dumb. Excessive drop down menus, and nested items inside those menus are too cumbersome. They aren't touch friendly and thus they are not mobile friendly either. 

• Too Cluttered -- Give someone too many choices and they have a much harder time making any decision and are likely to put it off. You don't want your website to be experienced like a complicated tax form! You want it clear, conciser and compelling! If you are going to have several options for your decisions section whereby you can scroll through more choices -- keep it limited. Get straight to the point and straight to the value you are offering them. Think: clear, concise and compelling!

• Too Much "SEO" -- If your website is built to appear in search results (as it should be) then you want it to be Google-Friendly. Google no longer responds positively to "stuffing" - cramming too many key words related to your products and services. Their machines are learning to read more like humans. So don't try TOO hard to write for "SEO" as that will now backfire!  We believe (and Google agrees) that a business website should be built intelligently for humans. If you stuff verbiage in there you only cause both Google and prospects alike to thing you are desperate for business and trying too hard. You only end up looking like a scammer and Google will reduce your ranking as a result. If you cannot say it simply and concisely, don't say it at all. 

• Splash Pages - This is tacky and gaudy and does not help you sell or impress your visitors. Moreover it is bad for SEO so don't do it, period. 

• Technology Barriers - Flash and Java - Can't see it on an iPad, iPhone, and no one wants to see it anyway. Today's website need to be "responsive" – adapting themselves to desktop viewers and mobile viewers alike.

With a view towards higher results and profits, Promise Productions delivers best-in-class website development for business purposes. Call 877-858-0071 for a consultation with your best interests in mind!

How to grow your business with Mobile Marketing

Dallas Mobile Marketing - Strategy & Implementation for Profits. Call 877-858-0071

Target and engage your audience. That is key. But the "key to the key" is also to meet them where they already are -- which is searching for local products and services on mobile devices (smartphones, tablets, etc.).

When it comes to Dallas Mobile Marketing, you want to know have the right strategy to attract and persuade new prospects in order to grow your business profits is the right one. The best strategy that will take you into the future with an abundance of opportunity.

Mobile Marketing Made Easy
A Promise Productions, we deliver smarter strategy and precision implementation for higher results from your mobile marketing. We can also help your services be seen and found in the search engines. So, whether it is mobile website development or a application for doing business through customer's handheld tablet or mobile phone, we look at your goals from a marketing, a technology and a business development standpoint to deliver the greatest practical results.

After all, it boils down to more customers, higher sales, and optimum profits for your company. Whether you are in Dallas or elsewhere in America, call 877-858-0071 to speak with a mobile-savvy marketing specialist today.

The 21 Principles of Persuasion

Friends and associates, Promise Productions Marketing Communications services are about persuasion - getting your message across in a compelling way that opens up for your listener, the opportunity to take a specific action. As a leading Dallas marketing strategy firm, we help our clients reap top dollar profits by effective and persuasive marketing. So, in the spirit of contribution, I'm passing along this well-written and insightful article. To your success, Marcus.

Reprinted from Forbes Entrepreneurs
by Jason Nazar, Contributor
CEO, Docstoc. Making entrepreneurs and small businesses better.


How is it that certain people are so incredibly persuasive? Can we all harness those skills? After  studying the most influential political, social, business and religious leaders, and trying countless techniques out myself, these are the 21 critical lessons I’ve identified to persuading people. This is an overview from a talk I’ve been giving to thousands of entrepreneurs for a few years now on “How to Persuade People.”

THE BASICS
1. Persuasion is not Manipulation - Manipulation is either tricking or pressuring someone to do something that is not in their own interest.  Persuasion is the art of getting people to do things that are in their own best interest that also benefit you.

2. Persuade the Persuadable -  Everyone can be persuaded, given the right timing and context, but not necessarily in the short term.  Political campaigns focus their time and money on a small set of swing voters who decide elections.  The first step of persuasion is always to identify those people that at a given time are persuadable to your point of view and focus your energy and attention on them.

3. Context and Timing - The basics building blocks of persuasion are context and timing.  Context creates a relative standard of what’s acceptable.  For example the Stanford Prisoner Experiment proved that overachieving students could be molded into dictatorial prison guards.  Timing dictates what we want from others and life.  We chose to marry a different type of person than we date when we’re younger, because what we want changes.

4. You have to be Interested to be Persuaded  -  You can never persuade somebody who’s not interested in what you’re saying.  We are all most interested in ourselves, and spend most of our time thinking about either money, love or health.  The first art of persuasion is learning how to consistently talk to people about them; if you do that then you’ll always have their captive attention.

