Jaymunda Blog

Here’s a marketing tip you can do in about an hour or so this weekend…

Create a video that tells people what you do and how. Then, place it on the home page of your website. You don’t necessarily need an expensive camera, you just need to get the message out there.

This year alone, the use of video on websites has grown 34%! Why? 1) It’s easy to tell the story, 2) You can convey a personal message.

Take a look at this example: www.eyefacilitate.com. Mark wrote his own script and used his own camera and the result came out great!

If you want to go the professional route, take a look at this example:www.jaymunda.com/content/company_who_we_are/.
Jaymunda hired Stellar Media to produce this video.

How to start, the Do-It-Yourself way:

1. Write a script for approximately 30-45 seconds of video.
2. Practice reading this in front of a mirror.
3. Get out your digital video camera and set it up so that the camera is about mouth-level (like Mark’s) and tape your script to it.
4. Start recording
5. Edit the video using Picasa (free from Google)
6. Post on YouTube and copy the “embed” code (look in the upper-right of the screen) into your website. (This step may take a little technical knowledge, or ask your webmaster to do this for you.)

That’s it! Now you’re live and telling people your story on the web.

Ashville, N.C. (June 29, 2009) – Local Web site design company Jaymunda, Inc. is pleased to announce its completion of a new Web site for the John N. Gardner Institute for Excellence in Undergraduate Education. Located at www.jngi.org, the new Web site features recent news, initiatives and other important information about the institute. The user-friendly site also offers resources and publications to help its constituency keep abreast of the latest developments in undergraduate education.

Based in Brevard, N.C. the institute is a nonprofit entity headed by respected educator John N. Gardner. Gardner is a university professor and administrator, author, editor, public speaker, consultant, change agent, student retention specialist, first-year students’ advocate, and initiator and scholar of the American first-year and senior-year reform movements. He serves as the executive director of the Policy Center on the First Year of College.

“The Gardner Institute is a national organization that advocates the enhanced learning and success of college students,” said Jaymunda President, Jason Syzdek. “Jaymunda is proud to have been able to provide professional Web site design services to assist this fine organization with realizing its important goals.”

As one of Asheville’s leading providers of Web site design and marketing services, Jaymunda was well equipped to develop the institute’s cutting-edge Web site. Jaymunda specializes in providing superior Web site design, Internet marketing and traditional marketing services to small and medium-sized organizations. Its services include Web site design and development, programming, ecommerce solutions, graphic design, and marketing consulting. Jaymunda applies an innovative Word of Mouth Marketing strategy to help its clients use the power of technology and communication to create targeted and effective messages. With this holistic approach, printed marketing collateral, press releases, advertising, and sales campaigns are designed to complement online marketing efforts.

Jaymunda has catered to the professional Web site design and marketing needs of Asheville organizations since 2005. In 2007, the company expanded the scope of its enterprise by opening a second location in the Atlanta area. Today, Jaymunda is privileged to serve companies in a wide variety of industries; however, its client roster primarily includes well-established businesses with a strong appreciation for technology and marketing.

Additionally, Jaymunda is a strong proponent of higher and professional education. As such, the company has made a continuous effort to offer technical assistance to businesses in the area. For a number of years, Jaymunda has supported various learning opportunities, special events and other initiatives to promote entrepreneurship and the effective use of Web technology. Jaymunda is committed to being a good corporate citizen by supporting local businesses and the community in which it operates.

To learn more about Jaymunda Inc. and its high-quality Web site design and marketing consulting services, visit www.jaymunda.com. Or call Jason Syzdek directly at (828) 254-0892,
Ext. 802.

I had a meeting with a client this morning and she brought her 5-year-old son with her. He was inspired to draw this depiction of a Firefox:

Once you have the hang of reading the basic dashboard, now’s the time to set up a goal conversion or two.

What is a goal conversion?

When someone views your site, a “conversion” is when they have successfully completed a specific task. For example, someone may finish the checkout process on your shopping cart; or they may fill out and submit the form on your contact us page. These are called “Conversions,” or “Goals.”

Here’s a sample from a website- the goal here is that someone filled out the Contact Us form:

It’s easy to see from this simple chart- the site had 3 Goal Conversions in 5 days. The conversion rate is calculated from the total number of visits (in this example, 103 total visits). It’s really up to you what a good number is for your business.

For more information about Google Analytics, including how to set up goal conversions, visit this site: http://www.google.com/support/googleanalytics/?hl=en_US

This article will show you the main components to look for so you can hit the ground running. It’s simpler than you might think. Talk to your web designer on getting this installed and running on your site. Then you can log in and check out the reports for yourself.

Here’s a screenshot of your Google Analytics dashboard: (yes, this is a real website with real stats!)

Google analytics screenshot

Quite honestly, this page is all you really need to look at to get started. You can click on each of the areas to get more thorough informaiton, but if you’re just getting started there’s really no need.

Here are the definitions for each component within the dashboard:

The Graph: Shows the number of visitors per day for the date range listed. In this example, the website is a business-to-business site so you see a surge in the middle of the week and a lull on the weekends.

Visits: The total number of visitors on the site, both new and returning visitors. This number may vary dramatically for your particular type of business.

