Giant Robot Launch
Posted by Weston in Site Launch on July 5th, 2011
The GiantRobot.com site has launched. The new site is a drastic improvement on their old site that was very out dated. Wordpress was used for the magazine part of the site and the ecommerce was zencart as requested by the client. For both we started with a template, but both templates required a lot of customization and the magazine required many plugins - all of which needed css and programming tweaks. The project was a challenge, but the end result is a success!
North Shore Alert Website launch
Posted by Weston in Site Launch on March 12th, 2011
The Port Washington-Manhasset Office of Emergency Management approached me to help launch their new site NorthShoreAlert.com. The site’s purpose was to be a single point from where residents could sign up to get notifications of any emergency in the area via phone or email. Using a FLASH map, users can click off to blackboardconnectcty.com where there is an existing system to collect and manage the data.
The site launched March 10th and helped the PWM OEM members look like superstars at their press conference. This was a smaller project, but it went off without a hitch and was completed ahead of schedule, so it will go down in the books as a sucess!
Using a BLOG to Attract Focused Keyword Searches
Posted by Weston in Web Observations on January 4th, 2011
TheModernSpot.com has been using its Modern Furniture BLOG to attract visitors who search Google for very specific product names. The website itself is set up to also show up for these specific terms, but for some reason, the BLOG shows up faster…generally within 3-4 days. After looking at analytics, it appears as though the BLOG is actually driving more people to the site than the Google AdWords campaign - this is especially exciting because it is “free” traffic! The visitors to the BLOG have been converted into customers on several occasions…and when you are selling $600+ items, that’s pretty cool.
Originally, the BLOG was set up to make product updates and get keyword-rich links coming in to theModernSpot.com. The extra traffic and increased exposure that the BLOGs high rank in Google for specific keywords has been an added bonus.
New Flash Adds Life To Homepage
Posted by Weston in Website Updates on November 4th, 2009
Recently, G. Thrapp, an Indianapolis Jewler, started running some cool billboards and the idea came up to add them to the website homepage to keep the branding and messaging in line across all of their advertising efforts. The billboard ads were clever and humorous and lent themselves well to FLASH animation, plus the animation would breath some new life into the homepage.
With some simple, but smooth animations, the billboard-inspired FLASH piece spelled out the new headlines in an interesting, but non-distracting manner. It was realy a minor change to the site, but it was definately a big step in keeping the company’s image consistent wether customers were driving or surfing.
Baby Blanket and Travel Website Launch
Posted by Weston in Site Launch on July 31st, 2009
2 new site launches! - Wamelala.com and RPVtravel.com.
Wamelala sells a unique baby blanket that can be warmed in a microwave. The heat and lavender scents help soothe babies to sleep. The lamb shaped blanket can also be used to soothe colicy tummies. This site went off without a hitch - the design turned out great and has established a professional and substantial look for this new start-up company.
RPVtravel.com is the Rancho Palos Verde Travel’s new and improved website where customers can browse special travel packages. The trick to this site was to integrate an existing software in to the the design so that the site would look nice without interferring with the pre-existing ability to browse/search the current offers.
The Effects of Blog Articles On Web Traffic, Sales, And Conversions
Posted by Weston in Web Observations on May 29th, 2009
Wahloo on DailyCandy.com
Wahloo, a company that sells fashionable baby slings, was recently listed on a popular Blog “Daily Candy.” I had nothing to do with them getting listed, but as their web developer, I was able to see the results as far as increased traffic and sales as well as see the duration of the boost.
Traffic went up very sharply on the first day of the article and fell sharply the next, which would be expected since the article was more prominent on the first day. The interesting thing was to see how a steady, albeit a much smaller stream of traffic continued to flow in over the past week as viewers read and spread the article. After the article broke, there were many more incoming links from blogs and many referrals by online mail programs which shows that people were forwarding the Wahloo website to their friends. The word “Wahloo” actually started showing up on Twitter which is pretty cool.
Sales jumped the first day, but sustained more than the traffic did. There was no sharp drop-off, so the conversion rate actually went up dramatically during the week after the break of the article. I am guessing that the sales have sustained because the new visitors were refered by a friend in one way or another - basically, people saw the article, went to the site, thought of someone who would like it, forwarded the info, and the recepient visited and purchased.
Only time will tell the full effect of getting a good article on a Blog, but I’ll be keeping a close eye on my analytics for Wahloo!
New Mineral Makeup Products Added
Posted by Weston in Website Updates on April 10th, 2009
It’s been a long day - Christina Cosmetics needed to ad 2 new shades of makeup to expand their popular line of mineral makeup kits. Sounds easy, but this meant adding tons of new video, images and code to the existing site. Everything went up according to plan and works/looks great!
After loading the new material, I took a chance to actually look at the video and messaging and I am reminded of how how cool this product is - with the makeup brush, you can actually make up your face in 1 minute. I personally won’t be needing one, but the wife wants one!
Kudos to Station 22 for the work on the video production and editing. I am privy to the level of attention to detail and hard work that went into it, and it looks great. The new infomercial launches tomorrow morning - can’t wait to see the results.
New Travel Client
Posted by Weston in New Clients on April 8th, 2009
Signed up a new client in the travel industry in need of a new website. Looks like they need a face lift for their current site and probably some more work down the road.
Traffic Spike
Posted by Weston in Web Observations on March 29th, 2009
TheModernSpot.com and BedHeadFurniture.com have both recently experienced a sharp traffic spike that google says came from “direct” traffic meaning they came directly to the site rather than clicking on a link on another site or a banner ad etc.
The BedHead spike was a 1000% increase in traffic. I am guessing that this traffic is related to an affiliate somehow, but I don’t know why an affiliate would send direct traffic. I am honestly a little confused as to why this spike happened.
Unique Baby Product Projects
Posted by admin in New Clients on March 27th, 2009
The Peekaru Original from Togetherbe
Today I signed up a new client that will be selling a unique baby product. They will be needing a logo, website, print materials, and a blog. I am looking forward to getting started.
This client will fit in with two of my other clients that also produce innovative baby products - Wahloo and Togetherbe. Togetherbe currently sells mei tai baby carriers called the “Freehand” as well as a baby carrier cover that is worn over a baby carrier when the weather gets nasty. Wahloo is focused on providing fashionable baby carriers in the form of a sling available in cotton and fleece.
I am wondering now if there will be an influx of new baby products because there were more births last year (2007) than during the baby boom. I guess only time will tell. In the meantime, I better get busy with this new project!