PDFs (Portable Document Formats) were created by Adobe 25 years ago and they've served as an excellent way to share photo- and font-embedded designs ever since. (See this Adobe Blog for more PDF history.) At Blue Star Design, we send our proofs to clients via PDF....
Digital Content
7 Must-Have Components of Successful Digital Marketing
Sure, successful digital marketing requires quality software, computers, networks, and data. But tools are no substitute for savvy. Perhaps the greatest challenge is figuring out how to get smart about digital marketing when Amazon has hundreds of books on the topic...
Google Adwords — How it Works, Why you Need it, When to Use it
Google AdWords is the system that puts all those ads at the top of your Google search results. Companies invest in AdWords because it’s a savvy companion to traditional search engine optimization. That being said, we did not say AdWords is superior to traditional, or...
3 SEO Factors You can Manage for Improved Ranking
Search engine optimization (SEO) is about managing what you can control and adapting to what you can’t. You can’t do much about Google’s penalty policies. Improving your website structure might be somebody else’s job. But you can have a direct impact on a few vital...
5 Major Google Penalties and How to Avoid Them
Google can bestow life upon your business, granting search results that help you sell your products and services and outmaneuver competitors. Well, it can — as long as you avoid the dreaded Google penalty. The penalty happens to websites that run afoul of Google’s...
Top 3 Favorite Project Tools for Content Creation
Adding a blog post to your website is a cinch. It's everything else that gets complicated. Developing post ideas Researching Outlining Assigning Writing Editing Illustrating Optimizing for search Getting stakeholder approval Publishing Promoting on social media You...
Why Research is Vital to Good Content
Research is the bedrock of content that converts shoppers into buyers. Why? Because it helps ensure your content is credible, helpful, and engaging. Credible: Strong content weeds out the junk on authoritative insights. Authority builds trust that strengthens bonds...
7 Ways to Create Better Content Than Your Competitor
If you’ve found the benefits of content marketing, chances are that your competitors have, too. Your job as a marketing manager is to ensure that your content is better than your competitors. It needs to be more engaging, interesting, well-written, and precise than...
5 Reasons Marketers Should Consider a Social Media Strategy
It’s well known that social media has proven to be a valuable channel for many brands. Observing the success of others can tempt marketers into giving social media a whirl themselves. However, many dive into social media without having a real strategy and therefore...
Why Having a Facebook Page Doesn’t Make You a Social Media Expert
In my time as a social media manager, I’ve encountered a lot of people who think they could do my job simply because they have a Facebook or Twitter account. I have been on social media since the early days of MySpace. I was on Facebook back when you had to have an...
Anatomy of a Good Blog Post
Blogs are part of the lifeblood of inbound marketing. They not only help you create useful content for your readers, but they also help build your reputation as an authoritative source for information in your field. However, just because you blog doesn’t mean...
Get GIF-Y With it: Considerations for Using Animated GIFS in Media
As marketers, we know we need to stay on-trend. To speak to younger generations, we have to use their language. One of the newest and most well-known languages of Gen Z and millennials is the animated GIF. It’s no secret that video content is some of the most consumed...