Blue Compass Interactive

You Are Your Website's Appearance

2009-07-01T13:13:00.002-05:00

Ever been to an old or confusing looking website and felt excited about the company or product? The first five seconds a visitor spends at your site are extremely critical. An opinion of not only your website, but your business, is formed within these few seconds. What kind of vibe is your homepage giving off?

An attractively packaged product at the store, a beautiful house, a shiny new car - appearance drives the customer and is very important! Your homepage is the most important page on your website. A homepage that's ugly, old, or cluttered can immediately destroy the goals your website is there to achieve.

Just a few important qualities in a homepage include:

Simplicity - There so many busy, cluttered websites out there. You've seen them. Most news and sports teams sites are guilty of this. It's bothersome to hunt all around the homepage, searching for what you're looking for. Information is great, but keep it simple enough not to confuse your visitors. Your homepage should have a clean design, and a clear, concise message.

Attractiveness - Colors that don't go together, text that's hard to read, too many logos or icons...homepages that look unattractive can give off an unprofessional and unorganized feeling to the potential customer. Homepages that where designed back in 1996 look like they were designed back in 1996 and when a visitor feels like you haven't updated your website in years they're not likely to stick around.

Follow some basic web standards - Out-of-the-box homepages that are unique and crazy are great, but it's also important to follow some basic web standards so the visitor doesn't get lost or intimidated, and move on. Remember, it only takes your visitor a click to leave!

Of course, we make a business out of great homepages! Check out our website portfolio to see a sample of our recent homepage designs.

Save the USS Iowa

2009-06-10T09:34:00.000-05:00

Blue Compass and DWebware have just launched the Save the USS Iowa website! Created to help people unite to preserve this national treasure, savetheiowa.com features a look into the ship's rich history, provides a way for you to share your memories of the USS Iowa with others, and allows you to donate to this worthy cause.

Called the "greatest ship ever launched by the American nation," the USS Iowa is a symbol of American strength, service, and determination. The battleship has served the nation with distinction for over five decades in every major deployment of the armed services. Today, however, this historic landmark is in danger of demolition.

Having served our nation for decades, the USS Iowa has impacted the lives of thousands of Americans. So many people have experienced the rich history of the battleship, and at Save the USS Iowa, those stories are ready to be heard. This is your chance to share your memories with others. If you or a loved one has served on the USS Iowa, please tell us your story, let us share it with the world, and hopefully touch the life of someone else in our campaign to preserve the USS Iowa.

Help us preserve and transform the USS Iowa into a permanent, living museum that will serve as a remembrance to those who served and died, both in war and in peace. Experience the history, share your USS Iowa story, and donate to help us save the USS Iowa.

Blue Compass Launches the Kum & Go Website!

2009-06-01T10:43:00.005-05:00

As a leading gas and convenience store chain, Kum & Go wanted to update their web presence to match their superior quality, customer service, and fun attitude. Celebrating 50 years of business, Kum & Go needed an effective, high-end website. Teaming with Dwebware, Blue Compass has created a fresh, new website that compliments Kum & Go's many unique qualities.

Unlike most clients who simply need a new design for the site, Kum & Go actually needed two homepage designs, one for their new site and one to showcase their 50th anniversary. The catch was that both designs needed to be able to tie into one overall interior design. To make two homepage designs work within one overall layout design for the site, Blue Compass brainstormed a unique Flash concept that would merge two designs into one through Flash animation. Moving forward with this concept, Blue Compass created a 1959 and 2009 versions of a Kum & Go store and made the two interchangeable through navigation on the Kum & Go sign located in the foreground. The scene can even be changed from day to night.

Other unique aspects to the Kum & Go site are the store locator and the animated homepage callouts. The store locator is custom application which allows a visitor to find a Kum & Go by the store's unique attributes, such as diesel fuel, a restaurant, or Red Box movie rentals, or even by searching for a store that has multiple unique attributes. Once the results appear, icons appear letting the visitor know all unique attributes associated with each Kum & Go store. Visitors are also able to retrieve a map to the store, as well as see all Kum & Go stores within a 25 mile radius of the chosen store.

