Posted on April 18th, 2012 by Jeromy | No Comments
When it comes to developing websites with WordPress, proper plugin selection is key to a smooth running website. At Marketing Puget Sound, we have a few “go-to” plugins, hand picked to best suit a number of situations. Here they are:
1. CMS Page Tree
WordPress is a fantastic content management system, but once you go beyond a few static pages, and start nesting content, it’s becomes difficult to quickly locate your pages and see their place in the overall hierarchy of content. CMS Page Tree solves this problem by providing you with a “tree” view of your pages both in the dashboard, and in the pages menu. A must have for multiple page sites.
http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/cms-tree-page-view/
2. Imsanity
Imsanity. Just the name makes me smile. This plugin is essential on websites that a client will eventually manage. What it does is limit the size of images that can be uploaded into the media manager. No more 4 megabyte DSC_09624_family_photo.png on the home page of your website! It’ll even go through your existing media and trim the huge files down to size. Yipee! Oversized images are one of the biggest speed anchors you’ll find on a website.
http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/imsanity/
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Posted on March 20th, 2012 by Customer Care | No Comments
SocialBro.com – http://www.socialbro.com/- SocialBro is a tool that helps you to manage, to explore and analyze your Twitter community. Manage your Twitter community, AND analyze too with statistics in real time too. I found the first looks to be very impressive, and when asked for content about Twitter knew that this app (should mention it can be installed as a Google Chrome browser App. or for the Desktop in Linux, Windows or Mac. Take 5 minutes, give it a look I think you’ll see why it’s on this short list of 2 tools for Twitter. View Full Article…
Posted on March 19th, 2012 by Michael | No Comments
Let’s face it most business owners struggle to find the time to market their product or service. There are so many things to try to learn and understand that marketing 2.0 gets overwhelming. The marketing landscape changes on a daily basis, below are a few resources that will help you stay up to date.
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Posted on March 7th, 2012 by Leah Knoll | No Comments
Due to cost and compatibility with legacy systems, the most popular form of user authentication continues to be a secret password.
Moreover, as non-password authentication technologies are deployed, they are usually combined with passwords to improve their security. For example, tokens are secure — unless they are stolen, in which case the person who stole the token can impersonate the legitimate user. This is easily remedied by requiring the user to sign into systems with the OTP (One Time Password) displayed on a token plus a password or PIN, which a thief would not know. View Full Article…
Posted on February 20th, 2012 by Jeromy | 2 Comments
Ugh. I think a kitten just died.
Usability and ease of access are two of the most important aspects of modern web design — although often overlooked by design/development teams. We, as users, expect the websites we frequent to be quick, intuitive, and allow easy access to the content we’re seeking. At Marketingpugetsound, user experience starts from the initial client contact, and is adhered to throughout the web design and development process. We strive for clean, lean, and semantic HTML markup, and work toward delivering a website that is quick and easy to use.
How to make your website fast(er)
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Posted on January 29th, 2012 by Bobbie Bailey | No Comments
In June 2011, Google+ set sail, and a sea of people washed in with their thoughts. Many have speculated that Google+ would be the big wave to take out the social-networking giant, Facebook. With an explosive 40-million users netted at launch, many believed that savvy social networkers would jump ship for Google+, especially with the growing number of privacy issues on Facebook. However, Google+’s sign-up numbers have staggered. As a result, Google has released a new look and feel to its SERP. Now, with the integration of social networking to search (i.e. the “+1” recommendations and comments), many are asking, “Should I create a Google+ page?”
What is Google+?
Some have dubbed Google+, Google’s Facebook. Indeed, it is another social networking site where one can connect with others by adding them to “circles” and interact by sharing photos, videos, and links. However, it is more than just a social network. Aside from its unique features such as video conferencing called “hangouts,” Google+ pulls all of Google’s services together (i.e. blogging, email, videos), which allows users to do more of everything in one place.
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Posted on December 4th, 2011 by Bobbie Bailey | 1 Comment
Reviews now play a very important role in business. Potential customers often read reviews about a certain business to carefully select the best product/service available in the market. Since these reviews are usually based on users’ experience, potential customers do pay attention to them. Certainly, potential customers will be less likely to purchase products/services from companies with bad reputations. Furthermore, reviews are one of many factors that affect the ranking of Internet Yellow Pages (IYPs). In the same industry, a company with more good reviews tends to rank higher than companies with fewer reviews. Therefore, it is essential that business owners keep a close eye on their reputation. Here are a few ways to manage your reputation:
1. DO follow up with customers immediately after the sale/service.
That way, you have the chance of fixing any mistakes you made and redeem yourself before unsatisfied customers boycott you.
2. DO follow up with customers again.
Sometimes, faulty products are not detected at the point of sale or some services are not thoroughly done, the once happy customers could turn into not-so-happy customers. Follow up once within a few days after the sale/service and again after 2-3 weeks.
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Posted on November 17th, 2011 by MPS Author | No Comments
When competing in an online market where numerous companies sell similar products, it is essential to create an emotional attachment to your brand in customers’ minds. Though there are so many companies out there that sell similar or the same products as you, distinguishing your brand is still possible. Selecting a catchy advertising phrase is an effective method to establish your brand’s unique and solid position in the crowd.
What does catchy advertising copy do?
When customers visit a website, they first take a look at the top portion of the landing page. If you display effective advertising copy there, it will spark the customers’ interest and they will continue reading the page further. Also, knowing what your brand focuses on helps you build a coherent brand image.
Analyzing your brand
The first step to creating a phrase is to analyze your brand’s strengths. Advertising copy should be your brand’s self-introduction that grasps customers’ attention in a second. In order to enhance the chance of your success, you need to select powerful words for your phrase and provide information that your customers are looking for.
Posted on November 7th, 2011 by MPS Author | No Comments
When developing marketing strategies some companies try to involve their customers. Others strive to come up with ideas to boost sales by pushing and selling their products. However, as social media has changed the marketing environment, the strategies to capture customers need to be changed accordingly. Some companies use marketing strategies that leave customers with a bad impression and unsatisfied customers may write unfavorable online reviews. Information flows more freely on the Internet, and, as a result, those reviews tend to spread quickly and widely and hurt sales.
Change strategies
If the old strategies potentially do harm, how should businesses change marketing tactics in order to acquire good reputations and positions in this environment? Now that customers have a powerful influence on the Internet community and can sway your company’s reputation and success, building closer and stronger relationships with them is crucial. In that market environment, a better strategy is the reverse of involving customers – getting involved with them. By attracting them and getting pulled by them instead of pushing, your business can generate more demand from customers.
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Posted on September 18th, 2011 by Bobbie Bailey | No Comments
Approaching various customers with the same marketing strategy is inefficient and ineffective since each has different characteristics and needs. A better marketing strategy is to sort customers into groups whose members share similar characteristics and to try to reach them by using the most suitable marketing tactics.
Separating Tactics for Different Groups
There are four different types of customer: prospects, casual visitors, purchase customers, and repeat customers. The goal of any businesses is to turn the first three types into repeat customers. Repeat customers spend more on purchases but cost less to maintain, and they are very valuable for their customer lifetime value.
The four types of customers have different psychological characteristics. Being aware of customer psychology and satisfying each group’s needs will help your business grow faster.
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