The Southeast's Largest Internet Marketing & Website Design Company
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 Wiregrass Advertising, Inc. Serves the world from Enterprise, Alabama
334-393-9099
"Websites that Work!    Advertising that Works!"

 

Wiregrass Advertising, Inc.'s Blog

Musings about website design, website development, search engine optimization and search engine ranking

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Marvin Salter, Jr. approached us this year with a very detailed list of desires for a Marvin Salter Construction- a construction information portalnew website. He had researched and knew exactly how he wanted his website was to perform and look. In addition, since he is in the construction business, he wanted us to link to a construction portal which would allow him to update home owners and project managers on their construction by providing news, pictures and feedback areas. He had found a construction portal that provided similar service and was willing to pay them about $1200 per year for the service.

During the initial consultation I asked him if he would rather save the monthly fee and have the entire program on his own site. Of course, it came down to the money and functionality. Could he get what he wanted in his own portal, have ease of use and be cost effective?

Over the website development period we provided Marvin with the core website designed exactly to his specifications. We worked very closely on the site design and the end result is a very beautiful website that he can maintain and update on his own. 

Next we turned our attention to the construction information website section. Marvin Salter wanted three specific areas. The first is a real estate section that would allow him to showcase homes to realtors. Secondly, a section where his construction foremen and managers could login in and post construction updates and he could also post messages back to them. The third section would be for the home or building owner so that either Marvin or the foreman could post messages, pictures and updates and the homeowner, in return, could respond or ask questions of their own. He also wanted a calendar in this area so they could view timelines and know when each stage of construction should be complete.

Mr. Salter had to have the ability to recreate new pages and logins / passwords each time a new construction began. The new homeowner needed to view only their information, but managers and foremen needed the ability to view all construction in progress from one page.

In addition, the construction portal website needed to be updatable from a mobile phone on the jobsite.

The entire website sounds very complicated, worse when you try to write it down, but we began writing the construction program for him. Since this is a custom program, programming took about a month to complete. The end result is a construction portal website that has all the functionality Mr. Salter desired and cost him less than one year's subscription to the construction information service he initially saw.

Wiregrass Advertising, Inc. provided instant savings and a website that WORKS for both Marvin Salter Construction and their customers. Visit the Salter Construction website.

Over the years we have found that many of our clients are unsure of the definitions of many internet related terms. Although the following list of words and definitions is not comprehensive, it is a good starting point. The internet word list is not alphabetized, but rather listed in order of importance and flows from one definition to the next.

Website design
The act of creating the layout and look of a website.

Website development
The act of creating a website that contains programs or functions that fulfill the specific needs of a client and their customers. This involves the creating of programs or writing code to make the website perform certain tasks.

Web designer
A collective term for any person who believes they can create a website. This person ranges in expertise from using a free online website creation tool to a professionally trained college graduate. This person is responsible for creating the general layout and look of a website.

Website developer
A person who has been trained or has extensive experience in building websites. This person has the knowledge to create custom websites with programs that fulfill the needs of their clients and their client's customers.

Programmer
A person who can create programs to make a website perform specific tasks.

SIDE NOTE: Wiregrass Advertising, Inc. designs and develops custom websites. In other words, we make visually appealing websites that perform tasks and WORK for our clients, not just look good.

Content writing, Content writer
The act of writing the text appearing in a website by a person who is skilled in wording. A content writer should be familiar with search engine optimization requirements, marketing psychology, and have excellent English Language skills.

Search engine optimization (SEO)
The act of coding and writing a website in such a way that it provides the opportunity for the website to appear at the top or close to the top of a list of websites on a search engine when a specific term is searched.

Marketing psychology
Knowing how a specific group of people will respond when presented with a specific scenario that encourages a purchase response.

Search engine
A website whereby a person can enter a word or phrase and in return be presented with a list of websites that utilize that word or phrase. The three most popular search engines in the United States are Google, Bing and Yahoo in that order.

Domain name
The name that denotes a specific websites. It always ends in a period followed by a two to four letter suffix such as com, net, org, gov, us, tv, mobi, etc. An example would be wiregrassadvertising.com.

Domain registration
The act of registering a domain name so that a particular person, company, group or organization has the right to use that name. Although domain names may be purchased from an entity, they must be registered through a registration company and that registration must be maintained or the name will be allowed to be used by another entity.

Host
The server (computer) where a website's files are located in order to be accessed by the public via the internet. The company who owns the server is the Host company and usually charges a specific fee for the space used by the website. The act of providing a host service is hosting.

