Why every Website should have a Blog

03/02/2012

In the past decade, blogging has become an increasingly popular means of promoting causes and posting web content. Website users favor blogs when it comes to staying up to date with developments, and veteran webmasters have long preferred them as a way of drawing in organic traffic. No matter what the nature of your website, setting up a blog and updating it regularly will contribute towards its success.

Why should my website have a blog?

For many new web developers, the concept of having a blog does not seem all that important. Keeping your website users up to date about your company or cause may seem like a bit of a chore and many people find that they struggle for content ideas. Despite this, blogging is a great way to show your website users just how enthusiastic you are and it is a sure fire way to attract extra traffic.

Most Internet users develop a stronger sense of confidence in those websites that take the time to keep them regularly updated. By blogging, you are showing that you are always investing time in your company, you display your passion for whatever it is that your website is about and you let users know what is happening and when. Take an e-commerce site for example, a good blog will be able to keep users up to date with new products, sales and offers. By supplying your users with an RSS feed -a feature that comes with most web design packages- you make it possible for them to receive blog posts to their website and as such you are buying yourself constant promotion.

How do I begin blogging?

If you have already purchased a web design package, you will find that it comes with the option of including a blog. If your website is new, you should begin with introducing your company or cause, what it is about and its ethos. If you are adding on a blog, you can dive straight in to talking about what is new with your site, its history and future plans.

Many website owners find that blogging can be a bit of a chore. There are not many websites that will be based on a theme or topic that allows for constant bursts of inspiration, so being creative is necessary. Many bloggers choose to create current content that is related to their website. By looking at Google news and social media sites such as Reddit, it is easy to see which stories are relevant for you.

If you are promoting a cause, such as a charity, finding news worthy stories that are related to your website’s usual content should be easy. Doing the same for retail sites may be a little harder, but it is not impossible. By thinking about what your site is related to, you will be able to find news worth posting. For example, if your website focuses on selling cots you may wish to post about current pregnancy and parenting trends.

When thinking about your web design plan, it is very important that you consider where you can fit a blog in. With the vast majority of visitors seeking useful content, and major search engines favoring sites that are prepared to provide it, having an easy means of updating your site with articles and news is vital. Getting the ball rolling with your blog may not be easy at first, but once you are in the swing of the process you will never turn back.

About the Author
Stephanie Wagner is a blogger and freelance writer covering topics related to small business, web design and technology. She is not associated with Aplus, but she does recommend them for their approach to blog inclusive web design.

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Starting small with your social media strategy

01/02/2012

There’s so much that can be done with social media that it can be overwhelming at first. That’s not a problem – if you approach it in the right way.

The most obvious application of social media is for marketing – but there are real opportunities in other areas where you can gain results. Just some examples of these areas are market research, customer service and recruitment.

Don’t start with the tools – work backwards from your objectives

For example, even though the consultancy where I work creates and runs several successful Facebook pages for our clients, we do not have one of our own. We decided that Google+ would be a more appropriate space, as we are marketing ourselves to businesses instead of consumers – is someone looking for social media strategy services going to look at Facebook pages? We expect our target audience to take to Google, so being on G+ makes sense with the SEO benefits too.

If you want to quickly respond to customer queries or complaints, Twitter might be a better platform – and of course LinkedIn offers plenty for recruiters. The take away here is that each network should be viewed in a way of how it can ease a particular business objective, and not the other way round.

Be selective – consider your resources

The temptation with social media is to dive straight into registering accounts on the major networks like Facebook and Twitter, and maybe some of the more “trendy” ones such as Tumblr. Securing your brand name is definitely a valuable benefit – but I would advise caution.

Maintaining a presence on social networks can’t be a “fire and forget” exercise, and it shouldn’t be something that is delegated to a junior employee or intern. Even though the young may have digital savvy, they need to understand and be absorbed by the brand they are representing.

This is part of the reason why sometimes it is better to refrain from joining a social network, if your presence on it will be stagnant – how does that reflect on your brand if someone finds that it hasn’t been updated in weeks or months? Being “engaged” on social media is a bit of a buzzword, but it’s worth keeping in mind that being engaging requires care and attention, which means someone’s time.

My advice

Like with any other business strategy, you need to review and adapt as time goes on – but you can start small with social. You are better off applying your resources to several key networks to begin with, rather than spreading yourself thin across anything that you imagine you may need a presence on. Secure your trademark by all means, but make it clear where you can be reached and for what purpose – you can always expand as you gain in experience and resources.

About the Author

Jon Stokes is a marketing executive and regular blogger for FreshNetworks, a social business consultancy in London that specialises in helping brands develop their social media strategy.

