Psycho Zombie Web Design Project Manager

Not sure what’s going on but I think our web design project manager here at Shadomedia Design, Jeff Tolle, has been burning the midnight oil lately.  Fortunately for him, its Halloween so he fits in well.   I have recommended that he work outside from his laptop and get a little sunlight.  We also bought some teeth whitening strips.

He’s been moaning alot lately, rocking back and forth in his chair, and actually bit my arm earlier today.  I am not sure, but I think he is turning into a zombie.  According to Dawn of the Dead, anyone bit by a zombie turns into one…bite is looking pretty nasty so this may be my last post. 

 Happy Halloween! 

Why Use a Local Bay Area Web Designer vs. Outsourcing Web Design to and Another Country?

A common question regarding web design from potential customers of ours is “Why should we use Shadomedia here in the Bay Area when we could just outsource the work to somewhere like India to save money?”

There are numerous reasons to use Shadomedia’s custom website design services.

1. Instant Gratification - As you may already know, there can be alot of interaction back and forth between a client and a web designer throughout the design/build process of a new website. Because of time differences with other countries such as India, requested changes and updates on the site are not addressed immediately and can often take 1-3 days to implement.  A greater amount of changes tend to be requested on new website that tend to be more in-depth or comprehensive.  Companies in the Bay Area that use our web design services do not have an issue with a lag of requested changes as our customers are able to contact us at any time and changes/updates can be made or addressed instantly.
2. Face to Face client meetings - Many of our website design and web maintenance customers here in the Bay Area prefer to meet in person so they are comfortable with who is handling their web project. When outsourcing a website, you never really know who is designing or building your website, and you have no way of predicting what designs will be. 
3. A better quality website - Our goal is to not just slap together a website for our clients, make a quick buck and move on.  We take the extra time to learn about our customers’ businesses, who their target audience is and where their target audience is located.  All of this is factored into the design and production of the website. Both my business partner and I are Bay Area natives and we know the area very well and this is a great benefit to our clients.Our goal is to build a website that drives new business to our Bay Area customers.  Most of our clients find that the website pays for itself within a few months.  We want to our customers to succeed online and because we know how to help them succeed, we have established many long-term relationships with our customers.  The difference in money saved via outsourcing is minimal up-front, but the reward for using a local company such as Shadomedia Design has much more reward.  Basically in a nutshell, you get what you pay for.

Localize your Search Engine Optimization

Search engine optimizing your website with localization in mind is the key to a successful website for businesses that target a specific region (such as San Francisco, Bay Area, etc).

For businesses that target a specific region, it can be a frustrating to have a company website that is effective at generating quality leads from that region. 

By localizing your search engine optimization, you can:

1. Improve the quality of keyword terms that link to your site. Geo-targeted (localized) search results tend to be more specific and thus, have a higher rate of conversion to a lead or sale.

2. Improve your website position on localized search engine results.  Since competition for keyword terms is stronger than ever, it is not enough to target a general keyword term with the average business website as the chances for success are very low.  By targeting a specific region with search optimization, your website has a far greater chance of moving toward the top of search results since there is much less competition than with general keyword terms.

3. Improve the quality and/or quantity of leads coming in from your website.  As mentioned in #1, more specific keyword terms yield more specifc search results. The chances that traffic coming into your website from these specific terms is looking for what you have to offer increases significantly.   

If you would like Shadomedia to take a look at your business website, feel free to visit our corporate website (www.shadomedia.com) or just send us an email at info@shadomedia.com

Until we blog again….

 Shad-o

Annual Backpacking Business Getaway to Yosemite

Well I finally downloaded the pictures from our annual backpacking trip to Lake Vernon in the Yosemite Backcountry.  Because we scheduled the trip later in September this year, our entire trip was spent battling the first major storm of the season.  Snow, hail, rain and hurricane-force winds from random directions.  It was a fantastic trip! 

Highlights included a mother black bear with 2 cubs hiding in a bush ahead of us on the trail.  I think she was waiting to startle us.  In the past, we have been informed that a bear was startling backpackers, knowing that they would drop the backpack and run…pretty clever, but not clever enough this time! Spotted one of her cubs at about 100ft away.

Bay Area Search Engine Optimization Experts

Hello to all in the Bay Area,

Shadomedia specializes in search engine optimization services to businesses throughout the san francisco bay area.  Feel free to visit our website today at http://www.shadomedia.com

Your Bay Area SEO Expert,

Shad-o