Bill and Patsy Jordan are a wonderful couple who have started Kelly Creek Nursery, a plant nursery in Midland City, Alabama, about 15 minutes Kelly Creek Nursery can maintain their own websitenorthwest of Dothan, Alabama. The Jordans had seen a website we had designed for another company and called us to develop their site. I met with them at their nursery and was very impressed by the location. They are located a couple miles north of Midland City. You turn off the paved road onto a winding well-graveled drive. To the left is a huge oak tree that must be over 100 years old. The drive is lined with wild grown crepe myrtles transplanted from around the surrounding 120 acres. On arrival at the nursery itself you will immediately notice the serenity any garden should have. The colorful plants are under the shade of tall pines and a breeze ruffles the leaves of nearby trees.

We tried to bring that peaceful scene into the Kelly Creek Nursery website. When you visit the site you will immediately notice the majestic oak tree as part of their logo. The stylized art is a rendering of the real oak tree beside the driveway. We attempted to bring the feel of being in the woods to the page with the different green colors.

Of course you can search their database of tips and strategies for growing specific kinds of plants. Get turn-by-turn directions from the directions page and view the construction page for houses that Bill Jordan has built.

Visit Kelly Creek Nursery's new website today!

I have blogged about it before- clients who are very particular about every design detail of their website and do not allow us to build a website that truly markets their product or service. Here is a great example.

Recently we designed a website for Ronnie's Men's and Boy's Wear, Inc. in Dothan, Alabama. Despite Wiregrass Advertising's recommendations during the design phase, our contact was very firm on the exact wording of the text on every page. The result was very little text optimization for search terms. A couple of weeks later we received the inevitable phone call from the client complaining that they could not find their site in any search engine when trying their search terms. Again, we asked them to allow us to write the text on the pages and this time they agreed. Two weeks after optimization their website was on page one of Google for several of their chosen search terms. Johnnie Golden, Manager of the Dothan Ronnie's Menswear store, called me yesterday to tell of an experience they had the end of last week. Johnnie told us a gentleman came in who said he had found their store on an internet search engine and drove over 250 miles from Covington, Georgia to purchase his big and tall men's clothing from Ronnie's! The gentleman purchased over $300 of merchandise.

Now THAT is a website that works!

Wiregrass Advertising has been developing, designing and marketing websites for almost 15 years. We strive to develop  websites that WORK for every one of our clients. After Ronnie's allowed us to make the design changes we recommended the site vastly improved in search engine ranking and convinced a customer to drive over 500 miles round trip to purchase. We can do the same for you- if you let us!

A Corporate President's philosphy of life sets the tone for a corporation. Yes, there is a board of directors, but the President's vision, ethics and abilities play a large role in the success or failure of a company. With that in mind, the following paragraphs provide some insight into the philosophy of our Corporate President, Tim Alexander.

Responsibilities

Responsibility was engrained into me from an early age. My family was not well-off and pennies counted. Every summer we planted a half-acre garden that needed to be maintained. If I got in trouble at school, I was in double trouble when arriving home. My family was in church every time the doors were open.

Ethics

The work ethic my parents strove to instill in me has allowed me to obtain better positions, faster promotions, be more productive and have better evaluations. Immediately after turning sixteen I took my first employment. Nine months later I was left in charge of the business as my employer took a week’s vacation. Before he left he mentioned to me that if someone had told him months before that he would leave his store in the hands of a sixteen year old he would have told them they were crazy. Yet he had full confidence in my ability to operate it successfully in his absence.

I paid most of my way through college by working thirty to forty hours each week while taking full or almost full class loads and still earned six work promotions over the course of four years.

Pathways

I have never chosen an easy path in life. I have taken positions at companies that needed assistance over higher paying jobs where life would not have been as fulfilling. When I purchased a home I bought a fixer-upper and spent five years working on it. I have started, operated and sold my own company.

Dependencies

Many of the hard lessons of life I have learned from experience. I have learned to never expect anything to be handed to me. Everything involves hard work. It is work to be at the bottom of the totem pole. It is harder work to be the Corporate President when every employee’s family depends on your decisions for their daily food. It is also hard work to be the medical provider when your patient’s life depends on your decision. Dependability is daily work.

Visions

A visionary is someone who attempts to see what the future might hold and works to make the “might” reality. I am a visionary. Give me the opportunity to help your company. Together we will build the foundations that make future opportunities. Together we will follow the paths. Together we will make it happen.
 

Please take a minute to contact us today to discuss opportunities.

334-393-9099

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