Over the past couple of years Google have made numerous statements regarding mobile web design.  But today, a huge announcment has been made which threatens to strike fear into the heart of website owners;  Actually lets clarify that; website owners who have not made their website mobile phone optimised.

Google have confirmed that in the near future, that Google products will be displaying results on mobile devices, based on how well sites perform on mobiles devices.  What does this mean? If you website does not have a mobile version, is not responsive, you may be losing up-to 40% of your traffic.

A recent study suggested that up-to 40% of local searches are done from mobiles.  So if 40% of your visitors are using mobiles, and your site isn’t mobile optimised, you potentially just lost 40% of your custom. The way people interact with technology in their everyday life is changing, and this is something Google is looking to change with. Mobile SEO is now a critical part of any content strategy.

Yoshikiyo Kato’s announcment for Google is a clear indication that Google is putting serious weight behind mobile optimisation and the future of mobile search.  In several official statements they have previous stated that their preferred method of mobile site is ‘responsive’.  Whilst more complex to code, a responsive site delivers a much more tailored experience to the end-user. 

In the official statement, Yoshikiyo Kato was able to share that mis configured redirects and badly coded mobile sites as being the target of this algorithm change which affects Google mobile web page rankings.  They advise testing your site on multiple platforms to ensure no errors are present, and that webmasters should learn from analytical data. Taking into account the development of Google mobilizer and Google mobile ads in recent months, mobile web performance has to be given much more importance in both the design of custom mobile templates and faulty redirects.

Whilst we don’t know the full facts at this stage, it is clear that Google are gearing up to the changing face of mobile browsing.  Google mobile web page rankings could represent a significant portion of your traffic, which is why thinking about mobile optimisation now is so important.

We often use social media like Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter etc in our day to day life, these technologies are not just a great way to stay connected but also keeps us well informed. As we all know that your profile page is the most important component while you are on social media, and thinking about your social media profile setup is critical.

However, sometimes we tend to overlook the importance of our profile page for websites like Facebook. So what does a good or a bad profile page mean to you? Well, I think it does mean a lot if you really use Facebook, twitter on daily basis. Therefore let’s try to find out what are the advantages of a good profile page on all social media websites.

Who You Are

First Impression is the last impression. Yes! Your profile page really helps strangers to know you better. In fact I would say you can tell the people who you are, what you do etc in a manner that you would like them to know.

That’s why setting up a great profile page can create a good perception about you as a person. Moreover you are free to control or manage any information about yourself. You can share to the audiences as you would like to do.

Establishing Authority

If you are on social media for some real business then you could establish an authority through your excellent social profile. Here authority would mean a person who is a genuine expert or master in his or her field.

Generally a profile page reveals a lot about a person. Hence always create a profile to portray yourself as a punter or a guru.  Even if you are not on social media for business reasons a good profile page can create an authority among your friends and colleagues.

A Consistent Signature

First let me explain what you mean by signature in regard to a profile page. Well! It would simply mean creating your own style on the Internet. Your signature could be a single line mentioning yourself or a photo/logo with your name/watermark or a small bio.

All these can be your signature but note one thing, it must be consistent across all social media websites (YouTube, Facebook etc). So create your profile page keeping your unique style in mind.

Building Network

Social media is a place where like minded people come together. Hence your profile could be a bonding factor between individuals who think similarly. So set up your profile page according to the people with whom you would like to build a social network.

For example you can build network with businessman, writers, health specialists, consultants etc. Social media is one of the best tools to build networks in a small interval of time. Moreover, people in the network can relate to you much more closely.

Free Public Relations

Public relations or PR is a method to get in contact with a lot of people around the globe very quickly. Media is the most important platform for any kind of PR exercise. However this is very costly and to run a PR campaign could cost a lot of money.

But a good profile page on social media websites can help to make you popular on the internet. All this can be absolutely free if you take care of the above mentioned points that I made. As a matter of fact today every celebrity has a profile page on Facebook or YouTube.

Conclusion

In conclusion I would suggest to you not to ignore the importance of a profile page. Hence, set up a profile page that lets you tell about yourself, tailor it to get an authority, create your own style or signature, build network or community and enjoy the PR benefits for free. It doesnt matter if you are a one-man-man or a large pharmacy, the rules are essential the same.

We thought it was about time that we introduced our two newest member to the MakeUsAWebsite team. Kate Random Love joined us on a part time basis around 9 weeks ago. Kate is undertaking responsibility for the core article writing work for our clients.

The main purpose of the articles which we publish is to promote our customers websites and services. By bringing Kate into the team we are able to offer a level of publishing which is almost unprecedented in the SEO industry.

