KGBTexas .communications Interactive

Hiring: Web Developer position

admin — Fri, 04 May 2012 13:22:55 +0000

KGBTexas is looking for a senior-level programmer. We are looking for a technically-savvy developer to join our interactive team. This individual would be instrumental in large-scale projects involving multiple technologies and databases. Programmer needs to have strong skills in multi-tasking and enjoy working in a team environment.

Proficiency:

- XHTML/HTML5, CSS 2-3

- PHP, MySQL

- jQuery, Dojo or similar scripting language

WordPress, Drupal or similar CMS experience
Responsive design technique

Recommended:

- Twitter, Google Maps, or Facebook API know-how

- Smart UI/UX planning and development

- Python/Django experience

- Java

- ASP

Node.js
Client CMS training

- Smartphone app development

To apply: Contact Michelle McCullough at michellem@kgbtexas.com or 210-826-8899.

Happy April Fools’ Day-A look inside Google pranks

admin — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 00:43:53 +0000

Google Roo View.

Google is notorious for their April Fools’ Day pranks. This year is no exception. As we take a look at the pranks throughout the day, I will admit, there are some I wish would become reality. My favorite this year is Gmail Tap. Let’s dive right in and get a broader scope of the humor that defines Google.

If you missed any of these pranks today, take a few minutes and check them out. Google clearly has a “prank committee” that dedicates a lot of time to creating these ideas. Hats off to Google for making me look forward to this day every year.

Which prank is your favorite?

The value of consumer testing

admin — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 22:41:31 +0000

In the world of user interface design, you can’t predict which obscure detail will make a user grind their teeth.

On that note, I recently switched from a Droid phone to a spankin’ new iPhone4S. While I have adapted to most differences, I find myself missing the “back” button feature on the Droid. It is one of those seemingly insignificant features that brings a tear to your eye when you don’t see it anymore.

Users fall into certain habits. This is why it is always recommended to perform user-testing on products, from company websites to custom applications. It should be the goal of any development team to understand their user-base and create an interface that is intuitive for this audience. Once a product is launched, you will uncover feedback you did not expect. Technology is about improvements and version updates. Make sure these enhanced versions are based on user input.

All-in-all, the iPhone4S is great. It will just take some time to create new habits.

Keeping up with technology

admin — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 01:01:52 +0000

For starters, this is nearly impossible so do not be too hard on yourself.

You are probably thinking to yourself, “Why should I try to keep up if it is nearly impossible?” Well, it is not so you can participate in more conversations at coffee shops when people break out their new iPads. Although, in case you haven’t heard, the new iPad arrived! You should care about digital trends because having a general grasp of this realm gives your business an edge. It allows you to weigh your options, understand the strategy behind implementing tactics and it adjusts expectations–when to be patient and when to demand results immediately.

Many times, I get asked “Does Facebook generate leads? Does LinkedIn?” or similar questions such as “My daughter can put up a Facebook page so why should I pay someone?” These are great questions. We know for a fact that Facebook and LinkedIn generate leads. We also know your daughter can put up a Facebook page, but your 10 year old daughter may not know about other valuable entrepreneurial social networks that may help propel your B2B business objectives.The last thing you should do is dismiss social media, search engine optimization (SEO) or paid search because it is overwhelming or something you don’t believe in for your personal life. There are many instances where popular demand trumps my personal preference so you are not alone in rising above a comfort zone.

Think about it this way…Before making any business decision, what do you check off your list? My guess:

Do we know the risk involved?
What are my options?
How can I justify decision A over decision B?
Is this decision strategic?

No one person can remain intimately involved with every part of the digital realm–unless you have hours to dedicate each day to read forums, blogs and industry studies. It is too dynamic and many times goes beyond your level of expertise. Like any business owner or manager, keep surrounding yourself with resources. Dedicate certain members of your team to learn the ins and outs of SEO, social media and interactive media to name a few. Having advisors who can keep you in the loop about why site loading speed matters or if Bing or Google are being rebellious and unveiling a major update to their search algorithm will help you check off your “decision making” list.

Go forth and learn! It is fun, I promise.

Can I have a successful digital presence?

admin — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 22:21:31 +0000

The answer is yes. This goes for companies with both small and large budgets.

Let’s paint a scenario here:

You work in the marketing department of your company. Now, this may be “party of one” or you may have a full-scale team of marketing brainchildren to help with strategy. Regardless of the situation, your boss defines the company business goals for the year and allots you a budget for marketing. With this budget, you are left to create a masterpiece that will bring all company aspirations to fruition.

You are probably not overwhelmed quite yet until you realize there are endless devices and platforms you can include in your digital strategy: social media goes beyond Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn; your YouTube channel can pull into your company smartphone device allowing interested users to watch your CEO’s speech on the latest industry trends; you hear that search engine optimization (SEO) is important; you read that following targeted audiences online is possible; and the list continues.

