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How to Widget? A general overview…
Let’s start from a definition of the word ‘WIDGET’. It was part of the slang used by computer programmers and it derives from the contraction between the two terms ‘window’ and ‘gadget’.
With the passing of time and growing of web experience, it has become a technical term in the IT dictionary: so now it can be defined as a part of GUI – Graphical User Interface.
All of the different elements in a webpage can be considered as widgets: a button, a scrollbar, an icon and so on…They are a sort of small apps that users can install in their pages and blogs or social networks, or directly on their computer!
In particular, they are like visual building blocks that display information and users can interact with them while taking advantages.
Widgets are useful because they can help you to have more contents, satisfy some of your curiosity by adding tools to your virtual spaces; the most popular widgets include calendars, weather guides, dictionaries, calculators, flight trackers, currency converters and games.
Here you can find a list of websites where you can find funny and helpful widgets that are really easy to download and install in your computer or your webpages or blog:
– xorbin.com;
– widget24.com;
Find your favourite ones and display them! Have a nice research!
Online surveys: how to carry out and have them in your website
Have you ever thought about making your website look alive and contents look exciting? Have you ever thought that by publishing an online survey, a test or a quiz
you can reach this aim?
It’s a useful method to involve your users by asking them feedbacks about your products and services, or comments and opinions on your contents.
Some users of 1 Minute Site have already started to use these tools and you can do it as well by following our suggestions!
Let’s start from thousands of Apps at your disposal on the web…you can find a lots of free services and applications that could help you to create online quizzes and surveys in a few minutes.
You are free to add all the questions you need and options you prefer and…hey presto…your survey is ready to be published and entered in your website!
Here you are some examples:
Fast, easy and intuitive tool: Vorbeo allows you to create an online survey in three simple steps. Just fill in the ‘Enter Question Text’ field in order to create the questions, enter the answer options that you prefer (one per each line) in the ‘Enter Answers’ field, and finally customize the poll vote button by using the ‘Enter Text for Vote Button’ field. In this way, this app will generate an HTML code that you can copy ad paste in your website.
In this case, a registration is requested before you adding your questions. Then, you can have your survey in a few minutes. You just need to fill in the different fields with questions and answer options and subsequently save it. Once you’ve saved, you get the HTML code that you will need to copy and paste in your website.
In both cases, you can add your online survey or test as any regular web content by using 1 Minute Site:
– Access your admin panel
– Click the ‘Edit website’ button
– Select the page where you prefer to add the survey or test
– Click ‘Add new paragraph’
– In the ‘Edit Paragraph’ section, just click on HTML icon and paste the HTML code generated by the app
– Save and publish it…and voilà your online survey!!
Source: the Italian ‘blog.oneminutesite.it‘
Search Engine Positioning: Google AdWords could help you
A deep relationship between Pay Per Click campaigns and a website traffic growth has always been took for granted, and not only by Seo specialists.
Sometime ago, Google decided to better explain this aspect by affirming that in order to maximize the traffic of a website, you need to follow both of these criteria:
– be positioned on search engines
– use AdWords PPC campaigns;
This is written in the ‘Impact of ranking of organic search results on the incrementality of search ads’ report, published by Google some months ago.
So, Google showed that 89% of PPC campaign clicks that appeared on the side of organic results had always increased – and are still increasing -, that is to say that visits via clicking on ads give different data from the visits via clicking on organic results.
Considering this last research, it has been shown that 81% of impressions and 66% of clicks on ads are registered when there is no organic result shown in the first page of a search.
Source: The Italian ‘blog.oneminutesite.it‘,
HCO?…Human Contents Optimization
What are we talking about? It’s a sort of SEO, but in this case the protagonists are human, or better ‘the human factor’. Definitely, the aim of any SEO specialist is to get his contents to the top of Google searches, through web pages indexing and their positioning.
At the beginning of this process there’s optimization, a method that is useful to increase the consistency and coherence of the topics and the words used in the different texts of our contents.
