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Your Business Website 6 reasons to have a high quality website.
Having a strong web presence is very important in today's market. Over 80% of internet users in Ireland today research products, companies, services, articles, and even you before making decisions relative to their day-to-day lives. Below are 6 reasons why your business should have a quality website.
1. Increase Your Credibility:
A well designed, structured, and crafted website makes a powerful statement about your company. It informs your clients, competition and potential customers that your business is up to speed technologically and you encourage visitors to come experience: Who you are, What you do, and most importantly Why you’re a better alternative.
2. Always Open for Business:
The door is always open to your website to allow your clients to research your company leisurely and in the comfort of their own computer. Whether they’re looking through your portfolio, or reading client testimonials your website offers a perfect opportunity to win over potential customers without any pressure to them.
3. Unbeatable Sales Tool
With your website always open you never know who might be dropping in for a look. By having your website acting as a constant sales tool it can overwhelmingly increase the number of quality leads by answering all the right questions. You control the information and material presented to the customer and can provide a creative and informative presentation that can be accessed at anytime.
4. Boost your Brand Identity:
Build a robust image for your business to create a visual essence that identifies with your marketing, advertising, and print material. It is the perfect opportunity to reveal the professionalism within the core elements of your business.
6. Low Cost Advertising:
Your website has a great potential for tapping into a targeted audience that will ultimately lead to more direct sales. With low to practically no overhead cost it offers a perfect complement to your existing marketing and advertisement strategies.
If you would like more information on developing your website or you would like IDF Marketings web designers to develop a profesional web design for your business contact us today.
Here at IDF Marketing we offices based locally in Dublin & Limerick.
Network to get work Online social networking for your business
Are social networking sites such as Facebook and LinkedIn the business tools of the future? Time will tell. But if you run a small to medium size business it is wise not to ignore them. Many businesses in Ireland are using these social networking sites to successfully network their way to a stronger web presence, enhanced credibility and more customers.
Below we have outlined some tips when marketing your business on a social network.
1. Experiment with multiple sites:
Invest your time wisely on the right sites for your business. MySpace is the largest social networking site, but don’t count on it for great results in trying to reach an over-30 audience. Other sites likewise may not be the right fit for your target market. We recommend being on a number of sites but really focusing on one or two
2. Establish credentials and expertise:
Most social networking sites start you with a profile page. Seize this opportunity to position your business and market your skills, as well as providing necessary contact information and a web address. If you are an expert on a given topic, brand yourself as such.
3. Take advantage of applications:
Facebook, among other things, allows you to build a business page for news about your company, an events page for business activities, even a "Fan" page. You can also post videos on your pages.
4. Be selective about your "friends."
You want to make friends (or connections) on social networking sites — but it’s not about how many names you can "collect." Having a small number of connections who value your passions and expertise, and who care to network regularly, may be best for your business.
5. Use privacy settings
Unfortunately, social networking sites, like the rest of the Internet, attract scam artists. Most sites have privacy settings allowing you to dictate how much of your profile is revealed to people inside and outside your network. Adjust these settings to your own comfort level, but in general, be cautious about the personal information you post.
For more information on social networking sites to enhance your business or if you would like IDF Marketing to create your social networking presence we would be more than happy to assist you.
