Hi Everyone. Part case study, part call to arms in this post here. I just wrapped up phase one of a killer web development project, as some of you know through our DMA Webinar Series articles. Blueliner was tapped to conceive, develop, launch and handle marketing for IZOD’s first foray into fragrance, which they undertook in conjunction with an industry leader, Gemini Cosmetics. The goal was to develop an adventure social network, in order to engage people who fall within the “Active Lifestyle” 18-34 demographic. The result is SeekAdventure.com, a social network for adventure, extreme sport, and thrill seekers, to share videos and stories. This is a men’s fragrance, but since IZOD may follow with a women’s line, and women are the top purchasers of men’s cologne for gifts, we want to draw both sexes to seekadventure.com. We have also launched a Facebook Group, which I hope you all with Facebook accounts can join.

Since the launch of SeekAdventure.com in May 2008, the website has generated –

• Over 300,000 page views and;
• Over 2,000 members signed up.

In addition, we have partnered with Outside Magazine, Z100, and Macy’s in order to setup special promotions and drive the growth of SeekAdventure.com. Site subscribers have a chance to win their choice of four different thrill-seeking vacations in our “Adventure Video Contest”.

In order to keep the success of the website moving forward, I would like to solicit your help in the following ways:

1. First, login to www.seekadventure.com and become a member, which will be beneficial in building our membership database.
2. Then, I ask that you refer 5 or more friends, either directly from the website or via your own email.
3. If you have a Facebook account, login to www.facebook.com and look up “Seek Adventure” in Groups, and then join the group and invite all of your Facebook friends to join as well. Shortly, we are planning to create groups on Youtube and MySpace as well, in order to extend the Seek Adventure social network.
4. If you are truly adventurous, you will participate by uploading a video, which you can record from your cell phone, digital camera, web cam or camcorder. Take a couple of minutes of footage from whatever you do during the Fourth of July weekend, and you can have it uploaded to the site in 5 minutes. The site’s theme is “How do you seek adventure?” and we want everyone to participate!

Lastly, I would appreciate your honest feedback on the site, from a design, content and usability standpoint. Thank you!

On this note, before moving forward, I want to ask you - when is the last time you performed a website audit? Do you see the value in hiring someone from outside your company to come in and provide a professional analysis of what would make your site function better? I am curious to hear back from readers about this.

So let’s look at some great sites, which were included in the 25 sites across four different categories which I presented for the DMA - (1) Ecommerce: Consumer, (2) Informational/Blogs, (3) B2B, (4) Social Networks.

www.endless.com

What we like about it?

• Best of breed e-commerce navigation.
• Granular, rotating product image views.

You just have to see it to believe it. Check out the price range slider and other product sorting controls in the left panel. It looks like they are using AJAX to drive the real-time updating of the products. This is truly a best-in-class B2C e-commerce website.

www.prescriptives.com

What we like about it?

• The ability to shop and learn while watching video.
• User-friendly and intuitive navigation.
• Vertical navigation bars as powerful element in design theme, consistent throughout the site.
• Intelligent shopping cart and checkout process.
• Solid flash intro with a unique preloader.

This site should give a lot of people ideas on how to use video intelligently without disrupting the shopping process. The site is built in Flex, a popular new flash-friendly development framework from Adobe.

www.gap.com

What we like about it?

• 4-stores in one navigation with joint shopping cart and flat rate shipping (GREAT IDEA!)
• Cross promoting products between partner sites.
• Simple navigation.
• Calls to Action featuring Membership Benefits (a very good retention feature).

How would you like to shop for the Gap, Old Navy, Banana Republic and Piperlime all in one checkout experience? This is really a great idea, and the way they pulled off the navigation gives us something to learn from.

Congratulations and kudos to the marketing strategists, UI architects, programmers and web designers that pulled off these three sites! This is first class stuff. Building great websites is hard work, but with the right vision, a realistic budget and a quality team, it is within reach.