Seo specialists have to work on the structure of the pages, optimizing meta tags, keyword density and its context – improving the navigational buttons and menus. In this way, search engines spiders can have an idea of the written content and position it in the serp.
There are different criteria to take into account to get your page positioned:
– title, head, tags, meta tags and copyright info must be optimized;
– keywords of the page mustn’t have too much competition;
– page reaches its popularity after a certain amount of time, depending on link building and its ‘seniority’, so you have to
wait a little bit;
Then, here you are some more elements, depending on search engine and spiders:
– site speed (or page speed);
– keywords placement within the HTML;
– prominence and proximity;
Last but not least, our dear Human Optimization, in the sense that besides all the technical strategies a SEO can use, we also have to consider the human aspect, the real mind that is behind the contents, the creative thought. In fact, the very important element is the real content, the words we write. Texts have to be created for the users, so be useful for their searches. In our pages, we have to provide the right answers to their questions, spontaneously and in an original way. Yes, it is, the real aim is to help the users
In short, a good mix between SEO and HOC, techniques and strategies plus individual inspiration, creativeness and intuition could be the rightest answer to your web contents writing.
Integration: this is the right way
Integration into society, integration into the web. Two different worlds with a lot of things in common. We’re not going to talk about sociology aspects of human beings, but about the integration that is developing through the different web platforms.
In particular, there’s creative, original and colorful news that sees social networks and fashion clothing linked, virtual and real at the same time.
The creative mind behind this great idea is Neko-Vi – Victor Faretina – who realized the ‘Web in Vogue’ collections, the union between social networks new trend and fashion design. The idea came out when Megaupload file-sharing site was shut down by US officials. Why not remember it through a fashion dress – the passion of Victor -?
It’s like if social networks become real, or better, material, transforming into high style dresses. You can find Google, Facebook, Megaupload, Twitter, Tumblr, YouTube, Msn, eBay, WordPress, Yahoo, Pinterest and even more styles in Neko’s gallery!
All of them are really wonderful and inspiring, it’s impossible to do critics, and well, the idea can be used to start new trends…probably we will see them real soon, perhaps we’ll able to see them in an online store, or even better, in the nearest shop of our city.
Then, it’s impossible to deny the potential of social networks, which makes you able to share contents, to start new trends, to be visible all around the world, so to spread your ideas and products and services.
One thing is for sure: Neko-Vi will be popular in a while, everywhere.
E-commerce ongoing…
No more time to go shopping? No more money to go shopping?
There are several reasons to explain why the world of e-commerce is increasing. Maybe during coffee breaks at work, while having a snack, you’re always on…shopping online!
E-commerce websites have a high market penetration, so the majority of users spends a lot of time on e-commerce websites.
Considering a European overview, the highest e-commerce penetration is in England, followed by France and Germany. In particular, the most popular categories are about Price Comparison, Clothing and Electronics. Specifically, the most popular e-commerce websites in UK are: Amazon, Home Retail Group, Apple, Tesco Stores; then, there are the best French e-commerce websites: Groupe PPR, Amazon Sites, Cdiscount, Groupe PriceMinister, Otto Gruppe; finally, the list of Germany: Amazon, Otto Gruppe, Apple, Bing Ciao, eBay Shops, Deutschland.
One thing is for sure: if this trend continues to increase, it means the clients are all satisfied with this new kind of market and, above all, their word of mouth helps to spread this voice.
In addiction to this, we can see one more phenomenon: the implementation of platforms that integrate social networks and markets, and the development of social media as selling resources is changing the way online businesses are marketing.
Today’s social commerce platforms are, for example, Starbuck’s, Best Buy, Asos and they’re becoming even more popular thanks to their ability to promote, sell and advertise their products, services and their brands.
Social media can be considered as a chance to add an emotional side to the purchases: by users, they are used as a medium to search for comments, advices and suggestions about a product or a service, or a way to get involved in a shopping community; brands, instead, can support their buyers and get them to buy even more. That’s why a full integration between socials and e-commerce websites is necessary. We can define this trend as social shopping, or shopping 2.0, the one you prefer.
