There’s a misconception out there that every web designers’ the same. This is such a bad assumption. Just because some people call themselves web designers doesn’t mean they know how to design a good website. A professional web designer will know what fonts to use, how big the headers need to be, what colors to use and what not to use and how much text to put on a page before the reader pops a blood vessel in their eye. I say talented web designers need to stick together and join forces to fight against bad websites. So many times I see a business owner decide to go with someone who calls themselves a marketing company or a web designer that has poor taste. They think if they pay money for these services, that means they’re going to get a great site. I know I seem pessimistic and harsh, but I’m getting tired of hearing the same old stories. I say to you business owners do your research! Find out who’s working on your site and I don’t mean just the company you’re going with. I mean the actual designer. How much experience does he or she have? Did he or she ever take art lessons. Make sure you convey what you want on your site. Get down to the details. Remember, it’s your money, you’re business.
Well, out with old and in with the new. Gobie has made a major leap since it first began. The company started in 2007, but didn’t really offer web design services until september 2009. That was only 4 months ago. I don’t want to brag about it, but can’t help it. I am very proud to say we have doubled our client base in a very short amount of time. With this success in mind, we are heading into 2010 with extreme motivation and a positive attitude. Gobie will be making some changes that we can’t tell you yet, but it’s going to be pretty cool. We want to offer our clients more options with our web design service that will help their business be even more successful and stand out from the rest. We will be looking forward to launching our new marketing campaign and services very soon. Stay tuned for more details!
We are proud to launch a redesigned website for our client Scott Shaw of KLS Controls LLC! KLS Controls‘ website had many challenges. We turned those challenges into a website with several integrated features such as Blog Integration, Database Driven Web Pages and a Content Management System. With these new features, our client will be able to deliver up-the-moment company news and product updates in his industry. He will also be able to have exclusive access to make modifications to his website without relying heavily on a developer. These features will not only lower his maintenance costs for his website and marketing, but they will add value to his business.
At Gobie Creative, we want to wish Scott Shaw good luck with his business KLS Controls LLC, and remember as Scott perfectly states, “Keep Life Simple!”
We are waiting to launch a new website for this month of December. The official launch date for klscontrols.com is December 4. Stay tuned for more this week!
Also, we have been busy with other exciting new projects that will be finished up in January. Sorry we can’t tell you, you’ll just have to wait and see.
Make sure you check back with us periodically after the holidays for more tips and marketing specials. It will be like Christmas all over again!
This entry is to inform the business owners who are seeking for a designer and the designers seeking clients. With the exchange of files and creation of original artwork, both parties involved should be fully aware of the rights and terms of a contract and business relationship they commit to. This is to avoid any legal issues that may come up down the road. Very important: Always have a contract! Do not ever go into an agreement on a handshake or verbal communication. You need EVERYTHING in writing to protect both parties.
According to Wikipedia’s definition, Intellectual Property is defined as “a number of distinct types of legal monopolies over creations of the mind, both artistic and commercial, and the corresponding fields of law.[1] Under intellectual property law, owners are granted certain exclusive rights to a variety of intangible assets, such as musical, literary, and artistic works; discoveries and inventions; and words, phrases, symbols, and designs. Common types of intellectual property include copyrights, trademarks, patents, industrial design rights and trade secrets in some jurisdictions.” Basically, unless you own the rights to something, you can’t use it. Any client can obtain the rights through a legal contract or agreement between the designer and himself/ herself. If there’s no contract or agreement signed stating transfer of rights, the designer is assumed all rights of the originals. You can find this information in the Graphic Artist Guild Handbook Pricing & Ethical Guidelines 12th Edition under the Legal Rights and Issues chapter.
Moving on, now that you generally understand what intellectual property is, let’s talk about the contract or agreement. Any professional designer should present one to his/her client. It shows credibility and it protects everyone’s interests. The agreement should focus on the transfer of rights for whatever service(s) is being provided. It should specifically state where it’s being transferred to, to whom, how long, when, etc. Make sure this section is very thorough to avoid any questions later on. There should also be a milestones section. What are the expectations of both parties. Are there any deposits? When can the client expect a final version? It’s basically a schedule of the whole project from beginning to end. Next, itemize every cost and billable expenses. This will avoid any questions pertaining to why it costs this amount. Finally, always make sure you have proper terms such as in the event of termination of the project, billable expenses schedule…cover all avenues just in case. If the client raises questions and is offended by all the legal terms, simply explain to him/ her that it’s to protect each others rights and that it is a standard business practice. Honestly, if anyone is questioning the purpose of a contract or agreement, this should send a red flag not to do business with them.
Lastly, remember to always settle any outstanding expenses before any files are exchanged. Simply put…you get what you pay for.
