Hosting Upgrades – 06/25/2014
We will be adding a new Timewarner router this evening.
The upgrades will take place after business hours EST, approximately 9pm.
The maintenance will only affect a very small percentage and downtime will be at a minimum.
Please check out our blog for any additional information
www.atomicx.com/blog
Thank you,
Atomic
atomic@atomicx.com
513-528-0953
Maintenance and upgrades – 05/09/2014
Atomic will be adding new servers and upgrading two other servers tonight.
The upgrades will take place after business hours EST and will only affect a very small percentage and downtime will be at a minimum.
Internet Explorer Bug
Hackers have setup websites that installs malware when you visit them. You will get an email or ads that will entice you to go to these sites. If you are using Internet Explorer be mindful of the website links you click on either in an email or on the web.
The Hack exploits a bug in Internet Explorer and allows the attacker to take over your computer and do what they want.
This particular Hack/bug affects the every version of Internet Explorer. This particular Hack relies on Internet Explorer’s add-ons. Microsoft recommends running IE in “Enhanced Protect Mode” and disabling your third party add-ons. To really fix the issue, use a different browser while the patch is being rolled out.
Microsoft is currently working on a patch for Internet Explorer and will release the update as soon as they are finished. The really bad news is that if you are running Microsoft XP, you will NOT be receiving an update to fix this. Microsoft needs to move fast on this issue because it may have a snowball effect.
Cybersecurity software maker FireEye Inc said that a sophisticated group of hackers have been exploiting the bug in a campaign dubbed “Operation Clandestine Fox.” “It’s a campaign of targeted attacks seemingly against U.S.-based firms, currently tied to defense and financial sectors,” FireEye spokesman Vitor De Souza said via email. “It’s unclear what the motives of this attack group are, at this point. It appears to be broad-spectrum intel gathering.”
If you are having any issues with your Computer and you feel that this may be the issue, please contact us right away.
One of the best ways to bring more exposure to your business’ Facebook page is by using one of the many third-party applications or suites that are available for the social network. Doing so will enable your page to be much more appealing to your targeted audience while also increasing engagement and user experience. This improvement will lead to more organic growth more virality for your content, and possibly more leads. A larger and more engaged Facebook audience will also assist in building your brand recognition on the Internet.
There are literally thousands of apps available on the web, but these are 3 of my favorites that has generated a lot of activity on my personal pages.
This app is great for pages that have already build up a bit of a following. By participating with your page’s posts and updates users are able to gain points. A leaderboard is kept on your page so fans can see where they stand in comparison to other users. It is a great idea to encourage users to reach the top of the leaderboards by offering prizes or some kind of incentive. By displaying user’s points, your fans will become competitive with one another, therefore increasing activity on your page.
More activity means mores, more comments, more likes, and more reach for your brand and products.
Static HTML enables you to directly embed any page from your site onto your Facebook page. This feature is great for those who may have something of importance to share that Facebook does not naturally support. An example of this is a contact form and a shopping cart for your products. If it can be embedded onto your site, it can be placed into this tab on your Facebook page. Another good use for this is to incorporate a newsletter sign-up form to gather users contact info.
Heyo is a fantastic app to use which will enable you to throw contests for your users, and collect their information for future use. Heyo features an easy to use drag and drop designer allowing businesses to drive engagement, increase activity, and capture user data with so much ease. There are a ton of pre-made contest templates for use as well! By using Heyo, you can create a giveaway in which fans of your page has to “like” share” or “comment” to enter.
Want to learn HTML, and have no idea where to start? What programs to use? Where do I get them? Will I break the Internet with my horrible code? After I got over my initial fears, I set about trying to learn how to build a web site.
The first thing to know about learning HTML is to be committed. The second is to pick a small project, then set goals for yourself. I became interested in learning HTML after seeing other gaming sites. I wanted to have a website that I could share my PC gaming opinions and experiences on and receive feedback from the gaming community. What drove me to learn was my love of technology, from computer games to building and fixing computers. As a result, I decided to learn HTML.
HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) is a standardized system for tagging text files to achieve font, color, graphic, and hyperlink effects on World Wide Web pages (source: www.google.com).
Whether you are looking to create your own website or just experiment and see if it’s something you are interested in, a great resource is W3 Schools. This site is my go-to place to learn HTML. W3 Schools walks you through different aspects of HTML and CSS step-by-step, allowing you a virtual workshop with which to test their code and instructions. This alone makes it an invaluable resource. You can then apply the lessons (and copy and paste some of the code) when you begin working on your own site.