In case you missed Part 1 of this series - Web Design Trends 2008 - A Snapshot from our DMA Seminar

I want to thank all the participants that joined Arman Rousta, CEO of Blueliner, in the DMA Virtual Seminar he conducted yesterday on Popular Web Design Trends of 2008! I’d also like to give a big shout out to Ashley Joseph, Product Manager at DMA, for giving us the opportunity to present on this exciting topic.

The presentation was really in-depth and rich with statistical data, content, visuals and case studies. I couldn’t cram it all into this blog entry but took some of the key points and highlighted them down below.

General Trends of Good Websites

• Increasing Use of Video
• Increasing Use of CMS (Content Management Systems)
• Bigger Fonts
• Big, Powerful Header Images
• Use of Engagement Tools, like Chat, Music, Forums, Blogs, Polls, and other user-contribution features
• Intelligent Incorporation of Ads
• 1024×768, Center-Aligned Design
• Detailed Borders
• Useful Footer Design
• Bread Crumb Navigation
• SEO Considerations – proper meta data tagging
• Pre-loaders & Favicons

What Makes A Great Website?

• Web Properties that cannot be categorized
• Dynamic Content (Video, blogs, forums, is your site alive?)
• Social Components – User contribution to content
• Beyond the Site Connectivity (RSS, email, Social Media, click to call, Skype)
• Marketing Enabled (SEO, Landing Pages, Effective CTAs)

Arman also talked about how websites can go from ‘good to great’ by considering potential and seizing opportunities in the marketplace, introducing innovation, utilizing rich internet applications like AJAX, CRM integration and social consciousness (i.e. Going Green).

In the presentation, we featured several A list websites that got an A+ in design, innovation, marketing and technology, including:

www.treehugger.com

What We Like About It:

• Great navigation: side scrolling (set people’s expectations)
• Navigation: bread crumb
• Navigation: 3 categories in top navigation, every page
• Appropriate ‘green’ advertising / videos in expanded ads
• Green Trend - tell users how to help, what to do -”how to help treehugger”

www.seekadventure.com

Last month, Blueliner launched SeekAdventure.com, a social networking site for sports enthusiasts. Although we may be partial to the SeekAdventure.com website (having built it and all), here is what we like about it:

• Flash and non-flash integration
• Video site with drag-n-drop playlist, comments, voting, share features, etc
• Contest – users decide who wins

www.stellamccartney.com

What We Like About It:

• Products embedded in videos - wave of the future
• Innovative
• Multiple sites integrated into master interface
• Top-notch Design

Recently, we’ve been bombarded with requests to expand upon this topic, so Arman and I are thinking about putting together a series of blogs on the Most Popular Design Trends of 2008. If there is something in particular that you’d like to see in this series, please send us your comments!

It’s interesting how businesses, specifically small ones, continue to pump thousands of dollars each month into multiple marketing campaigns, yet still don’t know which are generating ROI. As a business owner myself, it seems that sometimes we get so caught up in the grind of executing tasks, managing projects, interfacing with customers and so forth, that we forget to take a step back and look at the bigger picture.

It’s one thing to set up web analytics for your website, it’s another to apply this data to your company’s overall marketing plan and spot trends over extended periods of time.

Businesses go through many different stages in the development of their marketing strategies, but one element remains consistently important: generating ROI. However, this does not alleviate the attention we must pay to other important aspects of business like customer loyalty, internal efficiencies, corporate leadership, social responsibility, and building a long lasting organization (if you’re interested in reading about some of the most successful, visionary companies of our time, I highly recommend, “Built to Last” by James C. Collins and Jerry I. Porras).

Realistically, your analytics data will not offer insight on all these factors; it’s simply a tool to help facilitate the process of better understanding your customers and seeing how they interface with your brand. With a trained eye, you will be able to isolate buying patterns, chart lifestyle desires and needs, buyer locations, visitation frequency, and the impact of specific marketing campaigns.

