Back in June Google announced that they would be making major changes across all of their products. The new changes all adhere to the key design principles of Google to be Focused, Elastic, and Effortless. The newest Google application to get the refresh is the Google Blog Service “Blogger”.
from http://www.blogger.com, September 2011
Blogger is a blog publishing service that simplifies the creation and maintenance of weblogs. Blogger was first launched in 1999 but was later purchased by Google in 2003. It has been years since Blogger has undergone any major updates however according to Google August 31, 2011 Blog Post Blogger was finally given a new look that presents a new streamlined experience.
What Does Blogger Have to Offer?
Blogger lets users create free blogs that can be used for a number of different reasons such as a personal journal, collaborative workspace, collection of memos, or for any other content the users wishes to share. Blogs have changed the way people share, discover, and digest information on the web. Blogs allow groups or individuals to find their online identify and provide an outlet for them to express their thoughts, share their knowledge, and connect with others. A blog provides a setting where the organization and sharing of personal commentary can reach and influence others all over the world.
A blog serves as more than just a microphone for bloggers, it is a thriving, evolving, and interactive environment. The interaction and communication that take place on a blog can be just as satisfying as having a face to face conversation. With Blogger Comments the readers can provide feedback of the blog post, offer their opinions and even seek clarification. The Blogger comment system also enables bloggers to have complete control over the commenting process. Users can choose to automatically allow all comments or choose to accept and decline comments individually. Blogger also provides access controls so you can determine who can read and write the blog. Blogger works great for multiple user blogs as well as for individual blog authors.
The Blogger profile is another major feature that allows users to create a personal profile to showcase their likes and dislikes. The Blogger profile helps users find other blogs that are relevant to their interests as well as helping others locate their blog. The Blogger’s template designer makes creating a unique blog a quick and simple process. Users can fully customize elements such as colors, fonts, layouts, backgrounds, and they can also even add custom CSS. Users have full ability to adjust the layout using the drag and drop feature. Blogger can also upload images or import them from existing web pages.
Blogger also comes with a mobile component, the “Mobile Blog Spot”. The Mobile Blog Spot optimizes your blog for mobile viewing and you can even update your blog by sending text, photos, and videos using email or SMS/MMS.
Getting back to the beginning of the article, it was mentioned that Blogger was recently given a fresh new look. “We’ve rewritten the entire editing and management experience from scratch so it’s faster and more efficient for you—and easier for us to update and improve over time”, says Google. The new streamlined blogging experience offers multiple locations to create or edit a blog from on the dashboard or on the settings page. There is also a new, larger draft editor which has more canvas space and a new overview section. The new overview section is used to gauge your blog visitors. This section has a graph that displays your number of blog visitors, comment activity, and the number of followers that your blog has. The new section also provides a list of helpful links, related blogs, and regular Blogger updates.
Whether you’re a current user or you are new to Blogger you can turn on the new user interface settings at your convenience. When logged in, users will soon notice a popup with instructions on how to get started.
For more information visit Blogger Support
Thanks for Reading have a Great Day!
Dustin
CDTek.com
Tags: blog, blog comments, blogger, blogger.com, blogs, Google
Posted in Blog, Business Tools, Google | No Comments »
The new school year has already started for some and approaching quickly for others. The last weeks of the summer are a crucial time for returning students to prepare for the new school year. Technology has been integrating itself into our culture for many years and it is now more prevalent in our schools more than ever. With summer coming to an end we thought it would be helpful to compile a list of the best student applications for the iPad and iPhone.
from http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/shop_iphone/family/iphone, August 2011
Since the introduction of the iPhone the numbers of apps have grown exponentially. Start the new school year off right by trying out some of the following applications. The apps are broken down into several categories ranging from personal organizers to financial assistance however many of the applications perform across multiple categories. Many of selected apps are designed to assist students with note taking, time management, relaxation, and much more
Personal and Class Organizers
IProscrastinate is a simple and intuitive task management application that lets you assign priority levels to your scheduled items.
This app helps you schedule classes, assignments, and important deadlines in a personal planner.
This application keeps your work organized and lets you assign upcoming tasks while monitoring your progress.
Like the other personal organizers this app keeps track of a student’s class schedule, teachers, and assignments.
The Cozi app is a simple list and calendar editor that lets you set alarm and reminders.
Note-Taking
“The best-selling handwriting app for over a year. You’ll get the fast, tactile gratification of writing on paper, with digital power and flexibility. Take notes, keep sketches, or share your next breakthrough idea — in the office, on the go, or home on the sofa.” -Cocoa Box Design LLC
“SoundNote is the best way to take notes in meetings, lectures, and interviews. It tracks what you type and draw while recording audio, so you’ll never worry about missing an important detail. During playback, just tap a word: SoundNote will jump right to the proper time in the audio.”- David Estes
Notability is a note-taking application that supports web clipping and has the ability to draw on or type over images.