We are very excited about some of our new developments this month! Some of these developments include a new website redesign for KLS Controls LLC and a logo design for a new company called Expert Car Care, Inc. We were very fortunate to take such important roles in the marketing for both companies.
KLS Controls is a company that handles product lines for automation manufacturing. It’s based out of Menomonee Falls, WI and is run by Scott Shaw. KLS will be launching a brand new website in the first week of December 2009. There were several challenges to implement into the new design. We wanted the website to be more user-friendly and updated with a sophisticated, clean style. We also had to implement Search Engine Optimization and a Custom Blog Integration along with some database pages.
Expert Car Care, Inc. is a automotive repair shop located in West Allis, WI. The owner Ben Marjamaa needed a logo that stood out from the rest. We created the logo in Adobe Illustrator using the gradient mesh tool. We didn’t want the logo to look flat, but rather with a more 3-d style to it…something that you can almost touch and feel the chrome texture. We will also be looking forward to designing new business cards and a website coming soon in January 2009.
We will keep you posted on these developments and more in the next couple months! Stay Tuned!
Ever wonder how many people are going to your website? Can they even find your website? How long do they stay on there to read all of your content? These are very typical questions asked by several owners of websites.
Google Analytics is a free and powerful traffic reporting system that you can easily find the answers you’re looking for regarding your website. It measures the amount of traffic and behaviors of your visitors each day. You can get in-depth results about your site on printable reports or you can e-mail them out to whomever. Using Google Analytics will save you alot of time and money figuring out where your audience is and how to connect with them. You can use it to your advantage for your marketing strategies and campaigns.
This tutorial will be an overview on how to get started and understanding the basics of Google Analytics. In future articles, we will go into more specifics.
Please check out this video on how to setup a free Google Analytics account first before reading on. It will show you step-by-step how to get started.
The Dashboard
Now that you an account, we can start analyzing your website! You have several features in the Dashboard section including what looks like a blue graph. Scroll over the dots. You will notice the date and amount of visits per day. If you want to see the amount of visits per week or month, click on the small square icons in the top right corner to change the views. Okay, let’s explore the other features.
The Site Usage section gives you a nice summary of Visits, Pageviews, Pages/ Visits, Bounce Rate, Average Time on Site and New Visits. Here’s each feature broken down:
1. Visits give you the number of visits within a certain time period. You start off with 30 days, but you can later change this number once you get more comfortable.
2. Pageviews is the amount of pages visitors viewed.
3. Pages/ Visits is the average amount of pages a visitor viewed when visiting your website.
4. Bounce Rate is the percentage of visitors that realized after getting to your website, they were “bounced” out of your site. You can use this percentage to figure out if people are using the back button or realizing your website is not exactly what they had in mind. Use this to your advantage. Know what can attract visitors to stay and read your content. Try to keep you percentage below 30-25%. If it’s too high in the 50’s, consider doing some house cleaning on your website. Add some cool images, check you content, make sure your navigation is user-friendly and your search engine optimization is working.
5. Average Time on Site is exactly what the title says. It’s the average time a visitor spends on your website during a visit.
6. % New Visits is the percentage of visitors that are new compared to your overall count of visitors. You can see higher results especially when you implement a new marketing campaign. If the percentage is low, it just means that you have repeat visitors that keep coming back for more.
The Visitors Overview is a summary of who’s going to your website and how many in the last 30 days. You can scroll over the blue buttons just like in the top graph. It works the same way by telling you how many visits per day. To get more detailed, you can click on the “view report” in blue. In the report, you can see a breakdown of the action on your website. Feel free to take the time to look at each feature. We will go over these report in more detail in our next tutorial.
The Map Overlay is really handy because it gives you a geographical layout of your visitors’ origin. It pinpoints even down to the state/ city. You can use this tool to see where your market is coming from. Are you attracting more from your local area or is it globally? You can click on the “view report” to see more details and the breakdown of each visitor.
The Traffic Sources Overview is one of my favorites in Google Analytics. This gives you insight of where you traffic is coming from on the internet. Do you have more visitors from search engines or are your external links such as Facebook and LinkedIn doing their job? Again, you can click on the “view report” to see the exact websites that are helping you out.
Finally, but not least, Content Overview is one of the most valuable features to study. This overview will help you get understanding of your website and the people who visit. This feature lays out all your pages within your website to help you see who’s going where. Are visitors clicking on the contact page more than the services or are they just not even interested in contacting you? Do they get bored with you about page? These are vital questions you need answers for. This knowledge will help you design a successful website.
Thank you for reading our tutorial on Market Your Business Using Google Analytics: Part 1. We will be posting more articles that will explain each feature in more detail and how to use them to your advantage in marketing for your business. If you have any questions about Google Analytics, please contact us.
