WordPress Blogging Platform
The WordPress blogging platform– both in its hosted and self-hosted forms – has long been among the most popular platforms for personal and professional blogs (and it’s what we use here at TechCrunch, too). Looking at the top 100 blogs in Technorati’s index, a new study by website monitoring firm Pingdom found that 49% of the top 100 blogs now use WordPress. That’s up from 32% in 2009. No other platform even comes close.
WP Use is Growing Rapidly
WP is the SEO and Social Media Technology of Choice for Developers
Typepad was still the second most popular platform in 2009, but now it has virtually disappeared from the rankings. Movable Type, which was still being used by 12 of top 100 blogs in 2009, is now down to 7. WordPress is now the technology of choice.
For more information about the WordPress Blogging Platform contact one of our team members.
WordPress.org is the community site for the WordPress blogging platform. This is the place to go for bloggers who need help or resources for their WordPress blog.
On June 17, 2010, WordPress 3.0 was released, including many significant improvements to the administrative backend of the site which move the publishing platform even further beyond a tool for blogging and closer to a fully-featured CMS.
By Chris Kanaracus, IDG News
Global spending on SaaS (software as a service) will rise 17.9 percent this year to US$14.5 billion, according to figures released Tuesday by analyst firm Gartner.
Software as a Service Market to Grow: Platform as a Service to Follow
The spending rise is attributable to greater familiarity with how SaaS works, growth in related PaaS (platform as a service) offerings, and IT budgeting considerations, Gartner research director Sharon Mertz said in a statement. SaaS products are typically sold via subscription, allowing companies to avoid large up-front licensing fees and capital costs.
North America is the most mature and largest SaaS market, expected to generate $9.1 billion in revenue this year, compared to $7.8 billion last year.
Software as a Service Market to Grow Internationally
Western Europe’s SaaS spending will generate more than $3.2 billion in 2012, up from $2.7 billion in 2011.
In the Asia-Pacific region, for which Gartner excludes Japan, SaaS revenue will jump from $730.9 million in 2011 to $934.1 million this year.
Japanese companies will spent $495.2 million on SaaS this year, compared to $427 million last year, Gartner said.
CRM SaaS Sales are BIG in Japan: What about Platform as a Service?
SaaS sales in Japan will be driven by CRM (customer relationship management) and collaboration software, “which already have actual demand,” Gartner said. The 2011 earthquake has also raised interest in SaaS there as a possible defense against such natural disasters, according to the analyst firm.
SaaS spending in Latin America this year will be $419.7 million, compared to $331.1 million in 2011, Brazilian and Mexican companies will account for the majority of sales, with CRM, procurement and ERP (enterprise resource planning) applications the most popular choices, Gartner said.
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Meanwhile, Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa remain “small and emerging markets overall” with “ongoing infrastructure challenges,” Gartner said. Platform as a service sales may be slower here.
Read more about the Software as a Service Market to Grow from PC World HERE.
Social Networking Platform Google+
by Samantha Murphy
Google announced on Wednesday that it is rolling out a significant redesign for its social platform Google+, which will allow users to create a more customized experience on the site.
The Google+ Social Network is Growing
Google+ Social Network adds navigation bar and flexibility with profile pages and pictures
The company said it will introduce a variety of new features to the site in the next few days, from customizing apps and the navigation bar to more flexibility with profile pages and pictures. In addition, the update introduces a new Explore page that posts what’s interesting and trending across the site.
Social Networking Platform Google+ now boasts more than 170 million users since it’s 2011 launch.
Social Networking Platform Google+ Adds New Features
Google+ will now offer profile pages that will include bigger photos, a la Facebook’s Timeline, and feature a chat list that puts friends front and center on your page. Another major update involves how users can navigate around the news stream. Instead of static icons at the top, there’s a ribbon of apps on the left. The ribbon allows users to drag apps up or down to create the order, hover over certain apps to reveal a set of quick actions and show or hide apps by moving them out of the section.
Read more about the Google+ Social Network HERE.
Learn more about the Social Networking Platform Google+ by opening up and account and video chatting with friends on Google+ Hangouts.
From GrowMap.com
Every Web site owner needs to clearly understand the importance of local search engine traffic – and for those who do business in a specific geographic location – especially Local Search traffic.
Seventeen months of data for Texas Gazebo Manufacturer Golden Rule Gazebo was captured to illustrate clearly that Google has a monopoly on traffic and the importance of using Universal Business Listings to get your small business into all the tiny Local Search Directories to which you would never have manually identified and submitted.
[Kelsey Group U.S. Local Share Mobile Search Revenue Volume Feb 2009 – NOTE the increases in 2013 predicted Local Related searches and revenue on Mobile Devices]
Read about the Google monopoly on local search traffic.
This first screen capture shows overall search traffic for this very small business from October 29, 2009 (when analytics were first installed on their new blog) through March 20, 2010.
Local Search Directory Referral Traffic Thanks to Universal Business Listings
During that same period of time Golden Rule Gazebo used Google AdWords to send 1,293 visitors so of the above traffic, only 765 visits were from organic searches. Note that the time period shown above does not include the most recent year.
This next information adds the most recent full year, expanding the time from October 29,2009 to March 20, 2011. You can see a screen capture of that data full size via the link below.
The Data on Local Search Traffic for Mobile is Compelling
Read More About Local Search Traffic HERE.
Want to learn more about how to get your small business found on the Internet? Contact the Internet entrepreneurs at SEED Enterprise for a detailed consultation.
On-Page and Off-Page SEO
When you first build a new site, you’re going to need to invest in your site structure, keyword research, and on-page aspects. That mix may be 100% or 90% on-page for a couple of months. When that structure’s in place and you launch, you’ll still need to build content, but you’ll also want to get your link-building in gear. For a site that’s naturally based on new content (like a blog or news site), on-page may still be 70-80% of the mix (since I’m counting content as “on-page”).
