Every Website Should Have SSL
2017 was a huge year for website encryption. At the beginning of the year, roughly 46% of all websites on the Internet were encrypted with a Secure Socket Layer (SSL). That percentage has leapt to over 60% since September and continues to increase every day (source: Firefox Telemetry). This increase is not by accident but by design. Numerous highly influential companies, including Google and Mozilla (FireFox), have made website encryption a priority. Specifically, they’re pushing for more sites to use SSL, a security protocol that provides privacy and data integrity to communications sent over a network (in this case, the Internet).
14th Annual SIAA Awards: “And the Award Goes to… the Customer!”
Almost every industry has some sort of recognized award program, whether it’s sponsored by an industry association or a related industry publication. Receiving recognition for hard, thoughtful work can serve as a reward for employees, creating a sense of pride and ownership among staff. Awards also help companies in attracting quality employees, a task that is becoming more important all the time.
For Lime Valley, awards provide many of those same opportunities. On an internal level, awards season is a way to recognize the talents and creativity of designers, programmers, developers and copywriters. But on a more global level, receiving awards provides an opportunity to reflect on a successful project and celebrate with the customer.
Without the customer, there is no project and no award.
These awards are shared with the customer in a way that they can use them as promotional tools, celebrate with their staff and realize the value of their efforts in the marketing communications process. The awards highlighted in this issue of Storyboard are Service Industry Advertising Awards (SIAA). The Service Industry Advertising Awards began in 2003 as a way to recognize the advertising excellence of the service industry. It’s a national competition that honors service industry providers, as opposed to popular consumer awards, for their contribution to marketing and advertising. This year, over 1,900 entries were received. A national panel of judges evaluated and rated entries in 8 groups and 26 categories for execution, creativity, quality, consumer appeal and overall break through advertising content. The judges awarded 145 Gold Awards, 102 Silver Awards, as well as 74 Bronze Awards.Lime Valley has won more SIAA Awards than any other agency in Minnesota.
With six Service Industry Advertising Awards for communication excellence this year, Lime Valley has garnered a total of 63 SIAA awards, more than any other agency in Minnesota, over the last thirteen years.
Lime Valley has received a total of 18 Gold, 13 Silver, 9 Bronze and 23 Merit awards in the annual SIAA awards competition. The 2016 awards represent a range of project categories from educational services to publications and websites. The willingness and commitment to quality marketing communications on behalf of these customers makes these awards possible.
A Growing Company! Lime Valley Acquires Web Development Firm VoyageurWeb
Lime Valley Has Grown!
As of January 3, 2017, the Lime Valley home office welcomed three new staff members as the acquisition of VoyaguerWeb, Mankato, MN became official. Details of the acquisition took several months to iron out, but in the end both parties came away from the deal very pleased and excited about the future. VoyageurWeb and Lime Valley have had a long history of cooperation and working together, teaming up on projects and on special efforts for area non-profits. In addition, both companies share a strong commitment to education. Through work on various college program boards to continuing internship programs and ultimately hiring students, this belief in education stands out. The familiarity and mutual admiration between the two companies allowed the acquisition process to move forward smoothly.
Website Documentation Tips: Dude, Where’s My Domain?
Every website is like a unique snowflake. But, no matter how different each one is, every website on the World Wide Web will always have the following two things: a domain and a host. But do you know where your website’s domain is registered? Where it’s hosted? What about your CMS login information? One of the most essential but often overlooked parts of maintaining a successful website is knowing its ins and outs, and having well-kept website documentation will help you accomplish this.
A Website Redesign for a Manufacturer is More than just the Product!
As a manufacturer, redesigning your website is about more than just your product. While those items are of significant importance, it is easy to slip into the role of the person building the product, rather than the person buying the product. That's why so often you see specifications taking the place of good sales copy. But beyond that, in a website situation, you have to think about not only the person buying the product, but how they go about finding that product in the first place.
Website Redesign: The Dos and Don’ts of SEO!
Whether you're new to the position and this is your first big marketing project or you’ve endured this exercise several times now, the prospect of a website redesign for a manufacturing company can send shivers down the spine of even the most experienced marketing professional. You know that everyone from the sales department to human resources to engineering is going to have a say in how the website looks, the content it has on it and the way it functions. And that doesn’t necessarily mean that everyone is going to get along or play nice.
Planning Ahead: Creating a Social Media Calendar
Social media, when looked at through the lens of integrated marketing communications, can drive a business’s entire marketing strategy forward.
While reading a social media post may only take a few seconds, writing and planning an effective post takes much more time and thought. A social media calendar is a valuable tool to plan, track, and implement content for any and all social media avenues.
A calendar is more helpful than a list of topics because it allows an organization to visualize how its content will be distributed throughout the year. Key company or industry events, holidays, product release dates, and the like can be duly noted.
Google My Business: Creating Better Local Search Traffic
Google has a major hold on local search traffic and organic search traffic. Because of this, it is important for a business to have a website and local listing that rank well.
Google My Business improves local search traffic by allowing customers to easily find reliable information about a business, such as open hours, directions, contact and website, on multiple platforms and devices.
Announcing Lime Valley’s New Website
The staff at Lime Valley is pleased to announce the launch of the newly redesigned Lime Valley website. The fully responsive site is modern, intuitive, and a better representation of the agency and its clientele. From a creative standpoint, the goal of the new website is to clearly reflect the culture, work ethic, and collective talent at Lime Valley. The overall design carries a very contemporary feel with larger photos, clear headlines, and sensible content. The pages and menu system are now more straightforward with today’s best practices and are easier to navigate.
Boost This Up
Facebook continues to be one of the most popular social media sites, and an increasing number of varied demographics are spending an increasing amount of time on the site. As such, Facebook offers certain tools to businesses to maximize exposure on social media. One of those tools is boosting posts, an easy and effective way to gain more exposure of the content. A boosted post is similar to a normal post from a business Facebook page. For a fee, the post is “boosted” higher up in the audience’s news feeds, guaranteeing a certain level of visibility that might not happen with the organic reach of a regular post.