But, back to reality…you have a business to run, a division to manage, and a long list of tasks to get through, and who has time to analyze and assess data all day? Just as Rome wasn’t built in a day, neither will your web marketing efficiencies. So take it one step at a time…

Step 1.

Get the decision makers in your company on board with implementing web analytics for your various web properties.

Step 2.

Hire a professional marketing agency, or choose a group of experienced individuals to manage your analytics program. Make a decision on which solution is best for your company. If you’re just starting out, you may want to evaluate Google Analytics, which is free to its users. If you need a more robust solution, consider the following platforms - Omniture, WebTrends and ClickTracks. Set up all your online and offline campaigns within the software and watch the results closely.

Step 3.

Absorb the data and utilize it to improve all aspects of your company’s online and offline marketing initiatives.

Step 4.

Repeat Step 3.

I reviewed the analytics reports this week from several client campaigns and was impressed by the significant amount of leads that were generated from Google and Yahoo’s Local Search listings. The best part about it is that we didn’t have to spend a dime to get our clients listed in Google’s Local Business Center! As for Yahoo, it also offers free listings, but to see any real traffic (and conversion) results, I would highly recommend signing up for the Enhanced or Featured listing, which would be located in the following spots:

The fixed advertising rates on Yahoo Local fluctuate depending on region and availability. Regardless, it is very reasonable and well worth the spend. For our clients, we pay an average of $40 per month for their featured listings.

The only downfall we’ve experienced recently with Yahoo Local is that a bulk of the inventory is sold out for prime regions like New York City. So if you haven’t already, do make a purchase for your local clients on both search portals!

If you’re interested in signing up for a free business listing in Google, click here.

Click here to sign up for Yahoo Local Search.

If you have a Pay Per Click campaign running on Google and/or Yahoo, DO participate in the the Local and Regional Targeting Programs (for your local clients).

Another benefit of having several listings within the local search portals is that your listings will boost your organic search results, especially if you use relevant text in your ad titles.

Last but not least, don’t forget to reach out to your customers prompting them to add (positive) reviews to your local listings. There are several local search portals that accept reviews including Google, Yahoo and CitySearch. Although it is not technically proven, I have a feeling the more reviews you have, the better your positioning in the local search results.

Microsoft has received a similar amount of encouragement and flak from its soon to be released Live Search Cash Back program, wherein Microsoft promises to pay users for using Live Search when searching for products that they would eventually buy. Search engine purists see the new program as Microsoft’s desperate measure to match up with Google’s success in the web search market. Some industry players view the program as a good move on Microsoft’s part which may not translate into monetary returns, but might actually snag some valuable numbers on Google’s share of the search market.

Let’s leave the SEO purists’ perspectives and take a deeper look into the Live Search Cash Back program from the point of view of the ecommerce practitioners.

How does it work?

In partnership with some 700 merchants that include the likes of eBay, Overstock, Sears, Circuit City among others, Microsoft will be paid on a cost per action (CPA) by these merchants whenever a customer successfully completes an online sale transaction using the Live Search Cashback program. But after receiving the payment, Microsoft will not keep that amount but instead will pay it back to the user in cash. Just think of the credit card cash reward programs with the Microsoft Live Search branding on it.

How can you participate?

If you belong to the generation of consumers who are now into online consumerism (nearly 70% of the U.S. population), you can sign up for a Live Search cashback account when you make your first purchase through the Live Search program. You’ll receive your rebates/cash reward via check, direct deposit to your account or, through your PayPal account, within 60 days after you made your purchase. The amount of rebate that you’re going to receive equals to 2% of your total purchase.

Will it make you tons of money?

The Microsoft Live Search program does not promise to give you more money than you could have purchased. The fact that it’s just 2% of your total purchase is suffice to say, just a monetary reward for using the program and Microsoft’s Live Search engine. But in the long run, no matter how small those rebates are individually, they will still sum up to a bigger amount of money. The key here is the fact that, you’re going to use a web based search engine when searching for products and buying them online anyway, why not use a search engine that will give you something in return?