Evernote lets you create notes, snap photos, and record voice memos that you can then access at any time from your iPhone, computer, or the web.
Along with the Bamboo stylus for the iPad this app allows users to create notes and sketches that can be shared visually, easily stored and archived for later use. It features different paper types (blank, lined or graph) and several pen thickness selections.
The InClass app lets you take written, audio, video, and photographic notes. You can also create schedules and alarms for due dates or homework assignments.
With this you can record lectures and take snap shot pictures. The snapshots are time stamped to coordinate with the sound recording letting the user navigate quickly through their notes.
Studying
This app lets users study with flashcards on their iPhone or iPod Touch. Users can create multiple-choice questions for practice and when the test is over “Cram” grades your test performance so you can track your progress.
This app lets you add text, record audio, and insert images from your photo library. Mental Case is a great memory bank for those things you come across each day that you want to remember. Mental Case also allows you to download flash cards from the World’s largest online repositories of study cards, FlashcardExchange.com and Quizlet.com. Choose from millions of flashcards, on topics ranging from Medicine to GRE and SAT exams.
FlashCards makes it easy to create flashcards on the iPhone. You can use text, pictures, or even audio to make your flash cards.
Flashcard Touch is a simple and intuitive learning tool that helps you memorize vocabularies, foreign languages, or just about anything you can put on an index card.
Study Aid helps users quickly create flashcards. Simply swipe left or right to go forwards or backwards in your list of cards, and swipe down for the answer and down again to go back.
Reference Guides
Everything you love about Dictionary.com on the iPhone and the iPad!
This easy to use iPhone application helps you build your vocabulary.
The Science Glossary application contains a glossary of scientific terms and short biographies. All definitions link to related terms and to a free detailed science learning module.
This app provides the standard periodic table of the elements which is helpful for anyone interested in or attending a chemistry course.
This application provides every possible math formula and calculations that a math student could ask for.
This app contains information from fifteen different biological systems. It provides a quick and detailed reference for the human Anatomy. The app contains text and detailed sketches.
Productivity / Utilities
This application serves as a scientific graphing calculator which can plot 2D and 3D graphs. It is similar to Texas Instruments TI-83, TI-84 minus the expensive price tag.
This app uses the GPS function on your iPhone to locate and tell you exactly where the closest Wi-Fi hotspot is, and how… Read the rest
Tags: app, app store, iPad, iPhone, ipod touch, itunes, mobile application, mobile apps
Posted in Mobile Applications | No Comments »
Lately More and more companies have begun to use Quick Response code or QR codes to promote their products and services. You may have noticed that recently some of your favorite companies are now displaying these 2-D barcodes on some of their products or advertisements. These two-dimensional icons are known as QR codes and can be scanned by smartphone cameras to automatically pull up text, photos, videos, music, URLs, and even make phone calls or send emails. This form of brand marketing is now on the rise and is providing businesses with many new, creative, and effective marketing opportunities.
Internetbeacon.com QR Code
Quick Response codes are still fairly new and because they are just getting started in the United States many people are still unaware of what they can do or how they work. Most of the Businesses that utilize Quick Response Coded promotional material also provide directions for first time users on how to use them. To produce the codes a company must use an online QR code generator and in order for the customer to access the information contained in the code they need to have a mobile QR scanner. Some of the popular QR generators include Kaywa Code Generator, iCandy, StickyBits, QR-Stuff, plus many other Mobile Barcode generators. Customers can download their free QR scanner from their smart phone app store.
According to a recent comScore Survey 14 million mobile users in the US have scanned a Quick Response Code but that’s only 6.2% of all mobile users. 60.5% of the code scanners were men that were mostly between ages 18-34 and had an income of over $100k. Around half of the participants said that they scanned the QR codes from a magazine or newspaper and roughly 35% scanned from product packaging. As consumer awareness for QR codes increases the number of uses for the codes also expands. The following are 10 creative places Quick Response Codes can be used to promote your business.
Business cards can only contain a small portion of information without looking too cluttered, with a QR code placed on your business card the contacts you meet can quickly access your all of your information and even store it on their mobile device. Business cards can accumulate and are often ignored which is why having the QR code automatically call or store the contact information will increase the chance of the new contact retaining your correct information.
- Mail advertisements or Postcards:
With mail advertisements or postcards your potential customers may be more inclined to check out your business. Most of the time people carry their mobile device on them and because it only takes a couple of seconds to scan and access your content the QR advertisements could prove to be very valuable. The majority of people discard mail newsletters but a QR code may peak their interest enough to discover more information.
