Archives for category: Uncategorized

Google Instant SEO Trick Observation

March 25, 2011 //
1

One observation I have had recently with web development firms and SEO companies is that they appear to be employing a very interesting tactic in relation to the anchor text links on their webpage footers that potentially are designed to affect Google Instant results.

It began as an observation. I clicked on a link located on a website footer only to discover three quarters of the word hotlinked, though masked by CSS. Weird. Why would anyone do that?

e.g. Google Instant Trick

Next I saw it the following day, I saw the same thing on a differing website. Conincidence or have web developers gone mad and were just so excited about linking a domain that they couldn’t wait to highlight the entire word?

Then it dawned that this could be a small stroke of genius:

Hotlink an incomplete word > because there is not much competition on that incomplete phrase / word, it will possess strong potential for a high ranking > bank on people getting three quarter way through typing their phrase before selecting a result from Google Instant and hey presto you have beaten your competition.

Nifty and crafty.

Though I do agree this is a bit of a long bow conclusion, but I think an interesting one. What are your thoughts? Do you agree? Is it the work of Google Genius’s manipulating Google Instant or just the work of inept webmasters?

+ _ + _ + _ +

Brandrally ~ Web Design Brisbane | Graphic Design Brisbane
Find us on Twitter http://www.twitter.com/brandrally
Find us on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/brandrally

+ _ + _ + _ +

Tags , , , , , , , ,
Categories Uncategorized

Graphic Design Tip: Listen to your client.

October 29, 2010 //
0

A small advice snippet from this week in Graphic Design. Lesson 101: listen to your client and at all times be aware and take note of the actual brief.

We had a Client that asked us to professional design for them a flyer. The brief was very simple and straight forward – A non-for-profit organisation aiming to attract new members / chapters. They have a preexisting brochure that they themselves had created  in Word that was not too flash though did the job. They wanted this updated / professional looking.

Sounds simple. One problem. No Logo. This organisation has many chapters across Australia thousands of members all run by volunteers – with a variety of clip-art logos based on direction of each chapter.

So where did we go wrong then? Well, just because they have no Logo, Does not mean they want a logo!

We jumped the gun. They asked for graphic design of their brochure – We gave them a Logo at our first presentation. Enter elephant in the room. Our client was polite and friendly, though a new logo is still a fair distance from being considered.

It is always important to listen to your client at all times. Really adhere to the brief, and if there is scope to develop a brand. Discuss this first before putting mouse to pixel. As a matter of interest, here is what we proposed for their brand. Let us know your thoughts and comments.

++++++++++++++

Brandrally ~ Web Design Brisbane | Graphic Design Brisbane
Find us on Twitter http://www.twitter.com/brandrally
Find us on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/brandrally

Tags , , , , , ,
Categories Uncategorized

Verification

September 14, 2010 //
0

Categories Uncategorized

Social Media Profiles

September 13, 2010 //
1

You have your social media profiles taken care of or do you? Facebook – Check. Twitter – Check. Youtube – Check. What about all the different social media channels such as Foursquare, Slideshare, and Propellor? Have you put in a place a strategy for finding out what the new emerging social networks are so that you can keep one step ahead of your customers and your competitors?  If you are like most, there simple is never enough hours in the day to keep-up-date.

Knowem (Knowem) and UD Namecheck (UD.com) are two simple easy-to-use services that actually help you get across the social media universe. You can use them for free to find out where you need to be, or you can simply pay them a fee and get them to set it all up for you. Either way, stake a claim to your virtual real estate as soon as possible (and while you are at it make sure you register your personal name & kid’s names as URLs – The ultimate Christmas gifts).

Categories Uncategorized

The Successful Person.

August 2, 2010 //
0

“The successful person in the art of living makes little distinction between their work and their play, their labor and their leisure, their mind and their body, their education and their recreation, their love and their religion. They hardly know which is which, they simply persue their vision of excellence in whatever they do, leaving others to decide whether they are working or playing. To them they are always doing both.

Categories Uncategorized

Viral marketing videos both famous and infamous

June 9, 2010 //
0

Love a good piece of online viral video to get you through your day? Viral video is the next frontier for advertisers, and is the dream of marketeers. They have the ability to go right AND the ability to fall off the cliff and land with a gargantuan thud that would make even Chuck Norris grimace.

Here we have put together a snapshot of our favourite campaigns, and the campaigns that began with good intentions and somehow lost their way.

The Good Viral Marketing Videos –

1) German Language School

2) Another fun one is the ADIDAS Star Wars ad that combines all the levels of the modern day geek with a couple of unexpected cameos

3) Four words. Terry Tate Office Linebacker

4) Dulux – Dulux Walls in HD

5) Old Spice – The Man Your Man Could Smell Like

6) BMW, Clive Owen and James Brown.