GENERAL RULES
5.  Reciprocity Compels  –  When I do something for you, you feel compelled to do something for me.  It is part of our evolutionary DNA to help each other out to survive as a species.  More importantly, you can leverage reciprocity disproportionately in your favor.   By providing small gestures of consideration to others, you can ask for more back in return which others will happily provide.   (TIP: read  ”Influence” by Robert Cialdini)

6.  Persistence Pays - The person who is willing to keep asking for what they want, and keeps demonstrating value, is ultimately the most persuasive.  The way that so many historical figures have ultimately persuaded masses of people is by staying persistent in their endeavors and message.  Consider Abraham Lincoln, who lost his mother, three sons, a sister, his girlfriend,  failed in business and lost eight separate elections before he was elected president of the United States.

7.  Compliment Sincerely  - We are all so positively affected by compliments, and we’re more apt to trust people for whom we have good feelings.  Try complimenting people sincerely and often for things they aren’t typically complimented for, it’s the easiest thing you can do to persuade others that doesn’t cost anything but a moment of thought.

8.  Set Expectations - Much of persuasion is managing other’s expectations to trust in your judgment.  The CEO who promises a 20% increase in sales and delivers a 30% increase is rewarded, while the same CEO who promises a 40%  increase and delivers 35% is punished. Persuasion is simply about understanding and over-delivering on other’s expectations.

9.  Don’t Assume   - Don’t ever assume what someone needs, always offer your value.  In sales we’ll often hold back from offering our products/services because we assume others don’t have the money or interest.  Don’t assume what others might want or not want, offer what you can provide and leave the choice to them.

10.  Create Scarcity  – Besides the necessities to survive, almost everything has value on a relative scale.  We want things because other people want these things.  If you want somebody to want what you have, you have to make that object scarce, even if that object is yourself.

11.  Create Urgency  –  You have to be able to instill a sense of urgency in people to want to act right away. If we’re not motivated enough to want something right now, it’s unlikely we’ll find that motivation in the future.  We have to persuade people in the present, and urgency is our most valuable card to play.

12.  Images Matter  – What we see is more potent that what we hear.  It may be why pharma companies are now so forthcoming with the potentially horrible side effects of their drugs, when set to a background of folks enjoying a sunset in Hawaii. Perfect your first impressions.  And master the ability to paint an image for others, in their minds eye, of a future experience you can provide for them.

13.  Truth-Tell  – Sometimes the most effective way to persuade somebody, is by telling them the things about themselves that nobody else is willing to say.  Facing the hard truths are the most piercing, meaningful events that happen in our lives.  Truth-tell without judgement or agenda, and you’ll often find others’ responses quite surprising.

14.  Build Rapport - We like people who we are like.  This extends beyond our conscious decisions to our unconscious behaviors.  By Mirroring and Matching others habitual behaviors (body language, cadence, language patterns, etc.) you can build a sense of rapport where people feel more comfortable with you and become more open to your suggestions.

PERSONAL SKILLS
15.  Behavioral Flexibility - It’s the person with the most flexibility, not necessarily the most power, who’s in control.  Children are often so persuasive because they’re wiling to go through a litany of behaviors to get what they want (pouting, crying, bargaining, pleading, charming), while parents are stuck with the single response of “No.”  The larger your repertoire of behaviors, the more persuasive you’ll be.

16.  Learn to Transfer Energy - Some people drain us of our energy, while others infuse us with it.  The most persuasive people know how to transfer their energy to others, to motivate and invigorate them.  Sometimes it’s as straightforward as eye contact, physical touch, laughter, excitement in verbal responses, or even just active listening.

17.  Communicating Clearly is Key - If you can’t explain your concept or point of view to an 8th grader, such that they could explain it with sufficient clarity to another adult, it’s too complicated.  The art of persuasion lies in simplifying something down to its core, and communicating to others what they really care about.

18.  Being Prepared Gives you the Advantage - Your starting point should always be to know more about the people and situations around you.  Meticulous preparation allows for effective persuasion.  For example, you dramatically improve your odds in a job interview being completely versed in the company’s products, services, and background.

19.  Detach and Stay Calm in Conflict - Nobody is effective when they are “On Tilt” and simply reacting.  In situations of heightened emotion, you’ll always have the most leverage by staying calm and level-headed.  In conflict, people turn to those in control of their emotions, and trust them in those moments to lead them.