IDF Marketing provide businesses with Social Media Training & Social Media Marketing Training such as Facebook Training, Twitter Training & LinkedIn Training. If you would like to arrange SMM (social media marketing) training and take your business to the next level, contact use today
Twitter partners with Google and Microsoft
Both Microsoft and Google agree that realtime search is one of the most exciting developments on the internet right now, and to this end both companies have partnered with Twitter to include the micro-blogging site’s status updates, or "tweets", in their search results, as announced at the Web 2.0 summit on October 22nd in San Francisco, California. Twitter, says Marissa Mayer, vice-president of Search Products and User Experience at
Google, is “not only as a way for people to communicate their thoughts and feelings, but also as an interesting source of data about
what is happening right now in regards to a particular topic.” Twitter first for breaking news This will come as no surprise to the Twitterers who have been logging into their favorite site not only as a means of keeping in touch with
friends but also for breaking news. An example of this was the death of Michael Jackson, where not only the news of his passing broke on Twitter but also subsequent updates were found sooner on the microblogging site. “We've partnered with Google to index the entire world of public tweets as fast as possible and present them to their users in an organised and relevant fashion,” said Twitter co-founder Biz Stone. Combined Forces Microsoft is also joining forces with Twitter to add real-time search result to its Bing search engine but this is actually a fully-realised version of what Bing had already been testing. Previously, Bing had incorporated real-time results of a select number of Twitter accounts from celebrity Twitterers, so this progression is the most logical conclusion of its trail phase. The main difference between Bing and Google is that while Google is planning to seamlessly incorporate Twitter results into the main organic search results, Bing however is keeping it as a compartmentalised search – Bing Twitter search – which is already available in the US and will be available to other countries soon. 'Tweakable' search
This specialised search will also be "tweakable": “If you want to keep an eye on this topic, you can just watch the tweets flow in or, click on ‘See more Tweets about …’ to go to a page full of tweets. On that page, you can change the ordering to 'Best Match.' Here we arrange tweets differently. If someone has a lot of followers, his/her tweet may get ranked higher,” says Paul Yiu and the Bing Social Search Team on the official Bing blog. With these new partnerships the way we search for and receive information online has been taken to a new level.
Benefits Of Your Site Having A Content Management System
Gone are days of static websites, where businesses had to return to the design agency to make minor changes to their website. Today it is important to keep your business website updated and current. Below are a few benefits of a website having a content management system.
Update your website from any location
Authors and editors can access the site from any computer with an internet connection. This means users can update the site at the same time from any location in the world.
Website management panel
The backend administration panel not only provides the ability to add content but also to add modules such as polls, banners, forums, shopping applications, news management and menus.
Technical knowledge not required
A CMS site allows non-technical people to add content. They just need to login with a user name and password then use the web editor that’s built into the CMS to add their content.
Save time and money
If you were using a static site to add content from multiple authors, each author would have to download the pages from the server to their computer first, update them, then upload them back to the server. This would be very time consuming and expensive.
Create search engine friendly pages
Content management systems allow you to easily include keywords in the URL of each page. If the title of your article was “Content Management System Benefits” your URL would be written as:
http://www.domainname.com/benefits -content-management-system, this is very useful for making your website search engine friendly.
Attracts more visitors
A CMS site attracts visitors because it can be constantly and rapidly updated. It not only generates pages that are search engine friendly but can produce lots of links from the new content that is added and syndicated.
A content management system is a powerful tool for businesses that want to present lots of content from multiple authors and gain lots of visitors. It also has the capability to expand as your business grows.
If you would like a professional web design with a content management system for your business or if you would like to apply a content management system to your existing website design feel free to call our professional web designers here at IDF Marketing today.
Here at IDF Marketing have an international client base, but our main offices are based in Dublin & Limerick, Ireland
A new wave of communication - Google’s latest creation
Google has changed the way we use the internet. First they brought us a simple search engine then they brought us Google maps a tool that uses satellite images for real time look at the earth, then they brought us a revolutionary email client as we know as gmail. But Google's latest invention is going to top all that. Google has released the Google wave, the new way to chat.
So what is a wave? A "wave" is both conversation and document, where people can communicate and work together with richly formatted text, photos, videos, maps, and more.
In Google Wave you create a wave and add people to it. Everyone on your wave can use richly formatted text, photos, gadgets, and even feeds from other sources on the web. They can insert a reply or edit the wave directly. It's concurrent rich-text editing, where you see on your screen nearly instantly what your fellow collaborators are typing into your wave. That means Google Wave is just as well suited for quick messages as for persistent content. Google Wave allows for both collaboration and communication.
