Google Analytics!

"Google Analytics is the enterprise-class web analytics solution that gives you rich insights into your website traffic and marketing effectiveness. Powerful, flexible and easy-to-use features now let you see and analyze your traffic data in an entirely new way. With Google Analytics, you're more prepared to write better-targeted ads, strengthen your marketing initiatives and create higher converting websites." googleanalytics.com

What this means for you and your website = A clearer understanding of visitor intent, find out what your customers are really looking for and speed up time to conversion using tools like:

Integrated with AdWords and AdSense
Track email campaigns, banner ads, offline ads and more.
Ecommerce reporting
Benchmarking
Internal Site Search
Flash, video and social network application tracking
Geo Targeting
Share Custom Reports
Score Cards

Since the beginning of working on the web, clear visitor tracking has been a common request until now with Google Analytics. We have tried a variety of tools and solutions and feel this is the best and easiest to use. Statistics can be intimidating, but Google Analytic's tools make it fascinating! Don't be surprised if you find yourself browsing your stats regularly :)

If you would like us to add Google Analytics to your website or offer assistance reading your stats and converting them into actions for your web marketing, give us a call or send us an email.

Someone recently asked me what we are currently reading in the office:

So here is a list of where we have some of our bookmarks and rss feeds set here at Your Plan B.

1. MentalFloss.com Where Knowledge Junkies Get Their Fix
2. FastCompany.com The magazine is great and so is their website for news
3. Salon.com Definitely a great start of the day for reading over a cup of coffee
4. theonion.com In case you need a dose of funny!
5. photoshopdisasters.blogspot.com Exactly what it says - photo disasters (another funny moment for your day)
6. webworkerdaily.com If you are a web designer or programmer, this is a good place to bookmark.
7. www.alistapart.com A great resource for designers.
8. www.useit.com Jacob Nielson, author of Designing Web Usability, newsletter.
9. htmlplayground.com For those moments when you need a quick HTML refresher.
10. trendwatching.com"...trend spotters scan the globe for emerging consumer trends..."

YPBCo MEMBER PROFILE: Atalee Judy, Office Manager

You have more than likely spoken with Atalee if you have called our office. She is the friendly voice and helpful person who keeps all of us in line. PLUS she handles many of the HTML maintenance requests for clients. Out of the office, Atalee is the Artistic Director for her dance company, BreakBone DanceCo. NewCity choose her as "Top 5 Dance Shows by Chicago Companies" in 2008.

"Creativity is a mental and social process involving the generation of new ideas or concepts, or new associations of the creative mind between existing ideas or concepts. (thanks wikipedia)" And Atalee does just that and more! Check out her year in review for proof.

Your Plan B Company is proud of our team, our artists. Each one of our team members exercises their creativity not only in the office but outside of it as well. We believe it is essential to problem solving, design and development. You can see more of Atalee's creativity through the YPBCo client portfolio, as well as at her upcoming performances listed on her website, Breakbone.com. If you get a chance, we highly suggest buying your tickets now - her shows sell out!

ADVERTISING ON YOUR SITE

The pros and cons of advertising on your website has been debated over and over by webmasters and designers since the beginning of the internet. Many feel the ads can be too distracting to your message while others feel it is a great way to help support costs for the site. We, to be honest, are on the fence - enjoying designing ads and great placement on sites AND working with affiliates to help subsidize web costs. If you are considering placing advertisements on your site you have a couple options:

1. Banner Ads
You can sell space on your site or you can join a free banner exchange.

Selling space = Many of our entertainment clients offer ad space and have an ad rates sheet on their site.
For an example check out holidayclubchicago.com/advertise

Banner exchange = A banner exchange is a service that let you exchange banners with other members, you show banners for other members and they show banners for you, this way you get free advertising for your web site.
An example would be 1800banners.com

2. Google AdSense
Google AdSense matches ads to your site's content and audience, and depending on the type of ad, you can earn money from clicks or impressions.

3. Affiliates
Affiliate marketing is an Internet-based marketing practice in which a business rewards one or more affiliates for each visitor or customer brought about by the affiliate's marketing efforts. These are generally free to set up if the company offers them. For example we are part of HostGator.com, ConstantContact.com and GoDaddy.com affiliate programs.


