Charlotte Web Development firm The Idea People Collaborate with Github

As a leading Charlotte web developer, The Idea People actively embrace and participate in online programming code and language communities.  “We implement git and github for version control of our source code.  It allows us to work in a distributed environment while collaborating with our team members and clients,” said Doug Grubba, technology director with The Idea People.

“Github is the proven web technology collaboration hub for each of the special open sources projects that we use here at The Idea People, including Laravel, jQuery, Sugar, Pusher, Stripe, curl, node.js, Redis,” added Grubba.  “Github gives us total control on the levels that we assign team members and how they can collaborate with our source code, for example, we can assign read-only, read-write, and admin-level access.”

Why Web Developers Use github

As The Idea People write and develop website applications and functionality, github allows us to update and collaborate on specific modules and scenarios via version controls and previous iterations easily, while protecting our ultimate “master” or key development files.

• Team management.  We can easily give our developers as much or as little power as they need, from the ability to create projects on behalf of our company to read-only access on existing projects.
• Gollum-powered Wikis.  Since every wiki is a git repository, wikis are importable and exportable by default. This keeps all of our content, images, and history intact.
• Version issue tracking.  Each github repository that we create for a client project comes fully-loaded with a next generation issue tracker that helps us stay on top of bugs and focus on features.
• Awesome code review opportunities.  Github allows our web developers to implement Pull Requests, which are living discussions that streamline the process of discussing, reviewing, and managing changes to code.

The Idea People write and develop custom web applications for a variety of uses, including e-commerce shopping carts, professional network communities, WordPress CMS backends, online and offline data reporting, online chat and private message modules, and just about any type of web-based or mobile-based technology need.

To learn more about custom web application development, please call Jay Joyce with The Idea People in Charlotte at 704-398-4437 or email jay@theideapeople.com to schedule a private business meeting so we can help you discover how to leverage web development applications for your business.

Charlotte Web Design Companies Selected to Business Journal’s Largest Web Design List

The Idea People have been selected as one of the largest Charlotte area web design companies for the fourth year in a row by the Charlotte Business Journal for 2012.

“We are proud and excited to be a part of the Charlotte Business Journal’s annual ranking of large web design companies,” said Jay Joyce, president of The Idea People.  “Our team web designers, web developers, content writers and Internet marketers were very excited to hear about the designation again this year.”

Web design companies in Charlotte work with all sizes and types of businesses on a variety of web design projects.  “Here at The Idea People, we like to specialize in working with companies that need higher levels of design customization, e-commerce and custom web application development, mobile device design, and a heavier focus on user experience and involved user interfaces,” said Joyce.

The Idea People web design and web development team include Tim Dobbins, Matt Stvartak, Kyle Bebeau, Doug Grubba, Bill McCown, and Ken Stanley.  “Our web design and development team here at The Idea People work so well together with incorporating a client’s creative, technical, mobile and business rule requirements,” said Joyce.  “Our company has 19 years of experience with crafting and developing websites that help our clients transition business rules to the online environment while increasing new customer engagements and ultimately new business relationships.”

If your company would like to learn more about improving your website’s user experience, online customer business rules and transactions, mobile device applications, and overall Internet marketing impact, please contact Jay Joyce with The Idea People at 704-398-4437 or email jay@theideapeople.com.

Technorati Tags: charlotte web design companies,charlotte website designers,web design companies charlotte nc

Video Production Companies in Charlotte with Used Car Dealer Advertising Videos

“Charlotte-based 1-800-USED-CAR will be launching a national Top 100 market Internet marketing and direct mail campaign in late October,” said Jay Joyce, president of The Idea People.  “Our company is designing and developing all of the web, Internet marketing, video production and direct mail marketing pieces.”

Offering professional video production service in Charlotte allows clients with The Idea People to incorporate the custom video content into their marketing streams and channels.  “Video content marketing bridges together elements that touch all of a customer’s marketing senses,” adds Joyce.  “People want targeted content delivered to their desktop, mobile and laptop devices, and video has emerged as one of the most-requested and searched on items.”

Video production capabilities inside The Idea People include on-site and in-studio HD recording, custom animations and moving graphics, custom voice and music tracks, and proper distribution through the desired Internet and marketing channels.

Watch the Video here!

“This first video production piece that The Idea People produced is an example showcasing how a potential 1-800-USED-CAR dealership client could use the brand inside a video or television commercial,” added Joyce.  “Our own Matt Stvartak at The Idea People created the custom animation, the storyboard concept, and produced the actual video, while Interactive Designer Tim Dobbins created the UX and website, and Director of Web Technology Doug Grubba developed the search functionality and WordPress CMS.”

If your company would like to learn more about professional video production services in Charlotte, please call Jay Joyce with The Idea People at 704-398-4437 or email jay@theideapeople.com.  Video production will help generate strong streams of content-driven traffic to your website aiding in higher on-site conversions.

Technorati Tags: charlotte video production company,video production charlotte nc,corporate video production company charlotte

Internet Marketing through Banner Advertising as a Charlotte, NC Business

What is it about traditional banner ad Internet marketing that drives users to avoid the click and advertisers to keep chasing the same approach?  Why are the advertisers not focused on delivering banner ad content to mirror what users are wanting to click on?  Where is this dramatic disconnect between the two and how, as advertisers, can we fix this?  We at The Idea People think we can shed some light and answers on how to make banner ads work better for a company’s Internet marketing campaign.

What is Causing Ad Banner Click Fatigue

1.  Mis-matched Ad Banner Focus.  Have you noticed that you can see the same “generic” ad banners sprinkled around social sites, even when the focus of the social site has no connection with the ad banner message?  You may have noticed that online colleges and online degree programs do this often.  You see the same university ad for earning a MBA regardless which site you’re visiting.  We consumers are smart today.  You can’t fool us with banner ads that we know do not belong on the site we’re visiting.  We will not click it!

