Home › Blog

Balance Blog

Nice to Meet You
April 21, 2012
Posted by Jill Kurtz | in Clients, in Events, in Project Management | Comments (0)

Many of our clients are the CMOs for the organizations so I decided to attend the first Mid-Atlantic Marketing Summit to learn more about how marketers think and what's most pressing on their minds. Well, it was great to get to know these professionals better!

This one-day event was packed with speakers who offered valuable insights. Here are my key takeaways, from the formal program and more.

Measure

Marketing folks are all about measurement. No initiative is discussed without knowing how it will be measured. The day kicked off with the latest perspectives on this from Jodie McDermott from comScore and Johna Burke from BurrellesLuce.

My professional background is public relations so I can't help but compare marketing to communications. PR is all about relationships and professional struggle with the notion of measurement. It can be done, but it not as ingrained as it is with marketers.

I really appreciated Johna's definition of ROR - return on relationship. Maybe she'll help PR folks really embrace measurement. Marketers have it nailed.

Think Video

Marketers are all about connecting with target markets and they know that to make connections they need to create something compelling. In 2012 that means video. Video offers the opportunity to present a dynamic brand message. And it works on today's key platforms: desktop, smartphone, and tablet.

A panel on mobile marketing presented by David Odio at Socialize, Nicole Stemberger at AKQA, Michael Lombardi at Weatherbug, Craig Etheridge at Gannett Digital, and Kurt Roberts at RP3 Agency offered plenty of great examples and models. A great question from the audience helped define that video should be 15-30 seconds for smartphones and 30 sec to 1.5 minutes for tablet, and can be even longer if the video play is initiated or selected by the user.

Network

The last communication conference I went to was ironic - packed with people who network for a living but little networking going on. This was because attendees were deep in their smartphones all the time. Marketers, I am happy to say, are much better about lifting up their heads and meeting the people around them.

I enjoyed meeting several professionals at the event, and, even more, the session presented by associations who support the profession:

Still Learning

I know I still have much to learn. I would appreciate your marketing insights so we can continue to present online solutions that matter. Please comment on this post or send me an email at jill.kurtz@balanceinteractive.com. I look forward to learning more!

Add a Comment

Internet Activism and Website Security
April 12, 2012
Posted by Alan Yurisevic | in Web Trends | Comments (0)

Over the last few years, there has been a global shift in how individuals view their governments and people in positions of power. From Egypt to Lybia to even Wall Street, the call for protest has been answered by individuals unhappy with the status quo. While some of these protesters take to the streets with signs and chants, others use a different tool to deliver their message: the Internet.

The use of the web as a tool of protest should not come as a surprise, as it has been for over the last decade the most accessible and far-reaching mode of communication for the masses. An individual can make his or her voice heard by millions of people through blogs, comments, and posts on social networks. Most recently Facebook and Twitter were both used by protesters in Iraq and Greece to coordinate protests.

Anonymous

There has been one group of internet activists that has been more public and direct in their protest: the “hacktivist” group known as Anonymous. This leaderless, faceless group of hackers has taken down websites belonging to organizations such as Visa, the U.S. Department of Defense, and the FBI in protest of causes they deem worthy, such as the fight against Internet censorship bills like SOPA and CISPA. These attacks are often massive and hard to deal with because of their decentralized attack method of choice, the denial of service attack.

DDoS

Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks are often hard to prevent and fight against as they do not originate from a single source. During a DDoS attack, multiple hackers or volunteers (who often need very little technical know-how) run attack scripts which bombard a website with page requests, overloading and crashing the server on which they reside. By taking down websites, Anonymous has set a worrying precedent for other groups who might use the DDoS attack to promote their own causes. Website owners and administrators who manage websites that might be a target of such groups would do well to educate and prepare themselves in the event of an attack.

How do I know if I’m being attacked?

There are a few symptoms of a DDoS attack:

  • Unusual website slowdown or unresponsiveness
  • Complete unavailability of a website or website control panel
  • Increase of spam emails to related email addresses (caused by a particular type of attack that bombards the mail server with spam messages instead of or in conjunction with mass page requests)

If you suspect your website is being attacked, contact your server hosting company or ISP.

Prevention

There are a few methods to prevent, alleviate, or respond to DDoS attacks. Most of these involve the use of tools and services that identify and analyze website traffic that could be malicious, and then block it. However, since DDoS attacks often use page requests and data that are made to look legitimate, differentiating between good and bad traffic could be nearly impossible.

You should talk with your hosting provider or ISP to determine which tools are available to you. There are also companies that provide attack protection services for your website such as Prolexic Technologies and Verisign.

