Bluewire Media / www.bluewiregroup.com

Looking for web design?

2009-05-12T11:42:00.000-07:00

If you are looking to create a website for your business or organization, look no further than Bluewire Media. We are as excited to build your site as you are to have one. Our philosophy when designing websites is simple: we want visitors to your website to become paying customers. The entire design process focuses on creating a strong web presence for your company that brings in new business and helps you grow revenues.

Our web design services have the following features:

Fast- we can build a website in days rather than months.
Affordable - our inexpensive website packages are geared to fit your budget.
Professional - although we offer affordable website plans, we don't sell "cheap" websites. The websites we build are professional and affordable

Examples of some of the websites can be found in our portfolio, we are an experienced, dedicated and excited design firm ready to help take your ideas to the next level.

Bluewire Media Web Portfolio

2009-04-20T10:52:00.000-07:00

Check out the newly launched:

www.richmondactiontrack.com

2009-04-09T13:42:00.000-07:00

The Capital Building Visit

2008-10-29T12:19:00.001-07:00

It amazes me that the people working in this building are jaded by the monotany of their everyday life. As I walked the halls looking for the Secretary of State, I passed government employess that took no notice to the building they were in. I had the opportunity to stop and smell the roses so to speak. What impressive architecture inside and out........Yea I said it.

Responsible link building

2008-10-15T06:15:00.000-07:00

This is perhaps the least understood part of SEO. In a nutshell search engines consider a link from another website to your website as a popularity vote. Think of it as power rankings for websites. In general the more sites which link to yours, the better, as this shows your site is relevant to the given topic.

Sadly though link building, like keywords and meta-data, have been abused by many site owners with schemes such as link farms where sites are setup simply to house links to other sites. We encourage careful and responsible link building with sites that are related to yours or through appropriate directories and article banks.

Why is SEO Important?

2008-10-15T06:14:00.001-07:00

One word sums it up - competition. Depending on what study you read, there are as many as 20 billion web pages being indexed at any given time. The major search engines do their best to go through these pages and catalog them so that they can tell you about it if you use their website to search. With so many website pages out there competing for similar phrases it is absolutely critical to make sure you are using every tool at your disposal to make sure your customers can find you when they are looking.

Wary of the economy, holiday shoppers will go online for deals, study says

2008-10-08T06:18:00.000-07:00

Consumers plan to look online for bargains this holiday shopping season – and they’ll be using a variety of strategies to find them, according to a new survey. 85% of online shoppers polled will use online tools or web sites to find good deals online, according to the survey of 2,022 online adults from research firm Harris Interactive commissioned by coupon site RetailMeNot.com.

37% of consumers say they’ll shop online this holiday season. Many are logging on to find better deals, cited by 32%; and to save money on gas, cited by 24%. When looking for bargains online 56% say they use search engines to find them, 32% use price comparison sites, 25% online coupon sites, 23% online advertisements, 12% bargain tracking sites, and 5% shopping-themed social networks.

The most popular items for online purchase are books, cited by 71%; music, cited by 62%; and electronics, 55%. 53% buy gift certificates online, while 51% buy clothing, 50% make travel purchases, 39% buy office supplies and 34% buy health and beauty products.

Overall, consumers bracing for a tight gift budget this year will cut their spending by buying fewer gifts for fewer people, a strategy cited by 46%; 43% says they will buy a smaller number of gifts for the same number of people as last year, and 22% say the will make some gifts instead of buying them.

- IR

Marketing in a Recession?

2008-10-03T08:06:00.000-07:00

Is the current tough market the right time to be slashing your advertising budget? Not if you want your business to survive the economic downturn and lay the groundwork to thrive when the economy improves! Tough times may actually provide us our best opportunity to reach out to our customers with little or no competition because so many of our competitors are doing just the opposite of that in an attempt to save money.

During good times everyone has the money (and bravery) to seek out clients, creating an atmosphere of extreme competition where reaching the consumer with your message proves to be exceedingly difficult. NOW is the time to have faith in your product or service, to reach out to your customers and to secure your success now and into the future. And there are easy and cost effective ways of doing so.

There are some simple things that you can do. Everyone knows about the internet, but not everyone knows the free ways to get exposure on the internet. You can write an article about your industry, or a product, and submit it to one of the many sites that accept them. At the end of your article, you mention your business and have a link to your website. Each site has it's guidelines on how the articles are to be written, so make sure to follow them. This will help establish you as a leader in your industry as long as the information you share is helpful and not self-promoting.