2.  Boring Ad Banner Creative Design.  For heaven’s sake, put more than your logo on the banner ad if you want to excite me about clicking.  The content message needs to motivate me supported by animation, moving type, or colorful graphics.  I can be bought…for a price!  And the price is a proper message with creative elements.

3.  The Organic Content is More Interesting than the Banner Ad.  Let’s face it, if you are searching for a 55-inch Sony Wega flat screen, your eyes will go directly to the prices that are listed inside the organic search results.  The banner ads seem to ridiculously tout other brand names or models that I am not interested in.

Fixing Banner Ad Internet Marketing

OK, so we bashed banner ads…it’s easy to do.  The hard part is fixing banner ads so that Internet marketing can be successful and the desired clicks and eventual conversions can be realized.  That’s why we do banner ads…we want conversions on our websites.

1.  Think Differently.  Users are searching for content now.  Consider building banner ads that can be embedded inside streams of content.  Put your advertising message in the middle of what the user is consuming…it is more likely to be bitten and clicked.  And stop the annoying pop-ups and scrolling across the screen.

2.  Don’t Insult the User’s Intelligence.  No need to “over promise” so you can “under deliver” when a potential transaction takes place.  Create banner ads that are truthful, supportive of the content a user wants to consume, and creatively matches the type of search result they will get.  Support and nurture the user with your banner ads, and steer away from yelling, screaming and acting intrusive.  Above all, don’t lie to the users.

3.  Be with Me, Rather than Against Me.  Banner ads should match the long-tail keyword phrases that are growing so popular as searches learn how to refine their own searches.  More keywords added in a user’s keyword phrase search will mean more focused and relevant search results.  We urge our ad banner clients to position their ad banner messages at the point of a long-tail keyword phrase search.  The audience is more focused so our banner ad can be more relevant.  Long-tail keyword phrase searches yield higher conversion rates.  Live in the long-tail!

“We (The Idea People) believe in compatible onsite advertising approaches,” says Jay Joyce, president of The Idea People.  “Serving banner ads and onsite messaging to a highly-focused online audience makes wiser business sense than trying to find those people through a frantic flurry of mis-matched banner ads at the top of a short keyword search.”

To learn more about Internet marketing with banner ads and onsite messaging, please contact Jay Joyce with The Idea People at 704-398-4437 or email jay@theideapeople.com.  You can generate quality traffic and conversions with a highly-focused, intensely-relative banner ad campaign.  Leave the reckless noise of confusion to your competitors!

Technorati Tags: charlotte internet marketing companies,charlotte banner advertising company,internet marketers in charlotte nc,internet marketing agency charlotte nc

Does Content Writing & Content Marketing Work for every Charlotte NC Business?

Writing custom content supported with a content marketing plan is an incredible service offered from The Idea People in Charlotte that can reach targeted customers while increasing organic search engine rankings.  It really does work well.

“It’s amazing to hear that search engine marketing or SEO is ‘dead’,” says Jay Joyce, president of The Idea People.  “What really has happened is that traditional SEO has expanded to include content writing and content marketing as a viable asset to include in a comprehensive Internet marketing program.”

Each week, The Idea People writes custom content for each of our Internet marketing clients.  “We write custom content each week and distribute the content across our client’s Blog and social media landscape,” says Lucas Weber, director of content and social marketing with The Idea People.  “The purpose is twofold:  to target our client’s customers with pin-pointed messaging and to deliver fresh, highly-relevant content to the search engines.”

But why does content need to be delivered to the search engines?  Search engine algorithms have matured to the point where their primary goal is to filter out the trash and non-related search results and only to deliver the most relative, freshest content when a user searches.  That is why you will no longer view “hamburgers” in a search query for “heat exchanger drilling machines.”  The search engines want to deliver a pure, clean, focused search result.  They want your business!

“We shoot photography and video while we write weekly custom content,” says Weber.  “Everything we do each week for our clients is to generate and market fresh, highly-relevant content for people to consume and search engines to index.”

How can you write about all types of businesses, products or services?  “We have our own in-house content writing and marketing team that meets with our clients, researches top content trends per industry, focuses on highly-relative client features and offerings, and markets the content weekly to the right audience and engine,” says Joyce.

What are the results from content writing and marketing?  As you would expect, the on-going results are always positive.  “Within a 90-day window, we have seen every client using our strategy rank higher within desired organic keywords and keyword phrases,” says Weber.  “Now, we still implement proven, traditional SEO techniques on each page and behind each page, but providing an on-going stream of fresh, highly-relative content seems to really increase viewer conversions and organic search engine rankings.”

If your company would like to learn more about custom content writing and content marketing for your brand, please contact Jay Joyce with The Idea People at 704-398-4437 or email jay@theideapeople.com.  A meeting with you will uncover where your particular brand’s content ‘gold’ exists and how we can help you transform fresh content into new customer leads and higher organic search engine rankings…naturally.

Technorati Tags: charlotte content writing company,charlotte content marketing,charlotte Blog content marketing,charlotte Blog content writing

Internet Marketing with Charlotte Content Marketing Agency Means Bigger Impact

You may have heard that traditional SEO (Search Engine Optimization) Internet marketing in Charlotte has recently had the air knocked out of it because of the dramatic evolutionary changes in Google’s search engine algorithm.  OK, now translate that sentence into a layman’s version…Google has made a large shift toward ranking website content that is highly relative to how people are searching.