- Magazine and Newspaper ads:
Magazine and newspaper ads also provide great space for Quick Response Code placement. Readers or skimmers will be able to see your advertisement and quickly acquire more details through the QR code. Sometimes readers don’t always own the newspaper or magazine that they see your advertisement in and having a QR code available would be a great way for readers to hold on to information. For example, the waiting room at a doctor’s or dentist office may have a magazine with an interesting business advertising that you want to learn more about. A Quick Response Code would enable you to scan, access, and store that information for later whether it is a phone number, website, or one of the many other possible uses of a QR code.
If you already run coupons in the newspaper you can add a QR code that provides users with more information such as store locations, directions, and additional promotions. Quick Response Codes can also be used to gain customer feedback. Companies can place a code on their customer receipts that provides their phone number and website or be used as a way to acquire customer feedback. For example the receipt code can offer a future discount in exchange for a few moments of the customer’s time.
Having a store display with a Quick Response code on it can allow a customer to access more information and reviews about a specific product. In addition QR codes can also be displayed in a window or on a company door for the people passing by. These codes can be especially helpful with providing store information during the hours that the business is closed.
QR codes on product packaging are also a good way to reach new and existing customers. Customers who purchased the product can easily learn more about it, send feedback, or call customer service. Quick Response Codes can be extremely useful for food delivery services, for example Papa John’s includes QR codes on their pizza boxes so customers can easily visit their website, place an order, and leave reviews.
- Stickers, magnets and Commercials:
Stickers and magnets with your QR code can be placed anywhere you or your customers wish to stick them. Again food delivery services can greatly benefit from this because users can quickly scan their fridge magnet when they want to place an order. Television commercials and YouTube videos can also be used to showcase your company’s… Read the rest
Tags: advertising, code, codes, Marketing, Mobile, QR code, qr generator, qr scanner, quick response code, scan
Posted in Marketing, Mobile Applications, Small Business Tips | 4 Comments »
One of the most important elements of a website is the title tag. A title tag is technically called a title element which is contained in the heading section of the website’s HTML code. A Title tag is required for all HTML/XHTML documents and defines the title for each web page. The title tag is considered the primary text description of an online document and besides the actual content it is regarded as the most important of all Search Engine Optimization factors.
What Makes the Title Tag So Special?
Although every webpage is required to have a title tag most businesses neglect to optimize them. A company website isn’t complete without a fully optimized title tag. With an optimized title tag you can greatly increase the chances of customers coming to your website. Optimized title tags are extremely important for websites because they are visible in three distinct locations. These locations include the top of the browser window, the search engine results page (SERP), and the links from external websites.
Title tags draw a lot of attention to the top of the browser window. This position also enables a page visitor to know immediately where they are and if they are in the right place. Other websites and social media often use the title tag as the anchor text when linking to your site. When displayed on a search results page the title tag can also quickly grab the attention of a searcher and influence them to you visit your website. Since the title tag is a highly important search engine ranking factor it directly coordinates with what users are searching for and allows you to target a specific audience. Title tags also help target important keywords. This again helps with ranking better in search engines and finding potential customers. The title tag also appears when people bookmark your page and lets them know what your site is at a quick glance.
How Do You Optimize a Title Tag?
As you can see the benefits of having an effective title tag are tremendous. Most importantly an optimized title tag has the potential to attract valuable traffic to your website and business. The following are some of the best practices associated with creating title tags.
Primary Keyword – Secondary Keyword | Brand Name
(Leverages your keywords, products or services)
Brand Name | Primary Keyword and Secondary Keyword
(Leverages your brand name and is recommended for bigger or more reputable companies)
- Place important keywords closer to the front of the title tag.
- Use less than 70 characters, otherwise the search results will show ellipsis – “…” to indicate that a title tag has been cut off.
- Create a descriptive and relevant keyword-laden title tag. The title tag is thought to be the most important place to use keywords to achieve high rankings.
- Create a compelling title that encourages users to visit your site while maintaining your relevance and integrity.
The title tag is hands down one of the most important elements of a website other than its content. In order for a business to take full advantage of the opportunity that the title tag provides they must fully optimize it for their website and keywords. By following the best practices that were outlined in this article a website can be well on their way to gaining more relevant traffic and a higher conversion rate.
Thanks for Reading have a Great Day!