20.  Use Anger Purposefully - Most people are uncomfortable with conflict.  If you’re willing escalate a situation to a heightened level of tension and conflict, in many cases others will back down.  Use this sparingly, and don’t do it from an emotional place or due to a loss of self control.  But do remember, you can use anger purposefully for your advantage. That means instead of simply an angry attack (which rarely works), it is an expression of your passion and your fierce commitment to the cause, purpose or outcome you stand for.

21.  Confidence and Certainty - There is no quality as compelling, intoxicating and attractive as certainty.  It is the person who has an unbridled sense of certainty that will always be able to persuade others.  If you really believe in what you do, you will always be able to persuade others to do what’s right for them, while getting what you want in return.

Dallas Visual Marketing Communications - Key To Your Company's Profits

Promise Productions provides visual marketing communications.

Yes we can develop business growth strategies and implement them with content (web, mobile, photo, video).

Often, we come alongside a CEO, to help them realize the vision for their company - filling in the resources, strategy and implementation needed to take their company where they want it to go.

We also develop mobile websites and mobile apps with a view towards our client's profits:

• Get found and chosen by local customers in search engines

• Loyalty Rewards programs

• Facilitate communication between HQ and remote employee (construction, logistics, installers, etc.)

At each new business opportunity, we focus on presenting the value in a compelling way to dominate the chosen marketplace.

I look forward to the opportunity to be of service in reaching your business' goals.

Marcus Kaiser, President

877-858-0071

Deadly Flaw #2 - Simply Cutting Costs will pull us through

Deadly Flaw #2: Cutting Costs will pull us through. This myth is killing many companies today precisely because it has (had) a grain of truth to it! Yes, there are areas off fluff and inefficiency that need to be cut out. But face it, you can only cut costs so much and for so long. And probably the areas you've cut costs in are the wrong ones.

Many companies neglect consultants and marketing when times are "tight" and thereby starve themselves of the vital nutrients they need to have that forward-thinking vision that will differentiate themselves in the marketplace and elevate their value. The result is a downward spiral of defeat.

You already see it reflected in national politics; now see it in your own company: It is easy to look at Congress and realize,

"there is no real solution as long as politics is king, where mere rhetoric prevails and no willingness to meet the people at their need or truly change the underlying approaches to today's economic conditions. Both taxing and throwing money at new policies in a reactionary way never addresses the  Instead of everyone protecting their turf or clinging to their past political dogma, special interests needs to give way to everyone's interests." 

 I am here to remind you that these very same flaws exist in most businesses preventing them from surpassing their competition and enjoying the lion's share of the profits. 

The answer is that, yes, you evaluate where budgets are going into areas that either never served you or no longer serve you. But you REALLOCATE those funds to new strategies that align with the marketplace and current customer behavior. Without the STRATEGIC VISION to know where to reallocate the financial lifeblood of your company, you're only starving yourself needlessly.

For superior Dallas Strategic Marketing, call 877-858-0071.

The Mobile Revolution Changes Search Marketing Forever

We at Promise Productions recognize the fact that today, over 50% of Internet searches for local services are done from a mobile device. That % is likely to climb to 90% by the end of 2013!

This is a true "game changer" and it means 2 very important things for ANY business of ANY size that uses the Internet to attract new customers:

1. More prospects will now see your company's mobile website than they will your main website. 

2. Since Google detects when a user is searching from a mobile device, they give preferential ranking to companies with a mobile site -- one tailored to the experience on a smaller table or smartphone screen.

This means your oh-so-precious search ranking can now be eclipsed by a mobile searcher. 

This is a serious advantage for the early adopter of a mobile website to gain major market share over the competition. It also means those who fail to adapt, trusting only in their nice non-mobile website, will see dramatically diminished returns on new business leads, no matter how fancy or well-optimized that main website was. The smartest companies will invest in a good design and SEO for both their main and their mobile sites. But the main need for improvement is to take advantage of the search engine visibility boost from a business mobile website!

If any of our website and mobile website design, optimization and marketing can help your company, we'd be happy to be of service.

To promote your company with mobile websites, mobile app development and Dallas Mobile Marketing, we can be reached at 877-858-0071.

To your success!

Marcus Kaiser, President Promise Productions Marketing Communications

Dallas Commercial Photographer

Promise Productions offers Dallas Commercial Photography for business use. Our commercial photography includes: product photography, fashion photography, catalog photography, real estate and architectural photography, and corporate portrait photography.

Each of these areas requires special attention to get truly professional results. The common element is "a good eye" combined with aesthetic lighting, the right use of composition and lenses for the right look.

Marketing Savvy Commercial Photography
It is not enough to take a technically 'correct' photograph. Successful commercial photography demands   that is appeal to us - to the target audience. Good commercial photography needs to appeal to people, to their style and taste, to their desire for quality and value.