“This year has been so exciting to work with our Charlotte Internet marketing clients because of the enormous surge in importance with content marketing and how that relates to increased overall search engine rankings,” says Jay Joyce, president with The Idea People in Charlotte, NC.  “We have always thought that content marketing was as important as traditional SEO techniques, and all of our Internet marketing clients are reaping strong benefits from the recent Google algorithm adjustments.”

Benefits of Blending Internet Marketing with Content Marketing

1.  Treat them with equal attention.  “We do not separate content marketing from Internet marketing,” says Lucas Weber, director of content & social marketing with The Idea People.  “Our focus is to create custom content every week for our clients as the integral part of their overall Internet marketing plan.”

2.  Optimize each website page by itself.  “Each page in our client’s website is treated with a custom content optimization strategy that stems from the overall Internet marketing strategy,” adds Weber.  “Our vision is to allow each page to dominate an individual vertical marketplace when falling into a primary search phrase or keyword.”

3.  Old content begets new content.  “Our Internet and content marketing strategy includes a very strong story-telling component,” says Weber.  “The best resource and inspiration for creating new content is from within an existing client’s website content.  We can always create deeper levels of stories, including new customer testimonials, product or service advancements, different ways to tell the story, and different avenues to engage old readers with new spin.”

4.  On-staff professional content writers & Internet marketers.  “It doesn’t hurt that we have three on-staff content marketers,” adds Weber.  “The Idea People made the investment several years ago into writing custom web content coupled with Internet marketing strategies.  This was no mistake or surprise;  We always knew that the worlds of content marketing and Internet marketing belonged together because the search engines have always delivered content-driven search results.”

If your brand and company would like to begin an effective and creative Internet marketing program here in Charlotte, please contact Jay Joyce with The Idea People at 704-398-4437 or email jay@theideapeople.com.  Our Internet marketing programs produce positive, deep results where traditional SEO wizardry can no longer compete.

Technorati Tags: charlotte internet marketing companies,internet marketing company charlotte nc,charlotte content marketing companies

Web Design & UX User Experience Designer Joins The Idea People in Charlotte NC

The Idea People in Charlotte are excited to announce that we have added Tim Dobbins (in photo) as a new web Interaction Designer.  “We are thrilled to have Tim join our web team and excited about his outstanding level of professionalism, web design creativity, UX training, and instant collaborative nature,” said Bill McCown, president of digital media with The Idea People.  “With Tim’s professional training and fantastic experience on the web team at Lowe’s, he will bring our web projects and interactive projects an enormous amount of creativity and technical savvy.”

The Importance of Web Design & User Experience (UX)

Social networks and the move toward user dependence on the web for just about everything has catapulted the importance for web design firms like The Idea People to create interactive web designs and focused user experiences (UX) for the next generation of web and mobile.

“We keep our clients focused on the new technologies and creative capabilities with the web and mobile,” says McCown.  “As web technologies emerge so quickly, the strong common denominator for successful websites is always the creative design and the user experience.”

The user experience (UX) is the total sum of content flow, creative design, page design, navigation, ease of use, and overall vibe that a user absorbs from visiting a website.  “Users form opinions in under three seconds when they land on a page, so the obvious creative design and overall user experience is our primary focus when building new web pages and web communities,” adds McCown.  “When we create user experiences and web designs here at The Idea People, we build a heightened sense of engagement, interactivity, and ease of content absorption for each user who hits a client landing page.”

The Idea People are early-adopters of meaningful web design and UX enhancements.  “With new web technologies like Ruby and Rails gaining ground in the web development field, we are careful about what we adopt and recommend to our clients and their websites,” says McCown.  “Technology fads and tricks never contribute a meaningful or long-lasting return for our clients, so we like to bring our web design clients the best practices and technologies that will have ‘shelf-life’ and really contribute to their website’s user experience and return on investment.”

To schedule a meeting to learn more about creative web design technologies and user experience (UX) best practices, please call Jay Joyce with The Idea People at 704-398-4437 or email jay@theideapeople.com.  We can help your business leverage the best web technologies and user experiences to drive new sales channels and unlock previously closed opportunities.

Technorati Tags: charlotte web design firm,charlotte website development,charlotte web ux,charlotte web user experience

Charlotte Internet Marketing Benefits a Company by Just Taking Credit for the Little Things

Take a moment to think about all of the small victories that your brand has during the course of a business day.  As companies and brands, we all get busy and forget to “take credit” for things that we do for our clients and customers during the course of an average business day.

“At The Idea People, we help our clients get public credit for the small and large tasks that they do for their clients every day,” said Jay Joyce, president of The Idea People, a digital agency in Charlotte.  “We do this through Internet marketing for our Charlotte clients every day by helping them tell their stories through custom content blogs, social media posts and vertical web marketing channels that we create.”

Using Internet Marketing to Give Your Brand More Credit

Exactly how do The Idea People generate higher levels of brand interest for Charlotte clients using Internet marketing?  “During the course of collaborating with our clients each week, we learn about ‘favors’ or incredible projects that they do for their clients on a regular basis,” says Joyce.  “We use that as a focal point to build and broadcast more details about the story of their brand and company through our Internet marketing programs.”

• Take credit for client favors.  During the course of servicing your clients you do small favors or project adjustments that help your client with their product or service.  Turn that into an Internet marketing or social media nugget, for example, “We’re helping our food service client advance their software offerings via a web-based widget we developed.”  Short, simple, snappy and non-offensive!
• Use small projects and victories.  Every business performs small projects for their clients that are part of a client’s larger scope or public offering.  Even if you just tweaked a small cog that is part of a larger process or product, use Internet marketing and social media to let your audience know.  For example, “We are working with a Charlotte mobile phone company on a project that will enable their customers to share video files.”
• Promote from within.  All companies have staff members who volunteer in the community, attend events, receive certification, attend classes, etc.  Use those instances to broadcast an Internet marketing or social media shout.  For example, “One of our team members volunteered at the MS Walk in Charlotte this past weekend to raise money to help find a cure for MS…go Monica!”

