June 16, 2008

Crit: Pure Branding

Pure Branding is a branding and packaging agency for organic and natural products. The first factor in “The Crit” evaluation is positioning–and it’s first because it’s most important. Without strong positioning their is no way for content (the second most important factor) to be as powerful as it could be. Pure Branding has a strong positioning statement and the site backs it up. Their news items, featured articles, work examples and case studies all prove out their specialization and expertise. The only reason the site didn’t score a five for content is that there just isn’t enough of it. A blog would really help, as would a more steady stream of case studies. I’d also like to see just a bit more writing on the portfolio example pages.

The platform seems fine, there are no structural hindrances to search engines or linking. However, they are not taking advantage of their title tags which would help leverage the content. The design is perfectly acceptable. The site is easily navigable, fast loading, clean, and orderly. I’ll always take strong positioning, compelling content, strong platform and clean layout over visual pizzaz, but to get all that and a distinctive visual presentation would be a bonus.

Recommendation: EpikOne - Web Analytics Consultants

Web strategy is measurable. And unlike most other forms of marketing, it can be measured almost instantaneously. Website traffic can be viewed and analyzed in just about every conceivable way. Search traffic can be broken down by search engine and by search terms. Effectiveness of traffic (how “sticky” visits are) and goal conversions such as newsletter sign ups, downloads, or purchases are easily quantified. Website analytics packages like Google Analytics provide more reports and views than most people know what to do with.

EpikOne is a specialist in Google Analytics implementation and analysis. They also specialize in Urchin analytics, in fact this was their original specialty before Google bought Urchin. As a result of their previous close relationship with Urchin, they now have deep connections with the Urchin/Google Analytics team at Google.

EpikOne offers very affordable help with Google Analytics implementations and robust analysis of website traffic patters. They offer many training and educational opportunities through multi-day boot camps, seminars, and webinars.

As an agency resource EpikOne is a great fit. They work effectively as a “fear-free” agency choice since their tight focus on analytics will never threaten the agency/client relationship. EpikOne can also run SEO and SEM marketing campaigns. And with their emphasis on measurement and analysis you know their campaigns will be rigorously monitored and optimized.

June 10, 2008

Crit: CCG Metamedia

I usually don’t critique Flash based agency sites (which significantly narrows the field), since they almost always fail on at least three of the four aspects I consider most important. But CCG Metamedia scores very high on positioning. Since positioning so foundational to an effective site I wanted to include CCG in The Crit. CCG Metamedia focuses on digital media for the scientific and medical fields. The site backs up their positioning and they give compelling examples. The visual design (not the UI) is well done, but since the user interface is so “creative” it’s hard to use and so their design score suffers on that account. Content is shallow, again symptomatic of most Flash sites. There’s great hope for the content though since the positioning is clear. Of course being a Flash site, with absolutely no effort made to help out search engines, the platform gets a failing grade, no surprise there.

Oh, and be warned, when you visit the site they run their site’s music upon loading. I really wish agencies would stop doing this.