HTML 5 in a Nutshell

SEO, Web Design, , ,

HTML 5 – What it Is and How it Affects You

HTML 5 is about to completely redefine how websites are created and experienced. HTML, or Hyper Text Markup Language, is the code with which websites are written. With the release of HTML 5, many things that were difficult or impossible to do in HTML 4 are now easy. Read on to learn more about the release of HTML 5 and what it might mean for you.

Graphs, Charts, Complex Graphics – On the Fly
In the past, you had to use outside plugins or code to generate graphs, charts or other graphics. Now HTML 5 will support an element called the Canvas Element that allows you to generate graphics right on the fly.

Embedded Video and Audio

HTML currently supports a rudimentary method of embedding video and audio that nobody really uses. It’s slow, the player is unattractive and is often buggy. HTML 5 is aiming to change that.

Currently, most people use 3rd party plugins like flash to display video or audio. YouTube, for example, is a flash player. Most other players are also written in flash.

With HTML 5, you’ll be able to embed video and audio directly into the browser without using a third-party coding language like flash. It’s designed to be fast and efficient.

Run Applications – Without the Internet

Most web applications don’t work when you disconnect from the internet. Google Docs for example – If you disconnected from the internet, you could keep browsing the doc you’re on, but you couldn’t pull up another document or make edits.

With HTML 5, you’ll be able to run web applications as if they were desktop applications – Without needing to download anything. It’s called “Offline Web Applications” and it works just like it sounds: Web applications that work even when you’re offline.

Accurate Geolocation

Currently, locating someone online is possible by decoding their IP address. However, IP addresses aren’t a sure thing when it comes to location.

HTML 5 will come with its own Geolocation technology to help website owners decode where visitors are located. This will help them tailor web content to the location of the browser. For example, news sites will be able to show you only news stories that relate to you based on where you’re at.

More Styles, Better Forms and More

HTML 5 will feature stylable elements, which can be visually altered with CSS. This means more dynamic and more visually appealing websites

Forms too will be getting an upgrade. You’ll be able to add sliders to forms, pick data and more.

HTML 5 Summary

HTML5 is an upgrade of the very framework that the internet runs on. Once all the browsers adopt HTML 5, you can expect a significant jump in the quality of websites everywhere.

If you’re a website designer, HTML 5 will give you wider range of tools to play with. It’ll speed up and simplify how things are done currently in addition to giving you completely new elements to play with. If you’re a website browser, you can expect certain things to speed up, improved designs and graphics as well as better video, audio and web software.

Enjoy the new and ever evolving internet!

Using Social Media to Acquire Customers via Forms

Small Business Marketing, Social Media Marketing, Web Design

The goal of every business is to attract as many targeted customers as they can. Businesses create websites with the goal of increasing their chances of acquiring more customers either through direct sales or as prospects.

With the number of websites increasing, there is a need for business owners to either learn good search engine optimization (seo) practices or hire someone else to do the work for you. With good seo, you are assured that your website has a constant flow of visitors who need your product or service.

Other than using search engine marketing, progressive companies have embraced social media marketing as part of their marketing efforts. Companies can use social media marketing to:

1. Acquire new clients,
2. Use social media networks for customer support, or
3. Create a buzz about their products

Proper use of both seo and social media marketing can lead to a never-ending stream of visitors to a business website. There is one more thing that remains after a company gets visitors to their site. One needs to turn these visitors into buyers. In other words, you need to convert these visitors. This is especially true if the company had used social media to acquire its customers. To convert visitors into buyers or potential customers, the best tools to use are efficiently laid out forms.

Forms that work are easy to use, easy to find and are inviting to your web visitor. It is imperative for the visitor to find the form on your site. The form should entice the visitor to sign up or input their details. There is nothing wrong with ensuring that it is the most prominent section in your website.

Forms that aquire customers ask for limited information. For example, if your company does not need to know the zip code of the client, then do not include it in the form. Your web visitors want to spend as little time as possible on your site and give as little information as they can. It is prudent to assure them that you will use their information legally. A link to your privacy policy is essential for a form that works.

If you have used social media to attract a customer to your form, tell your website visitors what they will receive from filling in the form. The visitor should know what to expect once they have filled out a form. For example, you can tell them that they will receive a free newsletter, or a free book, or special offers. If the visitor values what they will get, you are likely to get more customers.