Add a Comment

Google Places: The Place to Be
April 9, 2012
Posted by Chrissie Alquinta | in Search Engine Optimization, in Web Strategy, in Web Trends | Comments (0)

If you’re a business with a brick & mortar location, it’s pretty darn important that you have a Google Places listing and that you’re keeping it updated. This is important for two reasons:

  • Google says 1 in 5 searches is a local search. You know, the one with the map and all the pinned locations that shows up at the top of the search results? Yep, that one. That map & data is generated from Google Places pages.
  • This is great way, in addition to your website & social media outlets, where you can advertise & market your business.

Balance Interactive Google Places Listing

So, this begs the question – how do I get one of these great Google Places listings? It’s easy…just follow these simple instructions:

  1. First, you have to claim your Google Places listing. It’s possible your business is already in the “system” from a previous listing. Go to http://www.google.com/places/ and select Get Started below Get Your Business Found on Google.
  2. Enter your business phone # and click Find Business Information
  3. Your information will be generated. If it is correct, select Edit. If no information is generated, select Add a New Listing.
  4. Follow instructions for either option. Note that if you are claiming ownership of your business, you will be sent a postcard with a code that you will have to enter at a later date before your listing will go live. Don’t forget to do this.

Once you have your listing, you’ll want to make the most of it. Here’s how:

  • Make sure your business information is complete. Don’t forget your address, phone number, or website.
  • Write a great description. You’re limited on characters – make the most of this description because it’s a great place to both optimize for keywords and give your potential users an accurate and enticing view of who you are as a business.
  • Don’t forget to include Categories. You are allowed to add up to 5 categories, one of which must be one you choose from their pre-filled list. The others can be custom. Add 5 categories and absolutely use this space to optimize for relevant keywords.
  • Add pictures. You can add up to 10. Add videos if you have them too. This does nothing but enhance your listing.
  • Ask clients to write reviews for you. Google doesn’t say this, but I’ve noticed that listings with more positive reviews seem to pretty much always occupy the top Google Places spots. So…while I’ve got your attention, feel free to visit our places page and write us a review….thanks! 
  • Places gives you the option to “share an update on your place page.” This is a great place to advertise a special you have going on or get the word out about your social media outlets or well, just about anything you can think up. The listing expires in 30 days so keep that in mind. We used this space on our listing to advertise an upcoming webinar on social media.

And….voila! Your listing is complete! Now, just sit back (well, not entirely, you’ll want to check your listing every so often) and enjoy getting found!

Add a Comment

Preparing Content for Low-Literacy Audiences

March 29, 2012
Posted by Beth Bacon | in Web Content | Comments (0)

As I began working on a recent website redesign project, I had a challenge: how to plan content for audiences with a wide range of reading levels. And, specifically, how best to plan content for people who had trouble reading and understanding the content.

We know that it only takes seconds for typical visitors to decide whether a website will answer their questions or help them accomplish their desired tasks. They scan, click through to the information they want or need, and tend to leave quickly when the site no longer meets their needs.

But site visitors with low literacy skills have difficulty scanning for information. It is harder to read quickly, discern what is important, and make a decision where to click when one's reading, writing, and comprehension skills are not strong.

Seven years ago this month, the web usability guru Jakob Neilsen published the article, Lower-Literacy Users: Writing for a Broad Consumer Audience. He wrote that instead of scanning – as most web readers do – people with lower literacy read word for word.

The topic is still current today. In the recent article, The Audience You Didn't Know You Had, Angela Colter, a design researcher in Philadelphia, tells us that nearly half of the general public may have low literacy skills. She explains the strategies they use to read, and how content can be presented to accommodate them.

From Neilsen, Colter, and the National Cancer Institute, I gathered these recommendations for tailoring content to low-literacy users:

  • Clearly define steps to action.
  • Order topics in the way users would process the information or perform an action. Methods to order information include: sequencing steps (1, 2, 3), chronological order (by time of day), or by topical arrangement (main heading, subheadings).
  • Prioritize information. Put the most important information first. Low-literacy users are more likely to give up reading before a typical web user if they don’t find what they need or understand right away.
  • Place important content in a single main column. It is harder for a low-literacy user to scan a page to distinguish text from design elements.

I would add another recommendation: Be creative – use stories to reach a variety of reading levels. Stories can be effective in inspiring people to believe in your organization, support it, or do business with you. Stories can also be broken down into pieces; smaller pieces – such as headlines, quotes, and summaries – can help speak to portions of the audience who cannot read as well, or who are less willing to spend time reading on your site. People who can read more, and are willing to spend the time, benefit from longer narratives conveying the story.

Even though these recommendations are specific to low-literacy users, I think they are good reminders for any of us preparing web content so it is understandable for all audiences. In this day and age of 140 characters and multi-tasking, getting your site visitors to take action might require some of these same strategies – clearly defining the steps to action and prioritizing information for them.

Add a Comment