“Our goal with Internet marketing and social media communications is to continue to weave and tell a story on behalf of our clients,” said Joyce.  “Over time these posts and stories become an important part of the fabric of our client’s brands as new relationships with new customers are built through the Internet.”

Call Jay Joyce with The Idea People at 704-398-4437 or email Jay to learn more about how our company can help build your company’s brand and story online through professional, targeted Internet marketing.  Then you can begin to take credit for activities that your company is already doing but not talking about.

Technorati Tags: charlotte internet marketing company,charlotte social media marketing company,internet marketing agency charlotte nc

Internet Marketing Charlotte Company Watches Transition from Traditional to Web-based Strategies

“The very first place we all turn is to the Internet when we want to find out about a company, product or service,” says Jay Joyce with The Idea People in Charlotte.  “The Internet is current, proactive, engaging, informational, and will never cold call you or spam your email!”

Traditional marketing with direct mail letters, print advertising, radio advertising and the overused promotional items have taken a back seat to Internet marketing and increasing our business’ presence through the Internet.  “The number one resource for all of your existing and prospective customers to learn more about your company, product and services is on the Internet,” says Joyce.  “Of course, just putting a website up is a good first step, but launching an on-going focus on Internet marketing and web campaigns can quickly build traffic and referrals.”

Internet Marketing Benefits for Your Charlotte Business

• Posting fresh content that is written for a specific product or service, in the correct format, can touch new customers;
• Keeping your social marketing outlets current with fresh topics and discussions can spur new relationships with your customers;
• Adding video production elements to your website and social marketing outlets can add a new depth of information and engagement with your customers;
• Creating unique learning events or product showcase events through the Internet can quickly raise your posture in search engine rankings;
• Marketing on the Internet creates multiple in-bound opportunities for customers to come to your door at their leisure, on their schedule and at their need;

“The Internet is the best marketing resource for building many customer touch points that are in no way intrusive, bothersome, or unwanted,” says Joyce.  “We work with our Internet marketing clients in building vertical web marketplaces that are uniquely focused on how and why a potential customer is searching for their product or service.”

More and more Charlotte businesses are turning to Internet marketing as the primary avenue for proper messaging and content delivery to large customer audiences.  “We create web content and Internet marketing channels that focus on the customer’s needs and wants in an environment that is engaging, informational and timely,” said Joyce.

To learn more about Internet marketing programs and ideas, please call Jay Joyce with The Idea People at 704-398-4437 or email Jay to schedule a private business meeting.  We look forward to helping your company grow through professional Internet marketing.

Technorati Tags: charlotte internet marketing company,charlotte nc internet company,charlotte internet advertising,charlotte website designers

Content Marketing in Charlotte via Vertical Web Marketplaces

Embracing the Vertical Web in Charlotte

We at The Idea People in Charlotte believe in embracing the vertical web marketplace as a large part of your overall business marketing strategy.  “Offering niche products and services has always been the most direct way to build business over the web,” said Jay Joyce with The Idea People.  “People are being trained to search with longer-tail keywords and that automatically places them into vertical search results.”

The Vertical Web Marketplace & Search Engine Results

Think about how you use the web to search for a product or service.  The chances are good that you now use a longer string of keywords because you know it will deliver a more refined list of search results.

Let’s use this example for demonstration.  We want to find a company in Charlotte that provides custom content development and content marketing.  Our goal is to find the most relevant companies so we can “go vertical” and not waste our time with results that are not compatible.

Our keyword string that we enter is:  charlotte+custom+content+development+company

Google displays the top search results based on our string of keywords.  We can see by the search results that “The Idea People” have the most relevant and freshest content that matches our needs.  “By focusing our web development process on building web content that mirrors how the search engines hunt and deliver results, we create reliable vertical marketplaces where our content, or our client’s content, can dominate,” says Joyce.

Let’s look at the same example again, but this time we will not use our long-tail keywords.  We will still search for the same need (a Charlotte custom content development company), but we will search the “old” way.  So our keywords that we use will be content+writing+company.

Now look at the search results for that keyword string.  “The Idea People” are not anywhere to be found.  Obviously this string of keywords is not a focus for our vertical web marketplace in content development companies for Charlotte.

“Dominating important keyword strings and phrases are key to building larger business bases with the future of the web,” says Joyce.  “We are strong believers and early adopters of the vertical web marketplace concept and we will continue to evolve this theory as the search engines evolve their algorithms.”

To learn more about building custom vertical web marketplaces for your brand and company, please contact Jay Joyce with The Idea People at 704-398-4437 or email Jay to schedule a private business meeting.

Technorati Tags: charlotte content marketing company,charlotte content development company,charlotte vertical web marketplace

New Charlotte Corporate Video Production for Ad Agency Software Company

The Idea People recently launched a new video production project for Charlotte-based The Advantage Software Company.  “The video is a 90-second overview outlining the launch of Advantage Software’s new Advantage blue ad agency software product line,” said Jay Joyce, president of The Idea People.  “The video production also features the software company’s new online positioning statement of ‘Software to Connect People, Projects, and Profits’.”

 

Video production adds a new depth of custom content delivery combining the movement of video, music, a professional voice over, and custom graphics.  Properly indexing the video production also increases the opportunities for search engines to index and deliver the video in a user’s search results.

“Video production and mobile video content delivery are ‘new generation SEO’ tactics that The Idea People are incorporating into overall content marketing and delivery client programs,” added Joyce.  “Video production with new software and digital editing capabilities brings an entirely new level of efficiency and speed to market than just a few years ago.”

