‘Humbling’ isn’t often a word you hear people associate with marketing, yet having worked in online marketing for the past few years has proved to be an extremely humbling experience. In the minds of many, SEO (aka Search Engine Optimization) is believed to be an exact science. Reality paints a picture showing SEO as being as much a science as meteorology. In other words, it’s predictable to a certain extent; however, there will always be those instances in which you find yourself caught in a d.... read more

Can I tell you a secret? I know you may feel (at least occasionally) that mobile devices have ruined your life (just a little bit.) I know sometimes you really, really wish the fad would just die already. I don't relish being the bearer of bad news, but the truth is, that shiny, overpriced, white thing that appears to be super-glued to the body of every teenager and the majority of adults under 50, isn't going away. Hard as it may be for some to hear, small business to medium-sized businesses n.... read more

Despite a number of experts offering advice to the contrary, there simply is not a one size fits all solution when it comes to the best day and/or time to engage with your FaceBook followers. So, are there any words of wisdom can I impart? Of course there are… I mean, this would be an extremely short (not to mention pointless!) sentence otherwise, right? So, how do you determine what’s best for your business? Well, let’s start with this… Forget knowing your audience —you must understand them. .... read more

Within your page editor, you may have inserted the image you love, but would like to spice up the way it looks in your page.  Maybe your header image looks like this: It is possible that the web design LunaWebs provided you with contains classes that are available for your use! To activate a class, click the "Insert/Edit Image" icon in your toolbar: You will then see a window full of functionality that allows you to customize the display of your image.  Head over to the "Appeara.... read more

Unless you have the means to employ a staff of full-time content writers, chances are your business blog suffers from a lack of consistency. Don’t fret. Our list of time saving tips are designed to increase your writing efficiency and productivity without added stress. Stuff the storage room with ideas. While we don’t recommend post-its all over the walls, you do need a single place where you can quickly jot down ideas. Carry a small notebook and a pen. Make a voice memo using your smart.... read more

With the explosion in the mobile market, the number of shoppers who opt for mobile devices to serve their shopping needs is only going up. Virtual market places such as Etsy report they are seeing as much as 45% of their site traffic arriving via mobile phones and tablets. Is your website or mobile device application ready for the future of the online consumer market? Check out our super star strategies for attracting and converting mobile shoppers. 1. (Mobile) Shop 'Til You Drop. Don’t wor.... read more

  Build your Website like a BMW: Professional Websites and Luxury Vehicles BMW’s are considered the Ultimate Driving Machine. Why is a BMW the Ultimate Driving Machine? They build custom car parts that are beautifully crafted to work together. BMW builds their engines, they build their on-board computer system, they build their driveshaft, they build their frame, they build their safety system and it all works together.  The only items that are not built by BMW are the wheels and the.... read more

I recently visited the Kimball Art Museum in Park City, Utah while they were exhibiting the most amazing pieces of art I've seen in a while. Nathan Sawaya creates sculpture pieces entirely out of Legos. His creations aren't anything like the ramshackle houses I built growing up. They are incredible displays of ingenuity and innovation. So why didn't my Lego battleship ever look that good? We were using the same pieces! It's because Sawaya is a professional lego artist and I was a kid trying to b.... read more

A Website Without a Logo Ideally before you build a website, your logo/brand should be designed first.  Then all other designs should compliment the brand/logo you've just established. Here's a few logo tips to consider before jumping in and building your website. Have a Cohesive Brand.  If you have a logo and a brand style - your website will look more cohesive and established.  You want your logo to look professional, and to fit the overall feel of your site. Think abou.... read more

When building a website that uses icons you have a couple icons. You can save the icons as an image ( either one image per icon or a css sprite with all icons ) or you can create a font that has the vector for that image. The image has the benefit of being able to use multiple colors within the icon. However if you use the PNG format for your image then the icon will not scale or shrink gracefully. You could use an SVG format, however even with the modern advancements not everyone is using a SV.... read more

What's the one thing we all know about, have, and most likely use until our secret is out? A junk drawer. Sure, it holds plenty of necessary information, but if you have to sort through a mess every time you want to find it, eventually, most of us give up. The content of your website is no exception. If you want users to take in more or your content, you’re going to need a way to clean up the information. That’s where info-graphics come in. They’re the IKEA organizer of content. Spring clean.... read more

Adobe Ideas, is a professional vector drawing Touch App for iOS. Following a sweet update, Illustrator's tablet-based app companion has been made available for FREE, courtesy of Adobe, for iPhone and iPad users. Sure, the former $10 price tag is essentially next to nothing in the world of Adobe software, but who doesn't love free stuff? So, what features can you expect in the latest version? Toolbar customization, allowing you to add your 'I-Can't-Live-Without-Them' brushes Capabilities to .... read more

'Nothing in life is free,' my mum has advised me from a young age. As a business woman, I've come to see and realize firsthand, just how true that is. A free website is no exception. If you are considering a free or extremely low cost website, don't proceed unless you've educated yourself about the potential repercussions. Here are three strong reasons a 'FREE' website is very bad business for business... 1. A 'free' website is a horrible marketing tool.   You get the product for which yo.... read more