What’s in it for online merchants?

Like its immediate impact on consumers, the Live Search Cash Back Program does not guarantee participating merchants and businesses with tons of sales for their products. But it’s a good way of marketing their products. Online consumers will opt to use search engine first when they want to buy products online. Even if online merchants have their own vertical search engines in their respective sites, search engine portals are still the springboard for finding products and services online.

Now, that we’ve answered the question that may be haunting us all, the question that still hangs in the balance is, will Microsoft gain something from this? In the long run, yes, would like to think that Microsoft could finally gain some stride when it comes to getting additional share in the overall search market performance. If you are a Microsoft fan, you would certainly patronize this new program. But if you are a Google fan, you’ll forget about the cash reward and stay loyal to your search engine patron. Who knows, Google just might bring out something good if not better than Live Search’s cash back program later on.

If you’ve participated in the Live Search Cash Back Program, share your experience with us!

Google Health Service - to trust or not to trust.

Google has entered into the fray of online health record service via a simply branded service, Google Health. Although this is nothing new on the web parlance, having witnessed other internet players with their own health-related initiatives, including Microsoft and WebMD, we could not simply discount the fact that this is Google taking an initiative on health related issues. We could not help but ask, is the web populace ready to trust Google, the biggest internet industry, with the most vital personal information that we have? Has Google earned our trust enough to make it worthy of safekeeping our vital health information? These are just some of the questions that we might as well ask, as we try to take a deeper look into Google Health.

Google Health aims to empower us in managing our health information. And how does it propose to accomplish that? By providing us with a safe, secure and free platform where we can:

• Organize our health information all in one place,
• Gather our medical records from doctors, hospitals, and pharmacies,
• Keep our doctors up to date about our health,
• Be more informed about important health issues

Google Health proposes to store all this information in a secure and private environment. It even promises that it won’t sell our data. But for what purpose does this serve Google? And what assurance do we have that Google will not share this information to others without our prior consent?

Certainly, the terms of service was not reassuring a bit. Specifically the lines that says:

4. Use of Your Information
When you provide your information through Google Health, you give Google a license to use and distribute it in connection with Google Health and other Google services. However, Google may only use health information you provide as permitted by the Google Health Privacy Policy, your Sharing Authorization, and applicable law. Google is not a “covered entity” under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 and the regulations promulgated thereunder (”HIPAA”). As a result, HIPAA does not apply to the transmission of health information by Google to any third party.

From what we could possibly deduce, those lines are enough reasons not to trust Google Health with our personal health information. By entrusting your health information to Google Health, you are giving Google the right to distribute your information in connection with Google Health and other Google services. What other Google services? Google Health failed to specify and there lies the ambiguity of the terms of services.

Further to this, Google was quick to add that Google Health is not a “covered entity” under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996. Hence nothing would compel Google to distribute our health information.

But then of course, if you don’t mind entrusting your personal health information to Google, then by all means you are free to do so. If personal privacy is not a big deal to you and you don’t worry about Google possibly using your health information for other purposes, then you might actually like Google Health.

Those who are familiar with WebMD, might find Google Health’s interface a bit different though. For one, Google Health is simpler and straightforward and delves deeper into the power of its search engines. So, you can easily find doctors of various specializations by locality or regional areas.

In addition, you can also learn about your health issues and find helpful resources, import your medical records, find online tools for managing your health and even find for doctors with various specialization in Google Health service.

Technically, Google Health is a great service and you might find it very useful indeed. But I repeat, be a little cautious when using it.

Many would argue that it is the greatest 7 minutes in the history of cinema. It is certainly one of the finest speeches ever documented on film. In the 1992 movie Glengarry Glen Ross, Alec Baldwin plays role of Blake, a super-salesman who was sent to motivate 3 underperforming real estate salesmen. Blake’s profanity laden speech is far from your typical motivational speech, but it taught me everything I need to know about online marketing.