All the elements of design come in to play for a successful commercial photograph -- line, texture, color, lighting and such.

Reliable Results
When you hire a Dallas commercial photography, professional communication is essential for ensure your vision (or better!) is accomplished.

The Right Image
Imagery is a powerful motivator. It can cause us to pause and take notice. It can appeal to our innate appreciation of beauty or appeal to primitive desires for power, control and status. We take all this into account for a strong positive response from your customers to our photography.

We invite you to view samples and learn more at:
http://PromiseProductionsUSA.com/Commercial_Photography/Commercial_Photography.html

And call for a quote on your specific needs when you call Promise Productions at 877-858-0071.

Brand Engaement - Reality vs Myth

Just take a look at the chart below and spot all the disconnects between what marketers value compared to what consumers value. This is reposted from Steve Olinsky responding to an article in Forbes.

Marketers view consumers’ proactivity via social media as more engaging then consumers do. The inflation of “engagement” in this case has been caused by the ease of social media use and equating online followers with successful marketing. Measurement of social media engagement is an area where CMOs often don’t know what they don’t know.

Fundamental disconnects in how marketers and consumers understand and value engagement tactics may cost marketers great opportunities. The biggest schisms are found in approach to redemption rates, discount codes and loyalty programs. Additionally, marketers’ attempts at personalization and customization engage few consumers. This finding may stem from consumers’ high expectations of what true customization and personalization stands for. 

Younger consumers identify strongly with brands, who have only a partially-developed self-identity and thus view their relationship with brands as a reflection of self. And they approach and interact with them in a variety of ways, from social media to traditional advertising. They don’t necessarily view this as engagement, however. Rather, their view of how they interact with and relate to brands is much more holistic. 

Just take a look at the chart below and spot all the disconnects between what marketers value compared to what consumers value.

Perhaps the most glaring example of a disconnect from the above chart lies in the fact that 49% of marketers rate forwards or shares of ads or other content online as a strong influence on their engagement measures, but just 15% of consumers say they feel engaged or invested in a brand when they share an ad.

So the next time all you marketers out there break into a happy dance because 100 people shared your ad you may want to temper your enthusiasm just a tad as it is not indicative of a consumer who is necessarily engaged with your brand per se.
And you also may want to not take out your dancing shoes just because you grew your Twitter followers by X%.

Different Strokes
From the report:
"Consumers and marketers differ fundamentally in how they define the state of engagement with a brand; what companies consider engaging is not considered anywhere near so by consumers. But this also cuts both ways: some activities that consumers consider highly engaging are seen as less important by marketers. This may be costing companies great opportunities to engage consumers."

The first two results alone from the chart above say it all and if not all, they say a lot. Consumers are creatures of habit, they are human beings which means they want something in return for their engaging with your brand.
From the aforementioned The Major Disconnect Between Brands and Consumers When It Comes to Social Media:

This Is Not Just About Social Media Engagement
The need to engage with consumers extends well beyond the scope of social media. People want the personal touch, they want to know brands understand them and offer the ability to create a brand experience that matches their individual tastes.
Yet that is apparently not happening as you will see another example of the major disconnect between consumers and brands.
From the report:
"72% of marketing executives say that they have personally reached out to customers, but just 9% of consumers say that they feel engaged or invested in a brand because of such gestures. The personal connection has been a cornerstone of marketing strategy."

And since I am such a huge fan of infusing humor into, well just about everything in my life but especially advertising and marketing, I had to share this one final finding from the report which speaks directly to the power of humor to connect and engage.

Sources: Forbes Insights, MarketingCharts.com, Google Images

The First Step To Success - Declare Your Business A Failure

What do I mean by this? In today's society, "failure" is looked down on. We take it way too personally. Almost nothing is as taboo as "failure" because success is king. Everyone wants to "make it" and prosper. But at this time, we all know we are in a season where prosperity -- although still very possible -- is scarer than ever.

As a premier marketing communications agency in Dallas, Promise Productions offers customized ways to direct your business into that prosperity. (i.e. business development strategies, marketing initiatives, creative ways to show prospects your true value to them, etc.) We love to make our clients wildly successful, but one of the main things we see that prevents companies from achieving greater success is their unwillingness to identfy and admit where breakdowns are undermining they success they could be enjoying.

Let's go over the top 5 ways that many businesses (of every size and in every market) are "failing" today. Because with knowing where you are missing the mark, can come a willingness to truly make the corrections that lead to success.

