by Nick Throlson | Jul 10, 2018 | Off Topic, WordPress
Everyone wants their website to perform at its best without any compromise. This greatly affects the business and increases the customer trust. Image optimization plugins can be very helpful and can increase the overall performance of a site by decreasing its loading time. You can use them to optimize images and other files you upload to your site by making them smaller in size with minimal decrease in quality.Here we have outlined some of the best Image optimization plugins which are also free to use.#1. WP Smush Image Optimizing and compressing software
Smush is among the most popular plugin for WordPress image optimization. It is available in both free and paid or premium formats. This plugin compresses your images without really affecting its quality.The plugin feature automatic optimization of any image you upload to your WordPress site. It also has a bulk optimization option enabling you to tackle the number of tasks at once. This plugin is just perfect for you if you're looking for compressing your images backlog. It uses a lossless optimization technology for compressing images which results in minimal loss of quality along with decreased size which makes it a perfect choice.#2. EWWW Image Optimizer
EWWW is another amazing and feature loaded plugin for WordPress. Installing and setting it up is quite easy. It automatically optimizes any images you upload to WordPress as long as it is of GIF, PNG and JPG file format.EWWW does not use any third party service but the process of optimization takes place on your own server which is an advantage of this plugin. This decreases the time taken in compressing images and it only takes a few seconds to compress images below 1 MB size.The plugin also offers cloud optimization feature which generally takes a bit longer but can be useful for those people who are facing difficulties in the setup process. By default, EWWW uses lossless optimization but for an even bigger reduction in the size, you can apply loss reduction.#3. Optimus Image Optimizer
It is quite effective and one of the favorite choices of millions of people when it comes to image optimization and compression for a WordPress site. The Optimus plugin can optimize image up to 70% resulting in quick loading of your site while also saving bandwidth. The software uses Optimus server for file compression. It sends the image to its server as soon as you upload them and provides you the optimized version of the image simultaneously in no time.The quality of the image is never going to alter without your permission. Like other plugins, it also features automatic optimization with an option to stop it whenever you wish to.#4. Kraken WordPress Optimizer
Kraken is a powerful WordPress image optimizer plugin which reduces image size to approx 80%. You also need not worry about the quality of your image as it assures you the least possible reduction in quality. Therefore you don't have to compromise quality wise for the sake of decreased image or file size.The process of optimization is carried out by powerful Krakens server in blazingly fast speed and you need not to utilize your servers in the process. This, in turn, results in saving your operating cost and makes your site loading faster.It helps in dramatically increasing the load times of your sites in mobile and tablet devices also because more and more of users are nowadays using these devices for accessing the sites. Kraken is ultra fast and robust software which uses best in the class algorithm. You can trust and rely on its capabilities worry free.#5. Short pixel
Short pixel is one of the most widely used image optimizer plugins for WordPress. The setup process of the smart pixel is also very easy. You just need to visit their visit and sign up there after that you will get your ID and password on your registered email. The plan ranges free to premium paid version so one can choose accordingly. They offer the optimization of images via an API. You will get an option to choose the level of compression which ranges from lossy to loosless and glossy. It allows you to compress up to 50 files at once with a really fast compressing speed. You can use Smart pixel plugin to optimize all you WordPress images with just a click of a button.These above-mentioned plugins are free and best for WordPress image optimization. You can use any of the above for decreasing the load time and increase search rank of websites so that it can get a lot of visits. But if you are short of time or have less knowledge about plugins then you can take help of an SEO Company.Author Bio. :- James Tredwell is a Technical SEO at Hopinfirst.com who works with unique problems and advanced search situations. He helps clients improve organic traffic through a deep understanding of Google?s algorithm and Web technology. by Nick Throlson | Jul 9, 2018 | Business, Marketing
Want to know how businesses are killing it online in 2018? Here are the secrets of successful digital marketing strategies employed by top businesses.Content marketing rules the web
Using content to drive traffic and increase sales is a top marketing technique employed by businesses. People go to the Internet most often to research. Searching for ratings, local places, information, and help learning to do something.By regularly creating useful content, you?ll position your business to be the answer to their query.Content marketing increases your website authority on the search engines. It will also build your brand, giving visitors to your site a reason to stay longer and increasing the chances of a sale.Customers are weary of ads. 71% of consumers claimed they were turned off by content that sounded like a sales pitch. They want useful and entertaining content.Offering that useful content will not only help your SEO, it will build trust in your audience by making you a thought leader.Content marketing will also give your brand a persona, another crucial element in a world ruled by social media and selfies. Letting your audience get to know your business on a more intimate level will help build trust and ultimately drive more sales.The biggest hurdle to most businesses considering a content marketing strategy is the time required to create content. Content marketing can be time-consuming, but there are content marketing secrets used by marketers that you can try to save time.Consider adding content to your marketing strategy and get more from your digital marketing efforts.Make offline and online marketing work together.
