This is achieved through just a few easy steps.

1. Go to the Marion Blog (Look at that, you’re already here. Good job!)
2. Click the orange RSS icon on the right side of the screen where it reads “Subscribe to the Marion RSS Feed.”
3. If you have,
   • Internet Explorer (IE): Choose the personal account or preferred browser (i.e. Google, Yahoo, Bloglines, etc.) through which you want to receive blog updates or simply add our feed to your IE Favorites.
   • Mozilla: Choose the personal account or preferred browser (i.e. Google, Yahoo, Bloglines, etc.) through which you want to receive blog updates or simply bookmark our feed, choosing “Live Bookmark.”
4. Click “Subscribe Now.”

Voila! You’re now a Marion Subscriber and you didn’t even break a sweat.

Don’t even know what a RSS Feed is? Click here to learn more.

…And if you like our blog, you’ll love our services. Marion’s custom web design services include blog design and development and even content development. Find out what Marion can do for you.

Marion goes beyond web design. We are a fully integrated agency able to offer businesses a full array of advertising and marketing services on the web, in print, broadcast, social media and video. Marion has the tools and skills to create a total brand experience for your customers. (See more on Graphic Design Services and Brand Consultancy.)

We also stay ahead of the curve, keeping you ahead of the competition. Marion now offers Mobile Web Design so you can have a version of your regular site formatted specifically for smartphones and other mobile devices.

Naturally, we provide a full range of the services you’d expect from your web developers, including:

• Original custom designs – no templates
• Full-time and in-house staff of:
  • Web Content Developers
  • SEO Specialists
  • Web Designers
  • Web Developers
  • Internet Marketing Specialists
  • Internet Brand Consultants
• Brand positioning for clear, persuasive messaging
• User-friendly site structure and flat navigation
• Innovative Interactive Applications
• Lead capture backend
• Single Source for:
  • Photography
  • Video
  • Flash
  • Custom illustration
• On-going Internet marketing support
• Increased VOLUME & QUALITY of traffic to your site
• Proven success in making businesses grow through their websites (references available upon request)

For more proof, see our custom web designs for yourself.

No need to fear, Google is hear. Google has created an exciting remedy to solve your conversion issues by using Google Website Optimizer . This tool employs A/B Testing and Multivariate testing to evaluate what design and layout will best generate conversions for a desired action (i.e. make a purchase or complete a contact form).

A/B Testing compares two or more variations of your webpage against each other. Multivariate testing evaluates hundreds of alterations including differences in copy, graphics, headlines, and designs simultaneously to see which will produce optimal results.

Google Website Optimizer is a handy tool and best of all, it’s free! You may notice all those high-speed travelers start to take the scenic route through your website and even park for awhile.

As part of our custom website design process, Marion can do this optimization testing for you to transform your website into an online powerhouse.

Kobelco specializes in selling Lattice-Boom Crawler Cranes; however, all sales are handled by dealers. The goal of the new website was to improve the way dealer information was presented and drive traffic to the dealers. Since dealers are determined by counties, Marion developed an interactive county-based map that allows users to click on the appropriate county and review contact information for that dealer. The dealer locator application is intuitive and simple to use.

Additionally, Marion repositioned the homepage message to reflect Kobelco’s main differentiator, a lower cost of ownership. The site was also flattened to allow an easier understanding of the benefits Kobelco has to offer. The crane models and images can be viewed directly from the homepage with a quick guide of the product differentiators. Users can easily click to crane product pages and find complete, detailed information about each lattice-boom crawler crane’s features and transportation plans.

The site has become a valuable resource for customers and dealers, especially with the addition of crane training videos.

Since the site has been so successful for the U.S market, Kobelco wanted to make it available as a resource to the Latin American market. Marion just launched the Spanish and Portuguese versions of their site at kobelcocranesnorthamerica.com.

Future updates include adding a Ground Bearing Pressure Calculator, which will help determine safety requirements for crane placement.

From the Kobelco North America team:

“Thank you and congrats guys!  The new website is incredible.  We have had several calls coming from dealers this morning about the site and it is rave reviews!  Also our service guys have already been sending people in the field to the videos section of the site and they were happy to get on and look at specific information they needed.  That was quick.  We’ve made them happy. Very impressed.  You guys made us look good!!

I want to thank you for all the hard work that has been put into this; seeing the end result, it has been well worth it!