High social media engagement is one of the greatest public assets to any business or brand. As with any other valuable commodity, the passion (or all out war) of being #1 can be and often is a dirty game. Spam Wars There's the one that comes in a can, put there by a guy, in a factory in well... I'm not totally sure. The other is... shockingly similar to mass-produced 'meat'. Unlike the oh-so-popular spam e-mails or ads encouraging us to 'click to buy cheap pharmaceuticals', social media spam .... read more

Having trouble fitting everything on the screen? Are you finding that you are displaying too much information all at once, potentially confusing the user? Consider collapsible interface design to hide areas/information that aren't the immediate need. This will allow you to conserve space and better direct your user to the desired action. Collapsible interfaces are great for administration interfaces, where there is a lot of editable information available but not all of it is commonly edited but.... read more

Social media marketing has quickly become a priority for many entrepreneurs and small businesses, and its appeal is only continuing to grow. Unfortunately, many business owners become increasingly frustrated by the fact that although they have increased the amount of time they spend on various social media websites, they aren't seeing the return they'd hoped. Shared frustration Their complaint is not uncommon. Although we've touched on the topic of maintaining a realistic social media ROI pers.... read more

When it comes to their business and search engine ranking, most business owners have one word in mind: Google. Although Google has its place, it's equally important not to discount the numerous alternative sites that can help you cultivate new leads. First up: Yelp.com What it is: a website that allows users to post reviews of businesses in cities all over the world. Many business owners either love or seriously love to hate Yelp.com. The controversies are well documented across the internet,.... read more

Messy PSDs (aka Photoshop files) are a nightmare. While it may feel daunting, it is critical that web designers understand how to keep clean PSDs in order to facilitate a smooth process for all involved. Ready for a crash course in Photoshop etiquette? Let's get started! Photoshop Commandments 101 1. Thou shalt name thy layers. You must name all of your layers. Why? Because if you don't, you end up with a PSD that contains numerous layers that simply say, layer copy... and let's be honest, wh.... read more

Maintaining a healthy perspective about a site's rank within search engines is often a challenge for many website owners. In an effort to be #1, many companies hire so-called 'experts' who excessively manipulate the code of a website with the hope of improving the site's rank. Does the code of your website really matter? Yes, the quality of your website's code matters a great deal! Although it may not directly impact your conversion, clean code does aid in... Overall performance of your web.... read more

I want to be #1 on Google! If I had a dollar for every time a client or perspective client has said this to me over the past 3 years, I'd have purchased one of those private islands being advertised in Dubai. I hope you caught my humor, but here's the thing... I'm not really kidding. It's okay; you can admit it: you want your website to be number one on Google and every other search engine. I get it... If you've read some of my recent blogs, you may already be familiar with some recent SEO in.... read more

By now you've heard about the 'less than 5 seconds' rule when hooking visitors to your website. Unfortunately this leads many businesses trying to cram a single page with as much information as possible. Bad idea. Let's take a look at some simple (and not so simple) sites and we'll explain why simplicity really is more effective.   Not-So-Simple The Problem: Too much information! Most will likely agree that there's just too much going on here. In order to avoid this common mistake, it'.... read more

For all the talk about successful online marketing and interacting with your potential client base, a common question on the minds of many business owners becomes how to gain a wider audience. Although we've covered many of the basics (engagement, consistent communication, etc...) there's a lot of information out there and implementing it may seem daunting. So, how does one become influential online? Not only do you need to be knowledgeable and passionate, you need commitment. Yes, commitment. .... read more

Being active in social media is a struggle for many organizations. Even those who understand the importance and genuinely want to be involved often lack one key necessity: time. Enter software as a service. Many of our clients are familiar with Luna's Social Media Module (SMM), and in fact, it's one of our most popular software offerings. Social Media Meets SAAS (aka Software as a Service) In the case of Luna's Social Media Module, as well as other similar SAAS offerings, the value is found .... read more

While out to lunch with my 80 year old father last week, he informed me that he wanted my help setting up his Twitter account. As I tried to wrap my head around the utterly terrifying prospect that my father was likely to become my new #1 twitter fan, I gave him general information about the site, what it does, how it's used, etc... Needless to say, we had a very long lunch. In reality, there are many people like my dad who have heard of twitter, tweeting (aka 'sending a twit' in Dad-speak), an.... read more

Because the internet is not going away, your website is the best piece of marketing your business has With that being the case, it is absolutely critical that your company website be designed and executed in the right way. A common issue we've noticed over the years is that many business owners are extremely married to their idea of what, 'looks good'. Don't get me wrong, we want you to be happy with your site, however, a strong website will have the ability to reach your target audience, answe.... read more

Social media is my well-documented addiction. Unsurprisingly, I'm currently pretty much obsessed with Twitter's new Vine app. While Vine had its share of early controversy, its popularity and fascination with six-second looping video is only continuing to grow. For business owners, Vine means one thing: opportunity. Golden Goose It may seem easy to write off, but business owners should ignore the potential marketing goldmine, Vine, can offer. Sure, many Vine videos involve cats, bad holiday sw.... read more