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Top iPhone Apps

30/01/2012

If you’ve just bought an iPhone you’ll probably want to know what iPhone apps there are that you’ve got to have on your new iPhone. Pretty much everyone has this problem when they first get their iPhone. The first thing that you need to know is how you get new applications. All you need to do is tap “App Store” (which has a blue icon) and then you can start searching for applications. There are a number of ways that you can find apps including by looking at the top downloaded free apps, top downloaded paid apps, top grossing or even by searching a specific keyword, for example: “cars”. With over 500,000 apps to choose from, it’s hard to know which ones are good and which ones aren’t even worth wasting your bandwidth on! Below are some apps to look out for to help you find the iPhones top apps. If you are still to buy an iPhone we recommend comparing iPhone 4S deals at whatcontract.co.uk

  1. Dropbox – Dropbox is a website that allows you to back up your files (such as pictures, music and so on) easily. If you haven’t used Dropbox before, you can simple make a new account and get 2GB storage for free! They’ve an app now that allows you do upload files straight from your iPhone to the internet. This means that if you’ve set up your computer to Dropbox, you could upload a picture from your iPhone and then that picture will be on your computer automatically once it connects to the internet! There’s no charge at all involved, unless you need more than 2GB of storage.
  2. Angry Birds – There are a countless number of games on the iPhone that are really good, but one of the best games just has to be Angry Birds. It’s definitely one of the most addictive games that you’ll ever come across on the iPhone, you’ll end up spending hours playing it and wondering where all your time went! It started out as an iPhone app, now there’s Angry Birds plush toys, Angry Birds speakers etc. so that should give you some sort of an idea of how popular it has become.
  3. Talking Carl – Talking Carl is a cute app that kids (as well as adults!) just have to love. The app is reasonably simple, there’s just a cute cartoon character in the app that will repeat anything that you say. This iPhone app is a big hit with the children as you could imagine, but it’s just as much fun for adults to have a bit of fun with too.
  4. Skype – The Skype iPhone app gives you the option of using Skype for your calls rather than your mobile network. It’s a great way of saving some money without too much hassle. You can use Skype-to-Skype calls that are free which can come in handy or you can call normal phone numbers if you’ve Skype credit. Another option is to pay monthly for unlimited landline calls if you regularly call landline numbers. You’d might be surprised how much money you could save by using this great little iPhone app.
  5. Facebook / Twitter – If you’re constantly checking Facebook or Twitter on your computer you really should check out the apps for these. You might think that you won’t be able to do most of the things that you usually do when you’re on either Facebook or Twitter, but you’ll be happy to know that you can do pretty much anything that you can normally do. These apps are also free which is great. There are many other social networking apps that are very good but it’s probably a good idea that you start out on the official apps and then you can experiment in to using other apps that you might prefer. Some apps can even combine your accounts over loads of different social networking sites and show all your messages, friends and so on all in the one place!

They are just some of the top iPhone apps that you should download. There are obviously many more that are good but now you should have an idea of where to start from with your new iPhone. If you know of any must-have apps, please leave us a comment below.

About the Author
Rob Barham, 32 from UK loves technology and has a passion for saving people money on everyday and one-off purchases.
Rob is somewhat addicted to his iPhone.

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Selling Your Work vs. Selling Your Talent

29/01/2012

There are many common misconceptions about freelance writing. Many writers decide to start working freelance jobs because they like the idea of getting paid for their work. Indeed, it is hard not to get excited about the idea that people find what you have to say valuable enough to pay you for it—this is almost every writer’s dream.

For this reason, when many writers begin freelancing they expect to make money off of their deepest thoughts and most original ideas. However, they quickly discover that most clients are not looking for deep thinking or wildly creative style—they are looking for clear and concise content designed for the average reader.

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The Basics of Localised Web Design

Cultural and social factors have crucial impact on what is suitable in a specific country. Fine detail such as colour selection can significantly influence brand perception in a foreign country. In some cases, multinational companies have had to alter their logos and brand theme, so that they can enter new markets. One famous example of [...]

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Why you need great copy and how to write it

People often get caught up with the design of a website and often forget the wider picture – they want it to look top notch but don’t stop to think about the actual content, “We’ll sort that bit out later” they say. However, a brilliantly designed and thought out website isn’t a great one unless [...]

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How to Get Better ROI from Your Blog

Whether your blog is a personal endeavor or an investment of your company, you want and need to get the best ROI (return on investment) you possibly can from it. If you are having an issue with your blog’s ROI level, there are some helpful tips that can assist you with the task of increasing [...]

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5 Annoying Things You Are Probably Doing on Twitter

It is difficult to go online nowadays without being at one point reminded how important Twitter is. The social network has indeed easily established itself as a major website and one that attracts an incredible amount of users every day. Consequently, being on Twitter is now as important as having an email account, especially if [...]

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