It seems confusing and intimidating at first, but after a while, you will be able to read the code as easily as reading this article. W3 Schools is a great place to learn JavaScript along with other useful computer programming languages.
Learning HTML can be fun and it is easy if you have the right inspiration. I have found that the best way to learn something is to experiment and “play” with it. W3 Schools implements what you are reading in real time, which is so much easier than reading and trying to remember what you just read. Two more programs that will help you in your learning experience are a program called Komodo Edit, and FileZilla.
Komodo Edit allows you to create and edit HTML in an easy to use and simple format. It even completes lines of code for you as you type. It is ideal for creating or troubleshooting HTML. Other WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) editing programs, such as Adobe Dreamweaver, will insert unnecessary lines of code, clogging up the document and making it difficult to troubleshoot. To view your changes in komodo edit, you need to have a web browser open to view your results.
FileZilla is a FTP, File Transfer Protocol. This program allows you to upload files you have created with Komodo Edit to your live web server. It includes options to save a group of sites and passwords for easy usage as well as a user-friendly interface that makes seeing what you’re transferring (and to where) simple. FileZilla is only necessary if you want to upload your site to the web.
If you are working locally on your personal computer, you will not need Filezilla, until you are ready to publish your site to the web. I will write more on this in the future.
With these tools, I have been able to start programming in the HTML, which was previously a mystery to me. I am excited to learn more in the future, and now that I have the proper tools and understanding at my disposal, I plan on expanding my knowledge and making my simple gaming site into a spectacular one. My next step is to learn CSS, and I will write about my experiences with that in the next article.
Videos take up more space than any other kind of medium within a Google search. In a pixel comparison, video results take up more room than images or authorship photos, and studies indicate that this fact draws user’s eyes straight to them.
Video optimization is also easier than other methods such as Google Authorship because a Google+ account is not required.
Creating a video snippet is done through the creation of a video XML sitemap and the addition of schema.org markup.
The creation of these snippets can even be automated through third party platforms such as Wistia.
One of the most important features of a video’s markup is the video thumbnail. Through the video’s schema.org data, this image can be defined. Try using a thumbnail that will attract user’s attention and encourage clicks.
YouTube is an interesting platform for our web design clients to accomplish a variety of goals, whether it be to provide a visual of their new product to sell, or simply an interesting new way to connect with their clients and break free of the “normal” way of showcasing information on a page. YouTube is diverse in that you can post a 30-second commercial spot or an hourlong in-studio podcast and get the same results. What can YouTube do for you? YouTube can:
We have many clients come in and ask what YouTube entails and what they can do to apply their business to YouTube. In most cases, you’re only limited by your creativity and the amount of time you have on your hands. Good video quality and production are important. Think about if you were only able to watch Breaking Bad in shaky cell phone quality instead of enjoying the crisp visuals on your HD television. The quality of your output is a reflection on your company. If you put out a high-quality video, then part of your battle is already won.
The other important element is having a goal in mind before the video is created, much less available to the public. Are you shooting to sell products? Engage existing customers on a new platform? These are the questions that need asking before a video is shot. Communication with the client is important to establish these goals and ensure traffic from the video on the web site accomplishes these goals.
Once the goals are established, it’s important to treat the video as if it were a page on the web site. When it’s uploaded, does it have an appropriate and descriptive title, tags, and detailed description? These are crucial elements to moving yourself ahead of potential competition and getting you noticed in the sea of videos uploaded every day to YouTube. Consider using Photoshop or another image program to craft an eye-catching thumbnail. It’s the first thing those potential customers on YouTube will see when they discover your video, and you only get one chance to leave a first impression. Make sure it’s the right one.
Finally, if your goal is indeed to drive traffic to your web site, make sure you have an annotation as well as a link in the description of your video linking to the appropriate site. YouTube is the second-largest search engine behind Google. Make sure you’re utilizing it in the best way possible, and you may be surprised at the results!
Being a programmer, I find myself out of touch with the more artistic capabilities the designer here at Atomic has. To be honest, I don’t have a creative bone in my body. One could argue that programming is just as creative, but I am talking about expressive creativity.
Forget about me designing a web layout or coming up with a great logo. It’s just not happening. I know my limitations and do not tend to deceive myself. I rely on our designer here for any artistic work. So when it comes to coming up with something as simple as a name for a new app, I find myself lost in thinking up a short descriptive word to define the app and it’s functionality.