Guerilla marketing is great in slow time. Have some flyers or postcards made. One of your employees or friends can design it or you can find an affordable place to do it for you. During your slow time, have your employees go to a busy area and hand them out. Now you are putting your message directly into the hands of prospective customers. Make sure you have an attractive offer that will entice people to visit your business. Obviously, this is mainly for businesses with a store front, but you can do guerilla marketing online as well.

Guerilla marketing is done differently online. With blogs and social networking sites, there are opportunities to market your business in a different setting. You can create blogs and check the response you get from each entry which can help you check what the market is interested in at any given time. Or you can find blogs that have an issue that your company can help with. Respond to the blog with your company information. You can set up an account with a social networking site, giving more information about your business and connecting to other businesses to network and exchanges leads.

Cross promote with other businesses, in other ways. If you're feeling the pinch of the economy, most likely other businesses in your area/industry are feeling it as well. Find other businesses that don't compete with yours and see about exchanging some flyers or a banner promoting each other's business. Or if your business is online, do a link exchange with other businesses. Do not over due the link exchange or Google may lower your organic search results. Be selective in who you work with both online and in the brick and mortar world.

Press Releases can be a very effective way to bring attention to your business. If you have something that impacts the community, then you can have someone write a press release for you. If you hire someone to do it for you, make sure they know how to write and distribute it. Again, remember the topic must be something that impacts the community and not just a self-serving piece promoting your business.

These are just some of the ideas that will help your business grow in any economy. There are plenty of marketing options out there. You just need to find the ones that work for you.

-Entireweb

Bluewire Media Clients

2008-09-24T10:07:00.001-07:00

Matt's 29th Birthday.

2008-09-24T08:54:00.001-07:00

Susan G. Komen Pink Tie Gala

2008-09-09T08:51:00.001-07:00

Bluewire Media sponsors the Pink Tie Gala at Keeneland.

New Mailing Address

2008-07-31T13:15:00.000-07:00

Bluewire Media Inc.
1328 Red Stone Drive
Lexington, KY 40509

July Business Acquisitions

2008-07-25T07:25:00.000-07:00

Bluewire Media Inc. has been working witk Alltranz located in the Univeristy of Kentucky incubator. Look for their new site to drop in mid August 2008. www.alltranz.com

Bluewire Media Inc. has been contracted by Bluegrass SHRM (Bluegrass Society for Human Resource Management) in Lexington to design and develop a monthly electronic newsletter campaign. July Newsletter

The Importance of Website Layout

2008-07-02T10:13:00.000-07:00

The layout for a website is as important as the content that is chosen for the website itself. This is because the layout decides how easy a website is to navigate and how easy it is to find things on it.

You have probably noticed yourself that there are layouts which are fast and easy to use and ones that you spend more time looking for what you want than it takes to obtain the information once you have found it.

Overall people are more likely to visit and return to websites that are easy to use. Also layouts that are easy to use are usually easier to create. There are a couple of different aspects to a website layout. The first is going to be the design.

How is it set up? Where is everything located? Does it contain everything that you are looking for or that you want to have on your website? Keep in mind that you can use different layouts for different pages. Just because they belong to the same website does not mean that they are required to be uniform.

Though it does help to maintain a sense of uniformity it is not necessary and many people choose a variety of layouts and templates for their websites depending on the subject matter. In this way you can think of a website as a scrapbook each page presenting a different theme or event.

The choice of uniformity or choosing a variety of templates and layouts really depends on what you are looking for and how much work you want to put into the website itself.

You may also want to check to see if the website builder you are using supports multiple layouts. There are some which are single layout based. You are going to want a layout that is not too busy that it detracts from the purpose of your website which is the content on it.

The layout is also based on what you are presenting. If you are presenting primarily text you are not going to want a layout that is primarily for pictures and visa versa. You will also want a layout which provides all the link and page option requirements that you need.

Adding additional spaces is not difficult but you can cut work down considerably with the right template. You will also want to make sure that the background colors are easy on the eyes: bright colors and multiple colors are great. However, if you can not read the text because of the color or it is hard on the eyes chances are you will end up losing visitors.

After you have chosen the type of template, the colors and the pattern if necessary, it is important to make sure that everything you need, link and page buttons, banners and menus are placed in the proper place. There are a number of template options that will allow you to choose the placement of the various parts. Choose these options next in order to complete the layout for your website.