Kate’s background is in the history of art, and she received her PhD on Contemporary Art in New York in 2010. Earlier in her career worked for the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, writing departmental Press Releases and editing a weekly interdepartmental Government magazine. So far Kate has enjoyed working on client projects and researching all kinds of topics from online backups and storage, to pet products and holidays. “What I am really enjoying about working at MakeUsAWebsite is the diversity – no two days are ever the same and there is always something new to write about.”

By producing content of the highest standard we are able to ensure that they can be published on the highest quality websites. This in turn helps the customers via direct leads and the positive SEO benefits of having the articles linking back to their website.

Scott Braithwaite has also joined us in the capacity of PHP coder. His core responsibility will be coding content managed websites based on the WordPress platform. Scott is an experienced PHP developer who has been working with PHP since 2002.

Both Kate and Scott are based in our office in Cark In Cartmel, Cumbria. Whilst we are in quite rural part of the country, we are very fortunate to have found and welcomed two highly skilled professionals to the team.

Back in 2006, a micro blogging service called ‘Twitter’ was launchedin a giant pool of internet social media startups. The sole idea behind this launch was to come up with a social networking platform, where people from different terrains of the world would come together, in order to share their opinions, ideas, stories or personal experiences. However, within a fairly short period of time, Twitter successfully managed to transform itself into one of the most effective tools for communications. Whether, it is the interaction between individuals or between a business and its customers, Twitter has been proved to be much more than just a social networking fad.

Advantages of using the ‘Twitter Platform’ to build your brand

1. Visibility and exposure

The most crucial task for any business enterprise is to reach its target customers. With an enormous platform like ‘Twitter’, you can ensure that your brand gets the right kind of exposure. Tweeting is the best and the fastest way to endorse your business offerings and services. An effective approach that is being smartly framed with the right choice of words is all that you need to use your tweets as a marketing tool.

2. The smartest marketing tool ever!

The key mantra for a successful business is nothing but its list of satisfied customers. The more you impress your audience, the more they will talk about you. Twitter helps your customer circle to grow at a lightning speed. Not only this, but you can also directly interact with your customers through this platform. Responding to their queries and feedbacks is a great way to establish strong relationship with your clients and customers.

3. Keep an eye on your competition

Another huge advantage of using Twitter to promote your business is that you get to watch your competition closely and consistently. With millions of businesses sharing their trends and other information on their respective twitter pages, you can now easily follow the current market situation and act accordingly.

How to get more followers on Twitter?

Listed below are some of the most effective tips that can help you to boost your Twitter traffic.

1. Let people know about your twitter existence

Well, you just can’t expect to open an account and wait for the followers to magical swarm in. You need to make yourself visible, in order to grab the attention of the masses. It can be done in various ways. For instance, one can start by following others. According to statistics, if you follow 1000 people, then there is a strong chance that at least 100 of them will follow you back. Also, you can use other social networking platforms, in order to promote your Twitter page.

2. Tweet everyday!

Active and a consistent presence is the most effective way to get more followers on twitter. Promoting your business is definitely the main aim of tweeting, but it should not be the only aim. You must ensure that you also share certain information, pictures and links, which your followers may find interesting and entertaining.

3. Buy Twitter followers

Well, if you want instant popularity on Twitter, you can opt for alternative strategies like buying thousands of followers at one go. However, you must be very careful, with this type of method. You must do an extensive research about the sources, which are offering such services, before you spend your money.

Anyone who has been involved in search engine optimization for some time will quickly tell you that SEO is a moving target. Google is constantly making updates and changes to their algorithm that is responsible for ranking your websites. Recently Eric Schmidt, the executive chairman at Google made this statement.

In summary: ” Google will be paying more attention to websites that have “verified” results.”

It is evident that Google is penalizing website authors for being anonymous and not becoming “verified” as a Google author. According to Eric, there is now a real penalty to trying to remaining anonymous on the web in Google search results.

The question is, “What can YOU do today to offset this new ranking factor in Google?”

Today, begin building up your Author profile in Google using author tags. It is looking as though Google is taking Rel=author very serious and that the authority you currently have as an author will have a factor in determining your relevance in Google. In fact, other search engine such as Bing have access to databases in Facebook and use “likes” and “shares” as a factor in their ranking algorithm.

Now that Google has made it public that rel=author will play a part in the ranking algorithm. Let’s take a look at a few factors that Google can potentially use in its algorithm to determine this rank.