The lines between the virtual and the physical worlds are blending more every year. While we may all live in the physical world, consumers are spending more and more time in the virtual world.It is crucial for businesses to connect their online and offline marketing in creative ways to make a seamless transition for consumers.For the first time in 2018, time spent online is surpassing all other media types. People spend more time on the internet than they do watching TV, listening to the radio, or reading print.No big surprise there. But it may surprise you that many businesses are still failing to maximize their online efforts.What are some ways to blend these types of media?Use hashtags in offline marketing to bring a campaign to the digital world.
Extra Gum is a great example of using a hashtag campaign to combine their online and offline marketing in a creative way that focuses on the consumer. In their TV and printed on their product is the message ?we?re looking for life?s little moments? with the hashtag #giveextragetextra for people to share their moments on social media.This will create some excellent user generated content, as well as helping to remind consumers of the gum during everyday life moments.
Create a cohesive brand.
When you?re building your website and logo, make sure it uses your businesses branding. Print and digital experiences should be seamless for users.Combine online and offline shopping.
Brick and mortal sales and online sales are becoming more blended. Successful businesses adopt the attitude of ?we don?t care where you buy? and create a cohesive marketing effort to reflect that.For example, if you have a physical store front, make it easy for shoppers to look up reviews about your products on your website.? 82% of users research online while in the store. You can include a scan code to make it easy for shoppers, and even have a coupon appear for the shoppers that are in the store researching that item.Nordstroms has a great way of using the Internet to increase in-store sales, as you can see in the example below.
Use Marketing Automation
From email autoresponders to automatic segmenting of an audience in your CRM, there are many ways marketing automation will make your life easier and your marketing more effective.Decide what tasks are most tedious and choose the software that will help ease the burden for your sales and marketing teams. This is especially important for small businesses where the owner or manager IS the sales and marketing team.Marketing automation software ranges from simple social media account management like Hootsuite to more advanced business management systems. Below is an example of a marketing automation system for network marketing businesses, which includes a complete CRM with integrated emails and autoresponders, calendar, reports, and audience segmentation.
These digital marketing secrets are what successful businesses are doing in 2018. Isn?t it time you started crushing it online? Start improving your digital strategy today by:- Improving your content marketing.
- Blending online and offline marketing efforts.
- Using marketing automation.
by Nick Throlson | Jul 6, 2018 | Business
With high motivation and drive to pursue your business idea, you are well and truly on the right track to starting your new business. However, without developing essential business skills, your thirst to immediately initiate your business may lead you closer to failing then succeeding. Maintaining and improving on key proficiencies will allow you to grow your business at a faster rate, as well as allowing its viability and sustainability. Mere passion is not nearly enough to maintain a competitive edge ahead of rivals within your industry, especially in an increasingly aggressive competitive landscape. Here are 7 integral skills that you should develop prior to starting a business.
An integral skill that you will need to develop is understanding the key measures of profitability and sales growth. Ensure to create a business plan prior to the start of your business. Showing your positive annual forecasts and feasibility of your business will ease your ability to attain business loans. Formulating financial statements and accounting budgets will also allow you to evaluate profit achievements and check whether you are meeting your set targets and objectives. By evaluating the financial data, where it be annually, monthly or even daily, you will be able to properly budget and invest in areas that are required for you to boost your business? growth. Your financial reports will stand as proof to partners and stakeholders that your business is increasing in profit and is a sustainable business to invest in and partner with.
