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Website Design (Wind Surf & Sail Pools, Inc.)

14 Apr 2011 | No Comments | posted by Coldfire Promotions | in Blog Post, Portfolio, Projects, Slider

We’re extremely proud to announce our newest portfolio addition, and quite possibly one of our best, the Wind Surf & Sail Pool website.
Wind Surf & Sail Pools, Inc. is a successful pools, spas and billiards retail store located in Clinton Township, Michigan. After many years of being content with their old website that, quite frankly, appeared as if it was from 1995, they knew they had to bring their online presence Read more..

Web Site (ESS Consulting Group)

22 Nov 2010 | No Comments | posted by Coldfire Promotions | in Blog Post, Portfolio, Projects, Slider

What better way to market your business than a web site? Of course, it can also be an extremely useful and effective sales tool as well. If you’re reading this, it’s working for us! Still not convinced? Read our article about why your business needs a website.

As for this particular project, one of our clients, ESS Consulting Group, wanted to move their web site from a free, very template looking host to their own domain. Their main need for this site was to be an informative guide to their business for the clients and potential clients. They didn’t need all the bells and whistles like a blog, an e-commerce store, or any crazy portfolio gallery’s, but it still has to look good and be effective. Take a look around and let us know what you think!

As for web sites that do have all the bells and whistles, we’re actually in the process of creating 3 very unique web sites. Two of them are e-commerce sites for our clients while the other is a top secret project that not even we know much about! (just kidding… but it’s just too awesome to announce yet!) Check back in the coming weeks to get the links to our other brand new web sites!

$150 Off a New Web Site!

9 Nov 2010 | No Comments | posted by Coldfire Promotions | in Blog Post, Miscellaneous, Slider

Save BIG on Web Site Design Services!

With our recent increase in demand of our web site design services, we wanted to do something extra special for you. Effective immediately, the next 5 web sites we build will include a $150 discount! If you ever had a doubt in your mind if you should get a new web site, or maybe update your existing one, now is the time to do it!

This promotion ends November 26, 2010, or until 5 web site design purchases have been made. Minimum web design purchase of $800 to qualify for this offer. Please see our web site design price chart for more details or request a quote to get a custom price!

Hurry before we run out!

UPDATE: We are extending this offer through December with no limits! Also, if you refer a customer to us that utilizes this offer, we will send you a $75 check absolutely free!

The 7 Most Essential WordPress Plugins For Your Web Site

28 Oct 2010 | No Comments | posted by Coldfire Promotions | in Blog Post, Miscellaneous

One of the great advantages of creating a WordPress web site versus coding your own, or even using a template, is that everything is so much more automated. While you still have the option to customize your own HTML, JavaScript, and even Flash tools within your website, the utility of WordPress provides so much more. One such tool is the availability of what they call “plugins.” According to Word Press, at the very moment of this blog post, there are 11,811 plugins that account for 125,383,955 downloads! Insane! You can see for yourself by clicking here.

So what good are plugins anyhow?

According to WordPress, “Plugins can extend WordPress to do almost anything you can imagine.” Although that’s a pretty plain and simple statement, it’s quite realistic. As you’ll see below, plugins can delete spammy, automated comments, create meta tags for you, provide you with web traffic analytics, and much, much more. Below is my list of 8 Essential WordPress Plugins every webmaster should utilize in their site (in no particular order):

1) Google XML Sitemaps – This is one of the many necessary tools for providing your site with solid Search Engine Optimization (SEO). According to Google,  “Sitemaps are a way to tell Google about pages on your site we might not otherwise discover.” But why would you need this? Basically, a XML Sitemap is a simple list of all of the pages on your site. By creating this document, and submitting it to search engines like Google, ensures you what your content will be discovered by the search engines. Not just some of it, but all of it. The reason I suggest utilizing this plugin is because it automates and updates the Sitemap for you. And until you have tried to keep a Sitemap updated yourself, you won’t know how much of a time saver this really is. I tried keeping up with the Sitemaps on my previous sites and all I got was a headache!

2) Redirection – While this plugin may not be absolutely necessary for eveyone, it definitely is if you’re moving, changing, or updating your web site like we so frequently do. Remember the page http://coldfirepromotions.com/webdesign from our old site? It used to link you to all the information on our web design services. Well, with the new structure of our site the page was changed to http://coldfirepromotions.com/services/web-marketing/web-site-design. However, by using this plugin we can automatically redirect our customers to the new page, even if they click a link to the old page or type in the address themselves. Go ahead, give it a click!

3) Google Analytics for WordPress – If you don’t already have Google Analytics running on your site (or some other kind of awesome web traffic tool), “you’re doing it wrong,” as they say. While a web site is a great selling tool, it’s an even better marketing tool. And what is the value of marketing if you’re not doing any research or analytics along with it? I’ll tell you… ZIP! ZILCH! NOTTA! You may want to read more about web site design and it’s value. Anyways, this plugin basically just automatically inserts your Google Analytics code into your HTML for you. It’s handy if you don’t understand web coding, don’t understand Google’s crazy instructions, or are just lazy.

