Internet Marketing Blog | VT Web Development Blog

Real Estate Website Spring Cleaning

by Megan Bookless

May 8th, 2012

Art Urie, owner of Lake Farm Realty in Concord, New Hampshire, has been a loyal Union Street Media client since we launched his original site in July 2005. When it launched, the Lake Farm site gave Art a great platform for showcasing his listings and offered his clients a sophisticated but easy-to-use tool for property searches. Union Street Media’s content management system also offered Art an easy, efficient way to maintain contact with potential clients throughout their property searches and home buying experiences.

Six years post-launch, Art’s site was still providing him with a professional web presence, but was becoming outdated in a landscape of ever-evolving web trends. Additionally, Art recognized the need for his site to serve not only as a customer service tool but also as a lead generator.

Through a Design Refresh, we were able to upgrade the sites conversion and search tools, property detail views, and overall functionality. Our Design Team made sure to incorporate some of the imagery and essence of Art’s old site into the new one to maintain Lake Farm Realty’s consistent vision and identity.

By choosing to combine his Refresh with a Dedicated Internet Marketing package post-launch, Art will see data driven, ongoing optimization to maximize the impact of the new design. Our Internet Marketing team will be focusing on expanding the reach of the site to pull in new visitors who can take advantage of the improved forms, tools, and ultimately the professional, personal service Lake Farm Realty offers.

Lake Farm Realty (version 2.0) is a great example of a site that’s been updated to reflect changes in technology and design without losing sight of the company’s overall goals and personality.

Original Website

New Website

Tags: Real Estate Marketing, real estate website design, real estate website development, real estate websites
Posted in Company News, Our Clients, Website Launches | No Comments »

Pinterest for Brands

by Allyson Locke

April 18th, 2012

Over the past few months, Pinterest has exploded in the social media world. While the majority of its users thus far have been women in their 30’s-50’s who love crafting and planning weddings, things have changed a bit, now that more people are using the site. Brands have begun tapping into this market with subtle product promotion and brand identity creation. If your company has a product or service that relates to women of this age and interest, you should get on Pinterest right away.

What is Pinterest?

It’s a visual-based site which allows users to create boards (think virtual bulletin board) and “pin” items of interest to them. The idea is that you can separate craft ideas, products you love, etc. into categories using different boards. You can also “re-pin” things you find on other people’s board and save them for later. Pinterest has become a very popular social media site that allows people to save projects, home-improvement ideas and the like for later, in a magazine-style layout.

How Does This Affect My Brand?

While brands are just beginning to play around with the idea of promotion and sales on Pinterest, it proves to be successful for those who are tapping into its specific market and engaging with users. It turns out that brands who post images on the site have dramatically increased traffic to their blogs and websites. But don’t think that posting any old picture will influence people to click; you have to post something relevant, tag it appropriately, and give your followers a reason to check it out.

How Should My Brand Use Pinterest?

Post relevant, creative content that your demographic would be interested in. This could be anything from recipes using your product to your staff’s favorite vacation spot.
Make sure all images are attractive. Because Pinterest is image-focused, all of your content should be visually interesting. Posting a tiny, blurry picture won’t drive any traffic to your site or influence people to learn more about your company.
Don’t only post your own products. While images of your products might help drive traffic to your site, you should also mix it up by pinning DIY projects and other items that would be relevant to your customers.
Show some creativity! Don’t simply post images of your office or your employees, show your brand’s fun side. You can still think outside the box while maintaining your company’s professional image.

So while it may not be clear how your company fits into the Pinterest scene yet, you can still play around with it as a brand development tool. Many sites are using it to show the personality behind their brand and its employees. Either way, it is another great social media tool that could potentially drive traffic to your website, so take a shot at it!

Tags: Internet Marketing, Pinterest, Social Media Marketing
Posted in Social Media Marketing | No Comments »

Facebook Pages: A Timeline Cheat Sheet

by Elissa Giroux

March 27th, 2012

Gardener's Supply Facebook Page

As of March 30, 2012, Facebook will be switching the layout of all pages not yet on the new Timeline format. This should not be a surprise if you log into your account regularly—Facebook has been posting alerts about the change for weeks. Most likely, you’ve noticed some of your connections’ pages have changed in appearance as they’ve switched over. As of next week, all pages will have this same style.

