'Net Features : Inc.

The Hardest-Working Staff Pages on the Web

Administrator — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 18:50:00 GMT

Every digital enterprise has a team – from one-man shows with makeshift offices to globally staffed companies with luxury digs. Regardless of size or setup, transparency is key to building trust, and almost no page works harder for a company in this regard than its staff page.

Companies can use this valuable real estate to not only highlight their biggest resource, the people behind the brand, but also to showcase (if not brag about) the deep level of expertise their company has in a given industry.

For some inspiration, let’s take a look at the hardest-working staff pages on the Web.

Caxiam Group

This team of passionate, talented and dedicated professionals loves to collaborate together and with its clients to build Web solutions of all shapes and sizes. And perhaps because Caxiam Group works so closely with clients, its “Our Team” details each person’s favorite holidays, favorite thing to do on their day off and the list goes on. The staff bios also detail the person’s job at Caxiam and their qualifications. It should also be noted that Ethan’s profile has pictures of him – sans the family - in business casual attire, but who doesn’t love a cute baby? Also, did you notice the keywords that describe Ethan?

LATERAL, INC.

LATERAL delivers design and technology with passion for tangible business results. It has a passionate and, judging from its “The Team” page, wildly creative staff. While there are no actual bios of employees, the site makes up for this in originality, and when hiring a design staff, that’s typically more important anyway. For example, when a user scrolls over any team member’s image, the rest of the employee photos look in the direction of that person. See how Bogus the dog’s image is highlighted and everyone is looking at him? By the way, he’s in charge of special projects.

Blue Sky Resumes

This small team of professional writers and job search experts pride themselves on amazing work and fabulous customer service. Working with them will even give you something to sing about, which is why the company selected design elements that revolve around blue skies and a blue bird. Its "About Us" page answers the question, “Who are these people anyway?” The design and copy choices reinforce the company’s quirky and passionate approach and reinforces the staff’s qualifications.

Arc90

Arc90 is based in New York, but lives at the intersection of design, strategy and technology. So it only makes sense that its staff pages connects cool design with trust-building content. There are several elements at play here. On the "Team" page, a key indicates which area of the company that team member is responsible for (e.g. design, development, strategy, etc.). Additionally, when a user hover overs any employee’s image, an alternative and more eccentric photo of them is shown (see Joel, below). Visitors can also click on any person’s picture to read a comprehensive bio.

Space & Time Media Limited

Space and Time Media is a media planning and buying agency specializing in integrated media solutions both on and offline. Its website is committed to an action-hero theme, which carries over to its “Who are we?” page. While this design choice certainly wouldn’t be right for every business, it’s appealing for this one. There are cartoon images for each employee, and once clicked on, a user is brought to a new page with a full, professional bio.

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Limelight Unveils New Version of Web Acceleration Service

Linc Wonham — Sat, 03 Apr 2010 13:46:00 GMT

Limelight Networks, Inc. has announced numerous upgrades to Limelight SITE, its Web acceleration service that was launched in March 2009. Designed to address the evolving demands of businesses trying to provide the best services for their online customers, the updated version offers more control over cache management, SSL support, increased failover options and integrated content security options.

The new platform utilizes Origin Direct technology, which accelerates traffic by routing it over Limelight’s private, network-based infrastructure, allowing for consistently high performance of rich media content. SITE’s Content Storage service provides customers with a modular method that spans multiple servers for fast and flexible scalability.

Traffic Balancer is another new feature that allows SITE users a way to distribute traffic among multiple origin sources, or even multiple content delivery service providers. Customers can define how traffic loads are managed and experience improved site performance, as well as lower their delivery risk.

Also unveiled was the Limelight REACH mobility service, which adds support for enterprises and retailer environments by distributing properly formatted rich media content to almost any mobile or connected device through Limelight’s auto-detection technology.

Limelight also announced that it will support high-performance, media-rich content delivery to the Apple iPad starting on day one of product availability.

Sponsored Comments Show High Click-Through Rates

Linc Wonham — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 16:00:00 GMT

Initial results show that marketers using the Sponsored Comments forum are benefiting from very high click-through rates that far exceed those of most traditional online advertising channels, reports TalkAhead, Inc., which has implemented the service for the Jerusalem Post’s online editions.

TalkAhead is a new advertising channel that allows online publishers to monetize areas of their websites or blogs that were not previously earning revenue. The service offers advertisers the opportunity to post short paid messages called Sponsored Comments in the readers’ comments sections, enabling them to participate in the dialogues readers are having on the site. The platform was designed to help marketers, public relations professionals and brand managers respond to stories or issues affecting their company, product or industry, offer commentary, dispel misconceptions, generate leads and start conversations with consumers.

Established in 1995 and one of the world’s first and most widely read online publications, JPost.com recently debuted the Sponsored Comments platform from TalkAhead. Reported click-through rates for advertisers utilizing the service are averaging 2 percent, with some exceeding 5 percent.

“The exciting aspect for us is that it allows the Jerusalem Post to tap into a whole new pool of long-tail advertisers, and therefore revenue,” said JPost.com CEO Yariv Carni. “These are new advertisers to our publication, and we’re able to support them without applying any of our internal resources.”

While high-click through rates are always welcome, sponsored comments might not be, for some Web users. This is one of those marketing channels that should be explored, but with caution and on a site-by-site basis. If your website's comments currently provide value by way of community, such a measure might cause a mutiny. Relevancy of sponsored comments will be paramount to not only success with this type of advertising, but also to the integrity of the website and brand hosting the comments.

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