Finding potential customers is the first step for any business. However, implementation of forms that work can have a dramatic, positive impact in your business.

Can Small Businesses Compete with Big Ones?

SEO, Small Business Marketing, Social Media Marketing, , , ,

Marketing online has brought about more changes than probably any other medium. The biggest difference between the online age and the dawn of TV and radio is this: small businesses have more of a level playing field than ever. When TV and radio came upon the seen it was only the large corporations or successful small businesses that were able to afford to advertise. With the advent of the internet start-ups can present themselves with the look and feel of a large business on a shoestring budget. If you have time and a little bit of creativity you can write a blog or make videos that can appeal to your customers and make you an expert in your field. This in turn leads to business for you by making you the go to guy for your given field. Inadvertently this also leads to better search engine optimization for your website which leads to you ranking higher on the search engines. Yes, big businesses can do this as well but that’s where being niche oriented comes into play. If you take on a small enough niche that big businesses are ignoring but that would still be lucrative to your business you can outdo the big corporations and be more appealing to your market in the process.

There has never been a better time to be a small business but you need to utilize the technologies and methodolgies that can elevate you above your competition and seperate you from other businesses in a unique way.
If you need help with blog writing, video production or search engine optimization please feel free to utilize our services today!
Be small and proud!

Analytics for Social Media; The New Gold Standard

SEO, Small Business Marketing, Social Media Marketing, , ,

Most good marketers know that tracking is critical to success – Social Media is no different. Many marketers just starting out with social media do it in a haphazard manner and fail. Yet those who are able to produce consistent results through social media have one thing in common: They track their efforts. Here, you’ll learn the ins and outs of why you should track, what exactly you should track and how you can track your social media results.

Why Track?

There are many reasons to track your social media. The first and primary reason is that tracking is the first step to improving numbers in business. If you have no idea how many fans are joining your Facebook page per day or how many people are watching your video per day, then how are you going to improve those numbers?
Another reason to track is so that you know what’s working and what’s not. Perhaps your twitter and Facebook campaigns are really not doing so hot, yet your video campaigns are pulling in visitors by the boatload. You now know where to focus your attention.

social-media-analyticsFinally, tracking saves you a lot of time. Social media can be a bit of a “spray shot” at first. You’re on twitter, Facebook, MySpace, a hundred video distribution sites, digg, reddit, delicious, stumbleupon … The list goes on and on. Over time however, if you track properly you’ll be able to distinguish which areas are paying off and which areas are just a drain on your time.

What Should You Track?

Now that we know the why of tracking, let’s talk about the what. What are the actual metrics you should be tracking?
The most important in any marketing campaign is always: How much money did we make? How many new customers did we acquire? In other words, what was the impact on the bottom line?
As simple as that sounds, it’s often overlooked for impressive visitor figures or branding data. In the end, the whole point of branding or exposure is dollars in the bank.
That’s the most important metric. Here are some other metrics you may want to track:
– How many views did your page get?
– How many views did your video get?
– Which site pulled the most views / visitors?
– What’s your average join per day?
– What % of visitors converts?
– What selling point or promotion generated the most buzz?
To put it in short, you should track everything. Even though only a few numbers really matter, metrics allow you to get a good handle on your business.

How to Track

There is a handful of software out there to help you track your social media progress. ViralHeat(least expensive), WebTrends and Omniture (most expensive) are some of the most popular. Each has their strengths and disadvantages. Although social media analytics software isn’t quite as advanced as web analytics software, there’s still a lot of data you can glean and use from them.
There may be data you want tracked that the software doesn’t’ support. In that case, it’s best to track it by hand at first to get a feel for it. Then, if it’s worth it, you can have custom software built to track it for you. It would only cost a few hundred dollars to have a simple script written up on freelancing sites online.

There you have it. You’ve learned why you should track, what metrics you should track, how to use analytics software to do your tracking and what to do if there are metrics you want to track that your analytics software doesn’t cover. Track carefully and meticulously and you’ll be well on your way to a successful social media campaign that brings results.

If you need social media analytics tracked or website analytics reelWebDesign.com can help. Give us a shout out today info@reelwebdesign.com.