Website Design

In today’s increasingly fast-paced world, email marketing allows you to connect instantly with your clients, one-on-one. Newsletters, business updates, coupons, flyers and more can be directly delivered to an audience that has already expressed interest in learning more about what your business has to offer. With regular contact, your company will be the first one in mind when potential clients are ready to buy. Sounds easy, right? It is… as long as you know what to look out for. How can you be sure that your email will work across multiple applications such as Gmail or Yahoo? How do you minimize the chances of ending up in the dreaded spam folder, or worse yet, on a blacklist or sued for spamming? Can you check that your emails are really being delivered, opened, read and getting the results you want? Here are a few of the benefits of using Allegra’s eBlast email marketing services:

• No more blocked deliveries
• No more server configuration hassles
• No more problems with dynamic IP addresses
• No more guessing whether your emails went through
• We custom design your e-blast message template.
• We manage your mailing list and keep it clean.
• Detailed online campaign reports: graphs and reports to show you how many emails got delivered, how many people opened your email, what percentage clicked inside of it.
• Bounced emails processing: we’ll automatically determine if we should retry or permanently clean them from your list.
• Subscription and unsubscription management: we’ll show you who unsubscribed from your list, and make sure they don’d get accidentally added to the list later.
• Your mailing list only stays with Allegra – we will not share it with third parties and will not send our own marketing emails to your clients.

For all your emailing needs, Allegra’s eBlast service is your one-stop solution. Let Allegra Abbotsford take care of your next email marketing campaign – contact us today.

COMMON QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

Why Is My Email Message Ending Up In SPAM Box?

One of the major benefits of email marketing is that email itself is free, but obviously this is the same reason why spam has become so popular and so frustrating. With spam come spam filters and with spam filters comes the blocking of legitimate emails. Sending any form of email campaign, newsletter or another commercial message to a list of email addresses will always subject your message to spam filtering. Having a double-opt-in signup in your mailing list reduces the odds of your message being marked as SPAM by the actual receipient.

Can I Improve My Campaign’s “Opened” Rate?

Spam filters “rank” each incoming email by a number of different criteria. When an email rates above a certain level (eg. 10 spam points), it is flagged as spam and immediately deleted. To help your emails not to get flagged as spam, avoid using words such as ‘Free’, ‘Discount’, ‘Save’, ‘50% OFF’, etc within the subject line and the content of your email. Your readers will also more likely open messages with subject lines not containing keywords usually associated with spam emails. There are other ways to improve your emails so they don’t get accidentally marked as spam both by spam filters and your readers. Contact Allegra for help with your next eMarketing campaign.

Do I Need To Include The “Unsubscribe” Link In My Emails?

Every e-newsletter or commercial email message you send out should contain a way for the receipient to unsubscribe. Not doing so is illegal in many countries and can be an instant sign of spamming. Your contact information (i.e. Website, Email, Phone and Street Address) should also be present, as it increases confidence in your email, and allows a potential customer to easily contact you if necessary.  

If you already have various company marketing or informational materials, and you’d like to present them to your website visitors in the format they were designed, Allegra’s on-line publishing service allows to do that in an attractive “flipping book” format. You can zoom-in on selected areas for better viewing options. The alphanumeric data extracted from your document is used to enable full-text search in your publication. The unique indexing methods and search algorithms enable quick and easy online searching, even through very large publications, without any server scripts or databases. Your publication can contain external links to websites, e-mail addresses or internal links to sections or chapters. Table of content makes the publication more useful and attractive for the end-users and allows them to use a structured view using the original PDF’s bookmarks or contents. Any page of the book can be reached in a moment. Our service is also supported by most mobile browsers so you can enjoy a real turn page effect on-the-go and share it with the rest of the mobile world. Visits to your publications are tracked by analytics software providing you with valuable traffic feedback.   To find out more about Allegra’s online publishing program contact us by email or by phone.