In our business development services and marketing strategy services, we deal with CEO's and business owners to help them realize their goals for their company. So I am going to be speaking Owner-to-Owner as you take a look at your own company.

This post will cover the first of the 5 deadly flaws. In a nutshell the 5 failure/breakthroughs are:
1. Only reacting to the outward symptoms of failure and not clearly identifying the exact breakdowns responsible for causing it. Without a powerful and clear declaration of failure that gets to the heart of the matter, no meaningful strategy for success can arise.

 2. Failing to adapt to the needs and driving motivations of your market today. This is huge. So many companies have some lofty ideas that have nothing to do with today's realities. As a result, their idealized intentions of success only end in frustration. Face it, the lock has changed and the same old key will no longer open it. Stubbornness, regardless of how well-intentioned or how nasty, leads quickly to extinction.

And the stubbornness to cling to outmoded ways of attracting clients and doing business with them creates a mismatch. Customers at all levels will do business with those that proactively communicate that they understand your needs and will do whatever it takes to meet their client's needs.

3. Failing to give more and more. Trying to survive simply by cutting costs is a superficial reaction and doomed to fail. I understand that we all need to "do more with less", but you're not going to get without giving. Business relationships are a 2-way street -- whether you are buying a house or a can-opener, there is some level of trust required for even the simplest of business transactions. People respond to reciprocity. If you lure prospects with shallow or fake value, they will soon abandon you to those that offer more compelling value.

4. Failing to love. You heard me: business success has everything to do with love. Polishing the packaging without an actual shiny interior will push profits away. You have to admit and identify where corporate apathy and selfishness are making people not care to do business with you.

This includes, but is far more than, being "passionate" about your company's products and services. If you are new to "business love", don't worry, we can show you how.

So let's begin:


Deadly Flaw #1: failing to declare "failure" for what it is.
Here's the "bad news / good news":We're going to reveal that your business is almost certainly failing in several vital areas. And in that, there is the relief that, although your business could be called a "failure" today, it does not have to keep failing and can make the necessary changes to gain even more market share to get on the dynamic path of prosperity tomorrow.

Failure does not have to be permanent -- it does not have to be stamped like a tombstone of your company! So look at "declaring failure" as the necessary step to engaging in the breakthroughs that will make the difference you have wanted all along.

Let's get one thing clear -- first you must admit that it takes more than pat answers. It takes more than a "band-aid" on top of the "same old thing." It takes more than new wrapping paper covering up the same strategic flaws. Trust us, the change you are really wanting is (a) top down, and (b) comes from the inside out, not the outside in.

What we "want" to do will only perpetuate frustration, failure and corporate death, but what we "need" to do will result in achievement, distinction and business fulfillment. First, let's identity the mistaken approach of "doing what we want."

By this I mean, it is tempting to indulge in wishful thinking and believe that applying little minor and painless new policies will quickly and magically make everything better.

I understand the attraction to wishful thinking in your business. This is simply human nature. But the situation here is that many companies have rampant "cancer" within them that requires a much deeper actions -- new ways to think of attracting and serving your customer and new ways of looking at your value within your industry - not just a new policy on top of outmoded and failing core practices.

What we all NEED to do to succeed: First we need to be honest. The most successful companies (throughout history and in every marketplace) always did 2 crucial things:
• they saw things as they were
• they saw how things could be better than they were

Without honesty, we also avoid success. Without admitting the breakdowns -- and by that I mean really pinpointing the core breakdown, we will never get to the turning points to be able to turn them in the right direction!

Here's the Catch
You cannot do this on your own. Reality shows us again and again that, left to your own great intentions, you will end up keep on doing the same thing and falling into the same limiting business ruts. Your business ego will resist getting right down to the REAL breakdown underlying all the symptoms you don't like. You need a "business therapist" (I just made that up and it makes me laugh). But seriously, you need the objective and strategic consulting that only a proven business development and marketing expert can deliver.

The very inertia of your surrounding corporate "culture" will actually prevent the very change you need to live. I know we all want to tell ourselves that we are the "exception", but ptobably we are not the exception to the rule. (after all, 95% of people identify themselves as "better than" the average driver)  But at the very same time we all see the old ways overtake new great intentions (just look at why 95% of people fail to realize their New Year's Resolutions or fail to keep the weight off, etc. etc.)

You want death and frustration? Then go right ahead and indulge in wishful thinking. If that is you, then, here, have another "business Twinkie" while indulging in dreams of "corporate fitness." In the very same way, left to your own devices, you will rationalize those business Twinkies, with their promise of immediate gratification, that end up driving you to extinction.