Baldwin begins his speech by telling the sales people to stop complaining about the leads they have blown. He places the blame for their lack of success squarely on their shoulders, and says the customers are just waiting to buy their product but they don’t know how to sell it. To quote Baldwin, “A customer doesn’t walk on the lot (or your website) lest he wants to buy.” Baldwin then launches into the ABC’s of sales.

• Always
• Be
• Closing

If you want to compete in the ever expanding online market, your internet marketing needs to be targeted at closing the sale. You need to “always be closing.” Let the customer know why they need your product, and make it easy for them to buy it. Don’t make your customer jump through 20 hoops just to find the checkout page. If you aren’t always closing the sale, your potential customer will leave your website for one of your competitors.

The egomaniac Blake continues his speech on selling by telling the sales people about “AIDA.” This is another sales abbreviation that we can apply to SEM. Sure, a lot goes into carrying out a successful online advertising campaign, but Baldwin really sums it all up on his little chalkboard.

• Attention- The first thing you need to focus on is getting your customer’s attention. If you do not get their attention, they will not give your business the time of day. The internet is full of companies vying for users’ attention so you need to separate yourself from the competition. You can do this by creating compelling headlines, good descriptions, gripping PPC ads, and quality content
• Interest- After you get the customer’s attention, you need to make sure they are interested in your product. If they are not interested, the customer will walk away. This is where creating persuasive content comes into play. You need to convince the customer that they have a big problem, and that you are the only one that can solve that problem.
• Decision- Now that you have piqued the customer’s interest, you need to help them make the decision. As I mentioned before, you need to tell them they have a problem, and now they must decide that they want to fix it. Customers are more cautious buying products online than in person, so to help them make the decision you should let them know they can trust you. In other words, don’t be gimmicky and make promises that sound too good to be true. Just make your case in a convincing, but logical, manner.
• Action- If you have accomplished the above steps, now you have to get your customer to take action. In the online market, this is what it all comes down to. Anyone who has even a passing knowledge of online marketing has heard the term “call to action.” It’s not enough to convince your customers they should think about buying your product; you must persuade them into buying your product right now. You need to make it easy for your customers to take action. It should be just one simple step to purchase an item, no more.

So, if you haven’t been following these steps, put that coffee down! Coffee is for closers only!

Congrats to Amazon.com, who took 1^st place in Music, Video and Podcasting, Commerce and Events!

Firefox is the new leader in web browsing so it’s no suprise that it came in 1st for Browsing. Hats off to Bebo and Deviant Art for winning in Social Media; AIM for Communication Service and Answers.com for Searches and References.

Just slightly more than half of all the votes cast in the Webware 100 went to the top 10 vote-getters. Six of these top 10 are no surprise at all: Facebook, Firefox, Google, iTunes, MySpace, and YouTube.

Many of the winners this year were also Webware 100 winners last year, although the tough competition did knock some of last year’s winners off the list (thankfully, otherwise the results would be quite boring). Next year we’ll do more to give startups and new products a chance to win an award.

I was surprised to see Digg not garner a winning number of votes. Likewise with Plaxo and Ning, two strong companies with active social networks.

And personally, I really wanted Blist or Mixx, which is brand new, to win an award, but being great isn’t enough to win a popular vote - you have to be known. Oh well, 2009 is just around the corner!

The Psychology of Facebook is the brainchild of Professor BJ Fogg, a pioneering persuasion psychologist who founded the Persuasive Technology Lab at Stanford. Professor Fogg says the pivotal moment came when he watched an application on the site go from “literally zero to more than a million users in a week”.

“Where on earth could you get a million customers in a week? That was when I said ‘I want to learn more about this’ and I thought the best way was to teach a class and look at how persuasion happens.”

Creating tools, applications and developing social aspects of Facebook to increase popularity - that’s what they are doing in Stanford University. You don’t have to have any Ivy League education to know that this is smart business.