User-friendly Call to Action Buttons for Your Website

You want your business to grow. You have done all the things that are necessary to bring guests to your website - SEO, link bait, branding and more. And now that people are on your website, you want your guests to become your customers and clients. To do this, an effective call to action button is necessary. A successful call to action button prompts a user to take the next step, which results in conversions  for a blog or website.

If you have yet to add a Call to Action button to your site, or perhaps are considering some changes to the one you currently have, there are several aspects to keep in mind in order to garner the results you desire:

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A Good Name Is Better To Be Chosen: Chosing the Perfect Domain Name

A Chinese proverb states, "The beginning of wisdom is to call things by their right names." Italians have another expression regarding names, "Who has a bad name is half hanged." When it comes to choosing a domain for your business, both of these statements can be right. After all, you want a domain name (or URL) that correctly identifies who you are as well as what you do. Anything less and your business is fighting an uphill hike on the road to success.

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Getting to Know the QR Code’s Cousin Microsoft Tags

With all the interest in QR codes, it is no surprise that Microsoft wanted a piece of the action. Enter the Microsoft Tag.

The Microsoft Tag is a high capacity color bar code and works much like a QR code. However, unlike QR codes which are typically black and white (though some sites offer an alternate color rather than black), the Microsoft Tag can be created to have two, four or eight colors in a triangular grid matrix. They are designed to support four types of content, with optional passwords for each:

• URLs
• Free text - up to 1,000 characters with password optional
• Dialers - automatically dial the embedded number
• vCard - the ability to upload all or part of a form's information requirements

 

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Get Queued Up: QR Codes and Your Business

It has been said that the more things change, the more they stay the same and when it comes to business marketing, this is certainly true. After all, in days gone by businesses promoted their services primarily with printed advertisements in newspapers and magazines. Today, those marketing methods are still standard, but they are combined with additional media advertisements like social media sites, e-mail campaigns and television commercials. A newcomer to the marketing scene is the QR Code.
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The Do's and Don'ts of Landing Pages

A very popular concept in the world of web design and internet marketing is the "Landing Page." But what exactly is a landing page? While there is much discussion, there is not an exact definition. However, Dave Chaffey of SmartInsights defines landing pages as "Specific pages on a website created for visitors referred from marketing campaigns which are designed to achieve a marketing outcome." Or, one could say a landing page is a place to get targeted online leads.

According to Chaffey, there are five main goals of landing pages. Here are the goals, ranked in order of importance:

1. Achieve registration to generate a lead
2. Profile and qualify the site visitors to do more relevant follow up
3. Answer any questions the visitor may have
4. Communicate the brand values of the organization running the campaign
5. In case the visitor doesn't wish to leave their info, have the company contact info prominent

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9 Ways to Boost Your Business with Client Testimonials

We've all been there. You need to have some work done on your home, and you want the job done well and for a price that will not break the budget. So, you start asking your friends about which company to call and before long, you've heard about several contractors-some of which received rave reviews and other comments warning of those companies to avoid. As long as there is commerce, this will be the case.

Consequently, it is vital that you do all that you can to promote your business in a positive manner. In the end, what your clients, customers and even your competition has to say about you and how you do business can make, or break, you. Pleased customers result in referrals and repeat business; unhappy customers mean your competitor's business will improve, and nobody wants to lose money to the competition!

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What's Up with Wordpress?

As one of the most popular content management systems used, WordPress has been making headlines since its first release by Matt Mullenweg in 2003. It's security and ease of use makes it ideal for web designers who want their site to be flexible with all of the plugins available, yet is still simple enough for the beginning blogger who just wants a place to update a few pages on their website occasionally.

Wordpress offers numerous plugins and has a large assortment of templates and themes, resulting in its being used by over 13% of the 1,000,000 biggest websites. So what is it about WordPress that has everyone talking? Here are some of the plugins that make WordPress so popular.

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SEO Link Bait from A to Z: Sinking the Hook 26 Different Ways

You've worked hard to build your business.  Your website is user-friendly and perhaps you even send out a monthly newsletter.  However, despite all this, you still need more people to know about your company. What else can you do to draw the consumer's attention? You need to use link bait!  Just as an angler uses tantalizing flies and spinners to lure "the big one" to his hook, today's web companies are using link bait to draw more customers their site.  "So what is link bait?" you ask. Good question.
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Wordpress 3.0.4 Important Security Update

Below is an update from Wordpress.org:

"Version 3.0.4 of WordPress, available immediately through the update page in your dashboard or for download here, is a very important update to apply to your sites as soon as possible because it fixes a core security bug in our HTML sanitation library, called KSES. I would rate this release as "critical."

I realize an update during the holidays is no fun, but this one is worth putting down the eggnog for. In the spirit of the holidays, consider helping your friends as well."

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