To learn more about Charlotte video production services, please contact Jay Joyce with The Idea People at 704-398-4437 or email Jay to schedule a private business meeting.  You can also see more about video production.

Technorati Tags: charlotte corporate video production company,charlotte video production,charlotte video marketing,charlotte video editing company

Charlotte Web Design Agency with New Web Design for Software Developer

“We just completed a major web design redesign for the Advantage Software Company,” said Jay Joyce with The Idea People.  “This is the third upgrade of the Advantage website over the past five years that we have worked with them on.”

The Advantage Software Company is the advertising agency software industry leader and has been for more than 30 years.  “Advantage works with mega-sized ad agency clients down to smaller ad shops, and creativity, quick access to information, and an evolving web presence are marketing mandates for the company,” says Joyce.  “Our goal with the web design redesign was to capture the Advantage brand as they launched a new version of their major ad agency software product called ‘Advantage blue’.”

One of the initiatives that Advantage needed to communicate in this latest web design launch was that their software products and exceptional people support are virtually inseparable when clients engage with them.  “This particular web design captures the unique ad agency software industry position that Advantage has with putting a real face behind their software products,” said Joyce.

Another feature of this particular web design upgrade is the introduction of three distinct product audiences:  Traditional Ad Agencies, In-house Ad Agencies, and Everyone Else.  “Over the next few years, we will be working with Advantage in reaching a more general business audience that can benefit from their project management and business management software,” added Joyce.  “So the ‘Everyone Else’ audience category will be targeted for business vertical markets outside of the advertising and in-house agency businesses.”

To schedule a private business meeting to discuss your company’s web design upgrade, please call Jay Joyce with The Idea People at 704-398-4437 or email Jay.  We can help strengthen your company’s business web design and online image to better represent the mission and message you need to compete.

Technorati Tags: charlotte web design company,charlotte website development

Mobile Marketing Charlotte Company Helps Business Brands Expand with Mobile Campaigns

Every day in Charlotte, more and more smartphone users search for products and services while on the go.  The iOS and Android mobile software allows for full web browser experiences to support streaming video, rich media advertisements, and click-to-call interactivity.

While mobile devices have not replaced desktop PCs in Charlotte yet, the surging growth in mobile use by customers and consumers opens up new channels and opportunities to reach out and engage new customers and clients.  Here at The Idea People, we have seen an exciting evolution with more and more clients moving emphasis onto the mobile marketing platform.

Google, of course, is at the forefront of driving consumers to their smartphones and building engaging mobile marketing programs for businesses to build their brands.  According to Google, 46% of U.S. consumers in 2012 own a smartphone.  By 2013, more people will use mobile phones than PCs to get online.  And by 2015, there will be one mobile device for every person on earth.  Pretty big statistics, but this probably will not shock or surprise anybody.

How often do you check email, play games, use social media, or surf the web via your smartphone?  According to the same Google report, mobile searches have grown by 400% since 2010.  Here are some other statistics that encourage and support mobile marketing:  61% of smartphone users call a business after searching with their mobile phone and 59% visit the location.  And 70% of mobile users have compared product prices via their smartphones.

Mobile Marketing & Advertising Options

1.  Google AdWords – create text ads and place these ads in mobile search results.  This process is similar to traditional AdWords.  Also use a mix of text and image ads through the Google Display Network to appear inside mobile web pages.

2.  AdMob -  AdMob is new from Google.  Place image and rich media ads inside mobile apps!

3.  YouTube Mobile – create and place image ads within the mobile YouTube site.

Mobile Web Design Advice

1.  Mobile Web Design – we design mobile websites to feature and present your company branding but sized correctly to display properly in the mobile environment.  Clunky mobile websites that are not designed or built for mobile are a complete turnoff to customers.

2.  Keep the Web Design Clean – Because of the small screen size and more limited data connectivity, your mobile web design should be clean, easy to select buttons and text, and easy to dial a number, visit a link or submit a contact form.  Always include a link to your main business website.

3.  Mobile Apps – creating and developing mobile apps will be the “race to the marketplace” for 2012 and beyond.  What type of mobile application can we create to easily connect your customers and clients to your brand?  Mobile relationships will be key to brands owning mobile marketplaces!

The Idea People create and develop mobile marketing campaigns, mobile website designs, and mobile apps.  Call Jay Joyce with The Idea People at 704-398-4437 or email Jay to schedule a private meeting to discuss how building your business brand via the mobile marketing network can grow your business.

Technorati Tags: charlotte mobile marketing,charlotte mobile web design,charlotte nc mobile web marketing

Charlotte Social Media Marketing Client to Launch Social Community During Democratic National Convention

The Idea People in Charlotte are excited to announce that our company has been selected as the web and digital marketing partner for Purple Nanny’s national launch!

“Purple Nanny is a wildly-successful professional nanny hiring, screening and placement service here in Charlotte,” said Jay Joyce of The Idea People.  “Purple Nanny has 15+ years of in-home professional childcare experience and they are the Charlotte experts at hiring and placing professional nannies.”

The Idea People will develop a new national Purple Nanny website brand and standard for the professional nanny marketplace.  “In addition to the web design and social media marketing makeover, a large part of our project is to create a new social community for families and nannies to interact,” said Joyce.  “Obviously we can not give out too many details today, but this particular project will add fuel to the recent rise of new national dot-coms and large web-based businesses growing out of Charlotte.”

The new Purple Nanny website and social media community will feature a custom web application that will debut here in Charlotte during the Democratic National Convention in September 2012.  “Our goal is to showcase our vibrant and growing web technology community here in Charlotte by launching the Purple Nanny website, social community and web application for the world to see during the DNC,” added Joyce.

If your company would like to learn more about building technology-based websites, social communities and custom web applications, please call Jay Joyce with The Idea People at 704-398-4437 or email jay@theideapeople.com.

