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
WordPress was first released in 2003 by Matt Mullenweg. Yes, it’s that long ago. Before Facebook even happened. Since then, it has grown to host, as of late last year, around 15 percent of the world’s top 1 million websites. It has also been downloaded over 65 million times! But if you’re still looking for reasons that will convince you to build – or redevelop – your website using the WordPress platform, we won’t shy away from giving you several: WordPress isn’t just for blogging. It’s flexible enough to power your business website, your e-Commerce site, your product and services page, your social networks (check out our recent post on BuddyPress), your anything. It’s simple and pretty easy to use. If you know how to use Microsoft Word, you’ll know how to use WordPress, which has its own WYSIWYG editor to aid users who prefer not to use codes (like HTML). Training a client on WordPress site administration is also – Read the full article
It used to be that marketing teams and technology people didn’t really interact apart from uncomfortable meetings about getting a new offer onto the latest website build. But with the rise of mobile-optimized websites, custom branded apps, locality services, and integrated messaging campaigns, the lines between marketing and technology are blurring. Marketers today must be comfortable talking about HTML5 and integrated databases. Technologists today must be comfortable talking about audience segments, targeting, and messaging strategy. But mobile technology is changing more than how we work together. It’s literally changing how we market and where we put our marketing investment. Poor Old E-mail E-mail was called the ‘killer app’ for at least a decade. Its power to connect with audiences led to an entire generation of technologies to gather addresses, segment lists, target messages, test performance, and provide service. Only, young people today don’t (or rarely) use it. They use instant message technology and social networks, with mobile (and SMS) figuring – Read the full article
You ever heard of something called BuddyPress? If not, well – you should. Established in 2008, Buddypress is a publishing platform for connecting all your social media streams and networks together in one self-hosted and WordPress-powered site. You can use it as a social network for your family, your university, your school or college, or your class; as an internal communication medium for your company or organization; as a network for connecting people with the same interests as you have; or as a socially dynamic site centered around your new product or service. For more uses, check out this BuddyPress showcase. Like WordPress, BuddyPress is an extremely flexible and versatile solution, especially for those who are looking to grow their businesses and brands via social media marketing. Its features include: Global, personal, and group activity streams where you can view all your comments, status updates, mentions, favorites, and notifications, among many others; User groups that you can choose to be public, – Read the full article
SEO services have become essential to businesses acrossCanada. The days of traditional advertising are dead; phone books, radio, and even TV have proved to be expensive and difficult to measure. SEO, meanwhile, has allowed business owners to be more involved in the marketing of their firm and to measure effectiveness like never before. SEO services in Canadahave been around for over a decade now; however, business owners have just recently started to take advantage of these services. Search engine optimization services certainly are widely available, and this article is designed to help you pick the right SEO service for your business. What is SEO? SEO or search engine optimization is an activity that is carried out by an SEO expert or company to drive relevant traffic to your website so you can realize a benefit for your business. SEO services typically include: Creating engaging content for link building Social media marketing strategies Website analysis and competitor evaluation Keyword research to – Read the full article
The last couple of years, the world’s economy has seen a roller coaster ride, caused by recession and financial meltdown. Businesses have been badly hampered by these global recessions. People have lost their jobs. Right now, I believe, we are going through another recession; fortunately, the impact doesn’t seem to be as serious as the previous one. There are significant damages seen coming via this ongoing recession, but there are also ways to survive. Thanks to the World Wide Web, people have found a number of opportunities to sustain their careers and livelihoods despite the bad time. These include opportunities in the SEO or search engine optimization industry. Your expectations from an SEO career should be realistic. Your success may very well depend on the clients that you have: if they belong to recession-affected industries like that for financial services, real estate, and automobiles, don’t be surprised if you don’t get a lot of business or a big budget. Keep – Read the full article
If you think E-commerce is just a fad – poised to flounder amidst economic crises – then think again. Thanks to the increasing popularity of smartphones and tablets, millions more people are shopping online and on-the-go. In fact, in a recent article by eMarketer, it was reported that mobile commerce (“M-commerce”) sales (including travel) in the US grew by 91.4% to reach $6.7 billion. And that’s just mobile. If one were also to consider the continued expansion of Wi-Fi availability across the US and all over the world, one will come to understand that E-commerce – regardless of the device driving it – is here to stay. WordPress E-commerce themes That’s why we created this fresh new list of WordPress e-commerce themes – to help you find the best possible look for your WordPress store. If you’re… giving your WordPress-powered site, blog, E-commerce site, or online store a makeover to herald the New Year, looking for ways to improve the – Read the full article
You asked for it. Now we’re giving it to you: a list of the best WordPress themes of 2012. From designer WordPress themes to business WordPress themes – classic, elegant, simple and minimal, flashy and fancy, nice, naughty (or whatever adjective with which you want to describe them) – we’ve got the 2012 WordPress themes to suit your every need. The list is a result of our efforts to help users recognize the value of a content management system like WordPress, which, with its easy-to-use interface, rich SEO features, and excellent flexibility, is something we here at Lakeshore Branding have grown to love. And we hope you love it as much as we do, because we’ve got the best 2012 WordPress themes for your blog, company website, creative portfolio, wedding website, online magazine or news site, and online e-Commerce store. Let us know what your favorites are by tweeting about the post or leaving a comment below! U-Design WordPress Theme – Read the full article