If you are ready to offer advertising on your website, remember you need to track your visitor statistics using a tool like google analytics. Advertisers want to know more detailed demographics to ensure they're hitting their target market and getting a return on their advertising dollars. Be prepared to share your visitor statistics with potential advertisers and to share reports with current clients.

Another consideration is how to manage your advertising. Consider something like OpenX or Google AdManager. Creating your own spreadsheet or script can be a headache once you have more than 10 advertisers to answer to on a regular basis.

Resources:
http://adwords.google.com
http://www.startupnation.com/steps/76/marketing-website.html
http://www.entrepreneur.com/marketing/guerillamarketing/article193476.html
http://websitetips.com/articles/marketing/
http://www.marketingcharts.com/direct/top-10-internet-advertising-websites-september-2008-6402/

Many people ask "What is CSS? And why does my site need this?"

First, CSS are Cascading Style Sheets. CSS is a style sheet language used to describe the presentation (that is, the look and formatting) of a document written in a markup language. Its most common application is to style web pages written in HTML and XHTML, but the language can be applied to any kind of XML document, including SVG and XUL.

Any why use them?

1. Styles Solve a Common Problem

HTML tags were originally designed to define the content of a document. They were supposed to say "This is a header", "This is a paragraph", "This is a table", by using tags like h1, p, table, and so on. The layout of the document was supposed to be taken care of by the browser, without using any formatting tags.

As the (then) two major browsers - Netscape and Internet Explorer - continued to add new HTML tags and attributes (like the font tag and the color attribute) to the original HTML specification, it became more and more difficult to create websites where the content of HTML documents was clearly separated from the document's presentation layout.

To solve this problem, the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) - the non profit, standard setting consortium, responsible for standardizing HTML - created STYLES in addition to HTML 4.0.

All major browsers support Cascading Style Sheets.

2. Style Sheets Can Save a Lot of Work

Styles sheets define HOW HTML elements are to be displayed, just like the font tag and the color attribute in HTML 3.2. Styles are normally saved in external .css files. External style sheets enable you to change the appearance and layout of all the pages in your web, just by editing one single CSS document!

CSS is a breakthrough in Web design because it allows developers to control the style and layout of multiple Web pages all at once. As a Web developer you can define a style for each HTML element and apply it to as many web pages as you want. To make a global change, simply change the style, and all elements in the web are updated automatically.


Now you know! And now you can decide if your website needs to have a quick remodel to include CSS.

Give us a call at 773-665-2552 to discuss how to add CSS to your site
or feel free to read more online:
www.w3schools.com
wikipedia.org

Better Business Bureau grades Your Plan B Company an A+

As you may know the Better Business Bureau of Chicago and Northern Illinois is introducing a new Rating System (a letter grade from A+ to F) for all Accredited Businesses and non-accredited companies that are in the BBB database. This new ratings system replaces the previous "satisfactory" or "unsatisfactory" rating. The changeover was mandated by the Council of Better Business Bureaus (the parent BBB organization). The new ratings will be used by all BBBs across the United States and Canada.

Your Plan B Company received an "A+".

These letter grades are calculated by computer using a proprietary ratings formula that takes into account 17 weighed factors. The largest single factor in determining a letter grade is a company's overall complaint history with the BBB.

Your Plan B Company has enjoyed being a member of the BBB for many years now.
Thank you BBB for our high grade and for the work that you do!

Is that file too big for email?

Most email servers won't allow attachments over approx. 4MB
In today's world of 10 Megapixel cameras, file size has become an increasing problem.

If you can't email it, and you don't want to take the time and cost of burning a CD/DVD/flash drive and running down to the post Office to send 1 file, what can you do?

Enter your new friend - Dropbox - Secure online backup, sync and sharing made easy. Many file sharing tools and resources are very expensive, slow, and very often only for Windows - not DropBox. This valuable new tool allows you to have a free account, where you can store and even share folders full of files with other DropBox members.

It is easy to install on Mac and PC and Linux.

Just something to help get things done!