**** Announcing the lifeBLUE Media “I Need a New Design” Contest ****

There’s so much beauty in the world — despite all those horrendous, two-bit websites made with two lines of code and paper clips.

We at lifeBLUE Media cherish the online aesthetic and want to do our part to bring more beauty to the web. With that in mind, we’ve decided to give away our sought-after services to the neediest site owner on the web.

Today marks the start of our “I Need a New Design” Contest. We’ll give away a free site design to the website deemed the worst by visitor vote. So, if you’re constantly bemoaning your awful, highly dysfunctional website, here’s a chance to redeem your online presence — and stick it to your competitors. To learn more about how you can get a spanking-new site, check out the Contest info here.

We’ll log and tally votes through Aug. 8 here on lifeBLUE.com, meaning you’ve got about a month to scrounge as many as you can. So, start thumbing through your Rolodex, pester distant friends and old high school flames and get grandma online to start pleading your case. Post on your blog, email your buddies — do whatever it takes to bring in the most votes and you’ll have a snazzy new website by the fall.

And, for the record, the web designers at lifeBLUE graduated from two lines of code and paper clips a while ago. To get an idea of what kind of revamped website awaits, here’s a little look at some of our work in the lifeBLUE portfolio.

Now, let the contest begin. Best of luck to the worst among you. We look forward to sifting through your submissions.

We’ve touched on this before, but it’s so important that we decided to return. Anyone who claims that search is cooling off is likely to have pants ablaze.

But even we were a bit shocked when we read recently that 20 to 25 percent of the searches conducted by Google represent brand-new queries that have never been seen before (Thanks to SEOmoz for the reminder). Stop for a second and think about that. It’s simply astounding, considering the millions of searches enacted each day on the Search Engine of Search Engines.

It also underscores how challenging the field of search engine optimization and marketing can be at times, given the ever-changing nature of so many key elements. But that rate of spanking-new searches should also be a big red flag to companies and website operators — if you’re not investing in SEM/SEO services, you’re probably going to get more and more lost amid the shuffle of the online marketplace.

Keeping pace with that amazing rate of new searches is a tough job. It’s easy for companies to fall behind or fail to capture the wave of potential flooding Google every day.

Get your head above water. Give some serious thought to the importance SEM/SEO strategies can play when it comes to your bottom line. lifeBLUE can help you serve those millions of new searches every day.

For a newspaper reporter, there’s nothing worse than waking up in the morning to find a terrible — or worse, misspelled — headline atop your big scoop. Nothing ruins a good, resume-worthy story faster than having a sleepy copy editor decide to spell “bucks” with an “f,” as in: “MAYOR CAUGHT PILFERING BIG BUCKS.”

The most grating part, as any reporter will quickly tell you, is that they almost always never write the headlines. But they’ll be the first to tell you how important they are — a good headline is the Holy Grail of entry points, guaranteed to ensnare readers who otherwise might never read your story.

This maxim is actually more important on the Internet, where people are already in a hurry and used to blowing through mountains of information in a matter of minutes. Often, a catchy, memorable, intriguing and all-around entertaining headline is the only shot you have at getting visitors to actually give your content a look.

And, unlike those ungrateful reporters, bloggers, content developers, SEO heads and other online copy writers can’t typically blame a copy editor. Odds are you’re your own writer, editor and coffee-fetcher. Feeling your pain, and still getting our own coffee, we at lifeBLUE wanted to offer a few tips for writing good headlines for blog posts, link bait, viral pieces and all other manner of social media content. So, here we go:

1. Be succint

Don’t give all your good stuff away in the headline. A piece titled “Nightmare at Lambert International Airport As Drunken Passengers Refuse to Stop Screaming ‘Cockpit’ and Throwing Pretzel Bags While Bemoaning the Lost Genius of Jeff Buckley” may intrigue a few frequent fliers and JB fans, but others will see little reason to read further. Instead, stick with something a little shorter and attention-grabbing, something that leaves readers of all backgrounds wanting to learn more. Something like “Nightmare at Lambert” or “Nightmare at 35,000 Feet.” We do miss JB, though. Tragedy.