I know we still have some pieces to work on, and a few big ones for the future, but it has been a real joy working with all of you and I look forward to continuing……

Thanks again for everything!”

To view this website, go to http://www.kobelcocranesnorthamerica.com/Xdefault.asp

More web designs by Marion can be viewed at marion.com/portfolio.php.

For your own  custom web design, contact The Marion Group at 713.623.6444 or email us at info2@marion.com.

 VeriSign, the global registry operator for .com and .net, released an industry brief discussing the performance of .com and other Top Level Domain Names (TDLs).

 In the past 25 years the Internet has transformed lives around the globe. It has radically altered our world-view by providing access to people, places, information and things that at one time were unattainable and unknowable. It has made us all virtual explorers not only on our own journey but also, collectively, as part of others’. It has narrowed the definition of neighbor to mean not simply someone who lives next door but rather a person in London, Moscow, or Beijing with whom one shares a common experience, shared interest, or personal struggle. In doing all these things, the Internet has opened our minds to a world of endless possibilities, created new found opportunity, and inspired action like nothing else before it.

 In our of .com’s birthday, we thought that we would post some fun and interesting facts about .com and other TDLs:

•  The first .com was assigned to symbolics.com on March 15, 1985
• At first, .cor was proposed as the domain name for corporation, but when the final version came out, it switched to .com
• 2 ½ years after the first registration, only 100 total .com domain name registrations existed
• By 1992, there were still less that 15,000 .com domain names registered
• 88% of .com and .net domain names resolve to a website, meaning that an end-user visiting that domain name would find a website
• At the close of 2009, there were more than 192 million domain name registrations, an increase of nearly 15 million since the close of 2008
• While .com continues to have the highest number of total registrations, .cn (China), .de (Germany), .net and .uk (United Kingdom) follow
• While .com actually ended the fourth quarter of 2009 with a 1% decline, previously it had seen growth as high as 467% year over year
• The fourth quarter of 2009, VeriSign saw 52 million Domain Name System (DNS) queries per day, with peaks as high as 61 million per day
• Marion received their domain June 16, 1995; Google.com received their domain name in 1997; Linkedin.com received their domain name in 2002; Flickr.com received their domain name in 2003; Youtube.com received their domain name in 2005

 When interviewed, Jack Haverty, one of the Internet pioneers at MIT, speaks about his amazement about the creation of the Internet:

 “I don’t recall anybody ever thinking we were creating an organizational structure to encompass hundreds of millions of entities covering the entire planet in support of all human activities. And it certainly wasn’t supposed to last for 30+ years, even as an experiment. It just happened to turn out that way.”

 For your own .com and custom web design, contact The Marion Group at 713.623.6444 or email us at info2@marion.com.

 See the entire VeriSign Domain Name Industry Brief.

Ever used the terms “Web” and “Internet” interchangeably? Like “Surf the Web” or “Browse the internet”? Most of us have. But the truth is that the Web and Internet are different.

The Internet is a huge network of networks- it connects computers together, so that they can communicate and trade information. If a computer is connected to the Internet, it can exchange information with any other computers that are also connected.

The Web (aka World Wide Web) is just one way of accessing the Internet. The Web is an information-sharing application that is built on top of the Internet. The Web cannot work unless the Internet is connected. Simply put, the Web runs on top of the Internet the way a train runs on tracks.

When you are shopping on Amazon or watching videos on YouTube, you are using the Web. However, when you send an email, you are using the Internet, not the Web. The Web is by far the largest and most widely used subnetwork of the internet.

Here, at Marion, we provide a wide range of Internet and Web marketing services. For the Web, we can increase traffic to your page through our Search Engine Optimization and Search Engine Marketing. For the Internet, Marion can create and broadcast e-newsletters, so that you can stay in constant contact with your customers. Check out our full range of online marketing services or contact us today at (713)-623-6444.

Mobile web design

When designing a website for mobile devices, you have to consider the user experience. With a regular site, you can have lots of text, images, links and Flash. When people surf the web via a mobile device, they typically want to quickly access information that is to-the-point and contact information that is easily located. So, accessing “regular” sites on a mobile device can sometimes be frustrating for the user because of long load times and lots and lots of scrolling to find what they are looking for.

To facilitate an easier user experience, the Marion mobile site is pared down to essential text and images to emphasize what new advertising, marketing and graphic design services and technologies are at Marion that can help your business prosper. The text is easy to read so you do not have to enlarge it, and the clickable buttons are spaced so that big fingers can click on links without accidently hitting the wrong one.

