New Lead Maverick Features

 
Today we rolled out some enhancements that (based on customer suggestions) will improve the structure of the content you put in.

URL Rewriting

"Woah, woah, woah...Chris, I'm just a caveman, your strange metallic birds that carry people from one place to another frighten me...what is this URL Rewriting you speak of?"

(please reference this to make the question marks above your head go away)

URL Rewriting is the practice of turning a web site's content address from this:

 http://directory.leadmaverick.com/details.aspx?companyid=some-mix-of-numbers-and-letters

into this:

 http://directory.leadmaverick.com/Lead-Maverick/255/company.aspx

Why do this?  SEO!  The major search engines MUCH prefer easy to read URLs to the mix of numbers and letters that mean nothing to human eyes.

Don't worry about any results in the search engines that contain links to the old URLs.  When a request for an old URL comes in we tell the search engine that the link has moved to this new address and then we redirect you to that address.  It has to do with HTTP headers and if you REALLY want to know all about it then please email me.

Larger Logos for our Paying Customers

You asked for it, you got it.  Previously we allowed you to upload logos for your company and they would be resized so that they fit into a 250 pixel wide by 60 pixel tall image.  Why so small?  Our research indicated that the company's logo was of minor importance when it came to SEO.  The real calls to action on our pages are the phone numbers to your business, the various ways a viewer can contact you, and finally, the content you put into the system.  Initially, we felt that a large banner would only distract a viewer from the more important aspects of the page.

Some of our customers felt differently however.  They feel that a large logo leads to better branding, and gives the viewer a sense that the content "belongs" to the writer vs. a directory.

We now allow you to put in images that are up to 750 pixels wide by 60 pixels tall.  Unfortunately, we haven't written code yet that can tell if a logo is a terrible design so all we ask is you use your best judgment.

Links to Your Business

In addition to allowing larger logos, we also changed where those logos link to.  Previously, when you clicked on the logo it took you back to your company's landing page, now it takes you to your company's web site (just like the traditional banners would on any other web site).  Getting back to your company's Lead Maverick landing page is as simple as click on the "Posted by" link.

Podcast File Sizes

As our customers become more sophisticated in terms of SEO, so do the tools they use and products they create.  Podcasts are becoming more common place in the Lead Maverick universe and our customers told us that the 5 megabyte limit we were using just wasn't enough.  We have increased this to 20 megabytes.

Application Text Colors

Not a huge deal but again, an example of where we listen.  A few of our loyal users indicated that the green colors we were using in the Application were a bit hard to read.  AGREED!  We've changed it to a much darker green (#038909 for you design geeks).

Lead Maverick listens to it's customers.  Our customers know about their business and we know about search engine marketing.  Together we make a killer product.

- Chris