Below I have outlined just a few benefits of Google Wave:
Real time news all in one
To get the latest breaking news, Twitter is arguably the fastest. The only thing that Twitter is lacking is solid content and a concerted effort to make the news more informative. With Google Wave, a user such as a witness of the incident can edit, add in his or her comments or share knowledge regarding the news. A journalist’s expertise accompanied by witnesses and users’ opinions will improve real time news quality.
Conversation waiting time
MSN, the world’s most popular instant messenger is good but not great. Often the user will have to wait for the other party to type their message and hit enter before they can gather their thoughts and reply. Fortunately, that’s not the case in Google Wave. Whatever your friend is typing at that moment, you can see it appearing real time and start gathering your thoughts for the next message. It’s like a real time verbal conversation with friends.
Instant messaging between multiple users
It is easy to have multiple friends chatting in a Wave. Simply drag and drop their profile and they are in the conversation! Most of the time when there are multiple users chatting, it is hard to keep track of who is talking to who exactly. Google Wave helps to organize the conversation in an organised threaded format.
Project collaborations
Collaboration is Google Wave’s specialty. Every Wave works like a wiki (wikipedia) or a Google doc. It places everyone’s work into one Wave, real time. This is an extremely useful tool during meetings when everyone can take notes and input their thoughts into a single Wave. At the end of the day, everyone gets the same set of meeting notes, ensuring consistency and avoiding miscommunication.
Retrace with playback functionality
You’d probably feel lost when you are new to a Wave your friends just added you into. This isn't a problem, its playback function helps you understand how the conversation or email has evolved to what it is at the current moment. Putting the playback function in the news context, you can literally see how a breaking news was first reported, commented, updated and concluded.
Communicating online has just become more interactive. informative and much faster.
3D is the buzzword in global entertainment for 2010
With the release of such films as the science fiction blockbuster Avatar, a 3D film by Titanic director James Cameron, The new buzzword for entertainment in 2010 seems to be "3D".
South Korea's Samsung has teamed up with DreamWorks Animation, maker of Shrek, Kung Fu Panda and other hit movies, and Technicolor in an effort to bring more 3D entertainment into the home.
Samsung, DreamWorks and Technicolor announced at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) that they have formed a 'global strategic alliance for the delivery of a complete 3D home entertainment solution in 2010'.
They said they were joining forces to 'accelerate the worldwide deployment of in-home 3D to mainstream consumers.'
Samsung is one of a number of major electronics manufacturers displaying 3-D high-definition television sets at CES this year as the industry seeks to expand 3-D viewing beyond the movie screen and into the living room.
Growth of 3D has been slow because of a lack of programming, the need to wear special glasses and the higher prices of 3D sets, but the release of films such as Avatar has renewed interest in the medium.
US sports broadcaster ESPN announced that it will show some World Cup football matches live from South Africa in 3D and Japan's Sony is partnering with Discovery and IMAX to launch a 24/7 3D TV network in the United States.
'We're forging the future of entertainment in what we like to call a new dimension,' Tim Baxter, president of the consumer electronics division at Samsung Electronics America, said at a Samsung press conference.
He said Samsung, which came out with its first 3D HDTV in 2007, would be marketing a 'complete 3D entertainment offering for the home' featuring a 3D television set, 3D Blu-Ray player and 'stylish active shutter 3-D glasses.'
'3D has had a bumpy ride since the first 3-D film back in 1922,' Baxter said.
3D tecnology will not only be limited to the in-home entertainment industry, Apple boss Steve Jobs will unveil the first Apple tablet this month , and it will come complete with 3D graphics.
Internet giants Google have released an experimental browser plugin that will make it possible to display rich 3D graphics in Web content. Google hopes that the plugin will stimulate discussion within the Web development community and contribute to a nascent effort headed by the Khronos group to bring 3D graphics to the Web.
It seems that this avalanche of 3D technology is set to change the way we view the world.
he New Google Buzz How will Buzz affect Twitter & Facebook
To date, Google has failed to launch a successful social networking product. Google Wave is an interesting concept, but it has proven too abstract to catch on to the mass market quick enough.
