Posts tagged Moving
SEO – Moving Goalpost? – Prfire (press release)
Apr 18th
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SEO – Moving Goalpost?
Prfire (press release) How does it impact SEO companies? How do they cope-up with chasing a moving goal-post, and still help businesses improve their ranking? The answer really lies in basic principle of SEO. Increase the relevance of your website for target keywords, … BrightEdge: Majority Of Brands Do Not Have Facebook Or Twitter Accounts In Top … BrightEdge Study Finds Approximately 70 Percent of Top 200 Brands Failing to … BrightEdge Study Finds Approximately 70 Percent of Top 200 Brands Failing to … |
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Sponsor Post: 5 Mistakes SMBs Can Avoid When Moving to the Cloud
Apr 14th
Editor’s note: We offer our long-term sponsors the opportunity to write posts and tell their story. These posts are clearly marked as written by sponsors, but we also want them to be useful and interesting to our readers. We hope you like the posts and we encourage you to support our sponsors by trying out their products.
1. Loving a cloud before determining the problem you are trying to solve. Just move to the cloud. It’s easy right? As they say on TV… “To the cloud!” The fact is, moving to the cloud as an SMB can be both advantageous and overwhelming. Adopting cloud computing technology within your organization should only be done if it solves an immediate problem not because of popularity trends.
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SMB customer’s of Skytap are interested in cost savings but more specifically they are looking for the ability to create virtual environments, run applications without code changes or rewrites and the ability to collaborate and share using a simple self-service web user interface. A cloud that just offers pure infrastructure will make it hard for functional users to accomplish business tasks without a UI framework to guide the workflow.
SMB Cloud Tip: Determine the problem you are trying to solve. Moving to the cloud should make sense for all specific requirements of your business.
2. Spending dev test resources getting your apps to run in the cloud.
“I don’t need IT anymore. I have a cloud, right?” Wrong… in fact very wrong! Moving to the cloud doesn’t mean washing your hands of IT policies.
Some clouds won’t look so white and fluffy once you realize that you have to rewrite your code or applications to work on that cloud provider’s platform. Assuming that you can just sign up for any cloud service and then experience nirvana is a very real and painful lesson that businesses of all sizes have experienced.
Do yourself a favor and learn from the mistakes of others. Most users are already familiar with the business and technical applications they use today, whether its email, training or sales demo applications. clouds that power these applications without any changes will deliver immediate value. At Skytap, we have learned firsthand that SMB users won’t always wait for IT to build or rewrite applications for use in the cloud.
SMB Cloud Tip: Running your existing applications without changes is a huge factor in determining if a cloud is easy to use and cost effective, especially for SMB’s.
3. Ignoring IT policies, security and getting enamored with self-service.
“I don’t need IT anymore. I have a cloud, right?” Wrong… in fact very wrong! Moving to the cloud doesn’t mean washing your hands of IT policies. You cannot assume that a cloud will manage itself. You must make sure that your selected provider allows the ability to enforce IT policies with cost controls and charge-back billing to internal groups.
The solution should have the capability to ensure quotas can be applied to individuals and departments to cap usage. Most importantly the solution should enable IT policies to be enforced globally, such as approved subnet ranges for virtual data centers and the ability to prevent assignment of public IP addresses to virtual machines.
SMB Cloud Tip: Your IT team should have complete visibility and control over anything and everything you do with the cloud.
4. Assuming the cloud will manage itself and not watching the meter run.
It is a common misconception that moving to the cloud will help your business realize immediate cost savings. The reality is that the cloud can prove to be a “free for all” system if not carefully managed. Most infrastructure providers offer no advanced and easy to use cost control capabilities such as auto-suspending resources when not in use to save cloud usage costs.
This often times can lead to cloud sticker shock. Solutions like Skytap Cloud can measure the value on a per user basis as well as offer distinct pricing for different usage levels. Having a solution like this in place can help you avoid paying the same fee for light and heavy users within your organization.
SMB Cloud Tip: Avoid spiraling cloud costs by choosing a provider that enables you to automatically manage usage.
5. Select a cloud that is not user friendly and a provider that offers no enterprise level support
One of the most painful things is not being able to get responsive support when you need help, especially when your business is on the line. Success in new technologies, such as cloud computing, requires responsive support. Determine if you can call your cloud provider directly or if you must work through an online form or email inquiry to troubleshoot an issue or resolve an open question.