At the top of each page is a recent item of news from Marion, an easy navigation tool labeled “Select a Service,” and “Marion News,” which is an RSS feed from our blog. There is a lot happening at Marion, and we want to keep you up-to-date. We have included only our most popular pages and, we plan to add more over time.

At the bottom of each page, we have placed our contact information, and iPhone users can click on our phone number to have it automatically dialed for you.  Click on the email to send us an email. Want to find us? Click on “Map.” Want even more information than what is currently on our mobile site? Then, click “Regular Site” to be directed to our main site. You can also visit our FaceBook page and become a fan or visit our company page on LinkedIn.

Click on the Marion logo at the top of the page, and you are taken back to the Home page.

If you are ready for a mobile version of your website or interested in learning more, call Marion at 713.623.6444 or send us an email.

 Traditional Catalog Design: The Printed Book

 Earlier this year, The Marion Group helped produce Total Safety’s first printed catalog in 10 years. We were responsible for the overall project coordination, as well as the content development including writing, editing, gathering product images, proofing and communicating with suppliers on behalf of Total Safety for the book (It won an award too!).

 We also provided graphic design services that included the development the page template and cover design to reflect Total Safety’s graphic standards and brand identity. We produced the page layouts and electronic production of the catalog. To complete the project, Marion also handled the printing of the catalog.

 Interactive Catalog Design: The Online Catalog

 A few months after the release of the printed catalog, Marion launched an all-new E-Catalog for Total Safety by transitioning the print catalog into an online catalog that allows their customers to:

• Browse safety products from the nation’s top manufacturers
• View product details & images to learn more information
• Request a quote online for rent or purchase

 The Marion Group provided custom web design services for Total Safety including:

• Database design
• Custom front end design
• Content management system that allows Total Safety to update the E-Catalog as needed
• Data entry & integration
• Shopping cart
• Robust search capabilities
• Search engine optimization for all the product pages

 For more information on the services The Marion Group can provide your company, call us at 713.623.6444 or email us at info2@marion.com.

In development for most of 2009, the new site highlights the varied benefits that Jake’s provides to its customers. The diversity of Jake’s customer base is reflected in four distinct business segment buttons, drawing retail customers to information that is most pertinent to them, while doing the same for multi-unit, independent and international customers as well.

According to Kevin Ullrich, vice-president of Sales and Marketing for Jake’s, “The site is designed to tie together all of our marketing efforts in other mediums and present it to our customers as a unified resource for servicing their restaurant operation or retail foodservice organization. We feature an online ordering interface, cross-promotion with our social media platforms such as our Facebook page, and links to valuable market information through our buying co-operative, UniPro. Our intention is to give operators a single source for product and industry information, bringing much more value than the typical foodservice distributor offers.” Additionally, the home page showcases a “feature button” directly in the center of the home page that attracts web visitors to the latest news and events at Jake’s.

Ullrich continues, “The addition of the feature button was a key distinguishing factor for our new home page. The button will be used to promote special offers and events, such as our annual Food Show. These are things we don’t want our customers to miss.”

Future enhancements to the site are planned to include a “Request a Culinary Specialist” form for private meetings with Jake’s on-staff culinary experts, the addition of an online Point-of-Sale collateral archive and an RSS feed that will link to real-time market updates and critical information for restaurant operators.

About Jake’s Finer Foods

Since 1946, Jake’s Finer Foods has been a family owned, full-line foodservice distributor and restaurant supply company delivering quality food, great value and exceptional service to foodservice providers and restaurants in Texas and western Louisiana.

For more information on how The Marion Group can help your company with custom web design, call us at 713-623-6444 ir email us at info2@marion.com.

Google PageRank stats range from (Lowest) 1 – 10 (Highest).

Google Toolbar PageRank

Google has always implied that PageRank is not the end all be all but no one seemed to listen. Now that it’s no longer there, Google is hoping the temptation to utilize these figures dissipates.

Still, the PageRank value is not completely obsolete. The Google toolbar and other third party applications currently provide access to this information, so technically this only affects those that utilize Google Webmaster Tools to closely monitor their sites.

It seems the moral of this Google update is, when analyzing the value of your website do not rely on only one metric.

Remember, when SEO has you confused, contact Marion to get you headed in the right direction.