The question is will Buzz, Google’s new Twitter and Facebook like social stream, win Google a dominant place in the social web market?
Buzz’s success could depend mainly on Integration with existing social networks — especially Facebook. It is unlikly that Buzz will achieve significant success without Facebook integration. When Google launched Buzz it was announced that the app will share your Twitter updates with your Buzz followers. This is good news but there will be no integration with Facebook (as of yet).
When you post a new tweet using Twitter, Google can import that tweet and send it out to your Buzz followers with the rest of your Buzz updates. You won’t have to get over any obstacles to make it happen. Twitter is officially supported by Buzz — the same is true for other social products such as Flickr, Picasa, Blogger and YouTube.
While Buzz and Twitter have some connectivity, there’s very little between Buzz and Facebook to date. Buzz doesn’t import your Facebook status updates. It doesn’t post updates to your Facebook feed. It doesn’t display your friends’ feed updates. There’s no Facebook Connect integration at all. When asked about it, Google said it had nothing to announce at that time.
It will prove difficult for Google to build a user base when everyone who has a Facebook profile is concerned that they can’t see their connections updates. They’ll have to keep using Facebook to stay in touch with their Facebook friends.
With more than 400 million users, Facebook is the world’s largest social network, Twitter by contrast has only 18 million or so. Gmail’s unique visitors numbered around 36 million as of last year. Clearly, Facebook is dominating. Google is attempting to challenge that dominance with Buzz, but Facebook is at the same time planning to move just as aggressively into Google’s territory.
Facebook now dominates the social web so completely that it’s difficult to imagine an exodus to a competing service, unless that service offered some ground breaking new features that Facebook couldn’t possibly match, at the moment Buzz doesnt.
One Scenario that could happen is a service that aggregates other services’ features and content, and then offers up its own set of unique benefits that make the social web experience better. People would feel comfortable switching for the extra benefits, because they wouldn’t have to leave their existing connections behind.
The outlook could change if Buzz integrates with Facebook the way it does with Twitter. Unless that happens, though, you’re better off keeping your bets on Facebook.
Searchers Using Longer Queries in 2009
By Matt McGee
Reps from comScore, Nielsen Online, and Hitwise spoke last week in a “SearchScape” session at SMX West, and while they all shared some interesting numbers, it was Bill Tancer of Hitwise who really opened my eyes with data about searcher behavior.
The long tail is getting longer; 1- and 2-word queries are on the decline, while 4- and 5-word queries are rising. Even 3-word queries are down slightly, but not enough (in my opinion) to call it part of the trend just yet. Here’s Bill’s chart from last week’s session:
Words/Query 2009 2008 2007
1 word 20.4% 21.1% 24.5%
2 words 23.6% 24.9% 25.7%
3 words 21.8% 21.9% 20.7%
4 words 14.9% 14.5% 13.3%
5 words 8.7% 8.2% 7.5%
Four-word queries are up 12% since 2007, and five-word queries are up 16%.
This fits in with a point I made during my presentation on hyperlocal blogging, and which I wrote about on Hyperlocal Blogger — namely, that people are searching for everything online, and our local blogs are seeing a wide variety of long-tail queries bringing searchers to our blogs.
Did Apple just exile Adobe from iPhone OS 4.0?
Flash is a widely used foundation for applications and video-streaming sites on the Web. Apple doesn't like it and blocks it on the iPhone and iPad, though it's ubiquitous on PCs and laptops.
Adobe sidesteps this ban with its upcoming Flash Pro CS5--due to be formally announced next week--which can package Flash applications so they run as standalone programs on the iPhone. Last week, Adobe boasted that more than 100 programs in the Apple App Store use the Flash technology.
With the upcoming iPhone OS 4.0 announced Thursday and released to developers, it looks like the situation is changing.
