Chattanooga’s Ultimate Outdoor Giveaway

On February 2, 2012, in delegator, by Bijan

How often do you find yourself describing Chattanooga to an out of town friend?  For me, I’m constantly bragging on Chattanooga and what we’ve got to offer to visitors and travelers of all types.

Yes, there are the cool tourist activities that you can read about on the billboards driving in, but there’s a whole other side to Chattanooga that most tourists will not be exposed to.  That is why we’ve teamed up with The Crash Pad and some of the best restaurants and destinations in town to create the most epic Chattanooga getaway imaginable!

The goal of this contest is to bring an outdoor and activity enthusiast to Chattanooga to take advantage of all the amazing stuff we have to offer.

The winning package will include free meals at the area’s best restaurants, choices from outdoor activities (Rock Climbing, Kayaking, and Hangliding), 3 nights free stay at The Crash Pad, tickets to other downtown Chattanooga attractions, and a portion of travel expenses proportionate to the cost of transit.

Dinner is paid for – Activities are taken care of – Itinerary is done. All you have to do is kill it.

To enter, visit the Crash Pad’s Facebook page and submit an essay or photo essay describing why and how you would best utilize your time spent in Chattanooga.  Along with the grand prize,  five submissions will be chosen at random to receive vouchers for a free private room or 2 Super Bunks at The Crash Pad.

Good luck and we can’t wait to show you a good time!


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Delegator.com’s New Years Resolutions! (This time we’re really going to do it!)

On December 29, 2011, in Basic: 101, General, delegator, by Wes

1. This year, I will stop focusing on the numbers on the scale. I will stop focusing on keywords only when I write SEO content.

2. This year, I will do something active and physical every day. I will regularly add to and refresh the content of my site.

3. This year, I am finally going to get organized – my house, my office, and my life. I am finally going to start utilizing Google Analytics – to track and analyze my traffic, my users, and my conversion statistics.

4. This year, I will quit smoking once and for all. I will stop using Flash to create large or important sections of my website.

5. This year, I’m going to put myself out there and try to meet some new people. I’m going to kick my AdWords campaign into high gear, try some email marketing, and optimize my site every chance I get.

6. This year, I am going to start saving money. I am going to let professionals actively manage my AdWords account, and stop over-paying for keywords that are too competitive or that aren’t going to get me the customers I’m looking for.

7. This year, I am going to be on time wherever I go. I will use Google Calendars to give me reminders about important dates, deadlines and meetings.

8. This year, I am going to learn something new. I am going to try a different online marketing tactic to see if I can improve my results.

9. This year, I am going to indulge my artistic side. I’m going to create banners for my site and start using Display Networks to attract and re-target users.

10. This year, I am going to give some time or money to charity (This is one that should stay on the list). Check out Causeway.org if you need some ideas in the Chattanooga area!


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Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from the Delegator Team

On December 22, 2011, in delegator, by Wes

Last night, Delegator hosted the office Christmas party, full of celebration and reflection.  This has been a busy, fulfilling year for the entire staff. We’ve helped growing businesses and websites get off the ground, strengthened existing companies, and successfully managed PPC, Social Media, Video, Content, Analytics and Link-Building campaigns for clients all over the country and here in Chattanooga, TN.

We’ve also added staff, bonded as a team, learned a lot, and invested time and energy in a local charity called Causeway.org (go there and check it out for yourself!). It’s been a great ride, is what I’m saying, and what better way to cap it off than a fantastic party?

Check back here next week for our New Year’s Resolution post. Till then, we sincerely wish each and every one of you a great holiday, a bountiful new year, and a 2012 Delegator account. Kidding, kidding!


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What is Bounce Rate?

On December 12, 2011, in Basic: 101, Google Analytics, by Andrew

The percentage of your website visitors that do this:

Bounce Rate

Image credit: Animate It


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Snow White and the Seven Commercials: Creating a Profitable Business Homepage

On December 2, 2011, in Design, by Katie
There is much ado about “selling” an e-commerce website within that initial millisecond when a shopper lands on a homepage, because losing a shopper in that moment will yield high bounce rates that shoot off red flags for web analysts. Immediately, designers are set off in a tizzy trying to figure out what could possibly be turning customers off from their efficient page design.

Every company wants the visitor to feel as if he/she has stumbled into the fairy tale of all e-commerce websites, awestruck by the quality and selection of the products and also welcomed by the captivating site environ. An online business seeks to be the fairest maiden in the land, if you will, and companies should make this a big picture priority.