Dustin
CDTek.com
Tags: keyword, optimized title tag, tags, title, title tag, title tags, website
Posted in Marketing, Small Business Tips, Website | No Comments »
Local businesses and local searches may have recently noticed that Google’s Place Pages have gone through a transformation. Back in July Google announced that they were going to be making ongoing adjustments to all their interfaces. Since then Google has made changes across their services including Google News, Google Maps, and Google. In line with their goals the new place pages attempt to make the user experience more focused, elastic and effortless.
from http://www.google.com/places/, August 2011
Like the previous renovated Google applications, Google Places is now cleaner and has more usability. It is now even easier to upload photos, submit reviews, and share great experiences with other users. Since the introduction of review on the place page last year, Google has realized the tremendous value and opportunity that they provide for its users. Google has now rearranged the page to have its own section for reviews and draws even more attention to the “write a review” actions. The new place page displays several bold and prominent write a review buttons in various locations. The main goal of this transformation was to increase user experience through reviews and generate a feeling of community amongst all Google users.
In addition to emphasizing the “write a review” call to action Google has also made the decision to remove third party reviews from the place pages. Google has expressed that these changes were made to reflect the current and future direction of the company but it has also been reported that it was to avoid a possible FTC investigation. According to Rand Fishkin at SEOMOZ, complaints from numerous third party review websites like Yelp, TripAdvisor, and Citysearch had compelled Google to remove their citations before a full blown investigation erupted. Google has showcased these reviews on their place pages for some time without ever having an issue but it seems that while Google was able to benefit the other sites were left out. Their frustration is to be expected since these websites were providing Google with a ton of reviews but weren’t receiving any form of compensation or website traffic.
Since these sites were never compensated for the reviews they claim that their content was being used unfairly. However even now that Google has removed the third party reviews those same companies argue that their websites are being unfairly pushed below Google’s own on the search engine results page.
To no surprise the number of available reviews for Google place pages are now severely limited. However Google is optimistic about their new focus on the Google only reviews and expect reviews to accumulate faster than ever. Although Google has removed the citations from the other review sites they will continue to provide links so that users can get a more comprehensive view of the place they are viewing.
In the future Google plans to continue its current direction of making the user experience more focused, elastic, and effortless. They also hope to find more ways to personalize results for local searches, integrate place page information into the web experience on all Google platforms, and as always find new ways to discover, rate, and share information and experiences with others.
Expect more changes to come and to learn more visit How to Research Local Citations After Google Removed them from Places!
Thanks for Reading have a Great Day!
Dustin
CDTek.com
Tags: citations, Google, google place page, Google Places, place page, place pages, places, review, reviews
Posted in Business Tools, Google | No Comments »
The real measure of a successful website isn’t the number of visitors but rather the number of conversions. A great looking web design and a high click through rate will ultimately mean nothing if they fail to generate conversions. A conversion is when a visitor comes to your site and performs a certain task. These desired actions could be purchasing a product, getting a quote, signing up for a newsletter, or any other specified goal. For most businesses attracting traffic isn’t the problem it’s acquiring the conversion. To help with increasing the conversion rate websites often implement landing pages and call to actions.
from http://www.onlinemarketing-trends.com/2011/02/top-3-best-practices-creating-landing.html, July 2011
A landing page is the webpage on which a visitor arrives on following the click action. Landing pages often target particular streams of traffic hence the highest importance to construct a targeted landing page. Email and social media marketing is a perfect opportunity to send visitors to a specific landing page with the best chance of conversion. Landing pages can drastically increase the opportunity to convert traffic into sales leads. Sending these individuals to a home page rather than a targeted conversion page could mean a huge missed opportunity.
A landing page can have various actions depending on the type of business. Such actions include signing up for newsletters, purchasing a product, getting a quote and so on. Although these actions will vary but the main goal will always be to attract, retain, and convert visiting users. The landing page is crucial to acquiring customers and guides visitors through the conversion process. Page visitors often have a limited tolerance for flaws in this process and even the smallest error can quickly turn them away. For example some people don’t like to fill out forms, some are afraid of being scammed when buying a product and others may not want to provide their information because they don’t want to be spammed. This process surely presents site owners with several difficulties which is why it is necessary to find creative methods to successful finalize the conversion.
It’s definitely important to view your landing page through the eyes of your customers. What does a potential customer contemplate before converting? Upon landing customers commonly consider if they are in the right place, the trust level they have for the site, the amount of time the process will take, and the potential benefit from the conversion. The landing page should first address these concerns and then proceed to display your introduction copy, any media content, product information, customer testimonials, as well as any other relevant information. Below are more elements that a landing page should contain.
How to Improve a Landing Page:
What is the purpose of your landing page? Once you have determined a clear goal for your landing page remain focused and try to limit navigation if possible. The purpose of the landing page is to obtain the conversion not direct users to other portions of your website.
Understand what they are looking for when they land on your page and be sure to address the needs of that targeted traffic. Avoid generic landing pages and try to produce an emotional appeal to your visitors.
Don’t include unnecessary elements for the fun of it and keep it free of distractions. Try to keep your landing page clean, simple, and to the point. Emphasize your purpose and stick to it.
