As a business owner, you have the unique opportunity to create a Google Places page to make it easy for potential clients, customers, and visitors to find information about your business. All you need is a Google User ID, and a bit of understanding of how Google Places pages work.

When you search for your business in Google Maps, a link to your company’s Google Places page should appear, as well as a marker pointing out the business location on the map. This is what people who search for your business will see. Your responsibility is to make sure that this contains all the information that person may want.

When you search for your business and click on the name of your company’s listing to view the Google Places page, you should see an option in the upper-right corner to “Edit this Place – Business Owner?” Select the “Business Owner” link, then sign in or create a new Google ID. From here, you can verify your ownership of the business, as well as add or edit information to your listing. Make sure that your listing is as complete as possible, so that people get as much information as they can when they search for you.

Once you’ve added all the information you can, encourage past and present clients and customers to rate and review your business on your Google Places page. This will make it easier for other potential clients and customers to determine the quality of your business, based on real user ratings and comments.

For more information about how you can take advantage of your company’s online web presence, make sure you check out our other article, “7 Ways to Improve Your Online Branding.”

AirPlay was created by family-owned company Superior Products, located outside of St. Louis in Roxana, IL. Superior Products had already found success in creating automotive supplies and oil based fragrances that have become popular with auto dealers, auto repair shops, and other retailers nationwide. It was the perfect next step to create a product that was more marketable to the public. Superior Products partnered with Nelly and The St. Lunatics to bring AirPlay to life.

When we were contacted about this project, Airplay was already in production with the website URL printed on the boxes and bottle labels. There was an urgency to get this site completed by the time the product launched. We started out by creating a temporary landing page, which soon (and with a lot of hard work and long days) evolved into a robust and fully-functioning e-commerce website.

The website design needed to appeal to a young crowd. This allowed us to be really creative with colors and effects. We wanted the design to be slick and keep the focus on the product, while reflecting the style of the product sponsors. Basing our website design and color scheme on the product packaging, we were able to really highlight the product without distracting from it.

In the event that customers would choose to find a location to purchase AirPlay in person, there is both an event list and a store locator, so that customers can find retailers in their area quickly and easily. The event list allows users to connect with AirPlay representatives in person to sample and learn more about the products.

Working with the folks at Superior Products was really great, and this project has quickly turned into one of our favorite website designs.

Check out the AirPlay site now at www.airplayfresh.com

If you liked reading about the AirPlay website development, be sure to check out our full website design portfolio.

Wanting to keep with the themes and feel of the brand new restaurant, the St Louis Sippery website design had to be warm, inviting, and timeless.

The primary goal of the website was to introduce new and existing customers to the new location. A prominent call-to-action, asking customers to visit the new restaurant, is immediately visible.

There are a number of menus to feature, so we organized a multi-column webpage display that resembles a printed menu.

A recent news feed for press releases and menu updates is also readily available, and easy to update.

To visit the live site, visit www.sippery.com.

If you like the St Louis Sippery’s website, check out more of our web work in our website design portfolio!

The Chamber Director really needed to be able to make updates easily, so we built the whole website as a custom-built WordPress theme, giving her the ability to update everything in a snap. We wanted to emphasize the community of the Chamber, so we made the website design very unique and natural.

The website features the ability for the Chamber Director to add featured members, custom events, photo galleries, new members, as well as member exchange information. All of the contact forms are custom-built to provide all the information she needs to answer questions, renew memberships, and promote members online.

To view the live website, visit maplewood-chamber.com

If you liked the Maplewood Chamber of Commerce website, check out more of our web design work at our Website Design Portfolio!

Modern marketing strategists are understanding more and more about how they can help draw in tech-savvy crowds using QR codes. With the ability to provide a lot of information in just a small space, these codes encourage users to go beyond the advertisement and find information on their own.

A QR code can contain a wide variety of data, including but not limited to a link to a website, a brief amount of text, or even a full contact card to add to a user’s phone. Utilizing these codes can help you to provide easy-to-access information to interested parties with a click of a button. Businesses of all kinds are finding ways to incorporate these barcodes into their marketing, from realtors providing links to a listings website, to freelancers providing contact information to encourage easy future contact.

