Is There a CMS in Your Future?

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Hi everyone. My name is Don Reed and I’ve been a web producer at Radar Media since the company was formed in 2001. Needless to say, there have been a lot of changes in web design capabilities and standards since then! I want to talk about a major milestone in web development here, and how it’s influenced the path for the future on the Web–the Content Management System (CMS).

You may have heard of the major content management systems like Joomla or Drupal–large, open source projects supported by enormous networks of developers to provide a robust solution to managing online content creation. Even blogging platforms like WordPress are being used by many (myself included) as content management systems for small clients or personal websites.

Using a CMS is increasingly seen as a good choice when building a website, particularly if you know you’ll have more than just a few pages to regularly update, and you want control over this process yourself. They are a must for a blog unless you use a pre-hosted program like Blogger.

For starters, an open source CMS like Joomla is free (plenty of commercial CMSs are also on the market but we’ll save that for another day). When properly set up, the CMS gives you the capability of creating and managing content typically all in a browser without needing to build an HTML page every time you want to expand your website. In addition, there are a lot of different plugins and patches you can add to customize your site. Sounds pretty simple, right?

Unfortunately, content management systems are often advertised as a self-serve, do it yourself type of operation. This can leave many website owner hopefuls feeling discouraged. Downloading, installing and configuring an open source CMS for the first time isn’t easy for most people and there’s plenty that can go wrong in the process. A CMS shouldn’t be looked at as a way for the average ‘Consumer Joe’ to build a website, because sadly, that’s what it will end up looking like if it’s approached that way.

It’s easy to look at a CMS and say, “hey, everyone has done all of this work already to get this working. Why should we have to hire someone else to build our site for us when we can just use this?” but this is where it gets tricky. Unless you have some solid back-end web development know-how, you’ll still need someone to design, configure and test it for you. And if you want your site to look and feel unique and accurate to your brand, you’re not going to want to go with a commercial template, either. Altering or creating an aesthetic theme for a site built on a CMS is quite different from an HTML/CSS stylesheet website.

Generally speaking, it’s in your best interest to find a professional or a group of professionals to help you with branding and tying your website into your overall marketing program. Have you used a CMS on your website or are you considering using one? If so, what are your concerns or questions?

Why I Love the Mac (and You May Not)

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Hi everybody. I’m Len Massiglia, Creative Director here at Radar Media. Paul was talking to me about our new blog and you’ll be reading a bit from me here and there. Something I wanted to talk about today is cross platform compatibility, and how this impacts businesses (Radar included!).

Anyone who knows me knows that I’m a bit partial to…okay, exclusively loyal to the Mac.

You know those Mac vs. PC commercials? Couldn’t be more accurate for me. As a designer, it’s always been the platform that I find the most intuitive and the most useful. Even with programs that are available on both Mac and PC platforms, I find that Macs provide you with a much cleaner interface, better usability and they make excellent use of keyboard commands. I’ve gotten so used to as little mouse use as possible, if you sat me in front of a PC to use Photoshop it would definitely be frustrating. I have to admit PCs are getting more Mac like with each generation, maybe in another 15 years they’ll catch-up to the simple elegance of a Mac.

Now before you PC buffs out there get too heated with me, rest assured I understand that some people are PC people, and this is why I’m writing this very post today. Much of the business world is PC-driven. Even Radar is a mix. I have my Mac. Paul, Andy and Lesley have their PCs. And both Don and John have one of each (at least).

You might think that this would cause a lot of problems when it comes time to send files back and forth or collaborate on projects, but it’s actually been an advantage to us in our business.

When you work with a diverse group of clients, you never know what platform(s) your clients are running on, or just how computer savvy they are when they seek your services. I use programs like Photoshop, Quark, Dreamweaver and InDesign for my projects, but sometimes clients want to be able to implement something themselves or make a change and need an easy way to do it. I often find myself putting some projects in Word or PowerPoint format, so that it can be accessible to everyone. It may not be the original format I’ve created something in, but it gives me a learning experience and helps me better serve the customer.

There used to be a lot more debate about cross platform compatibility, and cross-browser compatibility as well. While there remain some incompatibilities in terms of file readability or browser webpage display, these problems are becoming fewer and farther between, and I think they’re definitely going to continue to be less and less of a concern.