It is a common mistake for landing pages not to match the advertisement or email that was used to link to the page. Visitors want to know that they have arrived at the correct location so provide visual cues to show customers that they are on the correct path. For instance use the same colors, keywords, and locations of action on the advertising and on the landing page.
- Keep the Call to action above the Fold:
The most important element on the landing page is the call to action. The call to action is the purpose behind the landing page and should be clearly visible. The call to action ties in directly with the conversion. A successful call to action is short, easy to understand, urgent, highly visible on the page, present throughout the landing page, and encourages people to convert. Like a regular newspaper a webpage has a virtual fold. Unfortunately anything that requires a user to scroll immediately loses some of its value and is sometimes ignored all together.
Only ask for necessary information because most people don’t like to fill out forms. Make your forms character specific so that letters can be entered only into word fields and numbers only in number fields. Also make your forms simple to tab through or automatically move to the next field once the information is entered.
Never lead viewers away from the focal point. Emphasize all important information with the use of typography, colors, and graphics. Without being obnoxious draw attention to and lead the viewer’s eyes to the conversion action. Be careful, adding too many colors, fonts, or pictures will create a distraction.
To optimize a landing page the best thing you can do is testing. Test various landing pages on different targeted groups and analyze the results to determine the best one. Following the testing process you should ask yourself the following questions. Is the page focused, does it provide quality to you and your visitors, does it maintain the same… Read the rest
Tags: call to action, click through rate, conversion, landing, landing page, landing pages, visitor, webpage
Posted in Small Business Tips, Website | 1 Comment »
The Search Engine Giant Google has recently introduced a new credit card to select U.S. advertising customers. Following the traditional release pattern for Google products the Google credit card is currently in a beta test phase and is invitation only. Invitations to participate in the new AdWords credit card experience were sent out to a handful of businesses Wednesday July 20, 2011. Unselected users who are interested in obtaining the new credit card will need to wait until the conclusion of the beta test, similar to the launch of Google+ and Gmail.
from http://www.google.com/adwords/awhelpcenter/, July 2011
Although the Google advertising credit card is a MasterCard that that is issued through the World Financial Capital Bank it can only be used to purchase search advertising from Google. The new card is designed to help businesses relieve some of the financial burden of advertising costs. When unable to purchase advertising a business can lose their connection to their customers and often experience a drop in traffic or sales. Without that outlet to reach their customers and showcase their products they miss out on that opportunity to generate revenue. Consequently, without this revenue the business lacks the resources to purchase additional advertising and propel future growth, which is where the new credit card could make a drastic difference.
Google credit card is able to lend some support and prevent a business that is short on funds from missing out on potential sales during the heavy upcoming sales seasons. With this credit card Google advertising customers are provided a line of credit with a locked in 8.99% interest rate with no annual fees. Google expressed that they realize that AdWords provides tremendous growth opportunities for small to medium sized businesses and the goal for the new card is to provide those businesses with a more supportive and attractive way to pay. The number of customers chosen to participate in the beta period is unknown and like most credit cards the minimum and maximum credit lines will vary per customers.
Although the card was created with the customer’s best interest in mind, Google also has an opportunity to capitalize on revenue from the credit card interest payments. Google makes 96% of its revenue from advertising and by offering a credit card they are not only offering their customers extra support but they can also collect extra income.
Brent Callinicos, Google’s Treasurer states “Obviously we have a robust balance sheet, so this is a way for us to use that balance sheet to help our customers, It isn’t a financial engineering project that we came up with and said this would be cool to do. It’s a customer need”.
Missing from the credit card is any type of rewards or bonus points. The company feels that given a choice their customers would rather utilize a card with a 9% interest rate over one that has an 18% interest rate and offers some sort of reward feature.
For more information visit:
Reuters- Google offers a credit card to advertisers
Sign Up For Google AdWords
Thanks for Reading have a Great Day!
Dustin
CDTek.com
Tags: advertising, adwords, card, credit card, customer, Google, google adwords, interest rate
Posted in Finance, Google, Marketing | 1 Comment »
Despite its unconventional name Squidoo can be an extremely beneficial Internet Marketing tool for small businesses. Squidoo is a community website platform that has been around for more than five years. During that time they have accumulated over 1.5 million lenses which are mini topical webpages that users create directly on the Squidoo platform. Squidoo calls these mini pages “lenses” because they draw attention to specific niches similar to how a camera lens focuses on a certain object or experience. During Squidoo’s first six months in operation more than 100,000 lenses were created, setting the tone for its future achievements.
from http://www.squidoo.com/, July 2011
Squidoo is completely free, easy to use, fast, and fun. The creation of Squidoo lenses can be a great way to showcase your area of expertise and reach new customers. Typically lenses compile information on a specific topic or business but they have also been known to be used for hobbies, passions, and personal profiles. Their original tagline “Everyone’s an Expert (on something)” explains Squidoo’s main principle, everyone has something to contribute and it’s their goal is to provide an outlet for that sharing.
