For many, the term ubiquitous best describes the state of the Internet today. E-mail, search engines and social networks are a part of everyday life for 250 million North Americans and over 1.4 billion residents of Mother Earth according to both Nielsen and Internet World Stats. That number is expected to double to 2.8 billion by 2012 – roughly 44% of the world’s projected population. These users are your prospects and customers for both “B2B” and “B2C” commerce and the audience is getting larger every single day.

A bi-product of the boom in Internet usage is complexity – thanks to the number of sites and search engines now available, volumes of new functionality possibilities and the methodologies required to achieve optimal Internet visibility. Today’s Internet-successful organizations use dedicated professionals as opposed to casual providers and most often they select comprehensive vendors to manage all elements of their presence for consistency and maximum returns. CIBER is that “holistic” provider with a single focus – performance – for your online presence.

Web Site Design & Development

3-8 seconds – that is how long your web site has to compel a site visitor to click through your web pages. The foundation of your organization’s Internet presence is a quality web site – quality being defined not only through attractive design and colorful graphics but with logical navigation, robust and relevant content and well developed source code.

Your web site is an online extension of your business and in many cases a critical component for the growth of your operation. As your “virtual storefront” it should replicate your brick and mortar operation’s branding, messaging, culture and competitive positioning. As the core of your Internet presence, it must be developed to provide a platform to execute search marketing, application integration and customer relations management. Consistency with your offline operations and scalability to accommodate the growth of your company and technology changes are equally important considerations.

CIBER provides our clients with top design and development talent paired with flexibility and creativity. CIBER utilizes a wide variety of design and programming tools including database applications, flash and animation and search-friendly programming to develop sites that produce – like yours!

Advanced Search Engine Marketing

Eighty-eight percent of Internet users rely on Google, Yahoo! and other search engines to direct them to your products and services. In 2007 North American consumers used a search engine more than the Yellow Pages or any other offline directory. In fact, search is becoming the new “yellow pages,” “white pages” and “directory assistance” and it is critical to your business’ success that customers and prospects are able to find you through varied and numerous search queries.

Comprehensive search engine marketing encompasses natural or organic search engine optimization (SEO), paid search listings using pay-per-click (PPC) methodologies, search directory management and social networking strategies. Your web site’s search engine visibility is dictated by the ever-changing algorithms of Google, Yahoo! MSN and the growing competitive landscape within your industry. With this dynamic nature of search, your search engine visibility must be managed by a professional – a search scientist if you wish. CIBER is just that.

Social Networking & e-CRM

The Facebook-MySpace phenomenon is just the first step in what many expect to be the future of the Internet – Social Networking. In fact, one of the inherent reasons for initially creating a “world wide web” was to facilitate development and communication within like-minded communities. During the first quarter of 2008, 44 percent of all Internet traffic reached a social networking web site. There is likely a place for your operation to gain cost-effective exposure; consumer generated content and very loyal customers from this rapidly growing function of the Internet.

Today’s social networking incorporates community-building, visitor profiling, blogs, wikis and a variety of collaborative functions. All of which are vital to not only creating customer interaction, but to your search engine visibility as an algorithmic factor. The benefits of being engaged in social networking and in effectively managing the development, processes and data are substantial in a world with 2.8 billion Internet users. The key to success? Work with professionals that bring both the technology and marketing savvy required for success. CIBER and our partners at IBM Connections can be that solution for your operation.

E-Commerce

In 2007, 81 percent of all Internet users made a purchase online. Most successful brick and mortar operations have replicated their physical stores online to provide their customers with the convenience of avoiding mall traffic and depleted in-store inventories. Today, a number of the world’s largest businesses are online-only and doing rather well, such as Amazon and eBay. Your operation can also create an e-commerce presence that enhances not only your revenues, but your profitability and customer services as well.

Performing successful e-commerce is more that simply integrating a shopping cart or reservations engine into your web site. Typically security, interfacing with back-end systems, product fulfillment, merchant services and customer relations are key considerations. CIBER, with our various partners in numerous industries, can help you develop and maintain a solid e-commerce platform that also provides significant customer relations management potential.

