Do you know that it takes just 24 seconds to improve your SEO ranking performance? Well, not really. We made that number up because the number catches attention. But catch your attention we certainly hope we did, because this SEO tip we’re about to give you can definitely go a long way in getting you more – and more relevant – search engine traffic. And yeah, they might take about 24 seconds or less to complete. What are title tags? To put it simply, title tags are the document titles required in all HTML/ XHTML documents. The term “documents” includes your website or blog. Ideally, your title tags will be used to help identify the contents of the pages of your website or blog. The HTML code that defines the title of your HTML documents follows a certain format. Let’s take the Lakeshore Branding blog – http://www.lakeshorebranding.com/company/blog – as an example. <head> <title>Chicago Marketing Blog | Internet Marketng | SEO – Read the full article
Watch out, WordPress and Tumblr. Blogger is about to undergo a major makeover this year. At this year’s SXSW in Austin, Texas, search engine giant Google provided a glimpse of the new and improved Blogger, its very own blogging and publishing platform and sixth largest website in the world (according to Alexa). To be included in the series of updates to Blogger are: a brand new interface, a revamped post editor, a more customizable template designer, and a new content discovery feature. These and more are going to be rolled out throughout the year. “2010 was a big year for Blogger,” wrote Chang Kim, Blogger Product Manager, in a blog post covering the announcement. “We introduced template designer, real-time stats, comment spam filtering, mobile templates, web fonts and more. 2011 promises to be another exciting year. We’re kicking things off at SXSW by giving folks a sneak peek at our next-generation user interface. The new design is not only cleaner and more modern, but it also – Read the full article
We all get it from time to time: blogger’s block. Like we’ve completely run out of ideas for our blog or website. Like we’ve completely run out of time. Drinking gallons of coffee to no avail; staring at a blank screen for hours; pressing “Save Draft” over and over when, sadly, there isn’t really any “draft”. And with the onset of this “writerly” disease, we wonder: will traffic go down? Will readers soon unsubscribe? Will my online presence suffer from this inability to generate creative, engaging blog content? What about my business? Have I turned into a vegetable? It’s a scary thought, especially considering that one of the best ways to gain visibility, name or brand recognition, and search-engine love in this information-crazy world is to write or blog as best as you can. Calm down. Throw your worry about your writing room window. And beat blogger’s block by following these great tips below: Keep an idea journal. You never – Read the full article
Deadlines are a part of every freelancer’s daily grind. But not everyone can honor timelines graciously. Most freelance writers, bloggers, Internet marketers, and SEO professionals hustle up to meet deadlines and end up botching their assignments. This can cause you to make mistakes and also gets you mentally exhausted. In addition, the work churned out is often low in quality. If you are having hard time meeting your timelines, here are a few tricks that can help you set things right. 1. Create a time table This is the most important part of getting an assignment done on time. Break up the work into specific tasks and mete out time for each activity. You can create a detailed timetable with hourly tasks or just make a rough weekly sketch. Create a checklist of all tasks and tick each one when you complete it. Thus, you will know how much work is done and what is still pending. 2. Understand your – Read the full article
On 28 January 2011, Twitter published a monumental blog post which detailed their censorship plan (or rather, lack thereof). The logic that representatives of Twitter utilized was both practical and easy to understand: the company simply lacked the manpower to review one hundred million tweets per day, and furthermore, they believed in the free flow of information and thus would only remove from Twitter illegal tweets and spam. In fact, Twitter in 2011 believed that discussion of topics in geopolitics made Twitter “fun” and “important”. Country-Based Censorship Needless to say, the alterations to this open-information policy just one year later came as a shock to Twitter users. On 26 January 2012, Twitter published a post on the same blog which explains their alleged need for selective, country-based censorship. This approach to sharing information is, according to Twitter, informed by certain countries’ views on free information. Content Control Specifically, Twitter will not be preventing content from being published. They will simply remove content retroactively, – Read the full article
There are enormous benefits to communicating with your customers via E-mail rather than over the phone. Most customers prefer E-mails to phone calls any day of the week. Put yourself in their shoes. Would you want to receive a call at 10 a.m. from a company you recently did business with? Chances are that most customers are at work when you try to call them, and they may get off work after your business closes. So, they have to go out of their way to return your call. This can be especially aggravating to customers when the phone conversation will be about an error on your part. If you’ve been having some trouble with your computer system or shipping and realize you won’t be able to deliver a product to a customer on time, let them know by E-mail. Most customers prefer to receive an E-mail from your company and would rather skip playing phone tag with one of your – Read the full article
Our recent post on premium WordPress templates was a hit. (Thank you, readers!) So we decided to make another list showcasing even more WP templates and themes. Hopefully, it will help you: Enhance the visual impact and usability of your WordPress-powered website, blog, e-Commerce site, or Web page; Ease the development and administration of your site and lift some burden off your shoulders (or Webmaster); Reflect more appropriately the personality and character of your brand and business; Enable you to organize your template files more efficiently and configure them for use under specific situations or seasons; And drive your WordPress site in a way that meets your specific requirements and business goals. If you’re an Internet marketer, online advertiser, blogger, business owner, entrepreneur, online retailer, musician or artist, journalist, photographer or designer, or mom-and-pop store owner, we highly recommend that you use WordPress, Lakeshore Branding’s favorite content management system. (The very site you’re reading is powered by WP, too.) It – Read the full article
Social media is the phenomenon of this century, and along with huge advances in mobile technology, the Internet has changed our lives beyond compare in an amazingly short time. The tipping point is approaching where more business will be done online (than offline), and companies will have to quickly adapt to these new markets or suffer the consequences. However, along with these vast new markets come some downsides. The free and almost instant communication social media brings means that good ideas can spread quickly – but conversely bad reviews can just as quickly spread and ruin a business. The anonymity it affords means that people are no longer afraid of saying what they think, or going over the top. In the leisure industry, prime examples are review sites, the biggest of which is undoubtedly TripAdvisor. There are few other sites that rely so heavily on good reviews for their continued business, so here are some interesting ideas adopted by some – Read the full article