If you’re a business that only functions on one platform, it can actually put you at a disadvantage. It’s sort of like learning a second language. You don’t have to be fluent, but if you can get around well enough, it can open previously impossible opportunities for you. I’m not saying every computer user needs to purchase a computer opposite to what they’re used to using, but it can’t hurt to familiarize yourself with the options out there. Meanwhile, I’m going to stick with my Mac, and I’m going to keep working on PC Paul…

Until next time,
Len

Three More Reasons to Pay Per Click

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Most search engine mavens like to point that pay per click (PPC) advertising does nothing in and of itself to increase the organic search engine results on your site. True enough. You could easily blow through $500 in pay per click advertising over the course of a month by creating all kinds of simple keyword combinations to drive boatloads your way. If you do nothing else but sit back and watch the traffic — and then shut down the PPC ads in month two — you’ll no doubt watch traffic levels return to their previous sub-optimal levels.

By the way, unless you get lucky, all those new visitors that you paid Google for probably won’t result in much new busines.

So is PPC advertising a waste of time? Not at all. Here are three reasons why your company should be running a PPC campaign no matter what your budget.

Reason #1 — It forces you to enhance your content. While Google will not elevate your organic search standings as a result of visitor traffic generated by PPC, you now have a strong financial motive to enhance the quality and relevancy of your content. And that certainly will increase your organic search engine results. If you take the time to improve your content for whatever reason, readers and Google will both be sure to notice. Site pages that serve double duty as landing pages from your PPC campaigns are a natural first place to start. Focus your energies here and you’ll be rewarded with better business results on both the organic and paid sides of the house.

Reason #2 — Some visitors will bookmark and return. Remember that $500 you spent so ineffectively on PPC advertising? Maybe it wasn’t a complete waste of money after all. It’s likely that at least a few people found your site through PPC, liked what they saw, and bookmarked you for later return. Those visitors may someday convert into buyers, and they might not have ever found you without PPC.

Reason #3 — You learned your $500 lesson well, young Padawan. Those new to PPC often use simple and obvious word combinations to attract large numbers of visitors. Trouble is, PPC ads cost money, and large numbers of visitors (as you found out) don’t always translate into large numbers of buyers. Too many business folks get discouraged at this point, never to return to PPC again.

Don’t let that happen to you. SEO experts like to talk about the valuable “long tail” of search engine marketing. Basically what they’re saying is this: The most obvious keyword combinations using the search terms most likely already sprinkled on your site rarely make the most effective PPC ads. While they may serve to increase traffic, sometimes in great numbers, they rarely convert tire kickers into real buyers.

Rather, rely on good old-fashioned organic search for the easy and obvious stuff. Take the time to craft keyword ads that are less obvious and more “out there” but still highly relevant to your business. Fewer people will find those ads. But those that do will be more likely stay longer, come back later, and eventually buy. What’s more, your monthly payments to Google will be a whole lot less.

‘Til next time. . .

New Year’s Resolution for CEOs: “Go More Virtual”

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The New Year gives opportunity for a fresh start or a burst of motivation to change something for the better in the coming year. One resolution that you might not think of is the aspect of “going virtual” in your workplace. We all want to make resolutions that will bring a positive change in our lives — saving more money, being healthier, helping the environment, being happier, etc. and believe it or not, incorporating a virtual element to your workplace can help accomplish all of those things.

So what exactly does going virtual mean? It’s different for different companies. Some companies are run solely in a virtual environment, with every employee telecommuting at his or her remote location. Other companies have a main “headquarters” location with satellite offices peppered throughout an area, even the world. Other companies utilize a combination of in-house and virtual employees, or have a flexible environment where employees are in the office some of the time and at home at others.

Regardless of the way that it’s implemented, a virtual working environment can provide a host of benefits to your business, and hiring companies who support virtual environments can also save you money due to lower overhead costs. Here are just some of the benefits that a partially or completely virtual workplace can provide:

Top talent. You are able to find an ideal employee match for each role since you are not restricted geographically.

Lower overhead costs. With many or all employees working out of their home base, you don?t need to pay the ongoing expenses of a physical office and are able to offer more competitive prices to clients as a result.

Happy, loyal employees. Providing flexibility so employees feel in control of their schedules allows for a healthy work-life balance, making them more likely to stay with your company long-term.

A healthier environment. Work-from-home or telework employees require little to no commute, thereby reducing pollution, traffic, and stress.

