The WebSpecialist Blog

Even if you don't live in Florida, you've probably heard of Elizabeth Wellborn, P.A.  Elizabeth and her law firm in The Sunshine State are dealing with a firestorm of controversy over the recent firing of 11 employees for wearing orange shirts to work one day.  According to multiple online news resources, the employees had been wearing orange shirts on pay day Fridays for a couple of months, to show solidarity when going to happy hour to celebrate after work on those days.

Florida is an "at will" employment state, so the law firm did not have to give any reason for the firings.

Now, it's certainly not our place to judge this law firm's actions, but there is no doubt they have caused themselves a lot of unwanted publicity through this action.  Not only was the story carried by news outlets like Yahoo News, The New York Daily News and the Sun-Sentinel, but of course it was almost immediately being discussed on social media outlets like Twitter and Facebook.  

Perhaps just as important is the fact that the company website was so overwhelmed with visits that its server couldn't handle all the traffic, and many people who attempted to visit the site simply got en error page.  In addition, many Google users immediately took to the law firm's Google Places page to write bad reviews of the company.  Prior to this story hitting the news, the company had no reviews at all (good or bad) in Google.  As of this writing, they have 80 reviews, 79 of them rating the firm only 1 star out of 5. Anyone who has ever tried to get bad reviews removed from Google knows that it is nearly impossible to do so.

As a result, a law firm that was previously happily under the radar online is now facing a nightmarish online reputation.  As we move further and further into the social web, online reputation management (ORM) has become a mandatory part of a well balanced Internet marketing strategy, especially for restaurants and service providers.  A service like this can help a business owner to know when something bad has been said about the company online, and respond to it both quickly and appropriately. 

WSI offers online reputation management services individually, or as an add-on to more comprehensive search engine optimization (SEO) services.  Contact us if we may be able to help your company stay on top of your online reputation before you find yourself in your own nightmare.

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Here's a story that sounds like it came straight from the latest sci-fi flick.  According to this story in the LA Times online, Nokia has applied for a patent for a tattoo that will alert you to incoming phone calls and text messages on your cell phone.  Apparently the tattoo is applied using a special ink that contains iron and iron oxides that are magnetized, and can be "programmed" sort of like a blue tooth device so that it only reacts to your phone (and not your neighbor's).  It causes a sensation under the skin to alert you to an incoming call or message.

Aside from the immediate questions, like how hard it might be to reprogram your tattoo once you get a new phone, we have to wonder if many people would choose to partake in this fairly invasive use of technology.  We all know people who rely so heavily on their smart phones that the phones might as well be permanently connected to their bodies.  But under the skin??

Switching gears a bit:  A far less invasive use of modern technology (for businesses, anyway) is a website feature that we find a lot of business owners are not yet aware exists.  It's the ability for your website contact form to send a text message to a designated cell phone number upon submission by a website visitor.  This is especially handy for companies that offer emergency services, such as heating and air conditioning, or emergency disaster clean-up.  Within 15 seconds of submission on the website, the technician on call can receive a text message with the name and phone number of a potential client who is presumably waiting for their return call.

If this is news to you - and you believe your company might benefit from such technology - it might be time for a website upgrade or redesign that brings your company up-to-date with the latest technology.  Contact WSI WebSpecialist to see if we can help.  (Being alerted to the incoming text by "tingling tattoo" is optional.)

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Facebook is talking about it. Google and Bing are allegedly obsessing about it. And all the little guys are even wondering about it. The "it" in question is local web optimization. So why is everybody buzzing about local when once upon a time the desired SEO goal was global domination?

Easy. As searches become more specialized, users are directed to businesses, people and places within steps of wherever they're using their laptop or smart phone. Therefore it's more vital than ever for small businesses to make sure their hours of operation, location and services are correctly listed online. Updating business profiles on search engines should be part of a local SEO strategy. Now more than ever, small companies are invited to be empowered by staying in control of their website, social media and search engine results. And we think that's great news. Viva local!

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Mobile websites make talking to your smartphone-obsessed clients incredibly easy. But when a social media site updates its mobile capability, you can be sure that users are applauding. And that's just what Google+ has done recently to keep pace with other social media giants like Facebook and Twitter.

