Why you should Stop Using CAPTCHAs

• February 3, 2012
Steven

CAPTCHA stands for “Completely Automated Public Turing test you tell Computers and Humans Apart,” and their most used purposed it to stop automated submissions of web forms, like registration or contact forms. Those robots, they’re such tricky fellows.

While us normal folk think that CAPTCHAs are benefiting us, they are actually harming the usability of your website. Nowadays CAPTCHAs are becoming less and less legible, which is making actual humans leave pages out of frustration. And would you look at that your competition doesn’t have annoying CAPTCHAs to deal with, you just gave your competition a new client.

Another thing you probably haven’t even thought of is that as a web designer you aren’t really subject to the bots, so you’re just making your website suffer from the conformist approach to avoid them.

There are other ways to avoid bots:

1. Simple math questions, for example to validate that someone is human you can just make them answer what is 2 + 2.
2. Use Javascript, a Javascript function is called to perform some simple arithmetic and push the result into a hidden field which is then verified server-side. This is a good one to use if you know that your user-base is going to have Javascript installed, but it may prove to be counterproductive for those who have Javascript disabled.
3.  Use pictures, for example you can ask your customer to click on the telephone amongst pictures of cats to proceed.
4.  Ask them to complete a simple task, you can ask them to spell toothpaste or another simple word.
5. Use a service like Akismet, an excellent spam-filtering service for blog comments.
6. Or you can just put up with it; it’s up to you. Weigh the pros and cons and figure out what’s best for you.

10 Quick tips to improve your Website

• January 16, 2012
Steven

How do you know your blog or website is performing at it’s best?

Miami Web Design Pro is about to show you 10 more ways to improve your website and really be satisfied with it’s performance…

1- Key Content Hidden “Below the fold” - always keep in mind that you only have a small window of opportunity to really get the attention of a visitors once they land on your site.  Be sure to have vital content or even a Facebook fan page widget in  a area where its visible to a visitor with out actually having to scroll down too excessively. To much scrolling to find anything on your site means the visitor will get bored in a matter of seconds and leave your page.

2- Long Flash Intro -  AVOID!! Flash is dead or at least dying out of existence. No one likes to spend the time anymore sitting through an annoying flash intro before actually seeing the content on your site. Instead impress visitors with your knowledge and the relevance of your content. Maybe look into incorporating CSS into your design to have some animated effects which are ten times better then flash.

Read more…

Wynwood Walls, Miami 2011. Art Basel

• December 5, 2011
Steven

Here are some pictures we took this Art Basel at the Wynwood walls in Mid-town Miami. An explosion of creativity all over Mid-Town this year with Great art all over Miami walls. Of course you had your “not so sure it was art” art and  incredible stuff that we couldn’t believe it was in fact being created right in front of us. Parking was a mission but totally worth the 10 rounds around the same block for a space to park. Besides the outdoor exhibitions there where many galleries with amazing art, which came as a surprise to us since we didn’t know there where so many galleries in that area, an area that for a few years back was and still to this day in some way, inhabited by creepy grown people, who for some reason keep talking to themselves ( never understood that). Mid-Town is in fact a booming trendy area with boutiques, galleries and high rises being built as we speak. Slowly but surely it will become the hip, social scene of Miami ( it kinda already is).

Art Basel Miami, 2011.

• December 2, 2011
Steven

Want some creative inspiration, check out Art Basel Miami 2011, hosted at the very trendy area of Mid Town Miami “AKA” The Design District. From the amazing graffiti art to the many galleries, there is something for everyone. Miami streets are filed with artists, pouring their creativity on every wall, container and open field they can find. Art Basel will be running from December 2 – 4, make sure you make some time to witness these great master pieces before they are gone.

Here are  some examples:

Creative Marketing Ideas for Halloween!

• October 25, 2011
Steven

This year Halloween is expected to be on of the biggest Halloweens for business in a long time according to the National Retail Foundation.  With approximately 70% of consumers indicating they plan to celebrate Halloween this year. Halloween is quickly becoming one of the most popular holidays in the US, second only to the jolly fat man who comes around once a year on the 25th of December.  So don’t miss out on this great opportunity to market your business this Halloween. Here are a couple of great Halloween marketing ideas from small businesses which are gaining huge success.

1. Hold a Halloween-Themed Contest-

Maybe this year you should think about hosting a Online Halloween-Themed contest. Themed contests have been increasing in popularity through out the years and there’s no end to the possibilities online.  For example one company had the idea of having hidden monsters throughout the Internet and their system for users to find. The prize they received came from each monster a person would find.  Their purpose of this contest was to drive brand recognition, as well as membership subscriptions/renewals.

2. Sell Halloween-Themed Products-

We thought this was hilarious but at the same time brilliant in some way. One company took it upon themselves to really think outside the box this year for Halloween. They took the theme to the extreme this year by selling products to help consumers “zombie-proof” their homes. But that’s not all, they went even further as to set up a  “Zombie Preparedness Center” on their company website. Which has created such a buzz in the media giving them a lot of attention this year for Halloween.