You won't get on the road to fulfilling results because you lack the objectivity and freedom from ego and familiar rationalizations that is required to make the core shifts that make it finally all come together for you!

When you are ready to stop paying lip service to success and really enjoy a new level of freedom and business fulfillment, we are just a phone call away at 877-858-0071. Talk to a Promise Productions business profits specialist about making your business be all it can be.

© 2012 Marcus Kaiser of Promise Productions

Dallas Video Production

Dallas Video Production

When you need a top Dallas video production company to provide creative and high quality videos for your business, don't hesitate to call Promise Productions. You'll be thrilled with the end product.

If you’re searching for a talented, dedicated videography team in Dallas, look no further than Promise Productions. As a skilled videographer who enjoys working with a wide array of clients, Promise Productions is equipped and excited to take on your project, no matter the subject or scope. From weddings to birthday parties to everything in between, Promise Productions will capture your memories on video and allow you to relive them time and time again.

Dallas Video Production for Corporate and Events -- Call 877-858-0071

Skilled Videographer in Dallas

Promise Productions is a marketing-savvy Dallas Video Production firm, serving all your needs for documenting the small events that have a big impact. With Promise Productions, you get a seasoned film professional who can artfully and beautifully record your lower-budget commercial, wedding ceremonies, family gatherings, parties, and more. You want to have a good time, without worrying about how well the magnificent fest is being recorded. Promise Productions is offering you the chance to sit back, to party, to socialize, while a videographer takes care of putting it all on tape, and in a format that will entertain you for years to come as you play it all back on screen. After the social function has ended, you will be ultra delighted to receive the videographer’s final tape of the event. Let Promise Productionsrecord life’s greatest events, immortalizing them.

Professionalism and Experience

As a well-established videographer in Dallas, Promise Productions strives to offer exceptional service on every job. Working with Promise Productions means collaborating with a gifted professional who takes pride in producing outstanding results. And thanks to Promise Productions’s arsenal of modern tools and equipment, you can rest assured knowing that you’re going to end up with a quality product. 

With a warm, approachable demeanor and reasonable rates, Promise Productions is the videographer to trust for your upcoming Dallas event. For more information or to schedule a consultation, call Promise Productions today at 877-858-0071.

SEO has totally changed? Is your marketing following suit?

"SEO Isn't What You Think It Is." This is the absolute best article on the changing landscape of SEO to articulate and sum up the significant changes we have seen in 2012 period. I did not write it, but it echoes precisely what I've been preaching to my clients since the Summer of 2012. 

Let me make some crucial points and then on to this gem of an article. If you are doing business as usual, you are opting for extinction. The rules have changed! A lot! 

 

So if your marketing or SEO company has not come to you and said "we need to step back and re-strategize your entire approach to online visibility" they are flat out pimping you for money on old models and paradigms of SEO that NO LONGER WORK. 

 

What worked in the first quarter of 2012, no longer works at all in the 3rd quarter of 2012. That is because many things that Google previously rewarded, they now punish. So if your strategy is not FRESH, it is not merely stale, it is painfully DEAD.

99% of SEO companies are baloney - they take a small pinch of actual knowledge and hold it over their client's heads - fluffing up its value so they can charge fat monthly retainers.  This is in contrast to the work it takes to develop a comprehensive strategy based on the actual landscape of SEO in the present with a smart plan for the future. 

 

1% of SEO companies actually know what they are doing. I should know, as a Dallas SEO service provider, I have been in this industry since the very beginning. In well over a decade of local search marketing interaction, I've seen many companies and services come and go and only found 5 other companies (besides my own http://PromiseProductionsUSA.com) that actually GET IT. 

 

That's right, I can say in all honesty that in Dallas' city of 3 million people, there are only 6 legitimate firms amongst 20,000,000 PRETENDERS with little value and lots of hype to snag your marketing dollar and waste it. 

 

I am writing this because I am personally passionate that clients get TRUE VALUE and it upsets me to see so much abuse by other firms to something that could be one of the very most valuable tools to a business wanting more market share and more revenue.

 

Why don't other SEO companies stay current and actually "move the needle" for their clients? Because that takes real work, time and effort to stay on top of the very dynamic world of Search Engine Optimization. It takes visionary strategy. It takes actual innovation and creativity. And these things are not commodities.

 

Yes your website needs well-done SEO, but don't fool yourself to think that this alone will give you meaningful results in today's marketplace. On-page SEO is a necessity. On-page SEO is an assumed foundation if you are serious about your business, but it is no longer enough to rank well in Google. 