1. Article Velocity- this potential concept encompasses +1′s, tweets, Facebook likes and shares. This data can easily be measured as a social event measured over a period of time. In short, the more you have of each of these will determine your authority as an author in a particular niche.

2. Social Events- this potential concept would relate to the amount of social events that are generated from each of your articles for a period of time. This could be measured on a monthly basis.

3. Sites Published- this potential concept of ranking would take into account author columns in public periodicals such as the New York Times and other well published online magazines. When an author uses their Google author account into one of these columns, they will be able to enjoy a great boost in website rankings.

4. Author Analysis- this potential evaluation concept is more than likely in place. Authors will be compared against other authors in the same niche to determine popularity.

5. Google +1- this potential ranking concept is quite an easy task for Google. By evaluating your Google +1 profile, they can see how many people have read your content and have interacted with you. This also is true for company profiles as well.

Although this list is not exhaustive on what can be used to potentially rank your websites in terms of author tags, the simple solution is to start building as much authority as you possibly can into your Google author profile. For best results from your content marketing, it is important to have a main writer that you work with that has a passion for what your writing about. If your content does not have passion, it will not sell.

We expect Google to take advantage of Google +1 more and more in the future. And again, the best course of action a website owner can take is to start building their own personal brand right now. Publish on as many authority websites as you can, and ensure that those site publish your rel=author tag linking to your G+ profile!

When WordPress was launched, it was hardly considered competition amongst other media publishing giants. Although it had a slow beginning, WordPress now powers over 22 percent of the Internet, making it one of the most significant blogging tools. Several updates have improved the program over the past few years, version 3.5 being the most current. Existing features, such as the media library and theme previewer, were primarily focused on in WordPress 3.5. Here are some of the new and improved features in this new version:

1. Media Uploader and Manager Improvements

The new media manager is one of the biggest developments in WordPress history. Instead of searching through the messy icons of the editing area, an obvious “Add Media” button has been implemented. Upon clicking Add Media, a large display box appears where users can drag and drop files into. While this feature has been in previous versions of WordPress, version 3.5 is smoother and provides a better interface. Media uploading has also been consolidated. Organizing galleries is as simple as copying and pasting. Overall, the workflow of the entire media library is logical, simple, and easy to use.

2. Tumblr Importer Support

Tumblr, one of the most popular blogs of the past few years, has finally been integrated into version 3.5. Previously, there was no way to include Tumblr content into WordPress, but 3.5 can import Tumblr blogs. However, it can be a little slow due to Tumblr’s systems. To activate the Tumblr import Support, go to Settings Import page and follow the resulting instructions. The process can be time consuming, but the effort is well worth it.

3. Modified Dashboard

New users on WordPress can find the dashboard to be somewhat overwhelming. Unfortunately, this information is not entirely condensed in 3.5, although WordPress does make it easier for users to learn about setting up pages, themes, and other topics. Other user interface changes have been made as well, including the merging of the Privacy page into Reading Settings. Obviously, an intense effort was put into designing a clean, simple user experience.

4. Favorite Plugins

For developers, setting up WordPress installs is a regular and hefty process. However, with the addition of the new “Favorite” button on every plugin page, installs become easier. Users can install their favorite plugins in one click. Also, in Plugins > Add New admin page, “Quick Link”, ”Upload”, and “Popular” buttons will be found in a simplified menu.

5. Removing the Links Manager

In previous versions, WordPress had a feature called “Blogroll.” However, users quickly realized that WordPress was not only a blogging tool, but also a Content Management System. Due to its inappropriate nickname, it was renamed “Links,” but the feature remained largely unused. In 3.5, Links has been erased, although older WordPress installs still include this feature. For those who may need the Links Manager, it can be installed as a plugin.

Obviously, WordPress 3.5 provides major improvements for developers and new users. While development tools received excellent improvements, the user interface was more drastically modified. Not only is the update important for security purposes, but also the system performs smoother and is condensed into new menus. New themes such as Twenty Twelve were also introduced, further emphasizing the fresh, user-friendly experience of version 3.5.

Derrick Cruz is a freelance tech and home improvement blogger. He finds inspiration for his Word Press blogging from myraid influences, ranging from nature to architectural roofing designs.

The WordPress app for iOS has been updated to version 1.4. The update introduces new features for authors to be more interactive with the visitors to their blogs. The WordPress app for iOS is for users that want to manage their blog content on the go. With WordPress version 1.4 for iOS users can now: Manage and record comments, post updates, record followers, and more.

All this can now be down from the convenience of your phone or tablet. With the latest update, the company known as Automattic has enabled push notifications for all of the important things you want to know. You no longer have to manually refresh or re-enter the app to find the latest events happening on your blog. Since the WordPress app for iOS is probably the most elegant solution for managing your blog on the go, many users will find this update to be important for the new features 1.4 boasts.

