Videoconferencing is a very convenient tool, and one we use frequently at Emphasize Design. It’s an easy way to connect with clients, talk strategy, and enjoy the benefits of a face-to-face meeting without the inconvenience of travel. If you’re new to videoconferencing, there’s great value in learning a bit about the etiquette and protocol involved…
Compelling content is an excellent marketing tool, but it can only reach its potential if your readers know where to find it. Newspaper readers will likely be familiar with the “above the fold” concept. If you look at a broadsheet-style newspaper on a store shelf, it will be folded in half. The portion of the…
We all know how important photos, infographics, and other visual content can be to a website. They help catch our attention, make us interested in products, and encapsulate key facts in ways that words alone can’t. Learn how to use images wisely as part of your website design for your Calgary company to reduce risk and…
Knowing what your current and potential customers are looking for can give you the competitive edge to make your company stand out, and it’s easy to accomplish without conducting years of complicated – and costly – market research. Sometimes the best way to get answers is simply to ask questions. But although online survey tools…
There is a scene early in the TV series Mad Men where Don Draper, the creative director at a New York advertising agency in the 1960s, has just successfully pitched a new marketing campaign to an initially reluctant client. As the client is being escorted from their office, he turns to Don and says enthusiastically,…
As connected as our computers, tablets, and smartphones can make us feel, online shopping for products and services can be a very disconnected experience. In a store, you can simply walk up to a sales representative and ask a question. At a website, you fill out a contact form and wait — sometimes for days.…
The last thing you want is a website that is just a fancy brochure that no one ever reads. How do you bring potential customers to your site if they don’t even know you exist? Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising is one of the most effective ways to get the word out. Maybe you haven’t used the…
We knew it. There are lots of reasons Why Marketing Is So Hard, says Drew Williams of the Hubspot blog. Why? Well, it starts with the simple state of humanity. We are all very different people, and we all have different opinions. AND, we all have triggers that cause us to react strongly in one…
Websites do actually live somewhere…and no, it’s not the Internet. For the most part, websites are watchfully permanently housed on the hard drives of their designers (or team of designers), and they’re a finicky, complicated network of intertwined documents, images and links that have a habit of acting up every once in awhile. Due to…
You have a fast and attractive website that is optimized for online marketing, is SEO savvy and is loaded with tons of good content for your clients. Your social media profiles are integrated with your site, and you have analytics set up to check up on your performance. Are you ready to go start building…
Content reigns over websites, and is now just as valuable as website design and functionality. Calgary businesses now make their presence known on social media several times a week, update their page content often and blog regularly. And as each new page is created, so must its title, meta data and keywords. And those are just…
Small business in Calgary is a competitive world, and that’s why we all want to see our websites be able to contend against the others. When we use common keywords to search for ourselves online we want to see our sites come up on the first page of Google results. And Google’s algorithm is the…
Inbound or online marketing can be in-your-face or on the subtle side, and the best approach depends upon where the user is in your established sales funnel. Are they just building their awareness and poking around for some initial information about your product or service? Or, are they sure of what they want, just not…
There are several ways that a website can work for your company. A solid online presence allows people to find you easily through searches, provides a “virtual” storefront that can be visited by people around the world, and creates a place for customers to shop without leaving their home. Your website is where clients learn…
Things tend to move quickly for business in Calgary, and web design is one of them. Your website needs to be as responsive as your company, and properly reflect the values you have established as your foundation for building. As the needs of your business change, so should the framework for your website. A brand-new…
Another great year will be soon upon us, and as the annual clock readies to roll over it’s the perfect opportunity to start setting some business objectives. One of the easiest ways to begin opening up new avenues for collecting clients is to revamp your web design to capitalize on all of the online prospects…