Technorati Tags: charlotte web design,charlotte social media marketing,charlotte social community

Charlotte Internet Marketing & Social Media Company is Hired by DealMed Medical Supply E-commerce Website

The Idea People have been retained by national medical supplies distributor and e-commerce website DealMed Medical Supplies, based in Brooklyn, New York, to develop and manage a national social media marketing program.

“We will be developing new social media touch points, creating and distributing custom content, and managing social media content to drive new volumes of traffic to the DealMed website,” said Jay Joyce, president with The Idea People.  “DealMed does business with over 7,000 physicians and more than 500 EMS agencies through providing quality medical supplies and inventory.”

DealMed’s online e-commerce website offers thousands of medical supply products from IV therapy to exam room supplies to pharmaceuticals to a complete line of diagnostic supplies.

“Social media marketing is emerging as a vital partner to growing e-commerce store customer referrals and new routes for sales,” says Joyce.  “As we develop a custom social media marketing plan for DealMed, we will emerge with an extremely focused and targeted social media channel to complement the company’s offline sales strategy.”

In addition to mainstream social media marketing channels like Facebook and Twitter, The Idea People will be introducing successful medical marketing social touch points like blogs, online forums, display advertisements, other websites, and public relations outlets.

“Our goal with a social media marketing campaign is to deliver a client’s content in a social manner and environment,” adds Joyce.  “Online consumers are smart and are looking to form social relationships with brands and companies that have their best interest at heart, and that is always our top mission when working with clients in social media marketing.”

If your company would like to learn more about creating and distributing targeted content through a social media marketing campaign, please call Jay Joyce with The Idea People at 704-398-4437 or email jay@theideapeople.com.

Technorati Tags: charlotte social media marketing,charlotte internet marketing company,charlotte social marketing,charlotte content development company

Web Design & Website Redesign Company to Launch New Manufacturing Client Website

The Idea People in Charlotte are excited to announce that our web design company has been selected to redesign the website for Southeast Tubular Products, Inc. in Statesville!

“Southeast Tubular is a very successful 10-plus year old manufacturing company that specializes in manufacturing pressure tubing, ornamental tubing, custom extrusion projects and alloys,” said Jay Joyce with The Idea People.  “Southeast Tubular has expanded their marketing and customer footprint across the south and southeast, and a new website, video and brand design is a top priority to continue this campaign.”

In addition to a new website redesign for Southeast Tubular, The Idea People will be creating a new company brand design and an overall marketing video that really reflects the company story and product offering.

“Website redesign is extremely important for companies needing to compete on the web,” says Joyce.  “And incorporating new marketing and branding elements within the website redesign are strategically vital because customer audiences are searching for content to become more educated and informed prior to purchases.”

If your company needs a website redesign, please contact Jay Joyce with The Idea People at 704-398-4437 or email jay@theideapeople.com.  Incorporating website redesign elements like new branding, stronger content marketing, and video production helps to tell a stronger and more focused story while building sales channels.

Technorati Tags: charlotte web design,charlotte website redesign company

A Proactive Web Design Approach for a Charlotte Web Agency Blends Creativity with Content and SEO.

Really good web design must include a creative design, content development and search engine marketing strategy to feed the search engines and their ever-growing appetite for fresh and highly-relative content.  The Idea People believe in a strong, organized three-prong approach to building an effective website.

“It is only within the past several years that the topic of search engine optimization and targeted content development has surfaced in a mainstream manner,” said Jay Joyce of The Idea People.  “Google and their Panda updates have quickly evolved the manner in which really good and responsible web design companies, like The Idea People, work with clients in developing effective web design programs.”

Web Design with a 3-Pronged Approach

1.   Prong #1 – Creative Web Design – Creative strategy and design that makes sense.  The Idea People begin every client web design project with a creative strategy.  “We include not only the branding elements of colors, themes and logo assignments,” says Joyce.  “But we also include now-measurable elements like user comfort with the design and site flow, user trust levels, and the user’s ease of absorption for the site content and graphics.”  The web design must be user friendly and focus on a higher level of user experience and interactivity.  This encompasses the web site’s plan for expansion, video, audio, database elements, mobile and tablet platform displays.

2.  Prong #2 – Search Engine Friendly – “It’s amazing at how quickly the industry term of ‘SEO’ flew into our client’s conversations with us,” says Joyce.  “The industry focus went so far away from design and content toward scientific and technical skills literally over night.”  Technical search engine optimization skills are obviously important in the practice of designing our client websites to be user and search engine friendly.  Technical SEO skills are an integral part of how The Idea People develop and maintain client websites.  “While the SEO techniques that we use are implemented to make our client websites rank higher in organic search engine results, our primary focus is to make each page inside the website more search engine friendly,” says Joyce.  “We want high rankings for our client websites but only in a long-term, strategic and highly-appropriate manner.”

3.  Prong #3 – Content Development Strategy – “Now that we have designed a creative website presence and prepared it to be search engine friendly, we focus on the evolving element of each website, which is the content,” says Joyce.  “The Idea People have always believed in content, writing and messaging for our client websites, carried through since we began designing websites in 1994.”  Content is the element of the website that changes frequently.  Website content development and content management strategies are vital to maintaining a client’s customer’s and prospect’s attention.  Content feeds the search engines and helps rank websites.  Updated and fresh content keeps our client websites relevant in the eyes of users.  “Fresh and professionally-written content outlasts search engine algorithm changes and maintains an active and continuing relationship with our client’s target audiences,” says Joyce.

The Idea People can improve and change the way that your company website is indexed, perceived and absorbed by your customers, prospects and even the search engines.  Call Jay Joyce with The Idea People at 704-398-4437 or email jay@theideapeople.com for a private appointment to discuss improving your company website performance.