While a virtual working environment may not work for everyone, and is certainly not possible for everyone (restaurants, for example), if your company is able to offer this flexibility, it just may be worth a try! Managers may feel concerned with forfeiting the control and supervision that physical presence in an office provides, but there are many ways to ensure employees are on task and productive.

Paying per project versus per hour can be a great solution for both employer and employee. You can also videoconference, schedule regular phone meetings with everyone, or adjust other company policies as necessary.

We support virtual teams at Radar and we’ve enjoyed success with it. Having flexible, happy employees lets us do our best for our clients while being able to charge competitively for big results. Marketing and design are industries where virtual environments can work wonderfully when prepared for well and carefully implemented.

So which direction will you be taking this year? Will you be moving toward the future of online business or staying behind? Face to face is certainly effective, but you never know who or what you might miss out on for the sake of face time. Happy New Year!

5 Reasons to Invest in a Professional Copywriter to Build your Brand and your Business

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When I mention branding, you likely think of a logo, a color scheme, a general ‘look and feel’ for printed and online materials. Creating these designs often requires a specialist who is trained not only in branding techniques, but in visual design and the software available to implement these ideas. Writing, on the other hand, doesn’t always get such special treatment. Why? Because many businesses view writing as something that everyone can do, so why pay someone else to do it?

While it is true that everyone can write, this doesn’t mean that everyone should. This may sound a bit harsh, but let’s look at some reasons why it’s a good idea to entrust a professional copywriter with your printed and web collateral:

  1. Allow executives and management to focus their attention on the areas for which they are most qualified. It can be tempting to want to do everything yourself, but if you are a CEO or other high level executive, you need to be able to dedicate your attention to what you do best – strategic planning, management, and keeping the company running smoothly. Entrusting the responsibility of conveying your company vision through writing to a trained professional gives you that much less to think about and that much more room to dedicate yourself to what’s most important in your position.
  2. Clarify your company vision. When we build something from scratch, we feel a great sense of accomplishment and are very emotionally connected to our work, whether it’s creating a piece of artwork or boostrapping a startup technology firm. Often times, being so connected emotionally can actually clog the communication lines between you and your potential customers. Hiring a professional writer brings a fresh pair of eyes to your message, with the knowledge of how to get your message across in a clear, concise way.
  1. Find your company ‘voice’. If you go to a prestigious law firm’s website, you don’t expect to be greeted with a writing style that you would find in a consumer women’s magazine. There is very good reason for this, because a writer has studied the company’s target audience and created copy that will most appeal to readers. Having an appropriate ‘voice’ to your writing is a key component of your brand. If you have highly technical writing on one page of your website and conversational, casual writing on another, it creates inconsistency with the image you are trying to portray to your customers.
  1. Increase your sales potential. Just as you need images and design elements to strengthen a website or brochure, you need the text to balance them. A professional writer will know what parts of your brand to accentuate, and how to incite readers to perform a call to action, thereby strengthening your business’ reputation and putting money in your pocket. A simple sales letter or optimized landing page could mean exponential profits.
  1. Reach out to your target audience directly. A writer’s work doesn’t stop at the last sentence on a webpage or brochure. Writers are trained in conveying your ideas clearly in a voice which reflects the brand of your company. You can also employ a writer to reach out to your customers beyond a sales letter or landing page through social media and other outreach programs. Create online discussions in forums or network with bloggers through comments and emails. Depending on the writer you hire, his or her skills may encompass important business benefits like search engine optimization, social media outreach and marketing.

For every business writing need, there is a highly qualified writer out there ready to help you achieve success. So the next time you find yourself saying, “I’ll just do it!”, (unless you, yourself are a copywriter!) remember these five benefits to your business and consider reaching out to a professional.

5 Reasons to Invest in a Professional Copywriter to Build your Brand and your Business

/by

When I mention branding, you likely think of a logo, a color scheme, a general ‘look and feel’ for printed and online materials. Creating these designs often requires a specialist who is trained not only in branding techniques, but in visual design and the software available to implement these ideas. Writing, on the other hand, doesn’t always get such special treatment. Why? Because many businesses view writing as something that everyone can do, so why pay someone else to do it?