3. Charity Photo Costume Event-

A professional Photography company has been giving people free photos of their child in their Halloween costume in exchange for a food donation.

4.Turn Your Business into  a Trick-or-Treat Stop or even a Haunted House-

Looking to build your email database for newsletters? Many small businesses that can invite the public to visit on Halloween should offer special “treats” and even have employees dress up in costumes to take pictures with the customer. Then send them the photos via e-mail, which will help you build your email database to send them newsletters throughout the year.

5. Have a “Green” Halloween Event-

Instead of giving away the usual candy, why not offer healthy treats and invite people to trick or treat at your place of business? Show some support towards all the healthy nuts out there this Halloween with a “Green” event.

6. Hold a Contest for best Pumpkin Online!-

We took this idea from a company who took it upon themselves to purchase pumpkins in bulk from a local market and host their very own pumpkin festival for best pumpkin.  Sounds expensive, but if you don’t have a retail location for a good venue, then why not have a virtual pumpkin festival online straight from the company site or on Twitter or Facebook? Everyone can post their best pumpkin online and compete against each other for prizes. Plus, with the help of social media you’ll definitely gain a lot of attention this year for Halloween.

7. Give Away Halloween-Related Freebies-

Looking to gain a lot more traffic this year for your business website? Halloween themed freebies are a great way to gain attention. Spooky Halloween Design Templates for visitors to download, costume ideas or party planning tips are good examples of freebies to give out to the public.  Companies like Disney even host 31 days of Halloween, which provide free craft ideas, recipes and pumpkin carving stencils and more on one of their websites. As long as your freebies are appropriate for your target audience and it’s Halloween related of course then your business would benefit from it. Doesn’t even have to stop at Halloween, acquire emails from your visitors so they can receive more newsletters after for more valuable freebies.

Miami web design pro knows the value of good customer relations and thinking outside the box like them when it comes to marketing. This year for Halloween be sure to focus on new creative ideas to increase sales for your business by doing something fun & different. Who knows? Maybe you’ll have huge success this year. Happy Halloween!

comScore Announces 40 Million Active Mobile Users on Social Nets

• October 25, 2011
Steven

According to comScore, in the US there is currently close to 40 million mobile users accessing social networks on there handheld devices on a day to day basis. Facebook alone announced it had 350 million active mobile users globally. But lets not forget about Google who also sees strategic value in social networking via mobile devices. Their new version of Android features Google + which is looking very promising for social networking.

The chart below displays traffic estimates by comScore. Based on data retrieved from mobile usage of Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. As you can tell Facebook has many more mobile users than other platforms. But it seems to us like comScore underestimates the actual number of mobile users.

For example, Twitter.com recently announced it had 100 million active mobile users. They also noted that 46% (46 million users) of mobile users are active on Twitter.com via their phone globally. In the US alone Twitter.com has 20 million active users while 60% of Twitter users originate somewhere outside the United States. Based off the data comScore accumulated the mobile-social networking audience in the United States is just over 70 million users. While the grand total of mobile internet audience is over 100 million people in the United States according to Nielsen’s data (Nielsen.com). Read more…

Is Social Media a Security Threat?

• October 13, 2011
Steven

With social media being such an important tool for businesses today. Many I.T professionals would consider it a security threat. A recent study showed that only 29 percent of I.T professionals believe their companies have adequate protection against security breaches from social media interfering. I.T specialists have been able to find the source of these security breaches and tracking them back to end users downloading apps associated with sites like Facebook. Many of these users aren’t aware that some of these apps actually download malicious software to their work PC’s along with spyware and viruses. Leaving the poor I.T department to clean up the mess logging endless hours fixing the damage caused by these supposed “harmful” apps.

Another cause of malware has come from users clicking on third-party links on social media sites. Facebook has taken safety measure to prevent these. One was partnering with Websense to detect malicious links and warn users about them. Employers could also take their own precautions using an app called MyPageKeeper, which searches for malicious links and notifies users if they appear on a person’s news feed or wall. But for many businesses another security concern comes from their inability to control user postings on social media platforms. With many users keeping their user profiles private from the public view, businesses have the inability to monitor postings and the I.T department fear that confidential information could be leaked via status updates.

With social media today small businesses are faced with a serious issue. Can businesses afford to ban their employees from accessing there profiles? Not to mention the importance of social media as a beneficial tool for marketing. Companies are eliminating Facebook, Twitter, FourSquare and even corporate networking sites like LinkedIn and ignoring the value social media has in the business world. These have so much potential and can be an essential tool for viral networking as small businesses have found. But security threats are only part of the problem. Major businesses have come to the conclusion that using these social networking platforms are a liability and counter productive. While small businesses have taken a more subtle approach by resorting to Time Doctor to monitor workers’ actual productivity, rather than blocking these sites altogether. A solution like Time Doctor can help your employees meet business goals and get the best out of social media marketing.