To ensure a fresh and clean design, Blue Compass wanted an orderly way to display a lot of homepage callouts and information. As a creative solution, a custom application was created that would rotate callouts based on an associated hierarchy. This way the homepage design would not be consumed by several callouts and Kum & Go would be able to easily add and display an infinite amount of callouts on the homepage, which now showcases all Kum and Go promotions.

There is plenty more to see on the new Kum & Go website - Check it out at www.kumandgo.com and be sure to check out the easter-egg navigation!

7 Signs That You Need a New Website

2009-05-26T13:14:00.010-05:00

It's easy to let your website sit unattended for weeks, months, or even years. An old website can make you look cheap and untrustworthy, rank poorly with today's search engines, and serve no real value to your visitors. While simple updates and maintenance can help, every website eventually needs to be redesigned. The following are 7 signs that your website may need a redesign. Does your website show any of these signs?

7. Your website is hard to navigate. Do people have a hard time finding what they're looking for on your website? Do you? A poorly structured website is a huge deterrent to visitors - and a sign you need a redesign.

6. Your website is very difficult to find via search engines. Many old, outdated websites are practically invisible to search engines. Built correctly, a new website that's updated often will quickly climb up Google's rankings.

5. Your website only displays correctly in Internet Explorer. While Microsoft's IE used to have a monopoly on web browsing, today there are many ways to view websites. From Mozilla Firefox to Google Chrome, there are numerous browsers and various versions of these browsers. Optimizing the visitors' experience is important no matter how they are viewing your website - and a new, well designed site takes all these internet browsers into account.

4. Your business or organization's branding or message has changed. If you've updated your logo, look, or lingo, it's important to carry this over onto your website! A business or organization that gives out two different messages is setting itself up for trouble.

3. Your website's pages are filled with huge amounts of text. These days, a page filled with paragraphs and paragraphs of copy is excessive, busy, and unprofessional. Generally 150 to 250 words per page is enough.

2. You never hear anything about or from your website. If your website isn't bringing in inquiries, comments, or simply isn't getting visited, it's not doing its job. A well designed website should create interest, provide information, and make contacting you easy.

1. You are embarrassed to give out your web address. Do you try to hide your website? Obviously, this is a sign that your website isn't representing your business or organization the way it should be. Having a website that you're proud of is truly a wonderful feeling!

Of course, at Blue Compass we have solved all these problems many times before, and we would love to do so for you. Don't hesitate to contact us and let us know about your web needs!

Show off Your Business or Organization's History!

2009-05-04T16:34:00.011-05:00

Filled with milestones and accomplishments, your business or organization has a rich history, but how do you showcase your history in an interesting way? The answer is an Interactive Timeline! These Flash applications allow your website visitors to easily navigate through a timeline filled with facts and photos of important highlights. This serves as a great way to exhibit your business or organization's stability and achievements, and is much more engaging than paragraphs of text.

Whether your business or organization has been around for 10 years or 100, a Blue Compass Interactive Timeline is an exciting way to showcase your history and accomplishments.

Check out a couple examples of our timelines:

Ruan Transport's Timeline

Merchant Bonding Company's Timeline

Blue Compass Launches IowaDesMoinesSupply.com

2009-04-27T12:09:00.003-05:00

With an inventory of over 750,000 products available, Iowa -Des Moines Supply Inc. has a vast inventory and a rich, 70 year history of distribution experience. Unfortunately, their aging website was neither showing off their capabilities nor reflecting their true quality as a company. IDMS came to Blue Compass looking for a new, more contemporary website with a way to display their many products and supplies.

After discussing the online opportunities with the IDMS team, we came up with a new website to reflect their quality and meet their needs. The attractive, new website has many new features, including a large database of products which visitors can add to a "Product Inquiry Box," and then submit to an IDMS sales representative.

You can check it out at iowadesmoinessupply.com!

A Fresh, New Design for Kemin.com

2009-04-16T14:24:00.005-05:00

Kemin Industries, an international bioscience company, recently transitioned to new corporate branding for all of their print materials, but hadn't yet changed the look of their website. Kemin came to Blue Compass Interactive for fresh, new website branding and design based on their print branding.