While it is true that everyone can write, this doesn’t mean that everyone should. This may sound a bit harsh, but let’s look at some reasons why it’s a good idea to entrust a professional copywriter with your printed and web collateral:

  1. Allow executives and management to focus their attention on the areas for which they are most qualified. It can be tempting to want to do everything yourself, but if you are a CEO or other high level executive, you need to be able to dedicate your attention to what you do best – strategic planning, management, and keeping the company running smoothly. Entrusting the responsibility of conveying your company vision through writing to a trained professional gives you that much less to think about and that much more room to dedicate yourself to what’s most important in your position.
  2. Clarify your company vision. When we build something from scratch, we feel a great sense of accomplishment and are very emotionally connected to our work, whether it’s creating a piece of artwork or boostrapping a startup technology firm. Often times, being so connected emotionally can actually clog the communication lines between you and your potential customers. Hiring a professional writer brings a fresh pair of eyes to your message, with the knowledge of how to get your message across in a clear, concise way.
  1. Find your company ‘voice’. If you go to a prestigious law firm’s website, you don’t expect to be greeted with a writing style that you would find in a consumer women’s magazine. There is very good reason for this, because a writer has studied the company’s target audience and created copy that will most appeal to readers. Having an appropriate ‘voice’ to your writing is a key component of your brand. If you have highly technical writing on one page of your website and conversational, casual writing on another, it creates inconsistency with the image you are trying to portray to your customers.
  1. Increase your sales potential. Just as you need images and design elements to strengthen a website or brochure, you need the text to balance them. A professional writer will know what parts of your brand to accentuate, and how to incite readers to perform a call to action, thereby strengthening your business’ reputation and putting money in your pocket. A simple sales letter or optimized landing page could mean exponential profits.
  1. Reach out to your target audience directly. A writer’s work doesn’t stop at the last sentence on a webpage or brochure. Writers are trained in conveying your ideas clearly in a voice which reflects the brand of your company. You can also employ a writer to reach out to your customers beyond a sales letter or landing page through social media and other outreach programs. Create online discussions in forums or network with bloggers through comments and emails. Depending on the writer you hire, his or her skills may encompass important business benefits like search engine optimization, social media outreach and marketing.

For every business writing need, there is a highly qualified writer out there ready to help you achieve success. So the next time you find yourself saying, “I’ll just do it!”, (unless you, yourself are a copywriter!) remember these five benefits to your business and consider reaching out to a professional.

Radar Media Expands the Blogging Team

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Hi, everyone! My name’s Lesley DeSantis and I’m a new staff writer here at Radar Media. I met with Paul last week to talk about the big, powerful world of blogging, and now I’m here to bring you Internet Marketing tips, news, even some in-depth spotlights on some of our favorite people—our customers. I’m also excited to tell you that I’m not alone in this venture—all Radar employees will be posting to bring you a well-rounded range of topics and access to the wonderfully creative minds behind this business. In this blog, we will be focusing on a variety of business and marketing topics, from Web and UI design to copywriting and corporate blogging itself, and we encourage you to leave comments, ask us questions, and get involved.

Blogging has truly come a long way since its earliest roots with IT gurus. Thankfully, geekery is no longer a prerequisite to learning how to set up and keep a blog, though it can certainly help. I, like many of you, used to think that blogging was nothing more than an ‘online journal’ of sorts, filled to the brim with the dynamic tales of what people eat for lunch, how cute their cat is, or brooding high school poetry about that ever-elusive crush ::sigh::.

While there is plenty of that, I can assure you, there is also an entirely different side of blogging which many business owners and professionals are taking notice of. People have realized that personal blogging is a great way to keep up with friends, make new ones, and it can be their little personal soap box to the world (which could very quickly gain more friends,…or enemies). Businesses have realized that if their customers are doing this to make friends and stir things up, they can very likely use it to find new customers or to network with others in their industry. Now many professionals and businesses are enjoying great success through blogging, like marketing guru Seth Godin, Sun Microsystems CEO Jonathan Schwartz, and problogger.net’s Darren Rowse.

You can find a blog now on just about any topic you can imagine. From politics, to Perez Hilton, to, I don’t know, potatoes? (yes, apparently), chances are if you’re interested in it, there’s a blog about it. While I can’t promise to keep you updated about our new presidency, what shoes Lindsay Lohan was wearing to that party the other night, or the best mashed potato recipe you ever laid eyes on (ok, maybe for Thanksgiving), I can bring you some information to help your business, and hopefully make it fun in the process!