People love to see their name in print. Personalized URLs (PURLs) capitalize on that by turning prospects into buyers. With a simple click, potential clients are directed to a landing page that addresses them personally by name with content customized to their specific interests. Studies show that using PURLs with a relevant message can increase the response rate of your direct mail campaign two to five times. Allegra has the experience and expertise to help you plan and implement a powerful PURLs-based campaign. We’ll develop a plan to meet your goals efficiently, effectively and economically, with expert support including database management, complete creative services, high quality variable data printing, and mailing. Combine the high impact of a direct mail campaign with the speed and convenience of the internet to deliver a personalized buyer experience that gets you results.

What Are The Advantages?

• Increased response rates. PURLs encourage response because the messages are personal and address your prospects’ specific needs. That means more dollars for your fundraising campaign. More attendees at your event. And more sales leads for your company growth.
• Accelerated sales conversion. Tailored Web content anticipates and responds to specific prospect interests, moving them from product investigation, to consideration, to sale quickly and easily.
• Buyer convenience. Responding is easy, and relevant information is delivered immediately to a personalized landing page.
• Enhanced tracking. You receive an instant record of each response and can track what prospects view and for how long…information you can use to fine-tune your future campaigns.
• Real-time sales leads. Put “hot” prospects in the hands of your sales team immediately by sharing the information you are gathering electronically – as soon as it comes in.
• Ongoing relationship management. Once you have established customer connections, create PURLs to leverage your knowledge of their preferences and buying patterns to more effectively cross-sell and up-sell.

How Do PURLs Work?

When prospects receive your direct mail piece, they are directed to log on to a Web site using their own personalized URL. PURLs typically look like this: http://firstname.lastname.yourdomain.com When they get to the landing page, your prospects are greeted by more personalized content drawn from your database. This can be basic identity information but can also reflect some specific interests. You can even customize these destination pages using special images, videos, or audio. As the user interacts with the page, site programming can deliver additional information on the fly. When they are ready to take the next step, you can share prospects’ information with your sales people for follow-up, seamlessly closing the sales loop. PURLs also gather valuable feedback by tracking each prospect’s activity on the Web site. You’ll see what offers or options are most popular, which helps you shape future campaigns to meet your sales goals.

What Is Search Engine Optimization?

The purpose of Search Engine Optimization is to improve ranking of your website in major search engines. The process of S.E.O. consists of many strategies, including site structuring and creation of search engine friendly, keyword-rich content to allow search engines to index the information on your web site more rapidly. People use “key phrases” on search engines to find what they’re looking for. Since there are dozens of different key phrases that searchers might use, it’s important to identify different ways people might be looking for you. These are the key phrases that you’ll want to use for “Search Engine Optimization” to drive more traffic to your website. SEO involves many aspects of improving a website’s ranking in search engines, and therefore increasing website exposure. However, it goes a lot deeper than that. Being listed at the top of search results does not always mean a visitor to your website, especially if you are not listed for the right search terms. Finding the right search terms (keyword phrases) is very important, and often involves many lateral keywords. SEO has a lot to do with converting more searches into clicks, but clicks alone do not always mean profit. So it also has a whole lot to do with converting those clicks into an action, such as a purchase or a new business lead. The dollar investment required for successful search engine optimization results depends on many factors such as:

• the competitiveness of your market on the Internet
• the age and maturity of your company
• the size, number of pages, amount of content on your website
• the number and popularity of keywords you are targeting
• the technological complexity of your website and design
• your organization’s goals
• any additional search engine marketing services necessary to achieve a higher quantity of targeted traffic

Contact Allegra and discuss your needs. We work with you to formulate a plan to meet your goals and budget. If you are serious about increasing your bottom line results, there is no more cost-effective way to promote your business. Research shows that 70% of people use search engines to find the product or service they want to buy. Also, 90% of those who search never make it to the second page of search results. If your website is not listed at the top of major search engines, you’re missing out on a lot of potential business.   FREE WEBSITE ASSESSMENT: We’ll review your site and identify areas that can be better optimized. Take advantage of our expertise – Contact Allegra in Abbotsford today.  