Before the update to 1.4, users were only able to get push notifications for new comments posted on their blogs. If you want to get push notifications for certain events and not others, the new update allows you to customize that too. You can see your event notifications from anywhere in the app. This is important because with how multi layered the app is (you may be doing many different things if trying to edit a blog post or create a new page from the app) you will always want access to the new events happening on your blog. WordPress.com hosted blogs will have access to even more, the same things they have in the WordPress.com toolbar. Including: Likes, Reblogs, Follows, and Badges/Stats Highlights.

One of the other big features offered by this update is the ability to manage comments all from one centralized screen – independent of your blog (if you have multiple WordPress blogs). This means that you can view new comments, moderate them, and reply to them across all of your blogs without leaving the screen you are on. This new comment moderation screen will be helpful for those that get a lot of comments on their posts and want to reply to them in a swift manner.

WordPress 1.4 also comes with new bug fixes for the app. These bug fixes include a fix for the ability to properly view statistics if you have a self hosted WordPress blog. Another problem that has been fixed is the problematic syncing off offline posts and drafts, causing users to possibly lose their content.

WordPress 1.4 allows users to manage their blog from a phone or tablet. Maintaining a blog has never been more elegant or convenient. If you are new to the app and have a self-hosted WordPress blog, please know that in order to get the features offered by the mobile version of WordPress, you must have the WordPress Jetpack plugin. Once you have acquired the Jetpack plugin, users will find the WordPress 1.4 for iOS to be an integral key to maintaining one or more blogs.

Martha Hendrix is a freelance tech and gadget blogger. Whether she’s plugging away at a Word Press blog, or tinkering with a Talis Equipment Portion Scale, she spends her days in a mechanical world.

Once upon a time, website videos were a fun but unnecessary frill that website owners could decide to splurge on or not. These days however, incorporating video into your website (and specifically your homepage) is near essential. In our YouTube obsessed world, web surfers are less willing to deal with large amounts of text and half-expect videos to serve as their primary mode of digesting a website.

Website owners need to keep up-to-date with how internet users prefer to surf the web, and currently that way is via video. Here are 5 of the many reasons why incorporating a video on your homepage could work wonders for your website, if you are willing to invest a little time and effort.

A (moving) picture says a thousand words

A video can do in seconds what text and images take minutes to achieve, and these negligible time differences really do matter on the web. Web users often decide in seconds whether or not to explore a webpage or press the ‘back’ button, and being confronted with a homepage video that quickly sums up your site or product is a lot less intimidating than seeing wall-to-wall text. In addition, removing large amounts of text allows you more freedom with your webpage design, meaning you make make sure your website is dynamic and fresh for viewers.

Videos lower your bounce rate

While a multitude of factors influence your ‘bounce rate’, or percentage of visitors who leave your website after a few seconds, incorporating video is just one way of making sure people do not instantly click away. Firstly, a website with a professional video incorporated into a responsive layout gives off an air of professionalism, which helps convince people not to immediately click away. Secondly as noted above, video can often replace what would otherwise be large swaths of text on your homepage, something which is a complete turn-off for visitors. Finally and most importantly, by providing something on your webpage which is instantly actionable and interactive, you encourage a visitor to click on your video and not click away. An interactive agency with an integrated approach to marketing should be able to help you

Videos make visitors stay for longer

Videos don’t just lower your immediate bounce rate: once you have convinced a visitor not to immediate jump ship, videos can make them stay even longer. Once a visitor has started watching a video, they are likely to continue watching until they feel they have learned all they need to know. Armed with this information, they can decide whether you website is useful or interesting to them. All this extra time engaging with your website is good, because it increases the likelihood that the visitor will find something of use to them or something they can engage with.

Videos are multi-use, multi-platform and give great ROI

A professionally-made video can be multipurpose, and therefore it has a multitude of uses outside of your homepage. If edited in an open and generic style, one video can serve as your homepage video, your advertising video and as the video you push onto social media sites like YouTube, Facebook and Twitter. This lowers overall investment costs and allows for unity in your website and social media message. Best of all, videos give great return on investment because they massively feed your conversion rates. If you use your video to establish a presence on media platforms, it is a great way to get people back to your website and primed to convert.