Be creative with QR codes. With services like bit.ly and invx.com that make it incredibly easy to generate your own codes, there’s no reason not to play with this trendy technology in your future marketing campaigns.

For more information on how you can incorporate QR codes into your advertising and marketing campaigns, contact the design professionals at Rampant Creative Group.

Shur-Way Autobody is a family owned St. Louis body shop. It was important to them that their website reflect both their story, and their passion. Shur-Way has been family owned for 40 years, and in that time they’ve built a reputation of putting the customer first – using plain language so you feel comfortable with the whole process. They’ve also become known as pioneers in environmentally friendly practices; being the first in the area to switch to water based paint. The website absolutely had to convey these elements of Shur-Way.

Our design went through several revisions. We took client feedback and modified it until it created the ideal image; the trustworthiness of a family owned business, and the skillful work of a high-tech shop. We used warm tones and subtle textures to create a comforting feel. Select images and a photo gallery were used throughout to show the quality of the client’s work.

The end result looked great, but we wanted to take it one step further. Rather than just supply static information to the visitor, we created a call-to-action to engage the user. This came in the form of the “Need an estimate?” box. Visitors could fill out a short form and would quickly hear back from Shur-Way. The client has reported that they are now receiving and average of one new lead a day, just from this form!

The Shur-Way website is a great example of how we can take a simple client desire, a new website, to the next level. We created something that not only builds their brand, and establishes Shur-Way as the best in their field, but it also actively generates new business for them.

Check out the Shur-Way site at: www.Shur-WayAutobody.com

Want to see what we can do for your business? Contact us for a free consultation.

We exist in a digital age, in which people look to the Internet to gain access to information with the click of a button. Many people use the Internet as their first resource to learn more about products and services; they expect to be able to answer every question they have about your business by looking it up on a search engine.

The question is, will they be able to find the answers they need?

Your company’s website is going to be many peoples’ first impression of you and your business. If they stumble onto a poorly made website with limited or difficult-to-access information, they are likely to move on and find someone else with a higher quality web presence, whether or not they provide a higher quality product or service than you. The fact is, many people associate quality on the web with the overall quality of a business.

When launching or redesigning your online brand, look for help from a team that can propel your business into the digital world, and make you more accessible to your existing and potential clients, as well as give you the professional high-quality on-line presence that you need.

1. Obtain a memorable domain name

The first step in establishing a web presence is purchasing a domain name and web space. It’s important to select a name that represents your company in a memorable way, based on what you do, who you are, and what your customers are looking for.

2. Ensure that your website is visually appealing and up-to-date

On-line trends and standards are in a constant state of evolution. A website designed five years ago will not have the same professional impact as a fresh website designed with today’s standards in mind. Does your website seem visually out-of-date? Is your navigation easily accessible? Can people find the information they need quickly and easily? Do all of your pages have a consistent visual appeal? These are questions to keep in mind as you determine whether or not you need a fresh web design.

3. Use a memorable and well-designed logo

Your logo is the visual representation of your business — a well-designed, professional, and memorable logo has more value than a lot of people realize. Your website’s visitors will look for your logo as the first way to identify your company — if it doesn’t make sense, doesn’t stand out, or doesn’t look good, you’ll quickly be forgotten.

4. Present your information in an easy-to-understand and accessible way

The primary reason why people visit your website is to learn more about your company. If your information is unavailable, or is difficult to read, find, or access, you could lose a potential client. Make sure that build your website with the client in mind – so that all relevant information is prominent and easy to find, while not being overwhelming or confusing.

5. Include relevant content to rank well in Search Results

When people go to Google and type in “Saint Louis Dentist,” they expect to immediately find websites of the top dentists in St. Louis. Most people focus only on the first few search results, ignoring the second and third pages of results entirely. For your business to be available to these people, it’s important to be aware of what is called web “Search Engine Optimization,” or “SEO.” Include relevant content on to optimize your website, bringing you a better search rank in all of the most popular search engines, and ultimately, bringing you more clients.