Now, you are sufficiently overwhelmed because you do not have anyone in-house who can implement SEO, adjust your smartphone app, write compelling content for your website or place behavioral targeted ads.

With all the digital gadgets and distractions out there, it is easy to lose focus or “geek out” as some might say. You think to yourself, “What can I do with this marketing budget? Can I successfully dive into digital?”

So, what are a few questions to ask when developing strategy?

It should be obvious to focus on return on investment. However, some questions that may be overlooked are:

Do these tactics boost customer service and satisfaction? User perception and brand integrity should not be underestimated.
What is the residual impact of these tactics? Am I being patient? A tactic such as SEO, depending on the words you want to optimize, can take months or the full year to see consistent results across major search engines.
Which audience(s) are most important to the growth of the company?
Have I reviewed my strategy after each quarter to make sure we are on track?

In a previous blog post, I talked about the importance of analytics and tracking results. This remains critical as you begin implementing different tactics in the digital space. If you do not have time to review analytics, hire someone. Seriously. They allow you to gain invaluable insights into your audience.

My best recommendation when developing a strategy is to try to integrate as much as possible. If you are using one service for your website management, another for SEO and yet another for interactive media…you are in for a headache.

Are website analytics a key to success?

admin — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 23:57:55 +0000

Image via Wikipedia

Yes.

That is, of course, the short answer to the question. The much longer response goes as follows.

Once upon a time, you started a business and thought it was best to be cutting edge, so you decided to enter the scary, yet intriguing World Wide Web. When your shiny new site launched you suddenly had another tool to promote the business. It was so exciting that you told your entire family about it, your neighbors, your employees, and the list continues. Consequently, these individuals went to the site and said it was wonderful. This feedback made you a satisfied business owner. However, that was the extent of the conversation.

As time passed, you and your company began to grow. It was apparent that your family and neighbors were not your only customers. There were a few leads (or purchases) converted from the site so you knew the names of those individuals. However, how did everyone else find your website? Where were they from? Did they like it? You started to scratch your head and wonder if it was possible to discover what users were doing on the site.

Eureka! You would now enter the world of social media. This would allow you to see the profiles of your fans and potential customers. Problem solved? Not entirely. Monitoring and tracking the effectiveness of each posted message on multiple social media platforms was cumbersome and time consuming. It also did not reflect if a fan clicked on a link to your website or shared the information with a friend.

As a smart business owner, you knew you needed to figure this out and “get to know” your customers. What did you do? You started your research again. You found an endless supply of articles and websites talking about identifying users, finding their location, knowing their habits within your site and more. You even found information about tracking social media activity on your page.

There are many web analytics tools on the market with Google analytics taking the lead in popularity. For the sake of keeping this brief, we will not dive into other analytics tools beyond Google for your website. However, it is good to know there are a number of different analytics options for your site and social networks.

This is just a glimpse of what you now know from installing analytics:

How fast your site loads
Which city users are from
What time of day your site is visited
The frequency each user visits
Unique visits
Top content ad visitor flow
Referring sites
Breakdown of traffic sources
Mobile usage
If you are meeting your conversion goals
In-page analytics
Language preference

By now, it should be obvious that analytics showcase a unique view of your custom and potential customer base. Many of these analytics tools are free and they allow you to gain insights about the marketplace and produce a sound marketing strategy.

Curious to learn more? Send us an email.

– Michelle McCullough –

What your site needs to convert users from passive to active.

admin — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 00:20:57 +0000

Above Tide Inn is a quaint, boutique hotel situated on the shores of the Ogunquit River in Ogunquit, Maine. As you would expect, the primary goal of the Above Tide Inn is to have heads in beds for the duration of their open season. The Inn is located within walking distance of many of the main attractions in town and has prime real-estate just above the Ogunquit River. In other words, it has a lot going for it.

Previous state of the union

The Inn had a website. However, they were unsure how much traffic went to the site, if users received the information needed, which visitors were qualified and booked a reservation, and more. The only way to contact Above Tide Inn was by phone, which in today’s world is still OK for some, but many people are more comfortable inquiring about information in a less personal way, a.k.a. online. The previous site did not really “sell” the Inn. It needed to better reflect the scenery a visitor would enjoy during their stay. Aesthetics is not necessarily what this post is about though, so we will not spend much time on this subject.

What we did

Our approach was to redesign the site and convey a clear hierarchy of information. On the homepage, you see a hero shot of the Above Tide Inn, followed with excerpts from the primary pages we want the user to see. The welcome paragraph guides the user to the reservation page where we added inquiry submission fields. A slideshow photo gallery is active at the footer of the site, expanding upon user click and a recent news section where special rates and other important announcements can be communicated.