I welcome your comments, potato recipe inquiries included, and I look forward to being a part of the Radar Media team as we move ahead with the blog. If your business hasn’t jumped into social media yet, it’s never too late. I wholeheartedly encourage you to reach out and hold on tight. It can be daunting at first, but it just might pay off. Even if you don’t triple your customer base in the first month, you can dramatically improve your search engine rankings, drive traffic to your website, increase your ‘link love’, and you just might make some new friends. And wasn’t that originally what blogging was all about?

Google Webmaster Tools: Where Free is Priceless

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I don’t necessarily buy that Google can do no evil, but they’ve sure done something good in launching Google Webmaster Tools. Webmaster Tools is a great way to get lots of information about the traffic on your site. And like a lot of what Google provides, Webmaster Tools is free.

To get started, all you need to do is insert a single file in your root directory. Afterwards, you can check back at any time to get an instant read on what the Google crawler thinks about your site–and, by association, your readers in general.

There are a good number of reports available, but here are a few of my favorites. Interested in learning more about how people discover your site? One way, of course, is through links on other sites. With Webmaster Tools, you can instantly see all of the web pages linking to your site in one fell swoop. If you’ve got lots of links and want to do some analysis, click a button and download the report into Excel.

We’re big believers in the power of great content, and this tool makes it easy to see what people are searching on to find you. The top searches report shows the search terms that most readers are using to click through to your site. Often, when reviewing this list, you may find word combinations that surprise you. It may make sense to beef up your content in those areas that readers find most compelling.

The diagnostics provided by Webmaster Tools are equally useful. If there are any broken links on your site, or problems with the site map, the tool will tell you where to look so you can fix them. If there are links on other sites pointing to pages on your site that no longer exist, another report will show you how to find them. It even gives you directions on how to set up a simple “301 Redirect” so that Google will know how to link to the new pages.

One last thing. Way back in my days at NewsEdge Corporation, I learned the power of “push” email related to daily news. Readers loved being able to read today’s news headlines in their email, and then click through to the web for more information. Even today, people still live in email. If this sounds like you, then take a few minutes to set up a customized, daily email report on Webmaster Tools. In my case, every day at around noon, I can look forward to a PDF summary of everything going on at this site. It’s a great read and reminds me that it’s just about time for lunch.

It’s Alive. The New Radar Media site is here

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It was a long time coming. I hate to think about the last time we redesigned the Radar Media site. It was in the distant past, and oh so many clients and web projects ago. That’s what happens when you get busy for long stretches of time. Customers demand a piece of every waking moment. Actually, come to think of it, we are very glad they do.

It was a team effort, and everything we’ve learned about designing, writing for, and producing websites was poured into this piece of work. We hope it shows. The new site went live this Saturday morning (there we go, working weekends again) and finally we have our own site that is every bit as good as what we produce for our clients.

The new site design is everything the old site wasn’t. The old site was dark and (at least we thought so at the time) dramatic–like a Batman movie or a play be Samuel Beckett. The new site is clean, bright and not lacking in open space. We think it’s easier on the eyes and more likely to invite readers to stay awhile.

The overriding vision for the site was to focus on the work. We figured anyone who would take the time to check us out would have two overriding concerns. One, to see what we do. And the other to see who we do it for. So after lots of creative briefs and prototypes we came up with a simple way for people to browse our work by client or project type.

Another goal for the site was to foster more of a two-say dialogue with readers. In Web 2.0 parlance, I guess that means we’re talking about a community. We now have what we think is the beginning of one in this Radar Resources blog. If all goes according to plan, the blog will develop into a freewheeling, open-ended, fun and frothy discussion about anything and everything that has something to do with the web, interactive marketing, or Internet technology. And oh, it’s perfectly fine to weave in a few other tangents that may be of interest.

Finally, we’re excited about the web platform we’ve chosen. The new site is entirely “database driven”–meaning it’s not just a collection of static web files–and it’s much easier and faster to update than before. That means we have no excuse but to keep the content fresher. Working behind the scenes is a new content management system, or CMS, that enables anyone with a web browser to update the content. Last count that was about two billion people.

I am very proud of the team. We worked off and on, with full project loads, since July to put this together. Thanks for visiting, and do come back, you hear?