The use of smartphones to access information on the go continues to explode. Today’s sophisticated consumers want answers now, and it’s your job to provide those answers quickly before someone else does. With QR codes, the expanded information that customers crave is directed instantly to their smartphones. Contact information, special offers, videos and more can literally be directed to their fingertips on demand. QR Codes can appear on any print advertising. On a business card, QR codes make it easy for clients to add you as a contact to their smartphone. On brochures and flyers, QR codes can connect your client to product specifications, a coupon, Twitter and Facebook, or even a link to a YouTube video. The more you engage your audience with special offers, the better the relationship. Of course, legibility on the smaller screens of smartphones is key. Mobile landing pages ensure that all your information is legible, attractive and easy to navigate. Find out how mobile connections can take your business to the next level.

What Are The Advantages?

• Extend the value of print. Your message is no longer confined to the printed page.
• Make immediate connections. QR codes make connecting to your information easier and faster, improving your chances of making a sale.
• Personalize. You can generate individual codes for every name in your direct mail database, linking to personalized Web pages that are relevant to each customer.
• Encourage pass along. QR codes make it easy for users to share your message with others, expanding your promotional reach.
• Increase participation. By incorporating surveys, coupons and even e-commerce, you transform passive readers into active participants.
• Measure impact. You can track how many people scan your codes to measure impact and reach. Compare the performance of different marketing vehicles by using different codes for each element.
• Look “phone” smart. Smartphone users appreciate technology-driven marketing, which makes QR codes a great reflection of your brand.

How QR Codes Work

QR codes are two-dimensional barcodes that are scanned by a smartphone equipped with a camera and QR code reader app. Although they occupy only a small amount of space on the printed page, each code contains an enormous amount of data to deliver the reader to a web page or other content.  

Web analytics is the measurement, collection, analysis and reporting of internet data for the purpose of understanding and optimizing web usage. Find out how many people visited your website, how long they stayed, and what they clicked on. Measure conversion rates, such as newsletter sign ups, or products purchased. The resulting information allows you to better target your audience, improve user experience and increase your return on investment. Web analytics can also be used as a tool for business and market research. Estimate how traffic to a website changes after the launch of a new advertising campaign, or gauge traffic and popularity trends, which is useful for market research.   Contact Allegra today to find out how web analytics can help grow your business.

Pay per click (PPC) is an Internet advertising model used to direct traffic to websites, where advertisers pay the hosting service when the ad is clicked. With search engines, advertisers typically bid on keywords or phrases relevant to their target market, while content sites commonly charge a fixed price per click rather than use a bidding system. One of the most widely used PPC advertising systems is Google AdWords, and Allegra can help you implement this important marketing strategy. Google AdWords is a service that lets you create and run ads for your business, quickly and simply. No matter what your budget, you’ll only pay when people click your ads. AdWords ads are displayed along with search results when someone searches Google using one of keywords specified by you. Ads appear under ‘Sponsored links’ in the side column of the Google search page, and may also appear in additional positions above the free search results. That way, you’ll be advertising to an audience that’s already interested in your business. You can choose from a variety of ad formats, including text, image, and video ads, and easily track your ad performance using the reports available in your account.   If you’d like to start advertising and you’re looking for an agency or individual to help, consider talking to Allegra. We’ll explain your options so you can make a solid decision.

Ordering Made Easy With Web-2-Print

Web-2-Print online ordering lets you order your printing online, anytime, anywhere, with the convenience of our integrated, web-based print solution. For example, take business cards for a new employee. Simply log in, input your new employee’s name, title and other customized information, and your business cards will be on their way. Do you have several locations with varying addresses? No problem… we can customize your Web-2-Print account to reflect that too. You’ll be able to proof your document on-line, select quantities, and verify shipping information before sending to print. Static documents without changes are even easier. Posters, thank you cards, invoices, labels and more can be ordered without leaving the comfort of your office. We will customize your Web-2-Print account to your specifications, with your documents, and then give you a full demonstration on just how easy it is to use. Let Allegra optimize your procurement/purchasing process for all users involved. Discover how easy it can be contact us today to set up your Web-2-Print demonstration.

Enjoy The Benefits Of:

• printing only what you need
• reduced administration and turn-around time
• reduced printing costs
• flexibility to print static or personalized documents
• online data entry and database file upload
• instant preview and softproof
• customizable automatic e-mail notification (permisssion based)
• information management (order history)
• consistent brand reproduction
• no setup fees