Use video to display your personality

You don’t need to be physically present in your website video to give it personality: visitors can learn a lot about the feel of your website or brand from the style of video (professional/comedic/etc) or the narrative devices you use. There are so many websites on the web pushing the same ideas and products, so to triumph over your competitors you need to utilise personality and show why your website should be liked and trusted more than the others. It’s simple, but creating the tiniest of connections through a video can create a returning or converted visitor for your website.

The advanced improvements in technology have seen the world of business change rapidly. eCommerce especially has gone a long way in helping business owners increase their profits as well as enhance their services to customers. Unlike before, customers can now research products and make orders via the Internet. For this reason business people must ensure that their websites are easy to use and that they also provide the necessary support to their customers. Click to call services have been implemented on almost all business websites to assist customers to get more information about the product they wish to purchase.

Click to call (also known as click to talk) is simply web-based communication where the customer clicks on objects on the webpage to request immediate connection with the customer care agent in real time. This may take place over the phone or Voice over Internet Protocol (VOIP). The objects used to initiate click to call may be images, buttons or text placed in emails, blogs, wikis or other web pages.

Research shows that many companies have been able to increase customer conversion rates by use of quality click to call services. By conversion rate, I mean the converting of a non-user into a real customer. Click to call services improve the conversion rate in the following simple ways:

• It improves speed and convenience. A customer may not be ready to wait for an email response for more than a day so just clicking and talking to a person who will provide the necessary information saves the customer a lot of time.
• It provides more information. Reading of reviews will give information about a product but the call may provide more important information, like a running promotion or available offers. The customer may also learn about alternative products.
• It offers customer satisfaction. Many clients prefer talking to a customer service agent than just text chatting. A real person will maintain a good rapport and answer all the questions about a product.
• Click to call is free. Dialling customer support numbers may be a little expensive, but click to call calls are free to the customer. They also make the customer feel like they have visited the physical location because the service is almost the same.

To the business owner, click to call ensures higher earnings and is cheap to implement even for a small business. The following tips will help you to implement effective click to call services.

• First, it is important to determine what you want your clients to do when they click. You should know what they expect from the call so that you can avoid frustrating them.
• Remain clear when branding the click to call buttons as well as writing the click text. Let their purpose be clear to all users. If you are using an image, ensure that it sends the correct message to the user, e.g. you can show the call button by using a phone icon.
• Make sure that the click to call service is free to the customer and let them know that it is free. It is also important to ensure the security of calls.

You don’t want anyone to feel left out, but the next time you choose folks from your address book to send an announcement about your son’s band concert or some other community event to, you might want to consider sparing people who don’t live near you. That’s just one tip internet experts recommend for staying out of the doghouse when trying to communicate events to your Facebook contacts.

1. Don’t burden out-of-town contacts with local events they can’t attend.

Don’t take unthinking advantage of the fact that since you starting instant messaging on the worldwide web, chatting with Aunt Sue can make it feel like she doesn’t live on the other side of the country from you. You might want to look through your address book and note on a piece of paper where everyone lives. Then, for local event posting, send it only to those few who live within a half-hour’s drive. Afterwards, your friends and relatives out of state would rather see you sharing a picture of your son on stage with his band rather than be burdened with the addition on their event calendar beforehand.

2. Make sure you’re promoting a real event!

Don’t fall into the trap of shamelessly pushing something you want your contacts to do and calling it an event. There are plenty of chances to be urging your friends to write your congressman for you if you feel he has slighted you on a local issue. Do this in normal posting conversations. But what will be sure to annoy many in your internet circles is if they see it listed on their event calendar for 30 days in a row because you have come up with the bright idea that March is “Write Your Congressman Month.” Also, watch out for the misstep of putting some popularity contest under the events. You can ask your network to ‘vote’ that your newborn’s picture should be the cutest baby. It’s just not an event.

3. Consider whether you want to post a PUBLIC event announcement

In your enthusiasm to share what’s going on and coming up in your life, don’t forget to consider the ramifications of posting an event publicly. Even though you’ve sent your party invitation only to your address book, Facebook is a public site, and anyone can read the notice. Also, depending on what key words are found in your post, the announcement may pop up in someone’s Google search. These days, that’s a common explanation for party crashers. If you don’t recognize some of the people hanging around your event’s beverage table, it might be because you used the phrase “no-cash bar” in your announcement!

4. When declining events, don’t add clutter

Remember that this Facebook function doesn’t have the same intimacy as sending a handwritten note or even emailing your friend that you can’t come to their anniversary party because you have to work that night. If you have to decline your friend’s event posted on your social network, it’s polite to add no more than one line. A phrase such as “Thanks but l can’t make it” or “Sorry, can’t come” is appropriate. Detailed reasons or explanations are not.

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•  License: Image author owned