Essentially, the objective of any homepage is to get the visitor off the homepage. This means the visitor needs incentive to continue trekking through the forest. A recent method of ecommerce sites has been to embed a large scrolling banner above the fold on the homepage, exposing the shopper to the wide world of products that are only a click away. Though this method follows logically, many shoppers actually see these scrolling banners as picture commercials. Shoppers don’t visit your site to watch commercials. They come to shop, and it’s likely they’ll change the channel if your site is just another money-grubbing commercial.

Snow White Mac DecalPromotions are necessary on the homepage, but they’re most inviting when disguised as possible paths. Let the shoppers feel as though they have discovered the deals and made the accomplished bargains themselves. Streamline and clarify top navigation and/or sidebar navigation to make this process simple and available for shoppers. Show your featured sale lines above the fold, but dress them up as more avenues to explore, not promotions to ignore. Speak the language of your shoppers in true “choose your own adventure” form. The shopping adventure is first and foremost meant to fulfill the customer’s dreams, not the company’s quota.

If shoppers keep bouncing off your homepage, give this a thought. Put yourself in the shopper’s shoes and imagine the adventure that you, the shopper not the businessperson, would desire. You’ll see a difference in attitude once you’ve made your house a home.

(Image Source)


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Andrew Scarbrough Named YP Entrepreneur Of The Year

On November 23, 2011, in Press, delegator, by Heather

We’d like to congratulate our very own Andrew Scarbrough for being named Entrepreneur of the Year by the Young Professional Association of Chattanooga!  Nearly 150 people were present for the YP Awards ceremony last Friday that “recognizes outstanding artists, businesses, community servants and young professionals in the Chattanooga community.”  This is the 5th year YPAC has awarded a local professional in Chattanooga with the YP Entrepreneur of the Year award.

As Co-Founder and VP of Operations here at Delegator, Andrew has helped forge a culture of entrepreneurship both on the for-profit side (Delegator.com) and non-profit side (Causeway.org).  Delegator is a company of entrepreneurs, for entrepreneurs, and our mission is to help growing companies focus on their mission, and confidently delegate the rest.  When forming Delegator, Andrew and co-founder Stephen Culp decided that part of our mission would include giving part of our time to charitable causes.  Andrew has helped carry out this mission in various ways, including being a part of the founding team of Causeway.org.  Causeway is a civic engagement hub — a platform for pairing worthy causes with ways to address them.  Causeway’s goal is to support civic entrepreneurs — the civic equivalent of the scrappy, hard-working small businessperson who sees an opportunity to make something work better.  And in this case, the community is the one who profits.

Congratulations Andrew on a well-deserved award!


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48 Hour Launch Recap

On November 17, 2011, in delegator, by Lucas

48 Hour LaunchThis past weekend the Delegator team joined dozens of other entrepreneurs from around Chattanooga at the 48 Launch event hosted by The Company Lab. There were some last minute venue changes so business people, entrepreneurs, and reporters gathered in the cafeteria of Battle Academy to hear the startup ideas pitched and find a team to work with for the weekend.

Delegator was proud to be a title sponsor of 48 Launch once again! We had a blast meeting a ton of great Chattanooga entrepreneurs and floating from team to team over the weekend learning and helping!

Because the event is growing rapidly, the The Company Lab crew split the competition into three separate tracks: Social Innovation, Products, and Technology. For Demo night, on Sunday evening, all of the teams gathered at Track 29 to present what they had accomplished over the weekend. The winners were chosen by a panel of judges and live audience voting. Congratulations to:

Social Innovation Winner: The Unfoundation


Product Winner: Slawsa


Technology Winner: Job Ninja


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Countdown To 48Hour Launch

On November 11, 2011, in delegator, by Wes
We’re just a few short hours away from the kick-off of 48Hour Launch, one of our very favorite events here in our hometown of Chattanooga, TN.

If you’re unfamiliar with 48Hour Launch, its goal is to be a launching pad for dozens of great new business and social innovation ideas in Chattanooga. Over 120 Chattanoogans packed in to “pitch night” last week to share their plans and ideas. Starting tonight, “teams” will form around those pitchmen, with the goal of launching a working company or social innovation within the next
Lots of hard work, coffee, all-nighters, ping pong and pizza go into the event, and Delegator is proud to again be the title sponsor of 48Hour Launch. We’ll be there all weekend, lending a hand in whatever way we can to support the entrepreneurs of our fair and growing city.48 hours.