The instructional videos that Facebook put together are informative and easy to follow, and I recommend watching them. Allyson Locke’s earlier post “Introducing Facebook Timeline Brand Pages” also provides a good overview of the changes. For those who need a quick cheat sheet on the most important changes and new features to be aware of as we approach the switch-over date, read on….

The Cover Photo.  The new layout includes a “cover photo,” which is a large image spanning the top of your page. Your profile image, which will continue to appear next to any comments or updates you post on Facebook, will show in an inset box in the bottom left corner of your cover photo. While your profile picture should be an image that represents your brand, such as your logo, the new cover photo gives you room for some creativity. Use a fun or offbeat photo if you’d like, a picture of your staff, or your office or your town if your business is locally focused. Ideally the cover photo is visually interesting and engaging while reflecting your business in some way. (Some good examples: Cabot Creamery Cooperative, Green Mountain Coffee, Gardener’s Supply)
Tabs and Landing Pages.  Be aware that Facebook no longer allows you to direct visitors to a customized landing page, such as a sale announcement or intro message. Your wall will always be the first thing people see, and from there they can click through to any tabs you’ve set up, if they choose (they’ll appear beneath your cover photo, to the right).
Milestones.  The new format allows you to track important events in your company’s history as “milestones.” To add a milestone, click “Milestone” in the status box. Facebook will ask you to start by adding the year that your company was founded. From there, you can add whatever significant events you’d like to share with visitors. You can also now edit dates on posts by hovering over the top right corner of the post, clicking on the pencil icon, and selecting “Change Date.”
Pinning Posts.  If you’ve posted something that you would like to remain at the top of your timeline, even as you add new posts, you can now “pin” it. Your post will stay pinned for 7 days (unless you un-pin it) and then drop to the place it belongs in your timeline. You can only have one post pinned at a time.   To pin a post: Hover over the top right corner of the post and select the pencil icon, then “pin to top.” A yellow flag-like icon will show in the top right corner of the post, as long as it is pinned.
Starring Posts.  If you’d like to highlight certain posts, you can star them by clicking on the star icon that appears as you hover over the top right corner of a post. Starred posts will expand across both columns of your timeline so that they stand out.
Admin Panel Updates   . Facebook has also added some features to the admin section that make it easier to view information about activity on your page. While I won’t go into detail about the admin updates in this article, I do encourage you to click on the “Admin Panel” button at the top right of your page and explore.

When you’re ready to upgrade, simply log into your Facebook business page. If you haven’t already switched to Timeline, you’ll see a message asking if you’d like to preview your page with the new layout. Facebook has made the upgrade process extremely easy. Take some time this week to learn about the new features, select or create a great-looking cover photo, and turn on the Timeline!

Have any thoughts, reactions, or great ideas you’d like to share? Please comment below.

Posted in Internet Marketing, Social Media Marketing | No Comments »

Avoiding Thin Content on Your Site

by Tom Cull

March 20th, 2012

Ever since Google’s Panda Update last year, many website owners have become concerned about duplicate content–which they should be, but there is more to it than that.

At the heart of what Google does, is ensure that quality results are shown for searchers. Part of the drive behind the Panda Update was to eliminate not only duplicate content but also “thin content” that has little or no value.

What Is Thin Content?

At the core, thin content is basically not enough information on a website page. Content needs to have enough to it to engage a visitor and drive them to take action. When a site page doesn’t engage or answer primary questions, it fails. It is hard to answer most questions effectively without writing an average amount of text. The same goes for action. There needs to be enough trust gained via the text to make the action worthwhile.

Since it is hard for Google bots to gauge quality from a human perspective, Google uses a rudimentary approach and measures the amount of words on a page. Although no one but Google knows the exact amount of text to have on the page to look good to the bots, the 300-500 word mark is a good number to target. This is based on what works for regular blog posts to be effective with SEO as established by Copyblogger and others.