The … err… interesting?

1) Ford .. Poor little kitty.

2) Hootie from Hootie and the Blowfish in this Burger King ad.

Whenever I see this I think of the McBain line from the Simpsons, “How do you sleep at night?? – On a bed of money surrounded by many beautiful women”

++++++++++++++

Brandrally ~ Web Design Brisbane | Graphic Design Brisbane
Find us on Twitter http://www.twitter.com/brandrally
Find us on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/brandrally

Tags , , , , , ,
Categories Uncategorized

A great resume guide for designers

April 19, 2010 //
4

So you are looking for a new position or just have graduated – You have a great folio, great work experience, you’re energetic and you’re motivated – though getting employed is proving a little tricky. Here are some helpful tips to getting your foot in the door with your resume.

1. Get a decent email address.
Sure we all have fun email addresses with our mates, but mega-super-awesome-rad-dude@hotmail.com might not really be the best first-impression.
Something like your.name@hotmail.com or me@yourname.com is better.

2. Use any other than Times New Roman!
90% of the resume’s we receive use these formats – drives everyone crazy.

3.  Layout and Format
This one is really important. The best thing you can do for a resume or cover letter is design it in the format of the job you are applying. If you after a graphic designer position, create your resume and cover letter through an industry appropriate application like indesign and supply it as a PDF.  If you applying for a web designer position, have an online folio to showcase yourself. Most importantly print it out and see whether it is legible and looks good.

4. Be personal and specific in your cover letter.
Research a little and mention something you find unique about the company you are applying for…  and perhaps involve a little flattery.

For example:
“The work you did on project x was great!  I would love to work on projects of that nature and would really appreciate the opportunity to show you the great things that I can do.”

As opposed to:
“Dear Company, I greatly enjoyed your website; I thought it was forthcoming and informative. I would like a job. “

5. Spellcheck
Ensure your resume is grammatically correct and all words are spelled correctly. Designers are particular on this. A firm grasp on language is a necessity as correcting spelling mistakes on brochures / billboards can be a very costly exercise.

6. Talk about what you things you do outside of of work.
Interesting people do interesting things. Bosses really like to see active people in the community, so if are part of design association, have won awards, like to ride your bike, collect stamps – tell them about it.

7. Check your social media / blog.
It’s amazing what is out there. Reality is that most employers search for you online. Get rid of / hide awkward photo’s, bad comments by your mates, any video of you on youtube singing karaoke drunk / falling over – basically anything that you wouldn’t want your grandmother seeing. That way if an employee searches and finds you, they find only positive things.

8. Please don’t make things up!
Claim only the work that you made yourself / were a part of. It’s the nice thing to do and ultimately our industry is such where one finds out very quickly whether you can do the things you say you can.

9. Have fun and be creative.
WOW them with creativity. Be quirky. Be different. Be Fun. Be Clever. Make them laugh. Make them cry.
Get them to talk to their friends about this ‘amazing’ resume they just received.

Below is a link to an excellent article by Smashing Magazine on this topic!
http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2009/04/01/10-handy-tips-for-web-design-cvs-and-resumes/

++++++++++++++

Brandrally ~ Web Design Brisbane | Graphic Design Brisbane
Find us on Twitter http://www.twitter.com/brandrally
Find us on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/brandrally

Tags , , , , ,
Categories Uncategorized

Coming soon = Impending doom for websites.

February 4, 2010 //
0

Coming soon, the two most frustrating words in the digital vocabulary when browsing the internet. It is like being in a theme park only to find that the ride you really want to go on isn’t actually there, it will however arrive some time after you have gone home.

The perception of having a coming soon page assumes that the person visiting your site  really wants to hear what you have to say and will return time and time again to see if the information is there, the reality of this is completely the opposite – they won’t. What these pages really say is; ‘move along, there is nothing to see here’.

Coming soon pages don’t play nicely with your search engine rankings either (SEO). I mean, imagine how frustrated you would be if you searched for a particular topic in a search engine only to have all the results returned displaying ‘Coming soon’ pages. Search Engines know this, they make our requests as relevant as possible, which means they need it to be relevant and they need it to be online.

From time-to-time situations might require a place-holder page. By taking the time to ensure that  information on a page is helpful and informative will means  visitors will have a positive browsing experience, and isn’t that we all want for our websites?

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Brandrally provides comprehensive design solutions by offering strategic graphic design, Web design Brisbane and Internet marketing services. Servicing clients in Brisbane, throughout Australia and internationally, we apply significant emphasis on design, strategy formulation and process and deliver successful outcomes for our clients, every time, on-time and in-budget. From Corporate Identity, through to full content managed websites, we provide professional solutions to suit your business needs.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Tags , , ,
Categories Uncategorized

Success through conversation – The power of advocates.