Why Use Squidoo:
Besides the fact that it’s a free high quality social media platform, Squidoo offers users the chance to reach an expansive online community and potentially build a larger customer base. Squidoo lenses are niche focused and offer some of the best content and advice on the Internet. With the help of Squidoo a small business could effectively spread their message and company awareness to millions of users.
This free promotional resource can attract potential clients and may encourage them to visit your company’s website. Squidoo marketing allows you to provide users with a ton of useful information and provide unlimited links your website, blog, and products. The lens owners even have the chance to generate revenue using Squidoo Profit Modules and Widgets. Most importantly, Google likes Squidoo and your lenses have a good chance of being indexed. The bottom line is that like most social networks, Squidoo provides an opportunity to find more potential customers and offers many more paths to you website.
Getting Started With Squidoo:
When using Squidoo for the first time you will be required to create a username and password. After establishing an account you can begin filling in your main profile, this profile will be similar to your home page and will be connected to each of the lenses that you create. Also the profile is a great opportunity to earn link value by linking to your company website. Your profile consists of your name, username, bio, picture, feature lenses, links to external sites, and your account settings.
Once you are finished you can click on the Create a lens button on the Squidoo Dashboard to begin your first Squidoo lens. When building a lens keep in my mind that there are key elements that every lens needs to have to be an effective marketing tool. The following is a list of what users look for and appreciate when surfing Squidoo lenses.
Make sure that your content is engaging and your enthusiasm for the subject is apparent.
- Easy to digest amounts of content
Be careful with the amount of text that you include. Try delivering small bite size amounts of information so visitors can easily scan your content. Most users do not want to read a book when searching for specific information so instead try to take the PowerPoint approach by adding bulleted information.
In order to drive appropriate attention to your website stay focused on what your lens is about. Users who visit your site mostly arrive there by searching for your topic and probably don’t want to be presented with unrelated information.
The modules on Squidoo provide a great opportunity to link to external sites. Users can link their other social networking accounts like Twitter and Facebook directly on their lens. The Twitter module will allow a user to display their user name, amount of followers, and recent post. Additionally a user can link RSS feeds to their lens which provides a great way to link to their company blog. Squidoo also provides a number of other modules that allow users to link to any website on the Internet.
In addition to useful content eye candy is another major part of retaining visitors. Users want to be presented with exciting design and content not something that appears dull. Pictures are a great way to add to the user experience and provoke more positive reaction.
Again the purpose is to entice visitors and avoid being boring. Using the same module over and over again will tire quickly unless of course you have some amazing content. Change up your lens structure by alternating between the hundreds of available modules.
Squidoo allows users to associate forty tags with their lens. It’s advised that you use all forty keywords because each one acts as another way for other users to locate your lens. It is important to use tags that are relevant to the topic to ensure that the correct audience is being targeted. In addition to the forty lens tags, users can also add tags in their pictures and other link modules.
Squidoo and other social network users like to be able to communicate and interact with other users. On a Squidoo lens, users can engage their visitors by can creating comment modules, polls, surveys, guest books,… Read the rest
Tags: content, internet marketing, lens, lenses, module, Small Business, Squidoo, Squidoo lens
Posted in Marketing, Small Business Tips, Social Networking | No Comments »
Following a week of promising reporters something awesome, Chief Executive and founder of Facebook Mark Zuckerberg held a live press conference Wednesday July 6, 2011. At the press conference Facebook delivered on its promise and announced a triad of features including a Chat Redesign, Group Chat options, and Video Calling with Skype. The new features began rolling out simultaneously as the announcement was broadcasted live.
from http://www.facebook.com/FacebookLive/ July 2011
During the week leading up to the announcement the internet had been buzzing with much speculation and it was rumored that Facebook would be announcing the new video chat feature. It was only a matter of time until video chat was available on Facebook especially since the May 2011 Purchase of Skype by Microsoft, a longtime investor of Facebook. “We have a very longstanding relationship with Microsoft,” said Zuckerberg. During the conference Zuckerberg mentioned that they had also been in talks with Skype even before their acquisition by Microsoft.
With the introduction Of Google’s new Google+ Social Network, Facebook had seemed to fall into the background lately. Even with Facebook’s new features the amount of hype and demand surrounding Google+ has made it a strong competitor. Could people be ready for a change or at least be ready to try something new? The announcement had promised something awesome and although the new features are awesome they seems to fall short. They fall short in the sense that just a week ago Google showcased the same feature with their new product. None the less the video chatting will add a new level to the social networking experience and it’s also available now unlike Google+.
