About Blue Sky Sessions

Web Technologies

Agenda About Blue Sky Sessions What We Do Web Development Application Development Search Engine Marketing Social Media Strategy Trends in Web Questions?

What We Do Web Department for your business Planning Design and Development Implementation Ongoing management Focus on big picture

Traditional Long-Term Website Website Redesign Update Website Redesign Update Update Update Not making much progress

Blue Sky Managed Site And so on Tweak navigation Website Redesign Improve SEO Update Content Adwords Review analytics Continuous Improvement based on: - Analytics data - Best practices - Experience - User input

Strategic Partnerships Recognize we can t do everything but want customers to have a single source for their web needs. Niche focused teams provide better quality of work but also lean on other companies. Application Development Graphic Design Content Writing

Focus Areas Planning & Research Site Development & Management Application Development Search Engine Marketing Social Media Development & Integration

Planning & Research One of the most critical areas is understanding the client and what their goals are with their web presence. Market Identification Site flow / map Development of goals and funnels Business 2 business Ecommerce Web Application

Web Design and Development What does the process look like?

Discovery Design Development Maintenance The Process Formal Proposal Site Launch Usage Cases Feature Requirements Design Requirements Review existing collateral (content, images, etc.) Design Kick-off Meeting Sitemap and scope review Presentation of draft design Revision as necessary Front End Development Back End Development Server Configuration / Installation Testing Data backup for dynamic sites Platform / Security updates Analytics Tracking / review New Feature Integration Revision Periodic Design Updates

Design Options Template Based Design Custom Design

Customized Template The starting point Premium WordPress Templates

Customized Template Results: Same basic look and feel colors, content, and layout customized.

Custom Design Design Kickoff Meeting Site Structure / Architecture Existing Marketing Collateral Logos Images Marketing materials Corporate Identity General Look and Feel Likes: Basecamp Mint Dislikes: Craigslist Yahoo

Brainstorming / Wireframing Example of a page wireframe.

Draft Design Presentation Wireframe developed into a draft design.

Content Management Ratings for Content Management Systems 1-10 scale from low to high CMS Difficulty (user) Flexibility Cost WordPress 2 4 1 Expression Engine 3 6 5 Drupal 7 9 4 Custom 1-3 10 10

Web Application Development Using the web to build your business

Web App Example Born Bucks

Search Engine Marketing & Analytics Be found on the web

Search Engine Marketing Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Improving the visibility of a website through organic search results Keyword development Research and planning Keyword integration through content and meta info

Search Engine Marketing SEO Example Worksighted Website (www.worksighted.com) Phase 1 focus on most critical keywords IT support in Holland Michigan IT support in Grand Rapids Michigan When I started we were on page 3 in google... See results

Search Engine Marketing Phase 2 identify weaknesses and target new keywords High traffic keywords Competitors ranking higher IT outsourcing grand rapids michigan IT outsourcing holland michigan Time to top spot: ~ 3 months

Search Engine Marketing Pay Per Click Advertising (Adwords) Great for new websites that do not have good placement in google. Complements organic search critical to have both How Adwords works Select keywords to target Set how much you are willing to spend per keyword and per day (control costs) Create Campaigns around keywords with set Ads Define areas to target

Search Engine Marketing Google Analytics Free analytics tool that allows us to monitor web traffic and make informed decisions. Provides a good overview of all analytics data for web traffic Customizable for all types of websites: Restaurant: Track how many visitors are viewing your menu Monitor traffic from web promotions / social media Ecommerce: Track conversions (people adding to cart and then completing transaction Business-to-Business: Track IP addresses to gather lead opportunities Setup goal to track how many people fill out form

Search Engine Marketing

Social Media Strategy Engage with consumers in a meaningful way

Social Media Strategy Understanding how to use the different tools Facebook vs twitter vs linkedin Integration with Website Important to understand the relationship between website and social media pages Website = more control Traffic analysis Web analytics Social media analysis

Social Media Strategy

Web Industry Trends

HTML5 and CSS3 The Next Big Thing(s) on the web

Web Browsers - Timeline 1994 1995 1996 2004 2003 2008 More browser choices, increased popularity

What is HTML 5 and CSS3? HTML5 Features + Audio* + Video* + Drag and Drop Interaction + Offline Storage + Canvas (animations) + Geolocation + New, more semantic, HTML elements + Better Layouts CSS3 + Rounded Corners + Box Shadows + Text Drop Shadows + Web Fonts + Multiple Column Layouts + Fancy Element Backgrounds Source: http://www.focus.com/images/view/11905/

Mobile Development The web on the go!

Mobile Development Native Development Mobile Web Development + Fastest Performance + Native UI look and feel + App Store Exposure + Cross platform (Android, ios) + Less expensive + Almost native look and feel

Mobile Web Demos http://worksessions.net http://www.sencha.com/products/touch/demos.php

HTML 5 Demos http://html5demos.com/ http://www.apple.com/html5/