Technorati Tags: charlotte web design,charlotte seo company,charlotte search engine optimization,charlotte web development company

Charlotte Web Design & Web Application Developer Hiring Incredible Web Industry Leaders

The Idea People are searching for highly-experienced, uniquely-qualified and technology-motivated individuals to join our company at senior level positions in web development, UX design, iOS and Android mobile software development, and Ruby on Rails masters.

“We are not seeking any entry-level or mid-level experts for any of these positions,” said Bill McCown, Chief Creative & Technology Officer with The Idea People.  “To say that we are searching for the best talent and minds in web development and mobile software development is an understatement.  We want the industry’s thought leaders and senior level developers.”

The Idea People are seeking experienced web and mobile software minds for these positions:

• Ruby on Rails Senior Developer
• Senior Web Developer & Web Team Motivator
• Android Mobile Software Designer
• iOS Mobile Software Designer
• UX Web Senior Designer

“Charlotte is emerging as a go-to city for companies searching for an incredible blend of creativity and technical ingenuity,” says McCown.  “The unbelievable level of web technology talent here in Charlotte is attracting outside interest, and as a leading web development company, we are quickly becoming one of the premier go-to web companies to bridge the offerings together.”

For qualified web professionals, please visit our Careers page to see our openings.  “Again, we only want to meet with the industry’s best web technology and mobile software minds,” says McCown.  “The clients and projects that we are developing require advanced levels of creativity and leading technologies so we can create applications and websites that have never been seen before.”

Technorati Tags: charlotte web design,charlotte web development company,charlotte apple iOS developer,charlotte mobile application developer

Charlotte Web Design Company Partners with New Dot-Com Entrepreneurs for Niche-Oriented Business Ideas

The Idea People have seen a dramatic rise in the number of “dot-com” entrepreneurs turning back to the Internet with niche-oriented ideas for businesses and start-ups.

“When we were in Atlanta in 2000, our agency saw the meteoric rise and fall of the first dot-com era,” said Jay Joyce of The Idea People.  “The Internet business plans and ideas that we are seeing 10 years later are still brilliant in concept but very much separated from the VC-fueled frenzy  a decade ago.”

In part, the advances in both web-based technologies and mobile devices have rekindled the flame for business-savvy people to bring their Internet-based business ideas quickly to fruition.  The economy is also playing a role in people wanting to secure their own futures to either supplement their career earnings or replace them.

“Right now, we are meeting or working directly with 11 individuals who have presented their Internet-based business plans and ideas to The Idea People,” says Joyce.  “Each individual is in a different stage of idea development with three plans specifically funded and moving forward into development.”

Factors Pushing the Dot-Com Entrepreneurial Revival in Charlotte

1.  The Internet works well for niche-oriented concepts and ideas.  Charlotte has an entrepreneurial spirit that is helping to fuel people’s thoughts and inventions;

2.  The advances in technology, along with long-term, experienced digital companies like The Idea People, make speed to market a deciding factor to push forward with dot-com business ideas;

3.  The lower cost to market entry in 2012 makes it easier for individuals to self-fund Internet projects and not need to rely on venture capital like a decade ago;

4.  Dot-com entrepreneurs have a decade of exposure to all things Internet, web and technology, which makes them smarter and more-informed Internet business minds.  They can actually envision their idea or business model concept and create storyboards with desired technology and functionality;

5.  Product and service audiences are hungry for innovations, new Internet ideas, and web offerings that can increase their enjoyment, enrich their lives, and propel them to form new brand loyalties with online brands.

“2012 is an exciting time to be an experienced web, mobile and digital marketing agency, ” says Joyce.  “And to be here for the beginning of the second wave of dot-coms, remembering what we all learned back in 2001, creates an incredible opportunity for dot-com entrepreneurs and The Idea People to partner to create strong, vibrant, niche-oriented Internet business models that can be successful for the long run.”

If you have an idea or a plan for an Internet business model, and you would like to discuss it with a company that is deeply experienced with Internet entrepreneurs, please call Jay Joyce with The Idea People at 704-398-4437 or email jay@theideapeople.com.  The Idea People can take your concept and plan straight through to launch with experienced, strong on-going marketing support.

Technorati Tags: charlotte web design company,charlotte dot-com businesses,charlotte dot-com entrepreneurs,charlotte dot-com startups,charlotte web businesses

Charlotte Content Marketing Predictions for Companies Needing Custom Content Development Results

The Idea People have always included content development and content marketing with our creative design services…whether it was for print, web, social media or video.  Creative and targeted content writing and content marketing is the most essential element for properly communicating with a target audience.

Imagine brochures, letters, advertisements or websites without content…it just makes no sense.  The written word is still the driving element to motivate and cause people to react (outside of video, of course).  And it is hard to find really good content developers who are also content marketers.  Content developers write content.  Content marketers write content and deliver it in the correct format to a targeted audience.

With the algorithm evolution at Google focused more on delivering relevant content to searchers, there will be a resulting boom in companies hiring their own content developers and content marketers.  And why not?  If the search engines are going to focus the delivery of search results based on the freshest, most relevant content, then companies will need to develop a content development and content marketing strategy…not only for the web, but for how the company delivers messaging across every medium.

Predictions for Content Marketing – from The Idea People

1.  Writing custom content for the web will continue to strengthen and grow in importance as the search engines take the lead from Google on delivering the freshest, most-relevant content to searchers;

2.  Digital agencies that can offer clients both a creative design and content marketing service (like we do at The Idea People) will be in high demand;

3.  Companies will begin to adopt content development and content marketing strategies…not only for the web but for all customer communication channels;

4.  We will see new job titles emerge at progressive and smart companies…Director of Content Marketing, Vice President of Company Content, Director of Content Communications;

5.  A tighter partnership between “creative web design” and “content development” will emerge as the search engines reward websites that “look and feel appropriate” matched with “fresh, highly-relevant” content.

