Google may be a multi-billion dollar company, but that doesn’t mean they can’t have fun. Since the company was founded by Sergey Brin and Larry Page in 1997, they’ve risen to dominate the world of Internet search and kept huge smiles on their faces throughout the process. The Early Days Let’s start with some funny facts about Google’s origins, which helped them steal a march on their competition, albeit unintentionally. One of the things we all love about Google is the clean interface we’re greeted with when we go to the homepage. Many people think that this was a conscious decision they made to maximize usability, but it was actually came about because the co-founders didn’t know any HTML. And you could even say that the Google Doodle Phenomenon had accidental origins. It was essentially a way forBernand Page to tell visitors they were out of the office at the Burning Man Festival. Changing the logo temporarily let them know – Read the full article
Somewhere out there, a person is talking about you. Your business. Your brand. Of course, you’ll want to listen and join the conversation. You have to, right? The Internet, though, is a pretty big place. If before, the reviews and comments of your customers only came in literally by word of mouth – well, today that’s no longer the case. A bad review on a site like Yelp or Google Places, a nasty blog entry by a vindictive, loud-mouthed critic, an unflattering picture of your establishment posted online, or even just a single unfavorable tweet: it can undo your life’s work. It can offset all the great things that you, your employees, your brand managers, your publicist, and your ad agency have been doing. And it can keep tons of potential customers from walking through your door. (One study even says that a single bad review can cost you 30 customers!) No matter how big the Internet is – and – Read the full article
I once heard a friend say, “If you ever decide you want to work your butt off every day, try opening a restaurant!” Ain’t that the truth?! The restaurant business can be one of the most grueling, thankless, frustrating businesses in the world. It can also be one of the most creative, profitable, and rewarding businesses. It all depends on how it goes for you. Like most businesses, restaurants seem to be getting more competitive all the time. Sometimes, it’s not even a matter of who has the best food or the best prices. It’s all the business nuances: advertising, management, personnel, accounting, management of funds. Here are a few ideas that may help you to keep on cooking: Maximize Web presence As you know, these days, Web presence is everything. If you don’t have a website, you don’t exist to most people. Walk-by traffic and word of mouth advertising are great, but you need more than that to really thrive. You need a killer website – Read the full article
Ever heard of Kickstarter? If not, well – you ought to try it out some time. Especially if you’re planning on raising funds for a cause, a project, a product, a service, or a business. Kickstarter, after all, is currently the world’s largest online crowdfunding platform. It has successfully raised funds for endeavors that include indie films, music albums, books, food-related projects, and even solar energy technology. Kickstarter was launched in 2008 and it facilitates crowdfunding based on a “provision point mechanism”. This means that a Kickstarter project owner (“creator”) either gets the funding he has set to raise – or he gets nothing at all. If he meets the target on or before the deadline, he’ll get paid. And those who pledged money will receive prizes, freebies, and goodies from the creator (whatever he offered to entice people to contribute or pledge). If the creator doesn’t meet the target – well, no money changes hands. That’s right: if the – Read the full article
Have you ever asked yourself what happens when you write a query in the search engine of Google? “Uncle Google”, as you see it now, is far more different from the one that is born in 1998. The search process is constantly being upgraded, throughout the tube for the past 14 years there are more than 7000 major algorithm changes. Do you remember the first time when you were typing something in Google and he gave you suggestions for your query? Don’t you think it is even cooler that now he gives you not only suggestions for the landing page but also the option to preview it without actually visiting it? At first sight these commands seem simple to you but actually they are parts from the huge and complicated maze of tubes behind the curtains. With those and many other interesting and important changes in Google’s algorithm you can get familiar in the following infographic. (Just click this link – Read the full article
Social media seems to be dominating the lives of Internet users today, with 800 million users alone on Facebook. Other sites like Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and YouTube don’t seem to be doing too bad, either. It is amidst the rise of this new era of social media that businesses are now adopting new online marketing strategies to promote their products and services. Yes, we’re talking about the increasing importance of having a social media strategy. This post provides some guidelines on creating your own social media strategy, as well as a number of essential tips on marketing on today’s most popular social networks and platforms. Define your goals: Before you take the plunge into social media, it’s important to define your objectives first. What do you really hope to achieve by going social? Do you intend to boost traffic? Would you like to increase your number of followers? Do you aim to promote a new campaign or brand awareness program? – Read the full article
PHP programming is the most widely used programming language for Web applications. Many of the most popular websites today are built on PHP, while others contain scripts and projects built on this acclaimed programming language. Since its inception in 1995, PHP programming has become the favorite of all web developers. Every second web application has been made on the PHP platform, making it mandatory for a web developer to have some tricks up his or her sleeve: the more in-depth the knowledge, the more satisfying the result. You, too, can improve your proficiency and make your codes more responsive by having some aces up your sleeve. Here are some tips and tricks that PHP users can incorporate into their projects: Use a Cheat Sheet of SQL Injection Using an SQL injection can make your web applications more secure and foolproof. Every web developer should be aware that good security practices are important in today’s web world. SQL injection will not – Read the full article
Attention is what visitors pay to your blog if they find your content creative, interesting, original and inspiring. However, one of the realities of blogosphere is that people don’t stay on any page for very long. But how do they understand that your content really rocks? Usually, a Web user scans a page and decides within a few seconds if it’s worth staying on it and reading further or not. That’s why it is of vital importance to grab a reader’s attention by all possible means. The best blogs not only include amazing content, but they also look good. They invite visitors in to read more because they’re visually appealing. Fortunately, there are some easy tricks you can use to make your blog posts look great and grab visitors’ attention to your content. Write a click-worthy headline A catchy title is 80% of your success. If it’s catchy, intriguing or provocative, it will surely impel visitors to click on it – Read the full article