-Entireweb Newsletter

PPC Feeling A Lot Like SEO

2008-07-01T12:51:00.000-07:00

s it just me or is PPC starting to feel a lot like SEO these days? I recall back in 2001 when effective PPC marketing was about writing compelling ad copy, selecting relevant keywords and being more vigilant than your competitors by scanning for bid gaps and catching high bidding sleepers off-guard. A simple process compared to (at the time) what appeared to be a more complex “algorithmic-gaming” process playing out in the search engine optimization trenches. SEO seemed to be growing more and more complex while PPC hummed along as a direct marketers’ online kingdom.

I recall when Google AdWords was launched. Its new PPC model enabled smart “performance” marketers to reap the spoils. AdWords’ new cpc model enabled marketers to compete within competitive markets regardless of budget size a major benefit over the older “pure bid auction” environment that Overture created. Effective management of the ad copy and keyword selections helped maximize the CTR while strategic landing pages secured the most important metric - the conversion. It was a direct marketer’s game.

Times have changed. Google’s quality scoring innovations have brought new levels of complexity to PPC while also bringing it closer to the fine art of SEO. With “aging” requirements, page load times, privacy and other credibility links, historical CTR performance and other quality variables, “algorithmic-gaming” predominantly a SEO thing, is becoming a PPC thing too. Strategies for optimizing your landing pages like those documented here: http://www.msdanielle.com/how-to-raise-your-google-adwords-landing-page-quality-score/ remind me of earlier SEO strategies.

The game is changing again - are you prepared?

by Kevin Gold
Search Marketing Standard

Hanging out with AC

2008-07-01T07:01:00.000-07:00

Last weekend AC, our beloved designer, put the company at risk by rapelling off this 300 foot cliff.

Choosing a Good Domain Name

2008-06-25T08:04:00.000-07:00

Choosing a good domain name is crucial to the success or failure of your business. You may wonder how something so small and slight could have an impact on your business, but the best way to compare this is to think about how important location is to an offline business? If you do not have a good location, you are likely not going to get many visitors. The same holds true for a good domain name as well.

Here, you will discover the six qualities that a good domain name must have to ensure maximum success.

1.) Memorable
A good domain name must be memorable. Yes, we have the option of bookmarking a site that we enjoy; however, the hard truth is that many people do not take advantage of bookmarking. Therefore, it is necessary to ensure that your domain name is one that is easy to remember and makes an impact. It should be easy, memorable, and straight forward.

Avoid complexity and it is usually a good idea to avoid initials in most cases. The only exception to this rule would be if the letters represented the website name or business and was still easy to remember.

2.) Short and Sweet
Twenty characters is the maximum that you should use for a good domain name, ten is even better. A long and complicated domain name is not going to help you. Your best bet is to keep it short and sweet. A great domain name is less than ten characters; a good domain name is less than twenty characters. A bad domain name goes over twenty characters.

3.) Be Choosy On Your Extension
There are several domain extensions available to you such as .com, .net, .org, .tv, .info, .gov and so on. However, some of these work better than others and are more memorable at the same time. It is important to understand that some extensions also have restrictions such as .gov is reserved specifically for government websites. The .com domain name extension is the best by far, because it is the most widely used.

The .net extension is the second best, but be prepared most people will type .com before they will .net if they cannot remember which extension you use. The type of extension you use might also have a bearing on the type of website. Some people have come to expect certain things when a particular extension. For example, .org is typically used by not-for-profit organization and educational websites. The .info extensions are generally used for informational websites.

4.) Spelling Means Everything
Having a difficult to spell domain name could cause you some trouble. Again, many do not even make use of bookmarks; therefore, if your domain name is hard to spell, they may end up at a competitor's website.

A good domain name contains only words that are easy to pronounce, have a good combination of words or letters that are used in every day language, and does not contain foreign words that may be difficult to non-native speakers.

5.) Tells a Story
A good domain name should be descriptive and tell a story. In other words, when your visitors, customers, or potential customers see your domain name they should instantly be able to tell what they are going to find. For instance, if it is your business, a business name is good.

6.) Avoid Fancy Symbols
It is never a good idea to use numbers or hyphens within your domain name. Even if your domain name is memorable, many people will not pay attention to the symbols, which could lead them to someone else's website.

-Entireweb Newsletter

High Oil & Gas Prices Could Boost Internet

2008-06-23T13:25:00.000-07:00

This article was posted on Search Engine Journal - June 19, 2008

High Oil & Gas Prices Could Boost Internet Says Google

Putting a very thin silver lining on the dark cloud of petroleum dependency, Google’s Vint Cerf (who is commonly referred to as the father of the Internet), made a statement at the 2008 OECD Ministerial Meeting in Korea about how high oil prices could be seen as beneficial to the Internet.