2. Use active verbs and bold words

That’s bold as in strong and connoting action and authority, not bold as in bold. Although, it is always a good idea to find ways to make your headlines stand out in color or size from the rest of the text. Using passive constructions like “to be” verbs and the past tense are shown over and over again in readership studies to be boring gateways to nowhere. You’re only using a few words to lure people to your cache of content, so make them stand out and sound good and strong to the ear.

3. Provocative

It’s much easier to do this online than in print. Take a stand in your headline, call someone out or tease us with your amazing knowledge. If you really know why someone is a complete jerk, then say so, using bold words, in your headline. But being provocative doesn’t necessarily have to be loud and in-your-face. Don’t be afraid to provoke thought, either. Some folks might turn away from a headline blaring “Why Judas Iscariot Totally Sucks,” so look for another way to bring people to your copy. How about: “Christ’s Downfall Started With a Kiss.” We’re cool with JC, here, too, so we’ll probably read both.

4. Classify the Copy

Social media sites like Digg and Reddit may soon render this rule obsolete, as stories simply headlined “Cool” or “Wow” will invariably be Dugg about 5,683 times. But it’s still a good idea, especially for link bait and viral pieces, to give readers some semblance of what your content is all about.

5. Embrace lists and pictures

This is another online rule driven by social media and networking sites. While lists are incredibly standard, almost cliched means of communicating information, they’re also never going away because people love to read them. Give us 10 easy tips or hints or reasons Karl Rove sucks and we’ll devour each one. It’s human nature to want something neatly packaged and chronological. Don’t churn out list after list, but don’t be afraid to throw some “Why XXX is Destroying America” or “Ten Reasons XXX Gives Me a Headache” list copy out there. The picture rule is simple. If you’re posting on social media sites, put this little abbreviation (PIC) in your headline, assuming you have a picture. It’s amazing how many high-traffic pieces become high-traffic because of that little abbreviation — and because there’s a great photo on the page, too. If you’ve got great art, let the reader know.

6 . Be Funny, Never Pun-ny and Think, Darn It, Think

Stay far away from puns in headlines. Very far. They’re awful, old “tools” that readers today will recognize as lame and unworthy of their precious time from a mile away. Dedicate real chunks of time to crafting funny, entertaining, provocative and engaging headlines. It makes no sense to spend three hours writing a top-notch blog post or link bait piece only to slap some stupid, completely uninteresting and unappealing headline on top after 4.39 seconds of thought.

Got it? Speaking of JC, though, we’ll leave you with one of our all-time favorite headlines. After a rain-swollen river threatened to flood a Pennsylvania town twice in two days, readers woke up the next morning to this gem: “Second Coming of Crest.”

That, friends, is a keeper.

For those who don’t use them every day, search engines can sometimes be a frustrating mess. Ostensibly, it doesn’t take much to use a search engine. Type “www.google.com” into your browser and get crackin’. But sometimes your specific searches come up empty, leaving you unable to find what you came online looking for in the first place.

In the interest of helping some of those more inexperienced in the ways of true search, we at lifeBLUE decided to put together a brief primer on some of the basic ways you can improve your time navigating the search engines and more easily find the information you need. And, of course, if you’re interested in improving your company’s standing among the search engines, make sure to check out our SEO services.

Here are a just few helpful hints and basic facts. Seeing as we’re big St. Louis Cardinals fans here at lifeBLUE, we’ll use the keywords “baseball” and “Cardinals” as examples:

The Basics

-If you type in Baseball - you will get any web page that features the word baseball.

- Baseball and Cardinals - will give you pages that have baseball and Cardinals.

- Baseball or Cardinals - will give you pages that only have baseball with no mention of Cardinals or Cardinals with no mention of baseball.

- Baseball – Cardinals - this will give you a baseball pages devoid of the word Cardinals (Make sure when typing this into Google that the space is between the first word and the minus, since the first word is what you want to keep in your search).