The result is a bold and inviting website designed to capitalize on Kemin's many fields of expertise. The new homepage features intuitive navigation and the latest news releases and events, while interior pages are designed to be easily navigated and clearly display a vast amount of information.

You can see the new design at kemin.com !

Blue Compass Launches TRMC.org!

2009-04-06T15:31:00.002-05:00

Trinity Regional Medical Center of Fort Dodge, Iowa has launched a new website. As the leading northwest-central Iowa hospital, Trinity provides exceptional services, having been named a top 100 hospital for cardiovascular care by Thomson Reuters.

Recently updating their facilities by expanded and adding a new edition to the hospital, Trinity also wanted to update their website. Trinity came to Blue Compass looking for a high-end design that incorporated the overall look and feel of their new hospital edition, an intuitive content management solution, a way to showcase their capabilities and services, and better recruitment capabilities. The site features a very contemporary, open design with audience-based navigation that communicates Trinity's outstanding services and physicians. Several custom applications were created for the Trinity site:

A custom Flash application to share customer and physician testimonials
A simple content management solution was incorporated to allow the client to easily update each area of the site.
Individual applications were also built to manage physicians, clinics, send-a-cards, and physician and NP/PA practice opportunities.

Check it out at http://www.trmc.org/ !

Blue Compass Launches WHO Virtual Tour!

2009-03-19T09:58:00.018-05:00

Teaming up with the most-listened-to radio station in the Midwest, we're excited to launch our latest animated Flash creation: The Newsradio 1040 WHO Virtual Tour!

Reaching a vast audience throughout Iowa and surrounding states, WHO has many popular radio personalities bringing news, information, and humor to listeners. It would be impossible to provide each of these thousands of listeners with a personal meet-and-greet tour of the personality-filled WHO building - at least until now. Our virtual tour gives a fantastic look into the world of WHO, all through a quick and simple point-and-click experience. Visitors can tour offices, hang-out in conference rooms, and wander the halls - all while interacting with WHO personalities.

Make sure to check it out here!

Blue Compass Launches KatieGudio.com

2009-03-17T10:04:00.017-05:00

One of Tennessee's premiere promotional companies has just launched a new website. Katie Guido Promotions specializes in creating brands for their clients and their products through many methods, including PR campaigns, press kits, establishing endorsement deals, and more.

Katie Guido Promotions came to Blue Compass looking for a simple but very modern and appealing website. The site features a very contemporary, high-end design, featured product highlights, and a simple content management solution to allow the client to easily update the site.

You can check it out at http://www.katieguido.com/!

Blue Compass Launches Mobile Websites!

2009-03-09T09:08:00.003-05:00

With cell phone ownership increasing and technology getting smaller and more compact, mobile internet browsing is becoming more popular. Because of this rise in cell-phone and PDA internet traffic, mobile versions of websites are becoming very useful. Blue Compass' mobile websites take design and content from the full website, but optimizes them for a mobile display. Today, the Apple iPhone and iPod Touch account for nearly a 75% of mobile browser traffic in the U.S. Because of this, we have just launched an iPhone version of our site at BlueCompass.com - simply type in this address on your iPhone or iPod Touch. Our website recognizes that you are visiting with a mobile device and instantly directs you to the mobile version of the site!

Blue Compass Interactive Wins ADDY® Award

2009-02-26T16:00:00.005-06:00

Blue Compass Interactive is excited to announce its recent victory in the 2008 ADDY® Awards. Honored with a Gold ADDY® Award for winning first place in the Consumer HTML category for the SpaldingEquipment.com website, Blue Compass is delighted to be rewarded and we would like to thank our friends at Spalding for the wonderful partnership.

"After considering several companies, we were impressed with Blue Compass' fresh approach and excitement for our project. Our initial impression is what won the bid and throughout the process we found that their enthusiasm was matched by their professionalism. They adopted our goals for the site and offered many innovations of their own which served to enhance the user experience and drive business to our nationwide dealer network. Because of their willingness to partner with us and the continued guidance we have received, we look forward to working with Blue Compass on future projects."

