It’s not uncommon for businesses today to use social networks – namely, Twitter and Facebook – as a platform for engaging with customers and managing customer relationships. This development has given rise to an increasing number of social media solutions and dashboards, each promising to streamline all tasks and bring a new level of ease in customer engagement. Let’s take a look at the best of these solutions and their features. MediaFunnel MediaFunnel is a social media suite for businesses and enterprises, with a host of features designed to make Twitter and Facebook accounts easier to manage. One of these distinguishing features is Multiple User Roles, or the ability to assign Administrator, Publisher, and Contributor roles and grant various levels of permission to review or publish tweets and Facebook posts (for greater editorial control and efficiency). Apart from monitoring Twitter and Facebook for mentions and tracking the performance of links via Bit.ly and BudURL, MediaFunnel also enables you to – Read the full article
Since the most recent Google Panda update, a number of sites have found that their traffic has taken a big hit. Google’s aim was to stop “thin content” sites from ranking; unfortunately, as usual, the definition given by Google is frustratingly vague, and with the update, it may not be so obvious what the issues are. I’ve compiled a short list of some common reasons sites have suffered after the Panda update. Hopefully, this post gives you a better idea, especially if you are one of those having a difficult time trying to determine the source of your traffic dip. (Note: I’m assuming that you are running a legitimate site, not scraping and stealing content; otherwise you pretty much have your problem right there already!) 1. Duplicated Content This is perhaps the biggest issue for legitimate sites that have suffered. It’s obvious that duplicate content can trip the “thin content” flag, but the problem is often quite complicated. For example, – Read the full article
Cloud computing is one of the fastest-rising technologies on the Web today. There are a number of large businesses and corporations who have already adopted the “cloud” to replace their existing computing platforms – and small businesses aren’t far behind. What is cloud computing and what can it do for you? Simply put, cloud computing is a set of computing resources delivered online. It’s also an emerging model for delivering information technology services, one that offers scalable and virtual resources. (Geek speak alert! Don’t worry; we’ll break it down for you.) The term “cloud” is used as a metaphor for the Internet, which basically serves as a hosting environment for applications like E-mail, productivity, file backup and storage, and more. Previously, all the data and applications of a user were stored and hosted by a hard drive on a computer or a set of servers at the IT department; with cloud computing, there isn’t going to be any need for – Read the full article
A new web browser has been unveiled by the people who brought us Netscape 16 years ago. RockMelt, founded by Eric Vishria and Tim Howes, was released Monday as a “re-imagined” web browser that is designed to serve as a social networking hub, tightly integrating Facebook, Twitter, and other social sites into a traditional web page navigation program. RockMelt allows users to “share easily, search faster, connect with friends, and keep up on news”; since the Monday release of its early version, the new browser has gotten industry observers in and beyond Silicon Valley talking. The RockMelt browser is based on Google Chrome’s HTML-5-compliant and open-source Chromium foundation (which is why you might perhaps echo our same initial sentiments, “It kind of looks like Chrome”). However, what makes RockMelt different from Chrome (or Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Opera, and Safari) is that it actually frames the social media experience – Facebook updates, chats, Twitter streams, etc. – within its browser, – Read the full article
It’s all about choices and alternatives. It was with this in mind that search and advertising giant Google recently announced that it’s going to support Adobe by bundling the popular Adobe Flash player with downloads of the Google Chrome browser. New releases of the browser will thus feature the latest version of the Flash player. A company spokesperson indicated that Flash will be the first plug-in that is not actually from Google’s stable to be integrated into Chrome. “This will make Flash on the browser a seamless experience,” says the spokesperson, “so (users) will see performance benefits and use of fewer resources. A lot of the controls and shortcuts will work better and Flash will truly feel like a part of the browser.” While not a lot of Internet users surf with the Chrome browser – research indicates it’s only 5 percent – the announcement represents a major step towards strengthening the company’s two operating systems, the Android (available for – Read the full article
Recently there have been a lot of discussions in the web design community about the issues of dealing with Internet Explorer 6 with the recent release of IE 8. One web designer has begun showing this image above for users that still use IE 6. Check out the landing page here. The fustration for the team comes when you basically have to code the website 3, 4, 5 different ways so that it is functional in all major browsers. One of the biggest users of IE 6 is the corporate IT community who does not like to upgrade browsers that work. Our stance: Lakeshore Branding still supports Internet Explorer 6, 7 and 8 as well as FireFox 2+, Safari, Google Chrome and Opera. Creating seperate style sheets can be a pain for any web development team, but with some websites still seeing 30% or more of their visitors using the outdated browser, it is crutical you support it for your – Read the full article
Cloud computing solutions are the latest popular development in technological advancements. However, a number of businesses still fear that adopting these solutions would not be in their best interests. So what are the major concerns held by businesses and are they well founded? Concerns on Security, Implementation, Reliability? Research has suggested that the main concerns surrounding cloud technology include security worries alongside adoption or implementation difficulties and reliability. The truth is that while SaaS (Software as a Service) can be exposed to a number of vulnerabilities and dangers, such as those listed, the services are all protected with high security measures in order to ensure that ultimate safety and security of data is maintained. This means that a number of businesses could be needlessly rejecting cloud computing solutions based on unfounded or misguided concerns. (Editor’s note: Be sure to check out our post on the best cloud computing services and apps for small businesses!) Security of Data and Information Perhaps – Read the full article
If you are the proud owner of a new website, then you know how confusing and downright difficult the process of designing and building a website can be. It’s not uncommon to go through the trouble of finding a hosting service and choosing a domain name, only to get stuck when it comes to actually putting a site together and making it presentable for viewers. Fortunately, there are some very basic things, even for newbies, that can make the process much easier. Here are some simple web design tips for new website owners: Templates. One of the fastest and easiest ways to design an effective website is to choose a customizable template. Customizable templates are easy to find. Simply search online, load them to your site, and make whatever changes you want to make the design your own. If you use a blog hosting service like WordPress to build your website, you will be pleased to find that you automatically have – Read the full article