- Baseball + Cardinals - this is the same as using the word “and” in the search.

-“Baseball Cardinals” - this will provide results that only feature the words Baseball Cardinals consecutively. This is good when you’re looking for a specific company, name or other item.

Restrictive Searches
-define: Baseball - this will give you the definition of baseball.
-phonebook: wang IL- will give you the listing for Wang in Illinois.
-bphonebook: wang IL- will give you the listings for businesses named Wang in Illinois.
-inurl: baseball - this one is pretty cool. This will give you a return of all sites that include baseball somewhere in the site’s URL.
-allinurl: Baseball Cardinals - this will give you a search that uses all the words you typed after the colon in the URL.
-related: lifeBLUE.com - gives a return on sites that are related to lifeBLUE.com
-info: lifeBLUE.com - provides all information available about the website.
-link: lifeBLUE.com - provides other sites that are linked to this website.

And those are just a few. There are dozens upon dozens of little tricks and devices you can use to amp up your Google searches. Here’s one last little trick for you. Did you know that Google is also a calculator?

Try it. Type in an addition problem in the search bar and hit search. Or ask it how many quarts are in 17 gallons (search “quarts in 17 gallons”). Google will generate the answer, without fail. Truly, it is all things to all people, the official one-stop shop of the Internet. Sounds like another American empire we know and love…

Now we just need the G-folks to figure out a way for us to simultaneously buy a toilet brush, some bananas and an oil change online.

PageRank.

It’s a term you’ll still hear kicked around in certain Search Engine Marketing circles. Try not to listen.

What’s the deal? Well, PageRank is a tool. The device is a basically a link analysis algorithm that assigns a value to each set of hyperlinked documents on a web page, then measures its relative importance. In fact, let’s allow the experts who created the tool — Google — to explain:

“PageRank relies on the uniquely democratic nature of the web by using its vast link structure as an indicator of an individual page’s value. In essence, Google interprets a link from page A to page B as a vote, by page A, for page B. But, Google looks at considerably more than the sheer volume of votes, or links a page receives; for example, it also analyzes the page that casts the vote. Votes cast by pages that are themselves “important” weigh more heavily and help to make other pages “important.” Using these and other factors, Google provides its views on pages’ relative importance.”

OK, so there’s a barebones definition. But what does PageRank really mean, in the “Why should I care” sense? The reality is, PageRank isn’t the end-all, be-all in the realm of SEO. Like we said, it’s a tool. But it doesn’t replace the entire tool box.

Beyond PageRank, there are a ton of important elements that factor into your website’s ranking, include quality content and keywords. As a tool, PageRank doesn’t really get into keyword specifics, meaning one site can be ranked higher than another in the SERPs but have a lower PageRank than its counterpart.

Lastly, clinging to PageRank has just fallen out of fashion. With so many other factors and elements at play, businesses and website enthusiasts simply have to look at the bigger picture.

Turns out painting a bigger picture is one of our specialties.

It’s hard to narrow down a huge list to just a handful of helpful hints, but here we are. We at lifeBLUE are masters of the concise list. We’re also pretty talented when it comes to crafting a well-rounded online marketing campaign. We could write a book about successful strategies and techniques, but, instead, here’s a much more digestible snapshot of a few must-haves:

1. Search Engine Optimization

The old work horse, as it were. At its most basic of roots, this is the act of altering a website to help boost its visibility in the search engines, like Google, Yahoo and Ask. It entails a series of steps and possible avenues, as webmasters have to spend time thinking about what the search engine crawlers will find when they come snaking through. It’s also where things can get a bit complicated rather quickly, and where you need to start keeping up with the latest at each of the search engines. Each search engine crawler looks for different things, so you may rank well on one engine but lag on another. Although it’s a basic, foundational element of online marketing, it’s tried and true.

2. Usability Testing

Usability is quickly becoming one of the more important aspects of online marketing. Usability is simply how well your website caters to your customers. About 60 percent of all consumers who arrive at your website get lost. That means usability and navigability are extremely important for websites of all shapes and stripes.