I.T. professionals urge the importance of having a company-wide security policy signed by each user to avoid security breaches. This policy protects the company, as well as stressing the importance of responsible use of office equipment to all employees. But with all the fingers pointed to social media as a security threat, the idea that social networking can be productive and business efficient is still a questionable debate for many businesses and that needs to change.

Measuring ROI for your Social Media Campaign

• October 5, 2011
Steven

Here at Miami Web Design Pro many clients that walk through our doors are uneducated on the idea that Social Media is beneficial to their business. They sit down and complain that all the time and money they invested led up to a spiraling downfall for their marketing campaign. Well today we will give you some tips on how you can strategically measure your return of investment and analyze certain factors like participation, involvement, engagement, customer loyalty and satisfaction that will increase your marketing efforts on social media networks. Social media endeavors are directly related to your business’s performance. So understanding the gain your business profits from when you suddenly have an increase in followers, subscribers, fans and traffic is key to a successful Social Media Marketing Campaign.

Each year social media platforms are used by countless of small and medium sized businesses as a great marketing tool to advertise and promote to a wider audience. But many businesses find it more difficult to analyze and track there rate of investment from their social media efforts then tracking PPC advertising. Its a little bit more complicated then tracking PPC campaigns. For starters as a business owner you should try and define certain goals you would like to achieve from using social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter and Google +. Keeping tabs on number of comments your receive or the number of followers you have on Facebook/Twitter and tracking whether they visit your site or product pages after are important. Did your sales increase because of the increase in traffic to your site? Tracking all this data is imperative, with out it you wouldn’t be able to calculate the ROI from your social media campaign. Set goals to increase communication with customers or potential ones. Engaging in conversation by replying to comments on Facebook or tweet’ing back to them on Twitter will go a long way for your social media campaign.

Keeping track of the data and your business goals with the help of some online solutions will help you optimize and maximize your marketing campaign. Using Google Analytics will allow you to track incoming links to your site and the activities of visitors on your site. Tracking Social Media Metrics using tools like PostRank, Omniture and Hootsuite will help you measure your rate of investment. You can then analyze all this data to see if your goals are met and you can easily see if the traffic to your website increased after you advertised using a social media platform like Facebook. Looking for trends and tracing their origin will help you track your ROI a lot easier as well.

If your rate of investment is small from using social media site then this means you need to evaluate your campaign to see what you did wrong and how you can do it differently. Since you kept track of all your data and social media metrics it will be less of a headache to see what exactly is doing well and what isn’t working for your marketing campaign and improve on it. Evaluate the impact of social media on your business and you can fine-tune your strategy to engage with a wider audience to increase brand awareness with Social Media!

Encouraging a Social Media Mindset in the Workplace

• September 29, 2011
Steven

With social media becoming such a necessity not only in peoples lives but also for many businesses. Companies need to start making decisions on social media in the work place. With today’s technology (i.e. smartphones, laptops, and tablets) social media has become apart of every digital tool we use and that isn’t going to change. So the question a smart business owner should ask himself is “What Social Media mindset should I incorporate to better my business vs it getting in the way of my business.”

As of now many companies big and small see Social Media as a distraction for employees. Employees are procrastinating at work, not meeting deadlines and being unproductive at work because there to busy replying to a post a friend or family member created or maybe there almost done cropping the fields on Farmville. Whatever the case maybe employers have begun to see Facebook, Twitter, Google+ etc.. as nothing more than distractions. Well guess what? It’s time to change the Social Mindset on your workforce and the trick is to show employees how to use social technology to meet business goals rather then casual use.

For a company to get anywhere with social technology you need to stop looking at it as a liability. One smart way to tackle this issue is by creating a digital environment for companies where constant goals and business ideas are met. Educating your employees on using digital tools for business projects the right way is ideal. Doing this will guarantee a strong Social Media mindset for business purposes which takes a lot of effort and time but the return is glorious. Each and every day Facebook is looked at as a casual social tool so naturally employers will make an effort to block its use. But what’s going to stop your minions from taking out there smart phones that’s sending them Facebook messages? With proper training Facebook will become the best business tool your business can gain from. You’ll cut down on the time your minions have procrastinated with and instead meet business goals. That also goes for Twitter and other social platforms that can aid your business. Employees wont feel labored and can have fun using social tools while still meeting business goals in a productive environment. But the right Social Media Mindset will only begin when business owners, corporate leaders and small business owners educate themselves on how social technology can better their business.

Targeting Your Perfect Matches on the Web

• August 18, 2011
Steph

Miami Web Design Pro knows it would be perfect if you knew exactly who your ideal prospects were before sending e-mails, newsletters, tweets, invites, and Facebook messages. While your information may be relevant and interesting, not everyone wants to hear what you have to say. That is why you need to know exactly who you’re targeting.
Read more…