John Gruber of Daring Fireball pointed out the change in the new iPhone Software Developer Kit license for iPhone OS 4.0. This provision was added: "Applications must be originally written in Objective-C, C, C++, or JavaScript as executed by the iPhone OS WebKit engine, and only code written in C, C++, and Objective-C may compile and directly link against the Documented APIs (e.g., Applications that link to Documented APIs through an intermediary translation or compatibility layer or tool are prohibited)."
Apple didn't respond to a request for comment about the move, and Adobe only said, "We are aware of the new SDK language and are looking into it. We continue to develop our Packager for iPhone OS technology, which we plan to debut in Flash CS5."
But Gruber couldn't figure a way out of it for Adobe and sees implications for a range of programming tools, many of them designed to let programmers target different devices with the same project. Another one is Novell's MonoTouch, which lets programmer's using Microsoft's C# programming language and associated .Net technology write for the iPhone and iPad.
Regarding MonoTouch, Mono project leader Miguel de Icaza didn't sound as concerned. "MonoTouch already has an option to compile to C + XCode, just call mtouch --xcode program.exe," he said on Twitter.
Not all were reassured, though, given that the SDK says "originally written in Objective-C, C, C++, or JavaScript," not originally written in another language and moved to a permitted language as an intermediate step. "The agreement uses the word "original" when talking about the source code. It's a gray area and may not be enforceable," tweeted Phil Nash, a programmer who wrote a Risk-like strategy game for the iPhone called vConqr.
Another multi-device developer tool company that could be affected is Unity Technologies, but Chief Executive David Helgason made this statement: "We have no indication from Apple that things are going to change. We have a great relationship with Apple and will do everything we can to comply with Apple's TOS [terms of service] (also, these are 'beta TOS,' and these easily get changed) so that we can provide uninterrupted service to our more than 120,000 users."
Glee Smule iPhone App
This is a great example of an iPhone app that really couples social and viral marketing: http://glee.smule.com/song/solo/4421
As a concept it's great, the technology behing the Glee Smule App is impressive, the fact you can sing back on other "Gleeks" tracks really explodes this, it kind of reminds me of how the Postal Service album came to be, would'nt it be incredible to see this app used subversively by a group of people uploading their own score and laying down vocals.
Adobe ditches iPhone codeing tools
The BBC Technology section today reported that
A keenly aniticipated CS5 and prospect of packaging Flash scripts to run as native iPhone apps seems to have evapourated entirely according to the BBC Technology site.
"In mid-April, Adobe released software called Creative Suite 5 that contained translation tools that automatically turn Flash code into programs that run on the iPhone.
Shortly before the release, Apple updated the terms and conditions of the license software developers must sign to create iPhone and iPad applications. The revisions prompted a lot of criticism from many iPhone developers.
The revised terms placed strict restrictions on what developers can use to create these applications and effectively banned them from using code translators such as Creative Suite 5.
At the time Adobe wrote that it still intended to deliver the translation tools. Now it has said it will halt development of future translation tools for Creative Suite."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8639240.stm
Microsoft to launch Spindex Social Network aggregator
Spindex is designed to aggregate a varieyt of popular social network data create a one-stop area to your online social networks. Just how useful Spindex will be is arguably questionable, my initial impression are that it will not provide anything truely unique, take for example the web browser Flock which allows you to see updates etc through all your configured social networks and quickly interact in them. Unless Spindex becomes bundled in their OS I can't see it taking off.
Business users however, might find the application useful if they are managing a variety of Social Network Identities to promote their products or business allowing them to push out tweets or posts slightly quicker but still having to do so in each profile. With many of our clients websites we take the headache out of this by pushing their blog posts to the likes of twitter and facebook so they only need to post once, creating automation to save them time.
Google font api
Google have announced their new font directory. This will save time on using something like sifr.
There isn't a huge collection of fonts to choose from but i'm sure this directory will keep increasing with time. It even works in ie6.
This will allow web developers to have alot more freedom when it comes to selecting fonts as they will no longer be restricted by the browser.