If you have the same problem, or even if you don’t, I’ve found a nice and short article that is definitely worth the read. Top 10 tips for naming your app makes some great points without being too preachy. Everyone is different and gives different levels of importance to everything there is to consider when coming up with the perfect name, but these 10 tips Dan Rose mentions gave me great insight into what I should consider the next time I am stuck thinking up a name for my next app.
Generating traffic from Instagram is a difficult, but not impossible chore. Generally speaking Instagram is primarily used for raising brand awareness and developing a community around said brand. Using Instagram to drive traffic to your site is one of the nice side-effects of this social platform, but it must be used properly and effectively to avoid spamming and turning your community away.
With that said, here are some key ways to drive traffic to your site from Instagram.
When an Instagram user wants to see what your page is all about they will most likely start with your profile’s bio. This area is a prime location for linking to your site. While the Instagram bio is limited to 150 characters, your url should definitely take up some of that space. Use the remaining space to get creative and separate yourself from the other users on Instagram.
Links that are posted within comments will not be active while on Instagram. However these links are live when the photo is shared onto Facebook or Twitter. It is here that these links can help to drive traffic to your site.
Watermarking your images is a great way to gain some traffic when an image unexpectedly goes viral. Thankfully there is even a cheap app for your phone for this. iWatermark will allow you to easily add your logo or url to all images posted from your phone.
When posting images of your products do not be afraid to include the price tag on these pictures. Product shots with prices tend to have a higher click-through-rate so do not hesitate to include this vital piece of information. If a user is interested in their product they will click through to your site if they see a price.
Just remember, the purpose of Instagram is to build up brand recognition. While additional traffic to your site is always nice, it is more important to develop an authentic and active community based around your brand.
Put simply, social commerce is using social networks such as Facebook and Instagram to make online shopping more social and generate community, user-based content and increase your product or company’s social visibility.
Examples:
Social Commerce is Important and Here is Why:
Social Commerce Improves Your Brand Visibility
Social media users are connected to the internet up to 11 hours a day. They also follow and engage with up to 11 brands at a time. These users can build a strong base for your products and services.
Social media users also research their future purchases via social sites. Without a social commerce strategy your brand could lose a lot of marketing potential by ignoring these users.
Social Commerce Produces Value
According to the marketing firm Syncapse, every Facebook fan you earn is worth up to $174. A page with 5,000 fans could conceivably be an $870,000 asset. The value of fan worth varies from company to company but is no less crucial to increasing your amount of social media presence.
Social Commerce Increases Site Traffic
Traditional web marketing formats such as banner ads and pay per click are considered a smashing success if they reach a 2% click through rate. The click-through rates on Facebook wall posts and shares can be up to 6.5%. Facebook fans can play a huge role in getting your products and services to new people that aren’t yet fans via sharing. These shares can generate a decent amount of traffic to your site.
Social Commerce increases your SEO initiatives.
With the latest update to the Google search algorithm, social media presence and true, quality links leading back to your site are of utmost importance to the optimization of your search engine strategy.
Social Commerce is Undervalued
Most small businesses still lack awareness of the power of social commerce and social media in increasing profits, customer retention, customer service and gathering potential new customers.
Current small business pollings place social commerce fourth on the media marketing list of importance. The top three were daily deal sites, online advertising and business directory listings. The need for small business to utilize social networks is tantamount. Social commerce should be one of your top priorities in your online marketing campaign.
Social Commerce IS NOT EASY
Building customer relations and strengthening your social visibility is a full time job.
In order to be effective you must engage with your clientele and actively seek out conversations where your product or service is viable. Inundating your social followers with a daily sales pitch is the quickest way to lose their interest. Meaningful communication is the key to creating a successful social commerce campaign.
Active use of Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Google+ is a must. Use this social media to help people solve problems or offer advice in your field of expertise. Caring leads to sharing and sharing leads to successful campaigns.
Social Commerce Tips
Your social commerce strategy has three important factors: Identity, Conversation and Community.
Identity: This is what you communicate to your customers through conversations. The identity of your brand and your business philosophy needs to be present in every aspect of your social dealings.
Conversation: Good conversations lead to a better awareness of your brand, strengthens brand reliability and helps to develop a loyal client base.
Community: Giving your users a place to discuss your products and services is a great way to increase brand awareness and loyalty. Keep in mind that giving the consumer a discussion space is not enough! You must be ACTIVELY INVOLVED in your brand community in order to keep loyalty high. Develop meaningful discussion in your forums or commenting systems to foster a free exchange of information and interaction between your users. These customers can become an online marketing juggernaut but, only if you give them a reason to support your business.
Review your social conversations daily and keep your client base up to date with developments and meaningful discussion.