According to Mobileburn, the new mobile version of Google+ features a "What's Hot" newsfeed which informs users of friend updates and trending topics. Also, users are now able to see who's given one of their posts a +1 (which is the Google+ version of a Facebook like). These updates are intended to allow for desktop-like sharing from the ease of a smartphone. Sharing is one of the main draws of social media, and Google+ hopes to capitalize on that. Like any good mobile website, Google has gotten rid of features that were redundant and slowed down use, like the much-griped-about Incoming column. The changes will pop up soon on the latest versions of the app for the basic web, OS and Android.

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As a company, we'd like to think that our clients are willing to show their support for the work we do for them by "liking" our company page on Facebook. We also hope they might share our company Facebook page with their Facebook friends. But the hard truth is that it's been an uphill battle for us - and for many other companies we talk to. Now a November 2011 report from eMarketer.com is making us feel at least a little better.

According to the report, it's common for Facebook users to resist "liking" companies. Citing a Crowd Science survey, the report states that only 9% of Facebook users currently "like" a branded Facebook company page - and that the reasons for liking the page were most frequently to "show support" (typically friends and family of owners and employees) or because they "enjoy what is being said" - not because they liked the company's products or services.

Also important is that of those who "liked" a branded retailer's Facebook page, the most common reasons were to seek out sales and promotional codes, and to share both positive and negative reviews. Less than 50% said they liked a page in order to follow company news and updates, or participate in a conversation with the company or its fans. Yet these are two reasons most often given for why companies create Facebook pages.

Maybe it's time for companies to move away from branded pages on social media sites, and simply stick to advertising on them instead.

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Mobile websites that function just as well as, if not better than, their online counterparts are what every small business hopes for. Yet for businesses that offer a variety of savings on goods and services, the mobile website also has to serve as their customers' personal, on-the-go deal finder. Thanks in large part to the success of sites like Groupon (where iPhone and Android users can get the 411 on the latest discounts in their area), websites that are in the business of offering savings are seriously upping their game to meet the needs of the mobile world. Take the travel website Orbitz for example.

The airline and hotel deal broker has been pushing out savings on travel packages online since the early days of online vacation shopping. Yet in order to outpace with the plethora of travel websites, each of which says they're cheaper than their competitors, Orbitz has aggressively launched a mobile website redesign that could be game changer. Released last week, the faster, sleeker mobile website has taken a page from the book of Groupon and catered to shoppers who use their smartphones to get what they want. Users of the mobile site have access to last-minute deals and mobile-only specials on hotels in a section called "Mobile Steals."

Orbitz officials say the move was strategic — a full 65 percent of mobile bookings are for the same day. Mobile Steals features exclusive savings on resorts and spas that aren't featured online. And for folks who perused flights at their laptop but waited to buy, Orbitz now has a solution for them, too. The new mobile site remembers what deals users looked at from their computer and saves them.

Orbitz's move to a fast and user-friendly mobile website is on par with the trend of businesses to have their websites speak directly to smartphone users.

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We don't really have the time or space in this here blog to discuss the theoretical reasons behind America's current obsession with zombies — especially since our business deals more with offering the best in Maryland web design and not strategies for surviving hand-to-hand combat with the undead. Nevertheless, we are qualified to talk about zombies and their grip on social media. Turns out those blood thirsty, moaning stiffs are one thing Facebook and Twitter users can't get enough of — and us mortals could even learn a thing or two.

Recently, AMC's zombie-centric drama series The Walking Dead has been heralded for having one of the best social media campaigns of the year. The show has a staggering 4,626,263 likes on Facebook and routinely trends worldwide on Twitter whenever a jaw-dropping episode has aired. Yet where the series excels is in utilizing GetGlue. GetGlue is the television addict's version of FourSquare. In other words, it's a social media site where fans can check into and then discuss their favorite shows. AMC wisely tapped the site as a one-stop hub for fans since every post about a favorite television show also appears on users' Facebook and Twitter accounts. GetGlue broke records the night of the Season Two premiere of The Walking Dead with an impressive 42,930 check-ins.