As a manager in your organization, it is important that you have a solid understanding on how to effectively manage your employees. You must ensure that you are able to maintain employee satisfaction to reduce turnover rates, absenteeism and increase productivity in the short and long term. This can be achieved by focusing on promoting a healthy work environment for your employees to thrive in. Encourage health practices through group sport and physical fitness sessions that will also be able to foster teamwork and collaborative work effort. Promote healthy eating by providing healthy food options such as installing a healthy convenience store or Healthy Vending Machine within your work office. It is highly integral to encourage a supportive social environment by promoting inclusivity and diversity and stressing the negative impacts of workplace bullying and degrading work environments.
Being tech savvy is a fundamental skill to attain prior to starting your business. You will require technical skills to record financial and inventory data into software, programs, and spreadsheets to manage your business spending. It is integral to understand the formatting of website development programs to attain a greater reach to consumers outside of your geographical office location as well as to allow for e-commerce consumers. Through high proficiencies in social media, you will be able to reach out to your consumer base through various marketing platforms and better adapt to changing digital marketing trends. By taking advantage of emerging technological trends and opportunities that arise, you can capitalize the technology to improve your business? operational processes, marketing and even core product or service. Through your technological knowledge, analyze what areas of your business are driving business growth and which target market is your business attracting by measuring digital marketing metrics.
Influencing and empowering your employees is a quality that is essential to starting up your own business. Leadership is a quality that encourages innovation and creativity from employees that can be used for the business. Effective leadership also improves employee morale which will increase the overall productivity of the business. Develop a clear company vision, set goals and develop a pathway for your employees to be inspired to follow. Become a guide, mentor and role model to align your employee?s passion and motivations to your own.
- Organisational/management
One of the most integral skills to develop prior to establishing a business is organizational skills. To effectively schedule, manage and be time-efficient, a high use of organizational skills is required. Organisation is needed for planning what goals should be pursued and which objectives should be met. This also accounts for tactical level plans such as the attendance of meetings and coordinating with suppliers and other stakeholders. Organisation is essential when involving the scheduling of tasks for your employees, focusing to avoid under or overworking your staff.
Ensure you are continuously communicating the organizational goals to your staff and stakeholders in a clear way. Allow for the opportunity for feedback and ideas, enabling a 2-way flow of communication to foster discussion and creativity in problem-solving. Maintain a positive and supportive interaction with stakeholders and well as develop networking skills for external connections. Developing high communication skills will enable you to confidently pitch ideas to partners, stakeholders and the public to showcase the passion of your business and knowledge on is the purpose, aiming to confidently show progression in your business. With effective communication, you will be able to cultivate loyal employees and capitalize on their innovative ideas and charm customers and suppliers to remain with the brand.
A skill that is often neglected but is highly critical for rapid business growth ongoing learning and development. Seeking to improve and educate your skills and knowledge on your product will assist you to develop a better product or efficient business processes. Embrace a mentality to strive for improvement and not be complacent with how your business is currently. Always be willing to innovate and explore new opportunities and trends within your industry.
No matter the purpose of your business, aiming for profitability will only be achieved through your initial drive and development of skills to boost your business growth. Which key skills do you think are essential to developing, prior to starting a business?
by Nick Throlson | Jul 6, 2018 | WordPress
CMS or Content Management System is a software interface or a set of related programs that is the basic criteria in order to create, maintain and modify an online digital content. There two specific arenas where the Content Management Systems are incorporated. One of them is named a s the Enterprise Content management and the other one is the web content management. The Enterprise Content Management provides the required platform for the management of integrating document and information, management of digital contents, proper functioning for the retention of records and providing end users with the access to the digital data of an organization. It is completely based on the interface meant for the collaboration with workplace. On the other hand, Web Content Management facilitates the option of collaboration with websites or best wordpress development of the concerned authority. Web Content Management also co-ordinates the publishing of data and information.
Both the Enterprise Content Management and Web Content Management have two control units. They are named as Content Management Application and Content Delivery Application respectively. The Content Management Application basically plays the role of management of the content present in a website. It is a graphical user interface that controls the formation, modification for any better changes and finally removal of any content from the website without the involvement of any sort of hypertext links. The Content Delivery Application on the other hands handles the facility of delivering the content prepared by the Content Management Application by providing back ?end services as and when required.