Author Seth Godin at PDF 2007 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Crutch of Website Authority

On the flip side of content are people like the marketing guru Seth Godin, who is fond of short posts that provide ideas or information without taking too much of his or the reader’s time. If Seth Godin has a post with 83 words of text, he is not going to expand it to at least 300 words just because it is best for search engines.

Keep in mind though that Seth Godin’s website has established authority with Google so it is easier for him to have shorter pieces without affecting his site overall. Until website authority is established, it is best to provide at least 300-500 words of text as an easy guide. This is the easiest way to measure your content at the outset. After a page has been up for awhile, you should be able to get some indication of how successful that content is from such metrics as bounce rate and time on site.

How To Avoid Thin Content

In truth, it is anyone’s guess as to the “right” amount of text to have on a page. However, to get a visitor to trust what you are saying and have your primary answers be effectively understood by most people, you need a couple of paragraphs of solid text. If your page only has a sentence or two then you need to expand upon it. Don’t just add fluff, but really get at the meat of what you want to say.

Every website will be slightly different but a basic guide at the outset is 300-500 words. After awhile you should look at analytics to get a better idea of how your page is actually performing. Some indicators include bounce rate and time on page.

When a page is performing well then you can generally leave it alone.

Tags: Blogging Tips, content, Content Creation, content strategy, Search engine optimization, thin content
Posted in Content Creation Ideas, Internet Marketing | No Comments »

Recent Website Launches

by Mike McCarney

March 19th, 2012

www.stowewine.com	Stowe Wine & Food Classic The Stowe Wine and Food Classic, held annually every June in Stowe, Vermont. It’s a one-of-a-kind event that brings together winemakers, chefs, farmers, and suppliers from around the state. The event caters to a wide audience including wine aficionados, foodies, and everyone in between. Wine pairings, food tastings, cooking demos, and seminars are only a few of the attractions that makes this event popular and help the organization continue to support local charities and causes year after year.
www.dumont.com	The duMONT Company The duMONT Company, LLC, has been designing and manufacturing precision broaches since 1945. Minute Man® Broaches are recognized all over the world for quality, durability, and engineering detail. As the largest manufacturer and supplier of Push-Type Broaches in the United States, they offer broaches to a wide variety of businesses through a vast national and international distribution network. Their wide variety of products includes broaches, one-pass keyway broaches, internal hole broaches, and keyseating broaches. They also offer special design and application broach services for non-standard sized keyways and internal hole broaches.
www.semiprobe.com	Semi Probe With over 60 years of experience, SemiProbe’s innovative probing, inspection, and testing solutions have helped customers in a wide variety fields including MEMS, nanotechnology, photovoltaics, and optoelectronics. Their patented Probe System for Life offers innovative solutions for companies around the world including universities and government research labs and uses on a modular architecture that can be adapted to meet varying applications and process requirements including R&D and production.
www.champlainfarms.com	Champlain Farms Champlain Farms is a locally owned and operated chain of convenience stores in Vermont and New Hampshire. Their stores offer a variety of goods and services to customers. The website allows site visitors to search for locations and see the latest news and specials. Their site features an employee section that allows them to monitor requests and resources.
www.bostonrising.org	Boston Rising Boston Rising’s mission is to end the cycle of poverty once and for all in Boston. By investing in programs and leaders who have the same vision, Boston Rising successfully mobilizes and invests resources to benefit the surrounding communities. With their new website, Boston Rising can now showcase their successes to better promote their causes and share information.
www.champlainvalleyheadstart.org	Champlain Valley Head Start The Champlain Valley Head Start mission is to provide high quality services to help children and families to thrive and to reach their full potential. They promote the health, safety and well-being of children, and maintain strong collaborative partnerships to meet the changing needs of children, families and communities.
www.go2omara.com	OMARA OMARA is a non-profit booster club that was founded to support the athletes, families, and coaches of Okemo Competition Programs and Okemo Mountain School, as well as lend administrative, logistical and financial support to the programs themselves. They raise money through annual member dues, fundraisers and socials, individual donations, and ad space.