A giant leap forward for this site was not only the aesthetic upgrade, but the infusion of tracking and conversion metrics. This really brings us to the purpose of this post. It seems obvious, but it is surprising how many businesses assume the user knows exactly how the site is meant to be navigated. Granted, you could do user testing all day long and inevitably there would be users who “go rogue” and navigate to a page you did not expect. Each page of a site should be important to your business and users who visit. A site is not a place for “fluff” or irrelevant information.

A checklist for your website to help drive conversion:

Make your site architecture clean and user-friendly.
Provide the information users want to find.
Keep the content relevant and to the point.
Always review your site analytics.
Add a call to action and conversion tracking tool, e.g.provide a submission form.The solution may be that straightforward.

Here are before and after pictures of the website to help you visualize the difference.

BEFORE

AFTER

Current state of the union

Since the launch of the new Above Tide Inn website, the Inn is already seeing a greater reservation inquiry rate than in previous years and the season does not even begin until May 15! The leads are qualified, which is always important to quantify. Of the leads generated through the website, 90 percent actually book a reservation. The overall website activity in the last month is also up more than 50 percent.

For questions about growing your business, Send us an email.

Algorithm updates from Google: The good, the bad and your website.

admin — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 18:58:16 +0000

Image via CrunchBase

Managing a website is no easy task. To have a successful website it is critical to treat it like it is alive — because it is. My first recommendation is to have a sound strategy. Take the time to understand how the online space can help your business and do what you can to add new content, establish relationships with high authority sites, develop a social media presence where your business can make a positive impression on users and offer compelling (share-worthy) information.

With that said, Google is clearly the “panda” in the room so let’s just jump right in and talk about Google’s latest algorithm updates.

The first question I get asked is, “should I care?” This is followed promptly by skepticism about Google’s ability to really effect online search, or questions about how often updates occur or how to adjust a website to adhere to Google’s standards. The truth is, Google makes tweaks all the time. Sometimes on a daily basis. February was not the first time Google made updates in 2012 and there will undoubtedly be more to come. You should care though. You owe it to your business. Google has a hand in more than we care to think about. Most notable is YouTube. However, Google+ is more than 100 million strong and is rising in authority in the robotic eyes of the search engine.

Of all the updates, which you can read in detail here, the takeaway is Google sought to vastly improve local search. With this round of updates, what I found most interesting is the emphasis on local search and Google’s improved ability to serve up more quality local results — this includes videos. With the increased importance of local searches, one has to assume social media will play a larger role in how your website performs.

There is still a mysterious Google-haze around the link evaluation update, so we will leave that a mystery for now.

Freshness is still a major player in site success. As a rule, it is always best to be accurate, honest and talkative when it comes to your website and other digital tactics. People are already engaging in conversation and stale content – especially these days – never intrigued anyone. If your site is slow to load, my recommendation is to take steps toward increasing loading speed. Bots have more places to visit than Santa Claus and they don’t want to be hung up indexing your flashy site.

On a sidenote, has anyone paid attention to the codenames Google comes up with? Fuzhou. Snippy. Mango. Really?? How about codename “we own you?”

Until next time Google…

– Michelle McCullough –

Making content management bearable

admin — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 18:12:45 +0000

I once had a problem with other people’s chores.

My clients found updating their websites tedious. Not that I blamed them, but especially since search engines prefer sites with fresh content, frequent content changes are important. We tried scheduling, hiring out and brainstorming before finding two solutions: speed and humor.

At the time, I was building custom content management systems to let people manage their own sites. I was able to streamline the update process. A sluggish system led to lost trains of thought, a common source of frustration.

We also reviewed the CMS’s design. By removing one piece at a time, we discovered fewer than half the widgets on a given page were necessary at any time. Identifying and trimming away extra parts helped people focus on their work.

But speed wasn’t enough. So on a whim, I added funny sayings to user feedback. For example, instead of displaying “Blog post saved,” the system said “Blog post saved. You’ve just made the world a better place,” or “Blog post deleted. We’re sorry for your loss.” People saw one of a dozen feel-good messages, randomly selected every time they completed a task.

They came to expect it. And they liked it.

Over time people updated their sites more often because they looked forward to those tiny rewards. A few well-placed words made mundane chores bearable.

– Ben Gremillion –

A list of things everyone should be able to do in this day and age.

Chad Wooten — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 21:49:39 +0000

Seeing as we are over a decade past the year 2000, when I thought we would all be flying to work and robots would be doing my laundry, there are certain things I believe everyone should be able to do in order to progress as modern humans.

1. Turn on a computer
2. Send a message via email
3. print a document
4. diagnose simple computer related issues. i.e. not being able to email or print
5. restart a computer
6. know the difference between the search field and the address bar in a web browser
7. know what a web browser is
8. change the default ringtone on a cell phone
9. know the left lane is the passing lane
10. know the difference between a stop sign and a yield sign

I know I left many things off of this list. Please comment what you think should be included.