Good ranking in Google search results
Which factors are relevant for it?
As everybody knows, the great mystery is Google algorithm. Although many researches, the explanation of Google criteria to be in the SERP is not possible to discover; but there are some general aspects that data show to be considered as useful for SEO.
Be at the top of search engine results is not so simple and competitors can be very difficult to face. In this case, web marketing has to be done continuously and in an effective way.
The first thing to do is creating interesting web contents that need to be optimized. For this reason it is useful to create a good page structure, with all the necessary elements for the positioning in the SERP. These elements are: URL, tags (title) and meta tags (description, keywords); one more element generally appears in a web page and it can be used for the SEO strategy: the image. A useful thing to do is to add the tag alt, or better, alt attribute to it, because it helps to be positioned in the SERP of the contents and also to appear in the images searches. As regards the image, it is also suggested to add its tag title, in order to explain to the spiders what is represented.
The following steps regard the web contents management – the text of the pages. Aspects to consider are: keyword density, text structure and outbound links.
– Keyword density is the number of repetition of each of them divided by the total number of words in the page. It is necessary to repeat the keywords of the title tag and keywords meta tag in the text, using them in a homogeneous way throughout the body text.
– the structure of the text consists of the number of words you can enter, between 500 and 800, and their arrangement in different paragraphs, so that users can easily read and focus on the different parts.
– finally, using outbound links is very advantageous; links should connect pages whose topics have to be consistent with those of the text. Then, the more the external linked pages are to relevant and institutional sites, the more there is the chance to reach high top ranking positions.
Generally considering the factors that are relevant for a good ranking, it is possible to list:
– good and consistent web contents;
– number of consistent out- and backlinks;
– limited advertisement (too much is detrimental);
– keywords domains (use of keywords in the domain name);
– social signals (especially form Facebook, Twitter and Google+).
Storytelling and Transmedia, new media for new stories.
Storytelling, the oldest way of communicate stories is also the newest method to create narratives thanks to the old and new media. It’s not about losing the connection with the old fashioned traditional books, but just about finding a new one, in a different way and with several media, or transmedia. Hence, Transmedia Storytelling.
The basic point is based on experience, user- or reader-one: the aim is to obtain an increasing of sensory and emotional faculties of the audience: people must be engaged into this new kind of telling stories. These are new forms of interaction and a sort of new tests for both the narratives-addicted and contemporary writers, but one main thing is distorted: readers are also writers of each single story they read. Each medium has its own function, so each writer could decide which medium is the best one to use, in order to direct his words.
Moreover, thanks to the spread of digital media, and particularly of web contents, storytelling could be listed as a SEO tool when used through the web. It can be considered as a mean to increase a page visibility, but just if your contents are exciting, well written and useful. Web-writers have to tell a story that should captivate users interests, through an original plot in your project, a tip in your story, a creative trick, a serious intrigue.
Transmedia storytelling deals with the imaginary world; in fact, using more stories in several media, it helps to spread the communication and the way of communicate, multiplying the imaginary of a story, taking into account the multiple technological and narrative systems. It can also be defined as an integrate way of thinking. So, for this reason, while writers must be ready to pass from a medium to one another, adapting their story to all the platforms involved, readers have to do the same, accepting the rules of the multiple media and adapting their total sense of story. If they easily understand the ‘grand story’ that goes through the different media, and they appreciate it, then the narrative will be shared and – hopefully – continued by them.
Contents distributed on different platforms have to be clear and able to make audience wishing to take part in the project. Hence, contents must be able to arise a sense of participation and emotional reaction. The more people like your story, the more they trust it, the more they will share its contents. This helps spreading link building, increasing organic traffic and search engine rankings, that’s why transmedia storytelling should be part of SEO strategy.
Yes, We Key!
