Too much spam in your inbox? We have a new solution to beef up your spam protection within the server. Advanced spam protection is now available for $120/year per domain name. This fee will cover every email address on your domain, adding a new layer of protection to keep annoying spam out of your inbox. 

We’ve implemented this feature for our Wright Strategies email addresses, and the difference is night and day. Contact us at 512.480.8566 or info@wrightstrategies.com if you have questions or want to set up advanced spam protection today.

The challenge of using fonts on the web is not a new one (we discussed it most recently after SXSWi). For years designers and developers have been using the same 15 fonts on the web, only able to implement non-web fonts with workarounds like Flash text, javascript and text in images. Now, that's beginning to change.

In May, Google announced the launch of the Google Fonts API, which allows developers to use a select number of web fonts in their pages. All the fonts in the Google Font Directory have open source licenses so they can be used on any website, from a private blog to a large commercial site.

You can check out the full list of fonts that are part of the Google Web Font API here: http://code.google.com/webfonts.

The Portland office loves a practical joke or two... While Jeremy and Aaron were out of the office for their annual partner meeting, we took the liberty of redecorating their offices. Check out the story below (thanks to my wife!) to see how it all turned out.

There once were five boys who worked hard all day.

Two went out and three stayed to play.

(Aaron's office)

(Jeremy's Office)

Two more left leaving one all by himself.

(Justin's Desk)

So he shifted the blame onto somebody else.

(Scott's Desk)  

It comes as no surprise that as Facebook continues to evolve it is creating more ways to bring our friends and acquaintances together, even outside the confines of the network. For many users, this is a dream come true, allowing our sphere of influence to impact all aspects of our online experience, from hearing songs our friends like on Pandora to seeing our friends’ reviews on Yelp. 

The new Facebook plugins allow websites to incorporate familiar Facebook activities such as “Like” and “Recommend” into their sites. As of last week, over 100,000 websites have incorporated the new plugins resulting, for many, in increased site traffic.

While the plugins allow other sites to offer the same personalization that we love experiencing on Facebook, it is not achieved without some controversy and ardent debate. Facebook continues to mitigate significant privacy concerns, including a backlash of users coordinating mass “Quit Facebook” days.

We each have a different comfort level regarding our privacy and the Web. Be aware of your personal privacy settings and set them accordingly to match your comfort level. Click here for answers to questions surrounding the new social plugins.

Online reviews are commonplace, from company sites to social networking platforms like Facebook and Twitter. Unmonitored reviews from customers may have been a fear of companies in the past, but today they must be embraced. A recent eMarketer interview with Denise Zimmerman of NetPlus Marketing, Inc. highlights tactics for addressing any less-than-stellar reviews that might surface about your company.

"Reviews were positive for the business. If you had a good product and you were a good company, the positive reviews far outweighed the negative ones. You also got valuable feedback about potential issues or problems with a product that you might not have gotten before. But the challenge for retailers was, what do you then do about it? And a lot of this is relevant to the larger social media picture." - Zimmerman

She says you have three options:

1. Ignore it.
2. Respond.
3. Take it down.

Sure, one and three may seem a bit "anti-social," but they are clear options, and there are times when they are very appropriate. Companies should determine whether or not the review stemmed from an isolated event, or was potentially submitted by a "trouble maker." Based on this analysis, they can proceed with the best response.

Read the full interview here.

Congratulations to Rodeo Austin for winning another award for its redesigned website, this time by the Service Industry Advertising Group!

"Rodeo Austin was also awarded the Bronze Award in the Website division. In 2009, Rodeo Austin was proud to partner with Wright Strategies in redesigning RodeoAustin.com for 2010 to capture the true spirit of the organization. The interactive site allows visitors to learn anything about the organization and its events as well as listen to music from entertainers booked to perform during the 2010 event, create a custom schedule or send an e-greeting card featuring a Rodeo Austin event." - Rodeo Austin Press Release

Earlier this year, Rodeo Austin also won the Best Website Award from the Texas Association of Fairs and Events. We redesigned the award-winning website in 2009, using our new Saffire Software suite for events and ecommerce. You can visit our portfolio to learn more about the site! 

According to a recent eMarketer article, marketers need to be aware of the changing US Internet population. In 2010, eMarketer predicts that 71% of the total US population, 221 million people, will be online. By 2014, that number is expected to grow to 77%.

The characteristics of US Internet users are beginning to resemble those of the US population in general. The average age of Internet users is rising. In addition, growth is occurring among all races and ethnicities of online Americans, with racial and ethnic characteristics more closely mirroring the population as a whole.

According to Lisa E. Phillips, eMarketer senior analyst, “Marketers should use multicultural marketing campaigns to target Asian, black and Hispanic audiences, because most are proud of their heritage and appreciate marketers who reach out to them with cultural messages.”

Does your current website measure up?

Check out our tips to see if you're getting the maximum value out of your website and learn what you can do to build the online presence your business deserves.

Read our ten tips for maximizing your current website! 

It’s that time of year when the Wright Strategies team converges with other like-minded, technology leaders and enthusiasts to learn about the latest trends, emerging tactics and best practices in web design and development. We're gearing up for SXSW Interactive, a five day interactive conference held in Austin each spring. Stay tuned for upcoming articles recounting what we’ve learned, what we’re excited about, and how it can help your site reach its maximum potential. Want more info on SXSWi? Visit http://www.sxsw.com/interactive. 

The Austin office will be closed from Friday, March 12 through Tuesday, March 16 but our support line is always open.  If you need immediate assistance with your site during that time, please email support@wrightstrategies.com.

We’re proud to announce the launch of a new suite of software called Saffire, developed by Wright Strategies. Saffire is the first proven, flexible alternative to restrictive off-the-shelf website products.

We’ve been on both sides of a website: we’ve developed them and we’ve managed them. So, we know how important it is to have a beautiful website that also functions properly and efficiently. Saffire combines the best of both worlds: it gives clients a custom website design, paired with a standard set of proven, successful functionality.

Saffire has options for promoting events, selling online and creating mobile sites. Each of our offerings, Saffire Event, Saffire Product and Saffire Mobile, comes equipped with the standard functionality a site needs to be successful, along with the option to add customized modules. Behind the scenes, Saffire provides easy content management, friendly reporting and guaranteed 24/7 technical support.

You can see Saffire in action on one of our latest launches: Rodeo Austin, www.rodeoaustin.com. Implementing the Saffire Event software has cemented Rodeo Austin’s status as the technological leader in the fair and rodeo industry. Not only does the site have a fully-integrated shopping process for streamlined purchasing, it also boasts a new event interface that has generated new buzz excitement among visitors. Now, customers can slice and dice events, build their own event schedules and share events via Facebook, Twitter and rodeo e-cards.

Want to learn more? You can get all of the details about Saffire for events, ecommerce and mobile sites on our website: www.wrightstrategies.com/saffire.aspx.

And if you want to take our demo for a spin, click here. We’ll even give you a tour of the behind-the-scenes features!