If you’re in the area please stop by. The entrance fee is low for all the things you get (free food, games, camaraderie, a new business) and it’s always a lot of fun.

You can see all the relevant information on the event here, at the 48 Hour Launch main page.


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The Top Ten Ways to Optimize Your WordPress Blog and Make It More Powerful than Ever – Part II

On October 27, 2011, in Blogging, Content Writing, Design, Intermediate: 201, SEO, by Wes

Welcome back campers to the exciting conclusion of our two part mini-series on juicing up your WordPress blog. Hopefully you’ve had enough time to lay the groundwork with our last round of suggestions – now it’s time to blow the roof off. Enjoy!

6. SEO Packs

Okay, most of the things on this list are good for any blog anywhere. But WordPress has a few major advantages when it comes to SEO. One of the best is the All In One SEO Pack, a nifty plug-in that allows you to create meta data at the same time you write and post your blog entry (and you don’t have to mess with code at all). There’s a whole world of great plug-ins at WordPress – take the time to dig through them and find the ones that are the best for you. (Hint: The ones that are the best for you are the ones that make running the blog easier and more efficient!).

7. Posting Regularity

Self-explanatory, but here we go for the back of the class – if you don’t post with regularity your readers will not keep coming back to see what you have to say. Even if no one is commenting, no one seems to be reading and you feel like you’re talking to a brick wall, post with regularity! It’s vital to your success. New folks won’t want to read through a blog started in 2010 that has four posts.

8. Posting Volume

Regularity is the most important thing, but volume is essential as well. Once a month is fine if that’s the best you can do, but the most successful and popular blogs post daily – usually many times a day. Do your best to write as much as you can. Remember, it’s okay to be a little bit unfiltered, or even occasionally wrong on a point of fact – your community will correct you, and a blog is a living document. You can always correct the record.

9. Comments

We’ve touched on comments earlier in the post, but they’re so, so important to your success. Allow them, and read them, and post and promote them if they’re worthy. When you listen to your readers they tend to listen to you, stay engaged, and keep your blog on their roster of daily reading. Yes, sometimes comments can get annoying. But they’re an excellent way to engage.

10. Blog to Blog Partnerships

This is a fun and productive way of keeping up your volume and regularity, gain access to new and larger communities of readers, and of course make friends. When you can have online conversations with other blogs, go back and forth and mix and mingle your content, you spread your message. Go forth and befriend.

And now, go forth and conquer. Huzzah!


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3 Ways To Improve Your AdWords Text Ads

On October 12, 2011, in Google AdWords, by Heather

1.  Use the ® and ™ symbols when appropriate

In recent months, we’ve seen a significant increase in ad clickthrough rate (CTR) when using the registered or trademark symbols in our client’s ads.  If your company is registered or you own the trademark on your company or product, I highly recommend using this in your ad text.  This instills confidence in your company or product, and the symbol especially stands out when used in the ad headline.

2.  Include punctuation at the end of first description line

We want to do everything we can to ensure our ads are the most appealing ads on the page, and this tip can help set you apart.

Google recommends treating each description line as its own sentence.  By adding punctuation at the end of your first description line, your ad headline is expanded when in one of the top positions.

You’ll notice the top ad looks more like a search result now and gives searchers more insight into your business and what you offer.  Unless your ad is showing up in one of the top ad positions though, your ad will appear on the side in the typical ad format.

3.  Use keyword insertion when ad groups are tightly themed

Keyword insertion is one way you can make your ad more relevant to the searcher.  Keyword insertion uses a short piece of code and basically inserts the keyword that triggered your ad into the ad text.  This makes your ad increasingly relevant to this particular searcher and can help improve your CTR.

Google's Keyword Insertion Example

In Google’s example, keyword insertion is used in the headline of the ad.  Depending on the keyword that triggers your ad, the phrase “{Keyword:Puppies}” could be replaced with your keyword.  So the headline could read: Buy Yorkies.  If a keyword is too long (character limits for ad headlines still apply), then the codes dictates what the default headline will be: Buy Puppies.

Of these three AdWords features, keyword insertion is by far the most advanced.  For more information on how to use keyword insertion and more details about the example shown here, please see Google’s tutorial.


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