The various features of the Content Management Systems keep on varying as per as the requirements. However, some of the basic functions of the CMS remains intact such as the indexing, search and retrieval options, management of the format, revision control and finally publishing the content. Indexing, search and retrieval qualities of the CMS enhance easy search facilities for the users. It allows them to search by using some common tools such publication dates, keywords or author name or any other specifications. Management of the format of the content is responsible for converting scanned paper documents and other electronic documents into hypertext links and respective PDF documents. Revision feature helps to keep the content updated after the initial publication of the document in the web portal. It also provides the facility of editing and tracking the changes made to any file which in turn helps in updating the content. Publishing feature is vital for it allows the users to access any template or group of templates as approved by the concerned organization including wizard or other facilities, for the sole purpose of creating or modifying the content.
WordPress is one such CMS software which is favoured by many business organizations for the content management in their respective website. This is mainly because WordPress has quite a few inherent characteristics which are quite user friendly. First of all, WordPress is free and an open source type platform. It is being constantly updated with its new version coming into existence every now and then is providing stability to the users. Hence they don?t have to switch over to any other CMS software. As said before that this is user friendly software. Hence the users can opt for any sort of modification without having much acquaintance with the technical terms. WordPress is a actively scalable and a flexible software which the users can reshape as per as their requirements.
WordPress has a wide range of support forum to help out the future users facing a similar type of problem. It is of immense help to non-developers for a suitable developer may not be available every time. Hence a non-developer can back his ability to work with WordPress as or when required, provided that it is quite easy to learn and use. WordPress has quite a few free features in stock such as the incorporating new plugins created by other developers, proper access to SEO tools, and effective URLs in the form of permalinks for more and better content.
by Nick Throlson | Jul 5, 2018 | Web Design
There isn?t much our phones can not do. It starts with the morning alarm, checking up on the calendar, catching up on news, navigating through traffic, a bit of shopping and entertainment, connecting with friends, and more. While it all brings convenience for users, it also represents limitless opportunities from a business?s perspective. After all, if you look at some of the most prominent brands in the market, most of them are either built around mobility or have mobility as a major business component. And that precisely what we are going to explore here- whether to build your application only for mobile, i.e native application or to keep mobile devices only one of the many possible dimensions.
It has been more than two years now since the traffic from mobile devices outstripped that of originating from desktops and the growth curve has only been rising ever since. To accommodate such swelling audience, developers devised a new method- responsive websites. Let?s take a look at some of the most important factors and decide when each of those solutions is more suitable:Usability
To access a responsive website, all you need is a device with a browser, working internet connection and the corresponding URL. For a native application, that list is quite long- a compatible device, enough data, and storage to download the application, willingness to share a host of data, and more often than not, creating an account.The point here is, if you have a responsive website for your business, all the 3.5 billion smartphone users in the word are your potential customers. With a native application, that number is highly fragmented. If you have a native iOS application, your business would remain out of reach to eight out of ten smartphone users. If you choose to go with Android, you would miss out on the most lucrative set of users.On a similar note, as easy it is for users to land on a responsive application, equally frictionless it is for them to bounce off. After all, the temptation to open a new tab is much higher and immediate than closing an application and launching a new one. But on the contrary, once they leave by the closing tab or uninstalling the app, the friction shifts on the side- making it more tempestuous to launch the website than installing the app.Related Post-??React Native: Building Native Mobile Apps with JavaScript
User?experience
Because responsive applications are basically websites displayed appropriately on a smaller screen without custom navigation and other UI elements, the user experience they offer is average at best. Native applications, on the other hand, are built from ground-up to create a perfect user experience with custom elements suited for small screens. This is perhaps also the reason why native mobile applications offer much higher conversions- even more than desktops, followed by responsive websites.