3. Optimized Press Releases

More and more people are turning to news search engines to get a well-rounded and diverse take on the news of the day. Many of these high-traffic news engines, like Yahoo News and Google News, have become more popular than the big, traditional media outlets. With that backdrop, having a press release that ranks high on these search engines is an incredibly important part of an online marketing campaign. It’s only going to become more crucial as more and more media consumers turn to those engines for news, entertainment and analysis.

4. Business Blogging

Blogging is more popular and mainstream than ever before. It’s also being recognized as a vital tool by companies big and small.  Many are encouraging workers to blog on company-sponsored sites or even on their own personal weblogs, figuring that the only bad publicity is no publicity. We don’t completely endorse that old theory, but there’s more than a grain of truth in there. An entertaining or informative blog that offers readers something unique or worthwhile can draw a ton of new consumers and generate both links and buzz. All of those are darn near priceless.

While our SEO services do come with a price tag, our passionate and committed team works with businesses and budgets from all corners. We’re here to help you thrive.

A lot has been said recently in the SEO blogosphere about the good and the bad of buying links. Matt Cutts threw down the hammer in his blog with regards to how Google is restarting its quest to rid the SERPs of websites that have obtained their top rankings by “manipulating” the algorithms through buying links. Many SEO’s from around the globe have responded in kind that they believe buying links it still a viable way to improve a search marketing campaign.

At lifeBLUE, we have managed SEM campaigns for clients that have sometimes involved paid links. We don’t view it as a means to an end, but rather a supplemental bit of support for any top-notch SEM. The truth is, if you’re hoping to compete for just about any competitive keyword terms in Google, you’re going to have to acquire authorititative links that have targeted anchor text in them.

And what’s the best way to get that done? By creating compelling content that results in links (link bait), by blogging, by developing resources within your industry and by buying links. All pieces of the pie are equally important when we are running a client’s campaign.

Over the years there has (basically) emerged a right way and a wrong way to go about buying links that follows the same principles that differentiate spam from acceptable marketing. You can’t buy links exclusively to boost your campaign. You can’t buy links that all have the same anchor text and point to the same page. As always, it’s about being “natural” in your search marketing campaigns.

We feel we accomplish that by blending our link-buying activities seamlessly into our overall marketing scheme for every client, and never overdoing it when it comes to buying 30 of the exact same link. The only links that are truely worth buying are those that get prominent placement on leading sites in your vertical - those priceless ones that just can’t be had by link bait or tools or resources.

Thanks for keeping us honest, Google, but paid links will be here to stay for a long time.

From start to finish, an often overlooked element of website design is the application work that occurs beneath all the fancy images dancing across your screen.

Applications and programming functions are the magic behind the scenes that truly make a website great. Any time you type something in a field, search a category or do anything other than simply click a direct link, a feature built upon hours worth of programming brings the page before your eyes in a matter of seconds - or minutes if you’re using grandpa’s home computer from the Dark Ages.

All the information that just flew across your screen has been sitting in a database, kicking and screaming for a shot at human consumption. All you had to do was type in the right word and set it free. How much user interactivity would you like on your website? Do you want your users to upload pictures, create personal pages, play games, store personal information, record favorite pages visited and wish lists? Or would you like to manage your website’s content, keep track of inventory, monitor traffic and even monitor pretty much anything you can imagine? The list can go on forever. A great application can make using your website dramatically simple, both for you and your users.

Now how does all this work, you ask? You can crack a turtle with some of the ultra-thick books that explain it. So, if you want to do the research yourself, pull up a chair and pencil in the next light-year to get good and educated on the subject. Or, you can simply tell our experts how you would like your website to function, and let their light-years of education and experience make the magic happen.

When it comes to Application Development, we can make almost anything happen. We just need your vision. Our passionate experts will take care of the rest. Custom Application Development is just one of our many specialties.

Unless, of course, you’ve got a light-year to spare.

Save a turtle. Call lifeBLUE.