What’s the difference between a Mobile Website and a Mobile App? A good marketing strategy ensures your business is represented on the media your customers use. Since people are increasingly interacting with mobile devices such as smartphones, you should consider if a mobile website or a mobile app would be an asset to your business. So why do mobile users need special treatment? Smaller monitors and touch screens mean that presentation and data entry for traditional computers may seem awkward and cumbersome to a mobile user. Furthermore, mobile devices have hardware such as a camera, GPS, and compass that offer more opportunities if software can effectively use them. There are two approaches for designing content for mobile devices: creating a mobile website and creating a mobile app. Mobile Website A mobile website is generally cheaper to build since you can use the content management system (CMS) of your main website. You can develop a mobile theme for your site to – Read the full article
The explosion of mobile over the last several years is well documented. However, issues with the usability (or lack thereof) of mobile devices, websites and applications seem to be getting little play in the midst of all the hype. The still-very-venerable Jakob Nielsen, though, has warned that usability of mobile devices and websites is horrifyingly similar to the bad old early days of personal computing. Reviewing usability tests of mobile devices just last summer (2009), Nielsen wrote: “Observing user suffering during our sessions reminded us of the very first usability studies we did with traditional websites in 1994.” He summarizes his findings: “the mobile user experience is miserable.” Indeed, most of us seem to expect spotty service, ridiculously scrolly pages, multiple clicks to accomplish one step in a process, and limited functionality all around. Why? And for how long are people going to put up with this? Recently the Toronto usability company Interpix Design worked with a major Canadian company, – Read the full article
This week we received an email from a DePaul student (Go Blue Demons!), who was looking to interview a web design company about usability. I spent some time thinking about it and developing some answers and I thought I would share it on our blog- Enjoy! (1) Describe the company. Briefly describe the products they build and/or the services they provide Here are some quotes from our website but basically we are a web design company that focuses on Search Engine Optimization and Conversions by using the latest W3C complaint coding (xHTML and CSS) and also using the latest usability compliance. “Web design is more than just creativity, it’s usability. Understanding your visitors and how they use your website will lead to increased conversions. For each new website, our team of graphic designers, SEO consultants and marketing specialists work together on strategy, design, usability, and goals.” Lakeshore Branding, what started as a small marketing firm in 2007 has evolved into – Read the full article
When you try and use Internet marketing and blogging to bring in more business, it is essential to think about each word that you publish. Each page of your website needs to have a goal and each blog post must be aimed at achieving the following: Providing readers with information regarding your business and industry Creating a call for action Encouraging sales Working on optimizing the website Providing customer service Building brand recognition Installing trust Fitting all that into a blog post of around 300 to 500 words may seem like a lot but with the help of SEO copywriters, each of your blog posts can achieve all of those goals for you. Working on Web Copy Your website will no doubt be split up into different sections; what they are will depend upon the services and products that you provide. Most websites will have the obligatory Welcome page, About Us page, and the Contact page. These need to be – 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
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
In an October 2011 report by ComScore, it was found that smartphones and tablets drive nearly 7 percent of digital traffic in the US. The number is bound to increase, especially as increased Wi-Fi availability and mobile broadband adoption continue to drive connectivity. Other key findings in the report include: 116 million people in the US alone are users of mobile media. Nearly half of those who own tablets (such as the Apple iPad) made or completed a purchase using their tablet. Publishers are extending their reach to cross-platform audiences who own smartphones, tablets, and other Web-enabled mobile devices (such as the iPod Touch). What does this all mean? It means that if you’re a publisher, Internet marketer, online advertiser, SEO specialist, social media marketer, online retailer, e-Commerce store owner, blogger, developer, Web designer, etc. – if you, at the very least, have a website that’s meant to showcase your work or help you do business – then you now – Read the full article
These days, you can’t call yourself an entrepreneur or a marketer without any knowledge of how to use the Internet to drive your business. That’s why we here at Lakeshore Branding keep pushing WordPress – because it’s an awesome tool for anyone wanting to establish themselves online. It’s a semantic personal publishing platform with focus on aesthetics, Web standards, and usability. So, whatever your title is – small business owner, online retailer, Internet startup founder, online marketer, social media guru, new media advertiser, affiliate marketer – you’ll find something valuable and unique in the way WordPress works. But to change the way WordPress looks? That’s what this list of WordPress themes is for. We picked out a number of the best business and marketing WordPress themes so that you won’t have to. With this list, we also hope you’ll be able to enhance the ease and efficiency of your WordPress experience. If you find a favorite business or marketing WordPress – Read the full article