For a directory or resource site that has a critical mass of content, you may go 30% on-page, building out the long-tail and 70% link-building for a while. The mix will always be changing, as your site evolves and your business needs change.
Your Website’s SEO Needs Evolve
I’ll try to keep the point short and sweet – when it comes to the right mix, there is no one-sized-fits-all solution. On-page SEO and link-building are both important, but how important each one is really depends on your current strengths and weaknesses. Long-term, everyone should pursue a mix of solid on-page structure, unique content, an authoritative link profile, and substantive social presence. Diversity is the best way to future-proof your SEO – if the algo changes or you hit a snag on one pillar, at least there will still be enough left standing to keep your roof up.
Read More About SEO Budgeting for Start-Ups Here.
WITH 40 PEOPLE crammed into SinglePlatform’s 3,000-square-foot headquarters in Manhattan’s Financial District, temperatures routinely climb to 85 degrees. Employees take turns working from home, while new hires train in classrooms at a nearby community college. “When we move, people get to brag about starting out in this s–thole,” says founder and CEO Wiley Cerilli.
Shop Local from a Single Platform
And with the heat comes blistering growth. Last year’s $2 million in sales should jump to $15 million or more in 2012. In March, 60,000 restaurants and small businesses (spas, flower shops, even law firms) signed up for the company’s free software, letting them manage menus and price lists on their Web, mobile and Facebook pages from one simple screen. Another 10,000 shelled out a $495 annual fee (franchises get discounted rates) to list their wares across Cerilli’s network of online publishers, including the New York Times, the Yellow Pages, Foursquare and Google ( GOOG – news – people ). Publishers pay SinglePlatform nothing but enjoy fattened ad revenues as users spend time checking out menus.
Read More about SinglePlatform’s Shop Local Platform.
In 2005, college student Loren Williams was killed in a motorcycle accident. His grieving mother, yearning to feel closer to her son, wanted to use his Facebook page. More than just seeing the site, she wanted to see his correspondence, to read his messages, in hopes of understanding her son better.
A 25-year-old federal law, however, barred her from accessing his account.
Digital media has evolved at breakneck speed, giving lawmakers little time to catch up. The latest federal law concerning digital media after you die is from 1986, while Oklahoma, of all places, has the most progressive and up-to-date law about digital estate on its books.
The 1986 Electronic Communications Privacy Act prevents disclosing stored communications unless there’s a court order. Oklahoma’s laws, on the other hand, allow disclosure to estate fiduciaries.
Facebook refused Williams’ mother, Karen, access to his account and even changed the password when Karen got it from a friend. She eventually retained a lawyer and sued Facebook in 2007, finally getting the court to issue an order to allow her access.
by Lauren Drell
We all know social media is an important tool for brand awareness and customer acquisition — but how exactly are you supposed to convert random Twitter and Facebook users into real-life customers? Well, that depends.
Different brands have different challenges when it comes to customer acquisition: “If you’re our customer, you’ve signed up for a year-long service, unlike the Starbucks of the world, where you can be a customer by coming in for a cup of coffee one day,” says Lisa D’Aromando, social media community manager at Equinox. Whether you’re a clothing shop, a restaurant or a subscription service, you must tailor your strategy so that it makes sense for your brand. That said, there are a few universal ways to help your company attract new faces on the social web.
Google’s searchbots have long relied on humans to endorse relevant and useful links. Recently, however, Google upped the human ante by introducing Google Social Search.
Google recognizes that one personal endorsement from someone we know easily outranks endorsements from 10,000 strangers. The same applies for a trusted authority: a blogging link shared by Darren Rowse or Brian Clark carries more weight than something a casual user shares.
So as a result, we have Google Social Search: meaning a site can jump from #30 to #3 in the SERPs just because someone in your Google+ circles shared the link. Getting an RT from The Huffington Post can jump your blog post from #8 to #1. It’s a brave new world of social SEO – and it’s one that no SEO can afford to ignore.
Leveling The Playing Field
Under traditional SEO practices, a modern startup would have no chance at ranking for highly competitive keywords. The other sites have been down in the trenches too long; it’d be nearly impossible to knock them off their SERP pedestal without years of campaigning.
Social SEO makes it easier for smaller fish to compete with the big guys. A tweet that receives a viral-size number of retweets can mean as much as a link from a top-ranking site; a +1 from a friend can send your site to the top of the social SERPs for that friend’s entire network.
Social media should already be a part of your business strategy. Now it’s time to harness the power of those social media accounts for your SEO strategy – or risk falling behind while your competitors cash in on their social chips.
Social Strategies To Start Employing Today
1. Ramp Up Your Google+ Presence
by Colby Almond
When I was first introduced to Digg in 2007 I didn’t leave the computer until I absorbed every piece of information that Kevin Rose made available to me. When I switched over to Reddit in 2008, I found the content even more enthralling and gave out upvotes until my fingers bled on nearly ever subreddit. A little over two months ago my girlfriend, Alaina was on her laptop on the couch totally enchanted by some type of site I had never seen before. However, I knew the passion and attention she was giving the site was all too familiar. There she was pinning and repinning content onto her boards like it was her job. As a marketer of nearly seven years, I absolutely knew this “Pinterest” thing was going to be huge. I never would have expected, however, that it would change the world of viral marketing so quickly.
It was during that month of January that Pinterest exploded from a casual social network to an absolute powerhouse of over 10 million users. By this point, it was driving more referral traffic than Google+, Youtube, and LinkedIn. For a social network remaining under the radar for the marketing industry, these are numbers that can’t be ignored.
The Power behind Pinterest
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