How to keywords? Here you are some suggestions to find the best tool, choose the best keywords, be in the right ‘high’ position while creating your website and adding contents to your pages. You have to take into account some specific steps that could help you to be ‘noticed’ by search engines.
So, well, one of the first things to do is identifying the best keywords or phrases.
But how to figure out which are the best?
The criterion to select them is based on a Traffic/Competition Ratio. It means that you have to consider the words with high search volume by users and a low SERP competition.
You may not be aware of it, but there are many tools at your disposal that are very easy to use and access. These could be the easiest way to make your website popular!
Here you are some suggestions about Keywords tools:
– Google AdWords, maybe the most common keyword tool;
– Google Insights for Search, which shows statistics about the use of keywords;
– YouTube keyword tool, very helpful to find new ideas about keywords.
All of these tools generate potential interesting keywords that are necessary to be reached by search engines. The keywords give you a clear idea of what people are searching for on the web, so they can be considered as a ‘link’ between your own content and the rest of contents, your own page and users.
That’s why they are a plus point for your visibility. Besides, you can also have statistics about your contents, considering in particular visibility, visitors overview, visit duration and so many further aspects. This is useful to start ad campaigns and create websites, pages and paragraphs from a different perspective, the ‘SEO-addressed’ one.
Through an effective ad campaign, you can be listed in search engines, reaching the SERP top position. It depends on your choices, on the keywords you choose to use and the contents you write, and above all, on the user experience you can provide. If your contents are interesting and captivating, well written and consistent with the topic of the page or the title of the paragraph, well, you have the chance to provide useful information or offer a great service to the users.
It’s all about providing the better experience, competing with the rest of users (or services offered), and this applies to your personal world as well as the business context.
Does it worth using one of these search engine tool?
Positioning on search engines: social network effects.
Many times we have talked about how social networks are important for the positioning, or better, to improve the positioning of a website in the major search engines.
However, we have never have the chance to analyse precise data that would have been useful to understand, and above all, to measure the effect of social networking activities on the search engine positioning.
For this reason, today we will show you the data analysed by TastyPlacement, a Seo Company from Texas who conducted a very interesting research whose aim was to measure the effectiveness of this kind of activities.
RESEARCH
The research started with the creation of 6 different websites for six different cities of US, but all focused on the same topic. Each domain was composed of the name of each city and a particular home service (e.g.: www.City-Home-Service.com). For the following ten months, they have been evaluating the first results regarding the relationship between social media activities and search engine positioning. In fact, each website has been ‘promoted’ through a different platform, by using social networks and connections between friends and colleagues. Subsequently, they have been trying to measure the websites’ position in Google, considering a determined group of sentences.
Infographic authored by
TastyPlacement, a web design and SEO company, To view the original post, see the original Social Media Infographic.
RESULTS
Let’s analyse the results:
– One website has been promoted through the social relationship developed by Google+, which added about 100 followers to the ‘fan’ page. These kind of activity allowed the website to gain 14,63 positions in the Google search results.
– The second website, instead, has been promoted through a series of activities which got about 300 votes (+1), so that the website gained 9,44 positions.
– The third one has been promoted by Facebook social connections. Results were about 70 shares and 50 new fans on the Fan Page. Instead, as regards the positioning, the website got higher for 6,9 positions.
– Moreover, for the fourth website, the strategy was to improve activities on Twitter, that were mostly based on tweeting and re-tweeting (activities that were generally done by the same company) and linked to their site. The result? An improvement of 2,88 positions in the SERP.
– For the fifth website, it has been created a Twitter profile that was linked to the website. Followers went up to become 1000, but there was a loss of 1,22 Google positions.
– Finally, for the sixth website, it has been decided not to start any social networks activity, and well, website lost about 0,11 positions in Google.
The research brought out that social networks activities allow you to get a higher position in Google SERP, and, obviously, above all if they are done through its social networking platform.
So, if you want your website to be popular…how about starting from Facebook or Google+ Fan Pages?
Sources: Tasty Placement, the Italian Blog ‘Tagliaerbe‘