Pageviews: The total number of pages viewed on the site. For example, you first go to the “home page,” then you click on “about us,” then you click “contact us.” This is 3 pageviews (but only 1 visit).

Pages/Visit: The average number of pages all your visitors have viewed per visit. You can multiply Visits x Pages/Visit and they will equal the Pageviews. This number is good to know to see if people are actually using your site or if you’re losing their interest too quickly.

Bounce Rate: A “Bounce” means the visitor went to your home page and left. Usually indicates they didn’t find what they were looking for either 1) not at all; or 2) not quick enough. A good bounce rate ranges between 20% – 50%. You can’t keep everyone, but if you can keep the interest of more than half your visitors, you’re in good shape.

Avg. Time on Site: Shows the average time spent on the site. Closely related to the number of pages/visit. There are a few things to consider here:

• a low number of pages/visit and a high avg. time on site means people are reading a lot and just might find it interesting. (good job- it’s hard to get people to read!)
• a low number of pages/visit and a low avg. time on site probably means people are either 1) finding what they want fast; or 2) not finding what they want and leaving quickly. (See Goals)
• since this is all fuzzy logic, I’ll stop there.

New Visits: The percentage of total visits that are brand new. (conversely, the remainder are returning visitors) The impact of this number depends on what you need from your website. You can multiply Visits x New Visits to get the number of New Visitors: 3562 * .4966 = 1769 new visits.
For this site, we want people to return to the site over and over again 1) to increase the brand identity; 2) to make use of the tools the site provides. If you’re running an ecommerce website that sells inexpensive gadgets, you might want this number to be higher. However, if you have a lot of returning customers (a good thing!) then you might like a lower number. I tend to like something between 40-60% because then you’re getting the best of both worlds!

That’s all you need to know! Just remember that the results are different for every website and for each type of business. Analytics are to be interpreted. Then, tweak your website over time to make it more effective in getting the numbers you want!

For more reading, see Goal Conversions.

OK people, c’mon. Did you know that Internet Explorer 6 has been around since 2001 when Windows XP was released?! It’s been eight freakin’ years and now that we are a full two versions beyond this – IE7 was released in 2006 and IE8 was just officially released a month ago!

Yet all these computers around the world are still using an outdated and admittedly buggy browser. It’s adding a bunch of overhead to our design work because we have to test in THREE different versions of IE before we even get to testing in Firefox, Safari, Chrome, Opera, yadda and some yadda. And what comes with more overhead? You guessed it, MORE COST! You don’t want more cost, do you? Especially since you generally have an attitude that everything on the web should be free. (go figure) So let’s just bring down cost and upgrade to a state-of-the-art, working browser.

Here a link that will make your life easier: http://www.microsoft.com/windows/Internet-explorer/default.aspx

Now click it and install the freakin’ thing.

And if you just plain don’t agree with my sentiment: http://www.saveie6.com/index.php but before you think of joining their cause, I urge you to think of the web designer who has to deal with you and your pain-in-the-ass remarks that his work is too expensive even though you refuse to join the rest of humantity and upgrade.

Asheville-based Jaymunda, Inc. recently completed the design and launch of a new Web site for Optix Eye Care of Weaverville. The full-service Web design and Internet marketing company is also creating print material to match the new site (www.optix-eye.com) to provide Optix Eye Care with a comprehensive solution for promoting its quality services.

Optix Eye Care is well known for its cutting-edge solutions in eye care, such as cyber imaging, optical coherence tomography and contact lens wavefront technology. The new Web site is a further example of the company’s commitment to provide consumers with the latest eye-care information and services to meet their needs. Through the interactive Web site, patients can request appointments, order contact lenses and download forms. Web site visitors can also take a fun eye quiz to test their knowledge, read informative how-to tips and articles, and learn how to achieve the best eye health.

Optix Eye Care is well known for its inventive eye care products and services, said Jason Syzdek, president of Jaymunda. “We enjoy creating high-quality solutions, and we are pleased to have been chosen to provide Optix with a state-of-the-art Web site to support its brand image.”

Optix Eye Care’s innovative use of technology made Jaymunda the ideal Asheville Web design company to develop its new Web site. Jaymunda has distinguished itself as a respected Web design and Internet Marketing company that provides premium services to small and medium-sized businesses. Jaymunda offers a range of services, including advertising, Web design, programming, ecommerce solutions and marketing consulting. The firm uses its proprietary Word of Mouth Marketing approach to help businesses combine technology and communication to effectively reach their target audience. Under this unique strategy, components such as brochures, product placement, reputation, press releases, sales staff and advertisements are strategically blended to support each other, using the Web as the centerpoint for all marketing.

Jaymunda is dedicated to helping companies of all sizes leverage the power of Web technology to enhance their operations. The company is privileged to serve businesses in a wide variety of industries, and its client roster primarily includes well-established businesses with a strong appreciation for technology and marketing. A privately-held Ashville Web design company, Jaymunda is driven by its superior service and customer referrals. Its ultimate goal is to help small businesses expand and excel in the marketplace–which ultimately contributes to the success of the community as a whole.

For more information about Jaymunda’s Web design and other Internet Marketing services, please visit www.jaymunda.com. Or contact Jason Syzdek directly at (828) 254-0892, Ext. 802.

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