Google’s new look

So I am wondering around on Google today, at approximately 4pm cst,  and from one screen to the next Google changes. I couldn’t tell what the difference was right away, but if you use Google often any changes are sure to be noticed. I looked at the logo first. I thought.. that looks different. Indeed it was.

This new logo looks great. Kudos to who ever cleaned it up. With the two side by side it looks like the old one was hanging out in the smokers lounge. The new logo has less of a drop shadow, brighter colors and less of a bevel. Seeing the new logo makes the other one look so wrong. I think that is the sign of a good logo refresh. It should be obvious that this is a good move. To the point where you wonder , how did we ever put up with that old logo.

The logo is not the only thing that has changed. There is now a group of icons to the left that had originally been and still are at the top. However in the past they where only text links. Now there are these snazzy icons. This is most likely to help new or inexperienced users to find the other great things that google offers.

Beyond  the logo and the new added icons there is the new bottom that is the same idea as the old one just cleaner brighter color.

So what do you think of the new look. Let me know in the comments.

Update

As of just recently the new logo from google has disappeared. It looks as though they have gone back to the old logo and done away with the icons on the left. This may have been a beta test of the new google logo and icons. Or just a random glimpse at a better logo just to be taken away as quickly as it came.

Are you seeing the new logo still?

My First Squidoo Lens – Paula Scher

I made a Squidoo lens today about a designer that a like. Check it out and let me know what you think. Have you used Squidoo yet? Sign up and make a lens yourself and get
$5 from Squidoo
for me and you. You have to use this link or we both get nothing.

Read the lens about Designer Paula Scher here.

This is a great way to share info that your are interested in that may not belong on your website. Or if you don’t have a website but have some knowledge about something that other folks may be interested in.

Also they have a cool way of sharing the revenue generated by your page. So if you want to make some money online this may be a good way to do it.

Nashville Mortgage , Home Loan website SEO

I just recently did some lite SEO work on a Nashville Mortgage website for Jim McVey who recently did a refi for me. Check out the site and also check back for the stats of his improvement. Currently for the 3 main keyword phrases he is focused on there is no listing on the first 20 pages of google.

Hopefully with some work and future tweaking we can get him on the first page.

Facebook Fan Page for your Business HOWTO

This video is on youtube and is easier to see in HD. Leave your questions in the comments section.

Best Freinds Forever Brands

Not many people really consider brands to be friends ,or are looking to have a productive conversation with a brand online. We don’t want to share birthday and vacation pics with brands. We don’t expect them to come over for a bar-b-que. So why do brands ask you to become a friend online ,or become a fan ,or follow them on twitter? Likewise why should your clients do the same for you?

Some research suggests that the most popular reason a customer would follow your social updates is for a discount or a freebie. Other popular reasons are customer service and product updates. However if the majority of people will sign up in hopes of an discount shouldn’t you give them one. This is also a great way to encourage these people to spread your message. If you give this savvy social user a discount through twitter they are going the retweet that thing to all their friends telling them what a good deal it is. The ones I see the most are for free food. Give away a taco with a twitter code word and everyone will know. If only Rush Design Group sold food.

Word of Mouth Branding

You here the question all the time. “Where do you get business?” the reply often is ” Word of Mouth” . Word of mouth is certainly a great way of getting business. However this response is usually code for ” I don’t have a plan. Work kinda just comes in slowly”. Again not a problem. Although if you really believe in word of mouth and believe that it is responsible for the majority of your business shouldn’t you nurture it.

Generally when people think of word of mouth they think of one person having a good experience and letting another person know one at a time. The great thing about social media is that the word of mouth can now be more than one at a time. It can be hundreds. Do you have a facebook fan page? Do you have a twitter account? Do you drive happy customers to a preferred website to leave positive feedback? These are ways to give that new found fanatic a way to spread the good news quicker. Its like giving them a megaphone compared to the one to one way they had before.