Check it out http://code.google.com/apis/webfonts/
Facebook to simplfy Privacy Settings
Facebook have taken the first steps to restoring faith in it's users by giving members more control over their privacy settings, or more importanly simplifying them. The Electronic Frontier Foundation has praised Facebook's attempts to address the whirlwind of concerns that have escalated over the last few weeks, but will Facebook's continuing action win back it's concerned userbase and exiles?
Emerald Surfwear Website Launched
We are proud to have launched the Emerald Surfwear website, the new website is packed with great music, photography and products. Their launch party will be held on Saturday 26th June in Lahinch.
You can view their new website at: http://www.emeraldsurfwear.com/ or learn more about the project in our portfolio.
IDF Marketing are ready for the 2010 pig and porter
After placing 2nd in the Dublin Tag Rugby leauge for the last 2 years and winning the plate in the 2009 Pig and Porter Festival, IDF Marketing have their eyes set on the 2010 Pig and Porter Trophy. "IDF Marketing have invested in some new talent for the 2010 Pig and Porter campaign" says Head coach Kevin Meaney. Team masseuse Joe Mckenna went on to say "I dont want to mention any names, but we felt that some of the 2009 team did not have the commitment we were looking for, the 2010 panel is stronger than ever". The 2010 IDF Marketing team is as follows: Sean Meaney, Shane Costello, Kieran Breen, Gill Long, Conor Dunphy, David Collins, Joe McKenna, Fiona Flinn, Aisling Mcnamara, Sarah Kilroy, Clare Meaney, Fiodhna Bourke, Laura Coughlan.
Web Design Limerick
With our new Limerick offices based is Castletroy, IDF Marketing is providing the Limerick area and surrounding counties with the highest quality web design services. Here are IDF Marketing our highly qualified inhouse team of web designers create high quality websites that act as an essential tool to our clients businesses. Our high quality websites come complete with easy to use content management systems (cms). We trian our clients to use their website cms so that they can update their website from their home or office.
All of the websites that are created by IDF Marketing are SEO (search engine optimisation) friendly. If you are looking for a profressional web design service in areas such as Limerick, Cork or Dublin, call us today and our web designers will create a website for your buisness that will work for you.
Well Done To The IDF Marketing Tag Team
Well done to all the IDF Marketing Tag Team who took part in the 2010 Pig & Porter festival on Saturday the 17th of July. Great day and night had by all!
Player of the day goes to Kieran Breen who pulled his ham string.
Looking forward to next year!
IDF Marketing Launch Open Emotions Studio Website
IDF Marketing is proud to announce the launch of our clients Open Emotion Studios website. Our web designers created the website complete with an easy to use CMS (content management system) so that Paddy and his team can easily update and modify their website.
Open Emotion Studios is an Irish based video-game development company, operating out of Limerick, Ireland since late 2009. The company was founded by 3 friends, Patrick Murphy, Mike Naughton and Colm English, whose goal was to produce the games they themselves would like to see on the market. The company grew quickly, partly due to the success of the Studios first flash game, Mad Blocker which was a surprise success garnering over half a million plays worldwide in it’s first month on general release.
To view Open Emotion Studios website click here, From everyone at IDF Marketing we wish Paddy and the team the best luck!
IDF Marketing Launch New St Gabriels Website
We are proud to have worked with St. Gabriels in Launching their new website. St. Gabriel’s School & Centre is dedicated to providing education and a range of therapy services to children and young adults with physical, intellectual and sensory disabilities and develop mental delay. St. Gabriels aim to deliver these services through an interdisciplinary team approach.
St. Gabriels need some special feature within their website to highlight their unique facility. Our inhouse team of web designers & web programmers created features such as interactive 360 degree facilities which can be viewed here. The St. Gabriels site is 100% search engine friendly and also very easy to update, our team created the website complete with our easy to use CMS (content managment system).To view the new St. Gabriels website please click here.
From al the team here at IDF Marketing we wish Kate and everyone else in the St. Gabriels the best of luck.
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