 

Today's successful companies must go beyond on-page SEO to off-page SEO and social interaction. If you don't have a brand visibility strategy you are being lost in the shuffle and throwing away your influence and losing valuable prospects left and right. Don't let that happen; use a savvy marketing communications firm that is well-versed in the new rules of search engine visibility since Google's Panda and Penguin updates to gain, and keep, your website in the top search engine results for your most valuable terms. 

 

Here is another "take away" from the new rules of SEO. Your web designer or website developer can no longer do your SEO. 

 

That is because SEO has evolved to incorporate elements that only those with current skills in integrated marketing, social media marketing, marketing communications and digital interactive agencies possess. 

 

Your website designer can intelligently make your website itself the best it can be, but that is just the start to the real process of online visibility. Only those who know web development but ALSO know social media, video SEO and online marketing are actually qualified to pull together the increasingly diverse sets of resources and strategies that are required to get real results in the search marketing landscape of today and tomorrow.

 

Understand that SEO, done right, is a TREMENDOUS VALUE to your company's short-term and long-term profits. SEO done wrong (or according to outdated approaches) is not only a terrible waste of precious resources, it now makes your company PENALIZED. 

 

That's right; you just heard me admit that what Google encouraged you to do a few months ago in your SEO and linkbuilding and keyword approaches, now will actually work against you - burying your company in the depths where no customers will find you and have the chance to do business with you. Google did not merely "update" the rules; they massively changed them - to the point of actually contradicting many of the previous commonly embraced SEO best practices. 

 

If your marketing or SEO company did not proactively come to you and tell you this, then fire them. They are probably not just ignorant or out or touch, they are probably panicking and literally hiding the fact that they just become irrelevant because they don't have the skill sets or marketing savvy to actually do you any good anymore! 

 

If your SEO firm did not come clean and tell you "the very things we've been charging you to do last month are now the things hurting your website visibility today, and becuase we care about your business' success more than we care about milking you for your monthly charges, we have a completely difference strategy to deal with this and win back your search engine placement" then they are quietly deceiving you - having become dangerous liability to your success instead of an asset. 

I am not saying they are necessarily wrong to do the SEO they did in the past. But I am emphatically stating that they are deceptive to keep on doing it today when they should be the first to know how the old rules hurt your results today.

Unless you are an expert whose invested significant time on a regular basis to understand the nuances between what ACTUALLY WORKS and what no longer works, then your business is practically pissing in the wind. 

 

I personally vouch that the info in this article below is the real deal, so I honor her for saying it like it is. There are no short cuts to success. Deal with it. But there are clues that success leaves behind that you can follow. Enjoy results with the significantly different "new best practices" when it comes to giving your products and services the visibility they need to succeed in a digital (and social) world.

 

So, speaking business owner to business owner, I personally invite your company to do itself a favor and learn the info below. It can make ALL the difference when it comes to your SEO, and if you want a diligent SEO company in Dallas, simply call Promise Productions at 877-858-0071.

 