Jason Harris
Marketing Manager, Spalding Atheltics

The ADDYs® are the advertising industry's largest and most representative competition, recognizing creative excellence in the art of advertising. Every year approximately 60,000 entries are submitted in local ADDY® competitions across the United States.

Blue Compass Launches DatavisionReasources.com!

2009-02-08T13:15:00.018-06:00

Datavision asked Blue Compass Interactive to produce a fresh new that would showcase Datavision's unique capabilities. Beyond the design, Blue Compass needed to create a website to work for Datavision in multiple ways - intuitive navigation was important, multiple management systems needed to be able to work together, and the Datavision story was to be quickly and effectively told to visitors.

The result is a dynamic site filled with valuable news, announcements, careers, and a fresh design that reflects Datavision's technological background and expertise. With Flash enhancements and creative programming techniques, the site is completely optimized for SEO.

Take a look for yourself, at DatavisionReasources.com

MerchantsBonding.com Launches

2009-02-02T13:41:00.018-06:00

Launching new company branding is a large task, but it can provide its company and clients with fresh, exciting energy. Recently, Merchants Bonding Company, one of the top surety writers in the US, came to Blue Compass Interactive looking for an update to their branding.

We worked with Merchants Bonding's fantastic team to understand the company's goals and determine the right direction for the branding. The results include a fresh new logo and website design that reflect the company's tradition, commitment, and 75 years of experience. Working with Merchants Bonding's IT department, we created a rich look for a dynamic new website that has many features including latest news updates and an agent login center.

See the new site and logo at MerchantsBonding.com

TV vs. Internet

2009-01-26T16:36:00.006-06:00

How effective is TV advertising? As technology continues to progress, the way to reach people changes as well. While television used to be considered the primary tool for reaching people, things are quickly changing.

According to a recent study by the Association of National Advertisers and Forrester Research, most marketers say television advertising has become less effective in the past two years. The study concludes that:

Over 50% of the marketers surveyed plan on spending less on TV advertising in the future.
Most advertisers are interested in trying new ad formats, such as ads in online TV shows and video on demand.
87% of respondents say they plan on spending more on web advertising this year.

It's not hard to see why TV ads aren't as effective as they used to be. Devices such as TiVo and other DVRs make skipping commercials quick and easy - and with these devices becoming increasingly popular, some analysts predict that more than 50% of households will have a DVR by next year. In addition, video-on-demand services such as Netflix, Amazon Video On Demand, and Apple TV are quickly growing in popularity. It is becoming easier and easier for people to avoid watching pesky TV commercials. In addition, watching television simply isn't as popular as it used to be, thanks to new media such as video games and the web.

As traditional television viewing decreases, Internet usage increases every day. About 75% of the US population uses the Internet - an increase of over 130% since 2000, according to Nielsen/NetRatings - and this percentage climbs every day. This means people are increasingly using and becoming familiar with websites for entertainment and using them as their primary source of information.

While potential customers don't expect you to advertise on TV, they do expect you to have a good, easy-to-find website. With more and more people relying on the web each day, make sure you consider your online presence!

Thanks to Our Clients

2009-01-22T15:59:00.011-06:00

At Blue Compass we truly appreciate all of our clients. Although it is not necessary, we're always thankful when clients show their gratitude for our work.

Thank you to Wesley Retirement Services for their delicious gift, DWebware for the Wii, Tunink Murray for the gift certificates, and Cornerstone Homes for the gift certificates. It is nice to know we are appreciated!

Blue Compass Video Blog: harvestinitiative.org

2009-01-12T11:59:00.004-06:00

Ever wondered how websites are created? Our video blogs answer just that question, giving you a quick look into how our creative process crafts an award-winning website. Blue Compass Video Blog #3 features the harvestinitiative.org.

Good Web Design and Consumer Trust

2009-01-07T08:45:00.001-06:00

Can you get by with a mediocre looking website? We all know first impressions are important, and your web site's appearance is the first thing visitors notice. But, did you know that a website's design greatly impacts visitors' trust in the website?