January 13, 2010 //
0

Conversation is the simplest and most effective form of marketing. For business conversation is powerful. It builds relations, it conveys trust, it endorses, resolves problems and most importantly it converts.

So what if you could have 100 conversations with 100 different networks at once all discussing your business proposition? The reality is that it is already happening. Customers, employees, neighbours, suppliers, associates, business partners and family discuss readily with their connections their experience with you and your brand.

In 2010, we live in a new landscape where our conversations extend to a digital audience – Through Blogs, Tweets, Instant Messaging, Texting, Forums and the like. So it is now more important than ever to maintain positive touch-points and experience with your audience. Good News travels fast, Bad News travels faster.

So how do we generate advocates? It is relatively simple – Fantastic acts of service create fantastic advocates. It does delve deeper than this on a corporate level. It is ensuring that business practice and development resolves around a single premise of customer engagement from start to finish.

This is achieved by:

  1. Bettering your product, service or offering
    Listen to your customers, to the industry, adapt and adopt, be innovative, improve and lead-the-way.
  2. Make it authentic
    Keep all experience genuine. Really important.
  3. Make it really easy
    Channel experiences, by facilitating feedback and conversation.
‘Click here to tell a friend’, ‘Send this to a friend’, ‘Write below your thoughts’, ‘Digg this article’ and so on.
  4. Capitalise
    Strike will the iron is hot! If you achieve success. Facilitate, adapt and adopt – Good experiences should be developed, showcased and promoted.
  5. Monitor, React, Engage and Respond
    Thank referrers, ensure public commentary is accurate. Respond positively with negative feedback,

Not only will the above spread good word-of-mouth, it will be simply be due to good business practice.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Brandrally provides comprehensive design solutions by offering strategic graphic design, Web design Brisbane and Internet marketing services. Servicing clients in Brisbane, throughout Australia and internationally, we apply significant emphasis on design, strategy formulation and process and deliver successful outcomes for our clients, every time, on-time and in-budget. From Corporate Identity, through to full content managed websites, we provide professional solutions to suit your business needs.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

For more information contact:
Brisbane QLD AUSTRALIA
t (07) 3216 0442
f (07) 3036 6260
e design@brandrally.com.au
www.brandrally.com.au

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Tags , , , , ,
Categories Uncategorized

Copyright and Trademarks in Business explained

November 13, 2009 //
0

A good topic has arisen through our branding / corporate identity work here in Brisbane – which is the role of Copyright and Trademarks and what it means for business.

Copyright is automatically assigned to a piece of original work, be it intellectual, dramatic, musical, artistic and literature when it is produced in a tangible format.   In essence, copyright © grants exclusive privilege to the creator and ensures that no reproduction can be made without permission or compensation to the creator.

Protecting one’s copyright is important. Equally important is the ‘tangible’ word of the above paragraph. An example of this played out earlier this year in the courts relating to Alex’s Lloyd’s use of the lyrics for the hit song ‘Amazing’. In which, Mark O’Keefe alleged that it was he himself who wrote the song on the back of beer-coasters in a pub in 1991. Mark then alleges that he himself handed the words to the song on the coasters over to Lloyd to finish the song.  The tangible evidence was missing in this case, and as such there was no-way of proving ownership in favour of Mark.

The next role in protecting intellectual property falls into the category of Trademarks. When a product is first to market it must be an ™ Unregistered Trademark. Only once it is in use, can a trademark become a fully-fledged ® Registered Trademark.

Trademarks are defined either by a word, phrase or symbol used in commerce in conjunction with a product or service. They indicate the source of a product and prevent other people or businesses from a using a mark that could be confused with the original. An excellent example of a trademark is the Nike ‘Swoosh’, the phrases such “Just do it”, and the word itself. When I traveled overseas, I remember walking past a store that was selling ‘Mike’ tee-shirts, in the logo-type of Nike, with ‘Just did it’ and an upside-down swoosh. Definitely some serious Trademarking infringing happening in that instance, and fashion police should arrest the person who would have eventually bought that tee-shirt.

Trademarks do not however prevent others from creating the same product or service and promoting them under a new name. Where unique technology, design, or ideas are involved ­– Patents are created to protect this form of intellectual property.

For further information regarding Branding, Copyright and Trademarking, Contact  Brandrally. Telephone: (07) 3216 0442.

++

Brandrally – 50 McLachlan St, Fortitude Valley 4006 Brisbane QLD AUSTRALIA

Tags , , , , , ,
Categories Uncategorized
Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.