4) Contact Form 7 – This is one of the most common WordPress plugins, and also one of the most important. While almost everyone has a “contact page” on their website, not enough utilize a contact form. Contact Form 7 makes this possible by providing you with an easy step-by-step guide to create your own form. I would also suggest checking out Fast Secure Contact Form. It’s just as good as Contact Form 7 and actually has more options. However, for whatever reason, it isn’t quite as popular.

5) All In One SEO Pack – While you may not know how to code your own website, you probably don’t have the proper marketing expertise, and you more than likely don’t have the resources to hire a SEO Specialist, there are other options! This WordPress plugin is quite essential for everyone. Although it won’t be as high of quality as someone who can come in and get to know your business, it’s not bad for an out-of-the-box SEO pack! It will write your titles for you, create descriptions and keywords, and perform all of the necessary meta tagging. While it may not rank you first in Google, it will definitely help make your web site or blog more discoverable.

6) Askimet – I wasn’t too sure about this one myself until I started getting all sorts of weird, spammy comments. One our post about the 2011 K/E Promotion Calendar received a comment about buying “prom supplies.” I mean, seriously? Promotional =/= prom. Ig you’re going to use a bot to spam blogs at least us a “smart” one! In any case, this plugin checks the comments, URL’s and their authors against a database and does a pretty good job at keeping out the spammers! You probably don’t need it if your blog or web site doesn’t get a ton of traffic, but it will likely come in handy one day.

7) WordPress Related Posts – You have an archive, you have a menu for your most recent posts, but do you have a spot for related posts? This is one of those “hidden” tools that can really increase your Search Engine Optimization by creating “link building.” This will posts links to similar stories on ever blog post you create. Not only does this help your visibility to the search engines, but it will most likely cause your users to become more engaged, stick around on your site longer, and read more of your articles.

There you have it. Coldfire Promotions’ list of the 7 Most Essential WordPress Plugins for your Blog or Web Site. Can you think of some more? Something we forgot to mention here? Comment below! And don’t forget to share this story on Facbeook, Twitter and e-mail via the buttons below. Thanks!

Product Spotlight: Web Design

17 Oct 2010 | No Comments | posted by Coldfire Promotions | in Blog Post, Product Spotlight, Slider

With the recent introduction of our brand new web design services, I wanted to give you some reasons why you need a website, or why you may want to consider rebranding your current one! While there are hundreds of reasons why your business needs a website, I’m going to hit on the most important ones. But keep in mind, just because you have a website doesn’t mean it’s working. Everything from aesthetics to traffic analytics to meta tags are important features each business should utilize. How much importance do you place on your brick and mortar store front? Just as much, if not more, should be directed into your website as well. Think of your website as your “virtual store front.” You may have hundreds of people visiting your website on a daily basis for every one person that enters your store. Keep reading to get a better understanding of why a quality website is so vital to your business:

1. You’re always open! While you might only be able to host customers at your business from 8-5, five days a week, a website allows you to be open 24/7! Whether you’re providing information about your business, giving them access to tools pertinent to their needs, or even allowing them to order your products from the e-commerce section of your website, you’re always open!

2. Small businesses + website = higher revenue! According to the Small Business Administration (SBA), small businesses that have a website are averaging $1.07 million in sales PER YEAR more than small businesses not online! If that doesn’t convince you, I don’t know what will!

3. Improve your brand image. While you may be making a significant impact on your corporate image via other marketing mediums, you are missing out on another huge opportunity! With a professionally designed website, you can instill customer confidence and improve your brand image!

4. Obtain more customers! Another fact from the SBA: “50% of Internet sales are from new customers.” Nothing says market share like a website!

5. A website is an insanely inexpensive form of advertising! While you may spend thousands of dollars every month on direct mail marketing, flyers, social media marketing and other forms of advertising, the cost to start and maintain a website are relatively low! While it may cost a few thousand dollars to get a website designed, the yearly costs can be as little as $100! However, don’t forget to continually update your website with useful information on a monthly, if not weekly basis!

6. Time is money. We’ve all heard the saying before, “time is money!” But are you taking advantage of your time? Websites are specifically designed to save you time! By hiring a web designer, you will spend very little time keeping your customers up to date on industry news, business specials, and upcoming events!

7. You customers are trying to find you! Whether your business only provides services to a local market, or it provides products on a global basis, an effective website will give you a worldwide presence! Don’t believe me? We had someone contact us from Indonesia last month!

I’ll leave you with a quote from Entrepreneur magazine, “Yes, if you have a business, you should have a website. Period. No question. Without a doubt.” Need a price quote on a website? Download our web design quote form from our web site at: http://coldfirepromotions.com/webdesign or e-mail us for more info at sales@coldfirepromotions.com!