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  • Feb

    24

    2011

     Starfish Philippines Success in Mobile Search

    Mobile advertising has become a buzz word in the last few years, and is gaining increasing popularity amongst leading advertisers. A substantial rate of growth is forecasted as smart phone prices drop, networks become faster and data packages cheaper. Starfish decided to tap into this new technology with a mobile paid search campaign.

    Mobile advertising campaigns generally have lower traffic volumes, especially when it comes to searches related to technology as it receives the majority of traffic from ring tones, wallpaper, and news and entertainment queries. However after recent site updates, Starfish thought of it as an excellent opportunity to trial a new mobile search offering and raise awareness of their mobile site.

    Google's mobile search is executed in a very similar way to their search network offering: keywords compete in an auction and are bought on a CPC model with a choice of search or content networks. The character restrictions for text ads are considerably smaller with only 2 lines of 18 characters each, creating quite a challenge for brand messaging. As smart phone keyboards are generally small, mobile search queries are mostly 1 or 2 word generic phrases.

    We used a selection of mostly 1 and 2 word mobile searches relating to Starfish's brand and small business solutions: Mobility, Small Business, Network Technology, Routers and Technology. The mobile search activity has been live for 8 weeks with traffic volumes steady but low as expected, however the CPC's were at 29% of the search campaign making it a cost effective way to deliver traffic to Starfish's site. The highest traffic areas were from Brand, Mobility and Network.

    Starfish Internet Solutions will continue to run mobile search activity while improving performance with regular keyword optimizations and the possibility of expanding into new networks and territories to move the account forward. Overall, it has been a cost efficient method of driving traffic and raising awareness of the Starfish mobile site. By embracing mobile search outside of its popular entertainment sector, Starfish is advancing their position as a technological leader.

  • Feb

    17

    2011

     Choosing the Right Web Design Company It's been several years since you had someone design your company web site and now it's outdated. You are losing business to competitors that have quality designed web sites with great layout and navigation. This may be your first company web site and you want to make the most of your money and time.

    How do you choose a quality web design company that will understand your companies' objective for designing or redesigning this web site?

    First, you need to answer a few questions.

    1. What is your budget and time frame for completing the web design or redesign project?
    2. Are you going to be using original content and pictures for building this web site?
    3. If this is a website redesign, are you planning on getting updated images and content for this new look and layout or will you need the web design company to supply them for you?
    4. Does anyone at your company have basic editing skills and will they be able to update the website content or will this be an ongoing job for the web design company you hire?
    5. Are you looking for a local web design company?
    6. Do you already have an idea of your web design colors, layout, and navigation?

    Knowing the answers to these questions, will help you when you locate the right web design company.

    Now it's time to find the right web design company for your needs. Go to Google and search for local web design firms and you will see how many results show. Take "web design manila" for example: Results 7,650,000. Wow, there are a lot of results for "web design manila".



    Don't panic, you will probably find a company that can do the quality web design work you need in the  first page results. Quality web design firms will have a portfolio of work online that will show an example of their custom web design work.

    Start at the first web design result on work your way down. Examine the portfolio to see if there is anything equivalent to the web design layout you are imagining.



     You will be able to tell immediately if this web design firm is right for your company and its look and feel. Find out how long they have been in the web design industry and compare that to how many quality web sites they have designed in that time.

    If this is a redesign, find out how many web site redesigns that have completed and ask to see the web site before and after the redesign. Find out if they have the staff available to work on your entire web design needs and that they know the programming necessary to complete the job in a timely manner. Ask for references, a top end web design firm will be glad to offer up references on the web design work performed. Most web design references will be glad to talk to you about the quality job your potential web design company did on their web site.

    Depending on your web design budget, it may help to several quality web design companies to talk to. You will want to get at least 3 estimates and it never hurts to have more.

    Remember, when it comes to your business and your companies exposure on internet, take your time locating a quality web design company. Your future may depend on it.

    Take a quick browse on Starfish Internet Solutions and find out if it fits your company needs.