Also ensure that the support team will respond to your inquiries within a few hours versus a day or more. Lastly, avoid long-term contracts with providers, especially if you are just getting started with the cloud. Stick to providers like Skytap who won’t lock you into long-term contracts.
SMB Cloud Tip: There are several cloud options. Choose a solution that is easy to use and a provider that will support you well.
About the Author: Nate Odell is Director of Marketing at Skytap, a leading provider of cloud automation solutions. He is an industry veteran with a successful 11-year career in B2B marketing for Startups and SMB’s. Follow Nate on Twitter @N8Odell or @Skytap.
Photo by notsogoodphotography
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Bump: Moving Beyond People to Places & Things
Apr 11th
Last year, when a friend and I went to buy our first iPhones, the first thing we went out and downloaded was Bump – the app that lets you share simply by bumping your phone into another one. It seemed like magic. At the time, however, it was only meant for sharing contact information and it soon made its way to the back of our app screens before eventually disappearing off our phones.
These days, Bump is much more than simply a magic app to share your phone number and email address and today we got a chance to sit down with Bump co-founder and CEO David Lieb to talk about where the app has gone and where it’s headed to next.
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Bump: An App to Fall in Love With, Again
First of all, if you haven’t seen Bump lately, we highly recommend you give it a download and a second go around the block. It still has the magical bump action (and fun conversational innuendo) as ever at its heart, but it’s gone well beyond simple contact sharing. Bump can let two people share photos, calendar events, app recommendations and music and even quickly let you compare connections and follow each other on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. It will even let you message other people so you don’t have to worry about SMS fees. (If you’re a cheapskate like me, that is.)
Coming Soon to an Android Near You
According to Lieb, Bump is one of the most popular apps in the Apple App Store ever and has been downloaded more than 31 million times since it was first released two years ago. Right now, the advanced version of Bump described above is available on iOS, while Android still has the more basic contact and music sharing version. Photos sharing is, however, “by far the biggest feature,” said Lieb, with between a half a million and a million photos going through their servers on any given day. The second most popular feature, app recommendations, should be making its way to Android possibly by the end of the week, as Lieb said they are working hard to get a new version of the Android app into the market.
While the Android app is just catching up with the iPhone app, Lieb said that both will be adding more quickly, with a general goal of getting access to share everything accessible to users via Bump. Beyond that, however, Bump will start interacting in ways it hasn’t yet.
Bumping with People, Places & Things
Beyond adding more sharing features to Bump, Lieb explained that Bump will be expanding beyond person-to-person interaction.
“Another big area … is taking bump beyond just mobile phones and letting you use bump not just in a person-to-person interaction but in a person-to-place or person-to-merchant or person-to-object interaction,” said Lieb. “There’s no reason bump has to run on an iPhone, it can run on lots of pieces of hardware.”
While mobile payments seem like an obvious direction for Bump to move in, Lieb said they were focused on more than just payments.
“NFC is this huge story these days – Google’s built it in to one of their phones – and the first thing people talk about is payments. We see payments as interesting but it’s not really solving a problem I have as a consumer or a problem that a merchant has selling stuff,” he said.
Lieb couldn’t offer much in the way of specifics he said that would could expect some announcements later this year, with new features rolling out in the summer and fall.
Right now, said Lieb, “these other types of interactions are more valuable because I can’t walk into a coffee shop and have the menu pop up on my phone and let me order and pay. I can’t do that today. Those interactions that you can’t do yet are going to be the ones that drive these types of connection technologies.”
Bump is currently available for both iPhone and Android with an update to the Android version coming as early as the end of this week.
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Google moving into mobile phone credit cards, SEO company Queryclick.com says … – SourceWire (press release)
Mar 31st
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Google moving into mobile phone credit cards, SEO company Queryclick.com says …
SourceWire (press release) If the reports are true, Google could be set to open a new round of iPhone versus Android debates, claims SEO company Queryclick.com ( http://uk.queryclick.com/ ). A spokesperson said: "It's a slow burning battle, but Google's Android and Apple's … |
View full post on SEO – Google News
Why is Your SEO Progress Moving Slow? – Promotion World (press release)
Jan 18th
 Accounting Software 411 (press release) |
Why is Your SEO Progress Moving Slow?