6. Keep your brand identity and marketing materials professional and consistent

One of the biggest mistakes a company can make is being inconsistent with how they market themselves. Marketing initiatives — whether on-line or offline, web, video, or print — should communicate a consistent brand identity of your company. It’s important to establish your brand identity, then bring it to fruition by creating a consistent marketing campaign, to get your name out to more people in more memorable ways.

7. Get a Professional Opinion

A lot of people claim to be marketing professionals or designers, doing low-cost freelance work as a hobby while they spend the majority of their time doing other things. Unfortunately, relying on someone like this will cause the quality of the final product to suffer tremendously. Look for professionals with plenty of experience of education, and a true understanding of all the best practices and current standards, who are able to bring you a high-quality product that perfectly fits your needs. Don’t be afraid to ask for references, testimonials, or examples of work.

If you’re looking into supercharging your online brand, contact the professionals at Rampant Creative Group for a free consultation, and a quote for your project.

In its simplest form a vector is a representation of an image using lines, points, and curves. The construction of vectors is based on mathematical calculations. What that means is with a vector there is no defined size, therefore pixelation will never occur. Vectors can scale up and down to any size and remain the same quality. The mathematical equations allow this to happen.

Raster, or sometimes called bitmap, is just the opposite. Raster is a specified size and is based on pixels. This means that when a raster image is enlarged it will become pixelated.

Pixelation is the blurriness or distortion that occurs with an image is stretched larger than its native size. Say you have an image that is 100×100 pixels, that is the native size. When you take that image and enlarge it to 500×500 pixles the computer has to fill in the gaps. In doing this the image loses clarity and becomes pixelated.

Vector and raster both have their place and purpose. Although not exclusively, vector is often used for print. It is great for print because of its scaling capabilities. Logo design should always be done in vectors. If you are having marketing pieces printed be sure to use a vector logo to ensure it will come out crisp. Raster is beneficial when dealing with images of an organic nature, such as photos. The complex calculations would be too intense to display in vectors. Raster is also often used for web. With web design there is no need to be scaled larger than the biggest screen size so raster is perfect.

What is Mobile Web?

Mobile web is a term for an Internet application that is accessible from a mobile device, such as a cellular phone or a mobile tablet like the iPad. Due to the vast difference in size, capability, and resolution between devices capable of accessing mobile web, it’s important to be aware of your audience and have a good idea of what kind of technology it would be good to support for your website.

How will this change my website?

Ultimately, supporting mobile web doesn’t need to change the look of your primary website at all. The most popular way to support mobile web is to have two different designs for your website: one for standard computer internet browsers, and one that is optimized for mobile web.

Using a simple line of code, your website can determine whether someone is accessing the site from a computer or a cell phone, and redirect the user accordingly, based on what they’re using to view the page. It’s best to create the standard website to have full functionality and have a robust design, then create the mobile website with minimal graphics and an easy-to-use interface for touch screen or click-wheel navigation, as are popular on cellular devices today.

So what’s the bottom line?

It’s a good idea to support modern technology, and make web navigation as easy as possible on all of your users (and potential customers). Incorporating a basic mobile website into your existing or new web design will likely inspire a number of new users to browse your site and become active users.

Contact Rampant Creative Group for more information on mobile web design.

Think of each business as having a different stamp – this stamp represents the personality of the company. Some are memorable and long lasting, others are forgettable. The real trick in creating a good brand is to be consistent. Every fingerprint that your business leaves should look the same. Your business cards should match your website, letter heads, envelopes, and any advertising materials you may have.

For example, think about the Coca-Cola brand. This is a company that has been around for ages and has loads of marketing, yet it all has the same feel. When you see a Coca-Cola ad, you can instantly identify what company it is for. This is a sign of a strong brand.

So why is it important to have a strong brand identity? To put it simply – a brand makes you look like a reputable business, and more importantly, it conveys the personality of your business. Even if your business consists of just one person, it’s still important to look professional and legitimate, and having a pulled together image will do it.

Contact Rampant Creative Group for more information on logos, branding packages, and marketing materials.