Intranet-Extranet

Whether your employees are in-house, virtual or some combination thereof, the need to collaborate and share resources is rapidly growing. Commuting costs, global recruiting and flex-time work schedules are prompting employers to provide employees with 24X7 access to company data and marketing materials. Many operations are also providing vendor and partner access to certain company data to speed delivery and lessen costs. This means that content and document management is also a key consideration. Determining the extent of this access and sharing through an intranet or extranet have additional cost, security and flexibility considerations.

CIBER is one of the nation’s top integrators of collaborative applications including Microsoft SharePoint Server (MOSS) and Vignette. We are also one of the largest custom developers of .NET developed communication portals. The benefits of incorporating an intranet or extranet into your operation are many and CIBER is your best partner to develop and maintain your system.

Simulation, Animation and Interactivity

The “WOW! Factor”… It is more important than you might think for your Internet presence. Not to say that your web site should have multiple flashing elements resembling the Las Vegas “Strip”, but certain levels of animation, simulation and interactivity appropriately laced through your home and web pages can be very compelling. Within your web site these elements can help your customers better understand and become more engaged with your product and services.

Elements such as interactive maps and site plans, product-builders, animated characters, online games and simulated demonstrations can be powerful tools to enhance branding and increase conversion rates. Other bi-products of using simulation, animation and interactivity include increased web site “stickiness,” enhanced search engine visibility and increased “viral” marketing referrals. When done right, bringing action and interaction into your Internet presence can be a significant differentiator against your competition and CIBER can help you do it right!

Advanced Analytics

Quantifiable results – one of the many benefits of marketing on the Internet. In contrast to more conventional mediums, web analytics enables measurement of virtually all areas of your Internet marketing initiatives; from basic site visitation and demographics to e-commerce conversion and social networking metrics. When properly assembled and delivered, the data can be a powerful component in determining strategy shifts both on and offline.

CIBER provides the most robust on-demand Internet marketing reporting platform available today. As importantly, CIBER provides supporting consultative services to help turn the data into actionable strategy initiatives.

A recent study indicated that 92 percent of marketing professionals rely consistently or heavily on data assembled through Internet marketing programs. The same study noted that 81 percent would like to see major improvements in their analytics platform. CIBER can provide your operation with the “real-time” data you need to continually grow.

A Look to the Future

Today you would be hard-pressed to find an Internet user that does not believe the medium will continue to saturate our lives – both personally and professionally. Most avid users of the Internet also believe that the advances of the past 10 years will be dwarfed by those of the next ten years as it relates to content delivery and device functionality. A large number of prognosticators agree that a single “pipe” will be the delivery mechanism for all of our television, music and various communications. In fact, that evolution has already begun.

What does all of this mean to your business and your customers today and tomorrow? First it means that your operation needs to “get on board” the Internet and you need to do it well. You can be sure your competition will! It also means that the information and communication conventions of yesterday and today such as the Yellow Pages and cell phones will be obsolete. How will your prospects and customers find you – the Internet! Finally, it means that your business has a unique opportunity to work with customers “one-on-one” as opposed to today’s “shotgun” marketing methods. You can now develop a long and lucrative relationship with them as a result of profiling and community-building.

For some this moment in time for electronic marketing is daunting – for others it is exciting. For all of us the stark reality is that the online evolution will continue faster than we could ever expect and will continue to have a significant impact on every element of life. Your guide on the journey should be CIBER.

Some CIBER Clients

• Integra and Elite Island Resorts
• Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan
• Lodging Unlimited and the International Hotel Conference
• The International Hotel Conference
• Jack White Apparel Company
• Wyndham Hoffman Estates

Some CIBER Partners

• IBM Connections
• Google Search Appliance
• Google Analytics
• SynXis
• TravelClick
• Microsoft SharePoint Server
• Cyber Operations
• ICE Portal
• WebTrends
• Micros

Credits & Footnotes

• The Nielsen Company
• PhoCusWright
• Forrester Research
• Internet World Stats
• Wikipedia
• The Internet Society
• Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization

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