Promotion World (press release) SEO movement requires a strategic process and execution that not only results in higher rankings but also increased online exposure all together. … SEO Mistakes That Just Make You Look Dumb Brian Swanson Offers SEO Advice and Guidance SEO Software Submitter Updated Version (2011) Launched |
View full post on SEO – Google News
Moving Closer to House 2.0: @SpeakerBoehner Leads the GOP’s E-transition
Jan 5th
Today is the first day of the 112th Congress of the United States of America. One way that the incoming Republican majority will embrace innovation and transparency in the legislative process will be increased use of video and new media. As Marshall Kirkpatrick wrote at ReadWriteWeb, commenting on CNN’s report yesterday, Facebook will livestream the opening day of Congress.
In a post on Speaker.gov, the incoming speaker invited people to visit the “Pledge to America” Facebook page to view the transition to a GOP-controlled House and comment on the feed. (The post was originally at GOPLeader.gov before Speaker.gov went live, which created a broken link from the speaker’s tweet. Even e-transitions are bumpy at times.)
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When reached for further comment, Nick Schaper, the director of new media for the incoming Speaker of the House, explained more about why they’re livestreaming the transition and using Facebook.
“Keeping with one of the pillars of House Republicans’ Pledge to America, our goal is to make Congress more open and available to the American public,” said Schaper in an email. “With over 500 million active users, Facebook is an easy way to effectively reach a large audience for the stream, while also making those that might not know much about the Pledge more aware of the new majority’s goals and priorities. Also, Facebook gives viewers the unique ability to discuss this historic event with their friends and others.”
Schaper explained that the Speaker’s staff is using the LiveStream.com plugin available on Facebook with the standard House of Representatives floor feed available on Capitol Hill to put the feed online. Notably, that also means that citizens and other interested parties don’t have to join Facebook, log in or “Like” the page to watch the transition. The feed at
href=”http://Livestream.com/SpeakerBoehner”>Livestream.com/SpeakerBoehner
is available on the open Web and can be embedded on any blog or
article – including this one.
Watch live streaming video from SpeakerBoehner at livestream.com
Livestream.com and Facebook won’t be the only options used by the new speaker’s office either, according to Schaper. When asked whether the speaker would use Current.tv or UStream or YouTube, Schaper said that “we’ve never limited ourselves or worked exclusively with any technology partners on efforts such as this. We’ve used all of the above and I look forward to finding more new tools that can help our members more efficiently connect with those they represent.”
Moving closer to House 2.0
The embrace of new technology won’t be limited to streaming live from within Facebook. Proposals will range from allowing iPads and smartphones onto the House floor to crowdsourcing budgeting proposals to posting bills online 72 hours before a vote. On this historic moment, the House of Representatives has proposed new rules that will bring one half of the legislative branch closer to the increased government transparency that organizations like the Sunlight Foundation have advocated for years.
The transition also included a virtual passing of the gavel from Representative Nancy Pelosi to Boehner on Twitter, as Twitter’s own government liaison, Adam Sharp, noted on Twitter. Speaker.gov was updated to a new version last night, including a blog post that announced the new @SpeakerBoehner account and those of his staff. The post also introduced new accounts on Facebook, YouTube and Flickr, along with the Livestream.com account embedded above.
The YouTube and Flickr accounts were empty last night but Don Seymour wrote at Speaker.gov that “video of Ellie Mae – the job-sniffing GOP bloodhound -Boehner’s family reunion, responses to questions from constituents, or one of the Speaker’s speeches or interviews” will be uploaded there in the future.
In other words, the Speaker of the House of Representatives is now represented on more online platforms than ever. The White House still leads the federal government as a whole in covering the gamut, with presences on MySpace, Vimeo, iTunes, LinkedIn and even Digg now. (No word on how soon before the President, Speaker or other public officials will be available for question time on Quora.)
As 2011 begins, new media adoption in Washington is no longer novel. As with any set of tools, success shouldn’t be measured by media reports or press releases but by the outcomes from their use. The hard work of bipartisan compromise in the House, to the extent it occurs, is unlikely to be publicly visible in 140 characters, though stranger things have happened. Measuring the success of adoption new technology will depend far more upon whether more use of social media, online video and platforms for legislation or citizen engagement lead to greater citizen engagement, accountability, transparency or data-driven policy. Whether that comes to pass will rely on more than putting a transition live online.
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