The 2 Q’s of Better Blogging

“Do you want to generate good traffic on your blog and therefore give yourself a chance at earning an income from it? Quality Content is a good first step – but it is not enough – you need to work on Quantity also.”

-Darren Rowse

First, your posts need good Quality to them. Without compelling and well-written content, your blog will go nowhere. You want visitors to be interested in your site because the content is great! Make your post long, short, mid-length, but by all means, write well!  If it’s poorly written, you will not be taken seriously.

Second, you need Quantity. The ideal situation is a lot of high quality content and lots of it. You must have a high quantity of content on your blog because the more content means the more searchable material from search engines. Also, more content means more readers will be interested in your blog.

Here are a few tips to help you in these two areas.

-Post Regularly. Readers will be more likely to follow your blog if you have a regular posting schedule. Post daily, weekly, bi-weekly.(although it should probably be at least once a week) — but stick to a schedule!

-Be clear and simple. This is more of a “know your audience” concept. If talking about computers, using computer jargon is okay. Make your content understandable. Use easy to understand words, and make the format user friendly. You are talking to a large and varied audience, and it should not require an advanced engineering degree to read a blog.

-Something New. Start blogging about subjects that aren’t already being blogged to death, or write about them with a fresh perspective.

-Break your posts up. On the Web, people are much more likely to read four 500-word blog posts than they are to read one 2,000-word blog post. By breaking posts up into digestible chunks, you can make it easier for your readers to comprehend what they are reading, while also getting more content without sacrificing quality.

Get Traffic to Your Blog With Entrecard

What is Entrecard?

Entrecard is a free advertising exchange network. It’s like dropping a business card on blogs you visit. Users can advertise their own Entrecard ad on any blog in the Entrecard network for free for a certain number of days. Ads are paid for through Entrecard Credits earned by exchanging cards.

So if you are a blogger and want more readers, give Entrecard a try, its Free!

Twitter Tools for Building Your Business

Most people know that Twitter is a free service that lets you keep in touch with people through the exchange of quick, frequent answers to one simple question: what are you doing?

What a lot of people don’t know is twitter is great for getting the word out about your business! With a massive growth of 1,928 percent in the US from June ’08 to June ’09, Twitter is now reaching a total of 21 million monthly unique visitors. What better way to inform the world about you?

But you cannot build something great unless you have the right tools and know how to use them! Twitter has over 100 different tools to help you with Information Gathering, Network Building & Management, Organization & Productivity, Business & Finance, your Health, Blogging and much more!

Here is a list of tools to get you building!

Twitterholic: Check out the top Twitter users and find out your Twitter stats on Twitterholic.

Qwitter: Qwitter will help you manage your network by sending an alert when a person unfollows you.

Twitter Local: With this service, you can see tweets from Twitter users in a specific location.

Twitpic: Twitpic makes it easy to take mobile phone photos and share them using your Twitter account.

TwitterHawk: Get targeted marketing on Twitter through TwitterHawk

Twellow: Find Twitter users in a specific industry using this service.

Mr. Tweet: Mr. Tweet is a personal networking assistant for Twitter, helping you find relevant followers.

Vacatweet: Set up an autoresponder for your Twitter account with Vacatweet.

ConnectTweet: Put the voices of your group or business together through ConnectTweet.

TrackDailyGoals: Use this site and the #dailygoals hashtag to keep track of your goals every day.

For 95 more helpful tools visit Top 105 Twitter Tools.

Emma Email Marketing Coupon

Rush Design Group is a branded reseller of emma email marketing. If you are familiar with emma you already know that they are the industries premier email marketing system. We chose to offer emma to our clients because it has the best system available. As a reseller we provide the design for our clients emails. As a special offer to our blog visitors we are offering 5 free account setups. This will include the custom design of your email header and set up of your account. There is no contract. We are only offing this to the first 5 that respond. Please click the graphic above for a contact form.