“We have always supported the blending of creative design with custom content development and content marketing,” said Jay Joyce of The Idea People.  “Because we can offer both a professional creative design impact mirrored with custom content development in-house, we bring our clients a powerful opportunity to seamlessly evolve with better search engine results right along with Google.”

To learn more about custom content development and content  marketing, please contact Jay Joyce at The Idea People at 704-398-4437 or email jay@theideapeople.com.  We work with every client on custom creative design blended with focused content development across web, print, marketing, social media and video.

Technorati Tags: charlotte content marketing firm,charlotte content development company,charlotte content writing company,charlotte custom content development

Charlotte Internet Marketing Campaign Brings Great Results to New Business Launch

One of our newest client’s here at The Idea People, Elements of Charlotte Outdoor Living Company, launched their business at the beginning of the year.  Elements of Charlotte offers high-end landscaping design + build, pond and water feature design, build + maintenance, and everything outdoor living.

Outdoor living is a crowded marketplace, to say the least, in Charlotte.  Elements of Charlotte needed immediate impact  and attention in the marketplace to jump-start their new business.  “We came to The Idea People because of their strong business and marketing success track record here in Charlotte,” said Joseph Hawley, president, Elements of Charlotte.  “We told them that we needed impact, a strong brand, recognition and a sense that we have been in the Charlotte marketplace for a long period of time…a hefty order for sure!”

The Idea People researched brand names for the new company and locked-in with the name “Elements of Charlotte.”  The brand name and design is familiar, attractive, and represents a full-service spectrum of outdoor living offerings that Elements of Charlotte was going to offer.  “We were thrilled when The Idea People showed us the brand ideas and designs that they suggested,” says Hawley.  “We immediately loved the name and visual appeal of Elements of Charlotte and did not hesitate to move forward.”

The Idea People immediately started launching the social media and content-focused Blog posts into the Charlotte marketplace with an Internet marketing campaign prior to the website being designed and launched.  “Our goal with the early Internet marketing and social media campaign was to begin to deliver the brand name and service offering in early January for search engines and Internet browsers to begin to notice the offering,” said Jay Joyce with The Idea People.  “It has worked fabulously because the marketplace was practically dormant in January and February while our social media and Internet marketing plan took hold quickly.”

The Idea People drafted content-rich Blog and PR posts in January and February offering free incentives for pond maintenance customers to sign-up early with Elements of Charlotte for their spring pond cleanouts.  “The results have been absolutely amazing,” says Hawley.  “We were booking pond cleanouts and pond maintenance customers before our main website was even launched!”

A keyword and content-focused Blog and PR campaign can deliver quick search engine ranking results.  “Our website pre-launch strategy was to deliver focused content to the search engines via our social media and Blog posts to create a place-holder for when the main website launched,” said Joyce.  “In this specific case, it worked like a charm.”

“We have booked new pond cleanout jobs, pond design and build jobs, and landscaping jobs strictly from the Internet marketing, website and social media campaigns,” added Hawley.  “After our website launched, we dovetailed in with a direct marketing letter campaign that reinforced our messaging and service offering to homeowners in the Dilworth, Myers Park, and specific Charlotte neighborhoods.”

The key to a successful Internet marketing and social media campaign is focused content, consistent messaging, consistent delivery of fresh content, and extreme focus on one mission at a time.  “The Elements of Charlotte success story is one more reason to how every business should focus on developing and marketing custom content to their marketplace,” added Joyce.  “In addition to technical search engine optimization behind the scenes of the website, every business needs to focus on the delivery of fresh and highly-relative content to achieve the search engine rankings and sales goals that they need.”

If your business would like to learn more about competitive Internet marketing, custom content development and Social media success, please contact Jay Joyce at The Idea People at 704-398-4437 or email jay@theideapeople.com.  We look forward to working with you to develop a comprehensive approach to marketing your company and growing your new customer sales.

Technorati Tags: charlotte internet marketing firm,charlotte social media marketing,charlotte web marketing firm,charlotte content development company,charlotte content marketing company

Charlotte E-Commerce Web Development Firm Designs New Website for RevMax in Charlotte

The Idea People are pleased to announce that our web design company has been selected by Charlotte-based RevMax Performance Converters to overhaul their website and emerge with a new “animal” ready to conduct E-Commerce.

“RevMax is a Charlotte-based manufacturing company of performance torque converters, transmission rebuilt kits, and replacement valve bodies for cars and trucks,” said Jay Joyce of The Idea People.  “They are wildly successful and hired us to create a robust E-Commerce platform to extend their footprint in their vertical markets.”

The new RevMax website features a creative treatment  never before seen in the automotive and truck parts marketplace.  “We have developed a patentable web-based software tool that will allow an auto parts novice up to the street racing expert to seamlessly find and order their desired parts,” added Joyce.  “This new web app and web software will revolutionize the torque converter, transmission and replacement valve body marketplace.”

The RevMax website and E-Commerce web platform will launch in April 2012, including a massive social media and Internet marketing campaign.  “Be watching for the ‘animals’ to be cut loose and launch a fantastic surge for RevMax to dominate and own their vertical marketplaces,” added Joyce.

If your company would like to improve your E-Commerce or custom web software access to more online customers, please call Jay Joyce at The Idea People at 704-398-4437 or email jay@theideapeople.com.  The Idea People can replicate and automate internal manual processes to empower your customers to do business with your company via the Internet.

Technorati Tags: charlotte e-commerce web development,charlotte web design,charlotte website company,charlotte e-commerce website design