To your success,

Marcus K

 ~~~~~~~~

Updates to Google's algorithms mean that social engagement, rather than search engine trickery, yields top results. 

By Veronica Fielding

Marketers are buzzing from the aftershocks of Google's recent most updates, code-named Panda and Penguin.

Panda, which launched around February of 2011, started using artificial intelligence in new ways to enforce the best practices guidelines Google had long provided to those seeking to optimize their websites.

If Panda was a wrist slap, Penguin, launched in last April 2012, was a body slam to websites still trying to "trick" the search engines into ranking them ahead of their competition. The update emphasized the importance of quality content, originality, and overall user experience.
Both the Panda and Penguin updates contained very clear messages for marketers: stop focusing on technology and tricks and start focusing on people. If your website appeals to people, it will appeal to Google's algorithms too.

But the Panda and Penguin messages go deeper. With them, the search engines are openly acknowledging that a website isn't the only place on the Web that a brand needs to maintain a strong presence. The interactive exchanges that people have with each other and with the brand--online--are happening in the social media channel, and the search engines are placing an increasing importance on how these conversations influence their views on brands and how their websites should rank.

This means that a brand can no longer rely on a well-optimized website to earn Google's attention. A brand must be a conversationalist, going where the people are and engaging them in discussion, and by doing that earn a wonderful reputation.

Smart brands are doing this by fully leveraging each social channels particular properties.

Facilitate conversations with fans on your Facebook page.
Simply announcing what your company is up to isn't going to get fans engaging with your brand. Post information that is relevant to your brand and of interest to your stakeholders. Invite questions, suggest other reading, provide links, curate other content. The point is to have dynamic conversations between your brand and your fans.
Parmesan is a delicious example.

Share tweets about topics of interest (again--not self-serving announcements but follower-serving news) via Twitter.
The search engines are all looking at Twitter activity, at the keyword and brand-name level, as signals for which brands deserve top rankings. No one is going to be interested in miles and miles of one-way tweets about how great your brand is. Know your stakeholders: provide information that will be of use to them and they will not only follow you, they'll retweet what you share.
Whole Foods gets it.

Uploading shareable videos to your YouTube channel optimizes your brand as well as your website.
How? When the content is engaging, people what to share it. When they share it, they often add a link to your website. Encourage more sharing and engagement with people who leave comments by responding to their comments. Remember, Google owns YouTube. Enough said.
Home Depot has a quality YouTube channel.

Pin and Repin interesting visuals on Pinterest.
Pinterest may not be right for every brand, but if you market to consumers and have a brand with visual attributes or messaging that can be supported by photos, images, and infographics, Pinterest is another option to leverage for brand optimization.
Real Simple and West Elm pin well.

Participate in groups, answer questions, and post company updates on LinkedIn.
This is less about SEO and more about putting your brand where the buyers are. Whether you are a B2B or B2C marketer, having a strong LinkedIn profile for your company, complete with referrals from customers and strategic partners, is a strong component in the brand optimization mix. While LinkedIn groups tend to be "closed" and therefore not accessible to the search engines, some are public, and therefore search engine crawlable and the conversations in those groups where your brand is referenced with links to your website can help with SEO and brand optimization too. And don't forget, Company Pages are public and now feature status updates.
Voices.com is a resource on LinkedIn.

Share information on Google+.
There is widespread belief that as Google+ gains in popularity, the conversations there will help with brand and search engine optimization. People have been somewhat slow to add yet another social media profile to their online presence, and brands have been slow to adopt Google+ too, but some brands are making smart use of Google+ now.

See what the New York Times is doing with it.

All of this social media activity works to create engagement around the brand by what has always mattered to the search engines most: people.

So rather than asking yourself, "How do I optimize my website to better rank with search engines?" ask, "How can I optimize my brand so that it's a sought-after participant in relevant conversations?" Answering that will bring you top rankings on the search engines and much, much more.

Veronica Fielding is the CEO of "Digital Brand Expressions", a trailblazing digital marketing agency that specializes in building audiences and connecting buyers and brands through context marketing solutions.

Google Updates for 2012 - Dallas Search Engine Opimization (SEO)

Heads Up -- in the first half of 2012, Google plans to radically change how they rank websites. Google is responding to the fact that many of today's searches are for local products and services (called "local search"). Over 30% of these searches are currently being done on mobile devices (smart phones, iPads, etc.) and that percentage is only expected to rise throughout 2012.

This means that people on-the-go are looking for a business near them. As search becomes more local, and even "hyper-local" (down to your neighborhood and immediate surroundings), Google will RE-RANK websites.

Much of that upcoming change to Google's algorithms has to do with determining what is close by the customer searching. Thus a prospect in downtown Dallas and a prospect in Plano, doing an identical search, will get significantly different search engine results. (There have already been some small steps by Google in that direction, but come May 2012, your search results will become radically different depending on your location.)

Get Customer Visibility Strategies working FOR Your profits. Call 877-858-0071.

Evolve or Go Extinct
If you don't adapt your search engine marketing, you can easily FALL OFF rankings and lose significant local market share. That means that your precious SEO work will be eclipsed by the "location factor" in Google's new search algorithms.

What does it mean to adapt successfully?
That is the million dollar question. I will give you one hint -- it means all websites and web pages will need NEW METATAGS added to them that have to do with telling Google your location, your store hours and so forth. There's much more meat to that answer, but I just want to whet your appetites.

Your Action Item
How does this affect your business? If you're not asking that, you should be! This change is a massive OPPORTUNITY for those on top of the change, who step up and proactively take advantage of this to more effectively reach new local prospects. Those who procrastinate or hesitate in their search engine marketing are essentially choosing extinction as they will be buried underneath the early adopters.

Promise Productions has been very successful with providing businesses high page rank for optimum visibility to clients both national and local. We have aggressive strategies designed to capture market share and profits for you. The combination of search engine marketing strategies we have provided clients measure in tens of millions of extra profits won. Come, get in on advanced visibility campaigns for your products and services.

Your business will want to GAIN ground and not LOSE ground with these visibility changes, so call 877-858-0071 today.