What the living folks can take away from a 2011 social media success story like this one is simple: Remember your target audience. By zeroing on the GetGlue crowd with zombie avatars for user profiles and giveaways at events like Comic Con, The Walking Dead inspired the DVR generation to watch and check into its show live. Impressive stuff... particularly during a time where people are saying television is deader than the stars of the hit show. AMC clearly knows who watches its show and markets accordingly via social media, and that's something even us non-brain-eating types can do.

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If you're shopping for Maryland Internet marketing help, you've undoubtedly encountered folks who say that you simply must get on social media. Why? "Because everyone is doing it." Well, they may just be right. After all, even 90-year-old fictional domestic diva Betty Crocker uses Twitter.

It's true. In addition to a YouTube channel and an active Facebook page, Betty Crocker helps bakers in a jam via Twitter. #Betty911, the company's popular hashtag which fields holiday baking questions and concerns from Betty Crocker followers on Twitter, relaunches just in time for the season on December 16th. The hashtag was such a hit during Thanksgiving that it's been revived just in time for cookie baking season. Betty and her Twitter brigade solve kitchen dilemmas in real time while directing users back to the BC site for recipes, tips and — of course — products. Brilliant!

Using Twitter to chat with your customers while driving them to your website is a delicious recipe any social media chef can master. Looking for help with your own recipe for social media success? Contact us today.

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Social media is a fantastic way to beef up your local web optimization, and many marketers, web developers and small business owners have been keeping a watchful eye on Google+. Being a newbie in the social network world as well as a product from the innovators at Google, folks are fascinated by the possibilities Google+ has for marketing businesses. Now, after months of waiting, the first Google+ business pages are slowly starting to roll out. Here's the skinny on this potentially-powerful platform.

Exactly Like Facebook Pages Except Easier: Since the introduction of Google+ pages for business on November 7th, 61 percent of the world's top brands have adopted pages into their marketing practices. We'd guess the ease of setting up Google+ pages had something to do with that. Unlike Facebook pages, Google+ offers businesses a fast way to build pages that aren't riddled with ad solicitation and lame questions about friends and connections. Google+ pages are great for linking businesses to searches, too.

Just Like Facebook but with Less People: Although Google+ has all the makings of a great social media star, in the end it's still a Facebook world. Facebook still controls 65 percent of all of social media land, while Google+ has a tiny .05 percent. So while social media marketing might be easier on Google+, the price you pay for convenience is a smaller audience.

Social Media for SEO: Lest we forget that Google+ was created by the world's biggest search engine, and the site works exactly as such. The biggest benefit of Google+ pages is that fans can "like" your site with a +1 on Google+ as well as in Google searches. Google+ pages finally bridge the gap between SEO and social media seamlessly — that alone makes dabbling in it worth your time and effort.

By the way, we here at WSI WebSpecialist typically take a bit of a wait-and-see stance on a lot of new social platforms, only jumping in when we feel the platform offers something of clear value to us. But we actually set up our Google+ business page as soon as we could after it was released. We're still working on developing it, but feel free to check out our Google+ page if you'd like to see one example. And be sure to add us to your circles!

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While many shoppers will camp out this holiday season in ridiculous lines in the name of a good deal, the smart ones are turning to their smartphones to save big. Brands like Target, Wal-Mart and Toys 'R' Us have all hopped on the mobile website bandwagon to provide shoppers with the latest deals and ways to shop right from their phones. But interactive, shopping-friendly mobile websites aren't just for the big guys. Small businesses are using a combination of mobile-friendly sites and social media to reach out to smartphone shoppers, as well. Even the Salvation Army is using a mobile site to help ring in holiday donations.

"The shopping experience is in the consumer's hands and you can't fight where they're going," said Gihad Jawhar, vice president of Lowes.com, in an interview with Reuters. "Retailers can either hop on the bus or get left behind. We are choosing the first option."

Here at WSI WebSpecialist, we're all in favor of adding a mobile website to your business marketing arsenal. Google Analytics shows that some of our clients - particularly restaurants - have nearly 20% of all their website visits coming from mobile devices. If you're not sure how many of your website visitors are accessing your desktop website through their mobile devices, contact your webmaster and ask for this statistic. If it's more than the current national average of 7%, you should join the companies above in adding a mobile website to your holiday marketing efforts!

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