Also present at the press conference was Tony Bates, CEO of Skype. Bates and Zuckerberg both emphasized that with Facebook Video Calling you can Call Your Friends Right from Facebook and connect with friends or family from around the world. Prior to the first video call all users will need to perform a simple plugin download that takes under 30 seconds to install. From there a video call can be initialized during a regular chat session by clicking “start a video call”. Once a user selects this option a prompt will appear and negotiate a connection between the two computers. When receiving a call a user will hear a ring and will have the option to accept or reject the call. During the demonstration it was stressed that the user’s webcam would not initiate until the request is accepted.
With the previous chat feature a user would have to access the small chat tab located at the lower right corner or click the user’s picture on the left sidebar. Users no longer have to hover over the pictures of other users to see their username which caused problems before because of the small size and the frequency that people change their profile picture. The new chat design uses the size of the user’s browser window to make it easier to locate a friend and initiate a conversation. The new full screen length friends list can list every one and displays their picture, name, and availability.
According to Facebook, since the introduction of Groups over 50% of their users are using the feature. The new group chat allows users to select a current group or select specific users to pull them into a group chat session. Users can even select a friend that is offline so that they receive a summary of the conversation. Social media is no longer just an online hangout for young kids. It has drastically changed the way people and businesses from all around the world interact. Social networking sites provide a tremendous benefit for businesses and these new features only continue to evolve the way companies and employees communicate. With the recent introduction of Groups and because users can share selectively with certain users it makes Facebook a great tool for workplace communication. The Group feature along with the newly introduced video calling and group chat has the potential to make work place communication extremely convenient and simple.
In addition to the new features the first moments of the live announcement were dedicated to displaying statistics on the growth and expected growth of social networking. Zuckerberg explained that we are on the curve of exponential growth for technology and social media. He points out that the future applications or features will all be built on the current infrastructure and will allow for an even quicker product production cycle. When asked about Google+, Mark went on to say that social networking is the way of the future and even the companies that weren’t traditionally social will all be eventually. He also encourages companies to move towards the way of social networking, improve it, and see where it takes us. “If we build the best service, there’s massive value there. If we don’t, somebody else will” -Zuckerberg
Although the Facebook’s new features aren’t exactly original, Facebook remains the original social network. Is that enough to keep you from switching to Google+ when it becomes available?
Thanks for Reading have a Great Day!
Dustin
CDTek.com
Tags: chat, Facebook, group chat, social, social network, Social Networking, video calling, video chat
Posted in Business Tools, Communication, Facebook | No Comments »
Microsoft has always been at the top when it comes to software development. Whether it’s the Windows OS or the applications like Microsoft Office, the company has built a successful reputation and has maintained its dominance throughout the years. The success of Microsoft hasn’t stopped competitors from trying to achieve the same public perception, for example Google Docs. Google Documents enable users to create documents, spreadsheets, presentations, and drawings from any location using cloud computing.
from http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/office365/, June 2011
The new direction in cloud based computing may have drawn in a few of Microsoft’s customers however that was before Microsoft released its own cloud based software. Tuesday June 28, 20111 CEO Steve Balmer announced the worldwide availability of Microsoft Office 365, a collection of the Office, SharePoint, Exchange, and Lync software all available on a cloud service.
Office 365 offers users the most recognized productivity and collaboration tools through the cloud for a monthly subscription. Microsoft may not have been the first to offer these cloud based services but given the fairly new trend of cloud computing and Microsoft’s strong reputation, they are likely to remain ahead of their competitors. Google Docs does however offer one advantage to their individual users, it’s free! When facing opposition from software that is offered for free the quality and extra features of Microsoft become the major selling point for many customers.
Beta testing for Microsoft Office 365 began over a year ago and has earned high praise from the businesses who had signed on to try it. The test included over 200,000 organizations, most of which reported a boost in productivity while reducing their IT expenses. If Microsoft’s reputation, customer service, and experience still aren’t enough to convince you to Try out Microsoft Office 365 the following list of features may help you decide.
Office 365 is designed for all types of businesses and comes in a variety of pricing plans. The professional/small business edition is perfect for organizations with less than 25 workers and limited IT needs. This Professional Plan is $6 per user per month and comes with 25GB storage, 25MB sharing using Exchange, Access to Office web apps, Mobile access, document sharing with SharePoint, Desktop sharing with Lync, and premium Anti-virus and spam filtering. For larger businesses that need more IT assistance there is the Enterprise Edition which is offered at $10, $16, $24, and $27 per user per month depending on what features are necessary for your business.