Case in point: A woman does a Google search, clicked on a link she thought would meet her needs, takes a look at the site once it loaded, and then immediately hits the back button because the site looked bad enough or old enough that she didn't trust the content or services that she would have found on the site. Instead, she went back to the search results looking for a "better" site.

In the above scenario, the site's design made an immediate impact on the site visitor. The site itself may have had good information or cheaper prices than any of the other sites listed in the search results page, but because the design didn't instill trust, the visitor didn't stay - leaving the site ineffective for its company.

More so than any other type of web site, consumer sites, sites with e-commerce capabilities, are subjected to higher trust standards from consumers. The standards are higher because consumers disclose personal and credit card information. Before a consumer will provide their information, they will have to trust the site.

As an award-winning web design firm, Blue Compass prides itself on providing each of our clients with the best possible design for their site. Our goal with each design is to produce an effective and valuable communication tool for our client - which means giving our client a site consumers will trust.

If you're looking for a new website or a redesign for your current site, don't hesitate to contact us for a quick estimate.

Merry Christmas from your friends at Blue Compass

2008-12-16T10:55:00.014-06:00

At Blue Compass, we pride ourselves on great Flash design and development. It would have been great to create a festive Flash videogame for our website visitors, but as you know, things can get very busy toward the end of the year. While we did run out of time to create one for ourselves, we were able to create one for our friends at Merchants Bonding Company - and you're invited to give it a try!

Click here to play Snowball Target Practice.
See if you can beat our highest score of 24,980!

Merry Christmas!

If you beat our score, email us a screenshot and we'll post your score here.

Current high score: 41,009 - Luke H.

Blue Compass Launches AdvesityParadox.com!

2008-12-10T16:14:00.004-06:00

Adversity. It's one of life's inescapable realities. Everyone wants to avoid it - but why do some people falter or fail in the face of adversity while others are able to leverage it into incredible success? That's the question two of Iowa's most successful business leaders, Barry Griswell (former Chairman and CEO of Principal Financial Group) and Bob Jennings (President of Lean Management Inc.), answer in their new book The Adversity Paradox: An Unconventional Guide to Uncommon Business Success.

Looking for a way to promote their book online, Griswell and Jennings came to Blue Compass. After researching trends of online book sales and promotions, we created an online resource to attract and inform potential customers. The result is an eye-catching, clear, and concise website with excerpts, testimonials, and purchasing options. In addition, since Griswell and Jennings will be speaking at numerous events to promote the book, we made sure to keep visitors aware of when and where these promotions will take place by including an easy-to-update "News & Events" feature.

"I have used Blue Compass on two different ventures - one a non-profit and the other a commercial venture - and they performed exceptionally well on both projects. They are very creative, deliver on time and exceed expectations."
J. Barry Griswell
Business and Community Leader

"Blue Compass was outstanding with understanding our needs and then going beyond our expectations in filling them. They brought to the table the expertise and creativeness that enabled us to greatly improve our online visibility while presenting us to the public at the professional level we needed."
Bob Jennings
President, Lean Management Inc.

Look for The Adversity Paradox in bookstores April 2009, and check out the website at AdversityParadox.com !

Adobe Honors Blue Compass, Again

2008-12-01T10:32:00.006-06:00

For a second time, Adobe.com has selected a Blue Compass Interactive website for the prestigious "Adobe Site of the Day" award. December 1, Ruan.com will be highlighted for its unique design and creative use of Adobe products.

Ruan approached Blue Compass with a goal to create a website that would demonstrate Ruan's versatile transportation capabilities and appropriately show Ruan as a powerful transportation industry leader. To meet all goals and push the website to the next level, Blue Compass incorporated a large, borderless-photo based Flash animation into the homepage design - giving Ruan.com its unique look and attraction.

Adobe recognizes web sites based on their use of strong visual designs, superior functionalities, and innovative uses of Adobe products. Ruan.com is featured on Adobe's web site, www.adobe.com/showcase.