Features
Web applications have evolved a lot over the years with many features like location access, notifications and more but there are still some features that can only be offered in a mobile app. Things like TouchID or mobile payments simply aren?t compatible with responsive websites. Though these obviously are drawbacks, their importance depends largely on how critical they are to your product or service. If your service needs to have a robust payment system, the mobile application is the only viable choice as responsive websites can offer limited payment options.Cost
You may already know that building responsive websites costs is significantly less than developing native apps. Plus if you factor in their wider availability, it becomes even more appealing. So what you need to decide is how much worth is the user experience and performance for your service. If that cost exceeds, the monetary benefits of hiring website development services, native mobile apps will still be a better choice. If not, a responsive website will be better suited for your purpose.Read Also-?6 Key Statistics That Show the Importance of Responsive Web Design
Smush is among the most popular plugin for WordPress image optimization. It is available in both free and paid or premium formats. This plugin compresses your images without really affecting its quality.The plugin feature automatic optimization of any image you upload to your WordPress site. It also has a bulk optimization option enabling you to tackle the number of tasks at once. This plugin is just perfect for you if you're looking for compressing your images backlog. It uses a lossless optimization technology for compressing images which results in minimal loss of quality along with decreased size which makes it a perfect choice.#2. EWWW Image Optimizer
EWWW is another amazing and feature loaded plugin for WordPress. Installing and setting it up is quite easy. It automatically optimizes any images you upload to WordPress as long as it is of GIF, PNG and JPG file format.EWWW does not use any third party service but the process of optimization takes place on your own server which is an advantage of this plugin. This decreases the time taken in compressing images and it only takes a few seconds to compress images below 1 MB size.The plugin also offers cloud optimization feature which generally takes a bit longer but can be useful for those people who are facing difficulties in the setup process. By default, EWWW uses lossless optimization but for an even bigger reduction in the size, you can apply loss reduction.#3. Optimus Image Optimizer
It is quite effective and one of the favorite choices of millions of people when it comes to image optimization and compression for a WordPress site. The Optimus plugin can optimize image up to 70% resulting in quick loading of your site while also saving bandwidth. The software uses Optimus server for file compression. It sends the image to its server as soon as you upload them and provides you the optimized version of the image simultaneously in no time.The quality of the image is never going to alter without your permission. Like other plugins, it also features automatic optimization with an option to stop it whenever you wish to.#4. Kraken WordPress Optimizer
Kraken is a powerful WordPress image optimizer plugin which reduces image size to approx 80%. You also need not worry about the quality of your image as it assures you the least possible reduction in quality. Therefore you don't have to compromise quality wise for the sake of decreased image or file size.The process of optimization is carried out by powerful Krakens server in blazingly fast speed and you need not to utilize your servers in the process. This, in turn, results in saving your operating cost and makes your site loading faster.It helps in dramatically increasing the load times of your sites in mobile and tablet devices also because more and more of users are nowadays using these devices for accessing the sites. Kraken is ultra fast and robust software which uses best in the class algorithm. You can trust and rely on its capabilities worry free.#5. Short pixel
Short pixel is one of the most widely used image optimizer plugins for WordPress. The setup process of the smart pixel is also very easy. You just need to visit their visit and sign up there after that you will get your ID and password on your registered email. The plan ranges free to premium paid version so one can choose accordingly. They offer the optimization of images via an API. You will get an option to choose the level of compression which ranges from lossy to loosless and glossy. It allows you to compress up to 50 files at once with a really fast compressing speed. You can use Smart pixel plugin to optimize all you WordPress images with just a click of a button.These above-mentioned plugins are free and best for WordPress image optimization. You can use any of the above for decreasing the load time and increase search rank of websites so that it can get a lot of visits. But if you are short of time or have less knowledge about plugins then you can take help of an SEO Company.Author Bio. :- James Tredwell is a Technical SEO at Hopinfirst.com who works with unique problems and advanced search situations. He helps clients improve organic traffic through a deep understanding of Google?s algorithm and Web technology.
Want to know how businesses are killing it online in 2018? Here are the secrets of successful digital marketing strategies employed by top businesses.
These digital marketing secrets are what successful businesses are doing in 2018. Isn?t it time you started crushing it online? Start improving your digital strategy today by:
It has been more than two years now since the traffic from mobile devices outstripped that of originating from desktops and the growth curve has only been rising ever since. To accommodate such swelling audience, developers devised a new method- responsive websites. Let?s take a look at some of the most important factors and decide when each of those solutions is more suitable:
