I’ve recently been talking a lot about website design requirements, proposals, and contracts. I’ve done so because I know a successful website design launch is more than software code, text, and images. Website design success is a direct result of a structured process and solid documentation. Executing a successful website design project begins and ends with a solid documentation. This documentation can be a proposal, contract, or statement of work. The name of the document is less ... Read More
Archives for May 2015
Custom WordPress Theme Design vs. Theme Customizations
Most WordPress users do not understand the difference between the customization of an existing WordPress theme and the creation of a custom WordPress theme design. And why should they? They’re users focused on running their business and not on the jargon of WordPress design. Each week we run into this area of confusion and each week I feel the frustration from users trying to maneuver through the maze of premium WordPress themes, graphic designers, programmers, and WordPress ... Read More
Congratulations Emmett Helsel!
he Web Savvy Marketing team would like to congratulate Emmett Helsel, our scholarship winner for 2015. Emmett is an upcoming graduate of Grayling High School and will be attending Saginaw Valley State University in the fall to pursue a career in biology and health sciences. I started this scholarship a few years ago, because I wanted to give back to the village that raised me. My hometown is in northern Michigan and it is rather small in comparison to the city where I now live in. In this ... Read More
Can a Website RFP Improve Your Project Success Rate?
Have you ever issued a website RFP and received limited responses? Did you wonder what went wrong and why design agencies failed to reply with earnest? You’re not alone. The breakdown in the RFP process can be attributed to both the RFP issuer and the RFP responders. And it is an issue that has been growing for years. On the client side, a lot of companies fail to publish a solid RFP, which makes it difficult for agencies to respond or even take them serious. On the agency side, design ... Read More
WordCamp Videos That Inspire
If you’ve ever been to a WordCamp, you’ll know there are a lot of good presentations that cover a wide range of topics. If you’ve never been to a WordCamp, you simply don’t know what you are missing. Before I went to my first WordCamp, I assumed the talks would be focused on code. I don’t code, so the idea of sitting through 45 minutes of PHP, CSS, Java, and API babble frightened me. I thought it would bore me to death. But I was wrong! WordCamps Offer More Than Code There is so much ... Read More
Google Analytics Goal Tracking Helps You Make Better Business Decisions
Google Analytics goal tracking allows marketers to record specific actions or interactions within their website. These goals are then used to report on website activity via tables, graphs, and flow charts. While goals are generally track a completed conversion, such as an inquiry form submission or product sale, they can also be used to track specific website events. I’ve traditionally used goals within Google Analytics is to obtain a better understanding of our successful website activity ... Read More
Credit Union Marketing in the Age of Digital
Last week I visited a local Michigan restaurant to celebrate my mother-in-law’s birthday. As soon as I walked through the door I was greeted a life size cut out of a gentlemen in a suit handing me a sandwich. This overly large cardboard advertisement was for a local financial institution promoting their services - in the lobby of a restaurant. And best yet, the sandwich was named after the bank. Think I'm kidding? I'm not. Look to the right to see the ad from the bank's website. I could ... Read More
Use Google Analytics Annotations to Make Better Marketing Decisions
Do you struggle with making solid marketing decisions based on tangible data? If so you are not alone. We talk to a lot of business people who feel they are forced into making decisions on the fly and without tangible metrics to back up their chosen direction. While I cannot solve all of your marketing conundrums, I can offer a suggestion that provides an option for viewing website traffic shifts and monitoring potential sources of such movement. Within Google Analytics there is an easy to ... Read More
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