With Office 365 users can achieve a new level of connectivity by using instant messaging and video chat for virtual meetings. These features enable users to remain on the same page and work more productively. The cloud service now allows multiple users to work on files at the same time, share ideas, share calendar items, and work together with ease from any location. Using Microsoft exchange, SharePoint, and Lync will also enhance the communication and collaboration through document sharing and desktop sharing.
Microsoft Office 365 provides online access from any location to all the favorite software programs like Word, PowerPoint, Exchange, OneNote, and Outlook. The 365 software also helps maximize your current technology and avoid overspending on IT. The flexible per month subscription lets users increase or decrease their service needs and spend more efficiently.
The Office 365 has a huge online support community and comes with 24×7 phone and online IT support. The service is also hosted on the best of the best data centers and has strong security and privacy features. With the administrator console IT professionals can easily monitor and control all user accounts and their access rights. In addition the service is financially guaranteed to have a 99.9% uptime. Users can also visit the Office 365 Support page or the Microsoft Trust Center to learn more about the privacy and security settings for Office 365.
To learn more information about Microsoft’s online productivity suite check out more information at Microsoft Office 365 and the official Microsoft Office 365 Press Release.
Thanks for Reading have a Great Day!
Dustin
CDTek.com
Tags: Cloud, Cloud Computing, Cloud Service, Microsoft, Microsoft Office, Microsoft Office 365, Office 365, Word Processor
Posted in Business Software, Business Tools, Cloude Computing | 1 Comment »
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Getting started with a Faster and cleaner looking Blogger
Back in June Google announced that they would be making major changes across all of their products. The new changes all adhere to the key design principles of Google to be Focused, Elastic, and Effortless. The newest Google application to get the refresh is the Google Blog Service “Blogger”.
from http://www.blogger.com, September 2011
Blogger is a blog publishing service that simplifies the creation and maintenance of weblogs. Blogger was first launched in 1999 but was later purchased by Google in 2003. It has been years since Blogger has undergone any major updates however according to Google August 31, 2011 Blog Post Blogger was finally given a new look that presents a new streamlined experience.
What Does Blogger Have to Offer?
Blogger lets users create free blogs that can be used for a number of different reasons such as a personal journal, collaborative workspace, collection of memos, or for any other content the users wishes to share. Blogs have changed the way people share, discover, and digest information on the web. Blogs allow groups or individuals to find their online identify and provide an outlet for them to express their thoughts, share their knowledge, and connect with others. A blog provides a setting where the organization and sharing of personal commentary can reach and influence others all over the world.
A blog serves as more than just a microphone for bloggers, it is a thriving, evolving, and interactive environment. The interaction and communication that take place on a blog can be just as satisfying as having a face to face conversation. With Blogger Comments the readers can provide feedback of the blog post, offer their opinions and even seek clarification. The Blogger comment system also enables bloggers to have complete control over the commenting process. Users can choose to automatically allow all comments or choose to accept and decline comments individually. Blogger also provides access controls so you can determine who can read and write the blog. Blogger works great for multiple user blogs as well as for individual blog authors.
The Blogger profile is another major feature that allows users to create a personal profile to showcase their likes and dislikes. The Blogger profile helps users find other blogs that are relevant to their interests as well as helping others locate their blog. The Blogger’s template designer makes creating a unique blog a quick and simple process. Users can fully customize elements such as colors, fonts, layouts, backgrounds, and they can also even add custom CSS. Users have full ability to adjust the layout using the drag and drop feature. Blogger can also upload images or import them from existing web pages.
Blogger also comes with a mobile component, the “Mobile Blog Spot”. The Mobile Blog Spot optimizes your blog for mobile viewing and you can even update your blog by sending text, photos, and videos using email or SMS/MMS.
Getting back to the beginning of the article, it was mentioned that Blogger was recently given a fresh new look. “We’ve rewritten the entire editing and management experience from scratch so it’s faster and more efficient for you—and easier for us to update and improve over time”, says Google. The new streamlined blogging experience offers multiple locations to create or edit a blog from on the dashboard or on the settings page. There is also a new, larger draft editor which has more canvas space and a new overview section. The new overview section is used to gauge your blog visitors. This section has a graph that displays your number of blog visitors, comment activity, and the number of followers that your blog has. The new section also provides a list of helpful links, related blogs, and regular Blogger updates.
Whether you’re a current user or you are new to Blogger you can turn on the new user interface settings at your convenience. When logged in, users will soon notice a popup with instructions on how to get started.
For more information visit Blogger Support
Thanks for Reading have a Great Day!
Dustin
CDTek.com
Tags: blog, blog comments, blogger, blogger.com, blogs, Google
Posted in Blog, Business Tools, Google | No Comments »