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Rebranding - Is it really necessary?

Did you know that Marmite has been on the shelves since 1680!

Over that time, the brand's identity has gone through a considerable number of makeovers. When you look back a long way, the changes are obvious. Much more subtle though are the minor tweaks and alterations that go by largely unnoticed - they serve however, to keep the design fresh, modern and relevant, and importantly, this is achieved without any loss of brand identity by the customer (Fantastic product by the way - I love it!).

We're all immediately conscious, if our clothes are looking a bit dated, or if our mobile doesn't have the latest technologies - the same can be said for our business' cororate identity. It might not look too bad - it's got you this far. But... on reappraisal, is it actually looking rather tired? Does it still compare favourably with your competition?

Website technology, more than any other medium is continually changing in both what it can do, and how it is used. Are you taking advantage of recent changes?

Return on investment on new equipment or additional staff are usually straightforward calculations. Less obvious is investment in your branding, and in marketing in general - it doesn't have a direct effect on the bottom line... in the short term. However, consider for a moment: What if Marmite had never got around to updating their logo?

More info >>
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Is your website working hard enough?

Fareham-based Accountancy firm All-About-Accounting asked Jacamar to provide a full review and redesign of their website, which had been produced some years ago by another firm.

The existing site was plain and functional, with text and graphics just providing the bare minimum. Understandably resulting in the site neither presenting, nor selling the services effectively.

Equally, the pages contained very little in the way of Search Engine Friendly construction, and consequently the site performed very poorly in Google's search results.

Jacamar worked closely with the company to establish clear objectives, focusing on key services and presenting the information with a look and feel that reflected the ethos of the business.

Jan Knight, Managing Director says
"Jacamar have just completed a full redesign of our website. It's looking really good now - much more friendly and approachable. They've also set up up a feature on the home page where I can easily update my own 'Latest News' section.
We're now on the 1st page of Google for our main keywords and are getting new enquiries already! Thanks for a great job! "

For an informal discussion on your own website requirements, please call Andy on 023 9241 0108, or view more information here >>
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Jargon - what does it all mean?

Each trade and industry has always had it's own jargon - convenient and quick expressions for those in the know - but what if you don't!

Accordingly, we've started compiling a collection of the most relevant for online marketing (+ a few classics).

Here's a few below to get started:

Added value
The increase in worth of a product or service as a result of a particular activity - (in the context of marketing, the activity might be branding or packaging).
ADSENSE
Google Adsense is the publishing program that allows website owners to publish adverts on their site  (where advertisers can promote their products and services on Google’s search results via pay per click advertising). Publishers receive a share of the pay-per-click cost ,paid by advertisers.
ADWORDS
Google Adwords is the pay-per-click advertising program offered by Google. The program allows advertisers to display their adverts on relevant search results and across Google’s content network via the Adsense program.
AIDA
Attention, Interest, Desire, Action.  The model describing the process that advertising or promotion is intended to create in the mind of a prospective customer.
Affiliate marketing
Affiliate marketing is paying someone else to promote your products or services online by means of advert placement (such as a banner or link)
When a sale or enquiry is generated for your business by a consumer visiting the affiliate’s site (clicking on the advertisement and then performing a specified action - usually a purchase) you then pay the affiliate the pre-agreed commission.
Algorithm
The set of ‘rules’ or criteria that search engines use to determine the relevance of a web page (and therefore ranking) based on the user's keyword search.
Analytics
Web analytics is the statistical analysis of a Web site’s visitors. The most widely used analytics software is Google Analytics. This tool lets you get an insight into how people are finding your website, how long they’re staying on it, what pages they’re viewing, where they went next (other pages visited and exit point) where they come from in the world and much more.
Anchor text links
Anchor text links are the words you use to link from one page of your website to another or from your site to an external site.
For SEO purposes it’s better to use your keyword(s) within your anchor text links rather than generic terms like “click here”.
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This month's special printing discounts

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Jacamar relaunches it's own website

We endeavour to practice what we preach!

It has been some while since Jacamar did any major work on our own website. Although we have often recieved praise for the site, this doesn't mean it can't be done better. Accordingly, we went right through the existing content to consider how it might be improved.

In the end, there was so much that we wanted to do differently, that the decision was taken to completely start again - a whole new look, new content and a much clearer guide to the full range of our services, including basic costs for many items.

Please do take a browse around: View Jacamar website >>

We'd really appreciate your feedback, particulary if you consider there's any additions we might make: Email Andy >>
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