“Although I’m not happy with increased oil prices, the Internet (industry) may actually benefit from that as people turn to it as an aid to improve their efficiency,” said Vinton Cerf, vice president and Chief Internet Evangelist for Google, at a press conference.

The rise in oil prices is slowing some global economic growth and making it very difficult for those dependent on gas and oil to live, however Google feels that the need for businesses to save money and cut corners may fuel innovation.

“We may turn increasingly to video conferencing or other kinds of electronic media in order to avoid having to travel,” Cerf said.

Cerf also noted that there may be more use of “computational capabilities” for calculating car and aircraft routes to minimize petroleum usage.

High oil prices are also going to have a positive effect on Google outside of their search business, as the company is investing heavily in alternative and practical renewable energy development like solar generators and other utility oriented investments.

by Loren Baker, Editor

Google Research Proves Value Of Search And Affiliate

2008-06-17T10:35:00.000-07:00

Search marketing behemoth, Google, released a study today that demonstrates how newspaper ads help drive users to the web. They also note (not surprisingly) that 69% of users who conducted research online used Google while only 19% used Yahoo. Here is a nice graphic of their findings:

info provided by www.netexponentblog.com

Steven Zunker

2008-06-10T13:47:00.000-07:00

Bluewire Media Inc. has recently completed the new website for Nashville Recording artist Steven Zunker. Please check out his site at www.stevenzunker.com

June Business Acquisitions

2008-06-10T13:39:00.000-07:00

Bluewire Media Inc. has been working with Alltranz located in the University of Kentucky Incubator. Look for their new site to drop in mid August 2008. www.alltranz.com

Bluewire Media Inc. has been contracted by Bluegrass SHRM (Bluegrass Society for Human Resource Management) in Lexington to desing and develop a monthly electronic newsletter campaign. July Newsletter

Bluewire Media Inc. has been contracted by MISI (Maryland Industrial Security Inc.) in Bowie, Maryland yet again to design and develop a fresh new Website www.mdindsec.com

2008 Summer Picnic

2008-06-09T13:56:00.000-07:00

For the record, no one was monitoring conversion rates this day!

May Business Acquisitions

2008-05-07T08:13:00.000-07:00

Bluewire Media Inc. has partnered with Sally Advertising in Lexington, KY to design multiple print ad brochures for local businesses.

Bluewire Media Inc. has partnered again with WMH Solutions in Lexington, Kentucky and Chester, Virginia to design new website and back-end database development. www.wmhsolutions.com

The Importance of Site Linkage

2008-04-21T07:18:00.000-07:00

A linking campaign is a necessary step in the overall success of your web site. You can put up a web site, have great web design, and have great content; but without other web sites linking to your web site no one will know about it.

Furthermore, the search engines rely on links in order to find new web sites and new web pages. A proper linking campaign will not only increase your web site's online visibility and traffic, it will allow the search engines to find your site and help your web site get indexed.

Basically, link popularity is a measurement of quality, relevant inbound links to a page. It is used by search engines as a method of establishing the importance of a site and is a major factor in Google Page Rank and therefore Google and most other search engine rankings.

More and more search engines rank your web pages based on the number and quality of links that point to your web site, known as link popularity.

Link popularity is the number of incoming links that you have to your site from other sites. These links can be from directories, articles, or web sites. The more links you have pointing to your site, the better.

So promote your site to other colleges in your industry. The more the better! If those companies/websites need help implementing a link, Let me know and I will contact them with assistance.

April Business Acquisitions

2008-04-10T06:24:00.000-07:00

Bluewire Media Inc. has partnered with St. Joesph's Hospital in Lexington, KY to design the Annual Nursing Report for 2008. www.sjhlex.org

Bluewire Media Inc. has been contracted to design all materials for Lexington's annual "Pink Tie Gala" held at Keeneland which raises money for breast cancer. www.komenlexington.org

Bluewire Media Inc. has also partnered with new Nashville recording artist, Steven Zunker. Look for Steven's website, www.stevenzunker.com to drop mid May.

Bluewire Media Inc. has been contracted by SHRM, Society of Human Resource Management, for design, promotion, and distribution of a monthly newsletter. www.shrm.org

Bluewire Media Inc. has partnered with Precision Painting & Pressure Washing again to create fliers and other various print materials in preparation for the Home & Garden show in Lexington, April 12-13 www.precisionpp.com.