Blue Compass Launches Ruan.com!

2008-11-12T17:18:00.009-06:00

Can you imagine having the best website out of anyone in your industry? Today, Ruan Transport has just that. The new ruan.com captures the company's rich tradition while showcasing the many advantages Ruan can provide to their clients and potential customers.

Established in 1932 with just one man and one truck, Ruan has experienced incredible growth and success over the years. Today they have 160 locations throughout the country (including the 36-story Ruan Center in Des Moines, Iowa) and have nearly 6,000 employees. Dedicated to moving forward, Ruan has grown out of a need to support their customers and communities - revolutionizing driver routes, leading safety initiatives, giving back to their communities, and helping feed the world through the World Food Prize. Ruan takes traditional thought of truck companies to a new level.

Being a major transportation industry leader, Ruan wanted their website to be equally impressive. The new ruan.com utilized a web strategy that focused on visually communicating Ruan's transportation capabilities and national presence. Highlights of the new website include:

A fresh design which establishes new Ruan branding

A high-end homepage animation that showcases Ruan's vast variety of vehicles, services, and country-wide presence

A Ruan employment opportunity posting & sign-up

A customer testimonial application

Online vehicle and equipment sales functionality

A rich interactive video that presents a detailed background of Ruan's history and capabilities

Classified management

An interactive Ruan location finder

A Ruan News & Press area

An E-Newsletter system

An interactive timeline that allows visitors to easily explore Ruan's history

"We're thrilled with the look and feel of the new Web site. It really captures the direction in which we're taking the brand. The site is a great way for us to showcase Ruan as an industry leader."
-Tara Meier, Director of Marketing with Ruan Transport Corporation

Ruan.com is a site to keep your eye on. The top transportation company deserves the top website in their field - and now they have it. Check it out at ruan.com!

Web Design is Different!

2008-10-24T08:49:00.004-05:00

Is there a difference between designing for the web, print, and video? Many people make the mistake of thinking a print or video designer could simply create a website design - after all, they can't be that different, right? Indeed there is a difference between designing for web and designing for other media. Just because someone is skilled at creating print or video graphics doesn't mean those skills will translate well on the web. Creating a design or art for a website is unique for many reasons, for instance:

The web varies more than any other medium. While TV and print designs are always shown in the same dimensions they are created in, web designs can greatly differ. Everyone has a different computer monitor with a different resolution with a different web browser. Knowledge of monitors, common screen resolutions, and web browsers are essential for web designers! Print or video designers will frequently create web designs that are too large for the resolution of many monitors, or do not display correctly on commonly used browsers.
The web is all about motion and interactivity. Scrolling, Flash animation, button highlights - while print designers get to create a static art that stays the same, the web designer must always be aware and plan for a changing design. Unlike print and video, everything on the web must because designed with navigation and change in mind.
Text is different on the web. Correct font choices are vital for websites. While designers for print or video have the freedom to chose nearly any font that is legible, websites can only display HTML text that are on the website visitor's computer. This makes font choice very important, as the wrong font could display incorrectly on some people's computer. Also, while a good rule of thumb is to avoid anything smaller than 22 pt. font on television screen, computer monitors can clearly display much smaller font sizes. Video designers who try their hand at web design often take up valuable space with large text that can look clumsy.

A lot of print businesses, agencies, and video houses say they can do "web." We've seen many people unhappy with the websites they receive from these sorts of companies. When planning a new website for your business, make sure you choose someone with the knowledge and skill for great web design!

What are people saying about Blue Compass?

2008-10-15T11:40:00.005-05:00

What are clients and critics saying about Blue Compass Interactive? See what some of our local and national clients have to say on our new Testimonial page. Also, make sure to check out the critics' reaction and see a few of our recent awards for our websites and Flash animation at our new Awards page.

Blue Compass Video Blog: ashworthroad.com

2008-10-03T12:45:00.005-05:00

In the second episode of the Blue Compass video blog series, we take a look at our recent work on the new Ashworth Road Baptist Church rebranding and marketing. You can check out the new website at ashworthroad.com.