3 WordPress Plugins for Safety, Security, and Speed
When setting up a new website or pulling off a high-stakes jewelry heist, there are three important things on the mind of every team member: Safety, Security, and Speed. Until each of these concerns has been addressed your precious site is vulnerable to attack from hackers, bugs, and disgruntled users. We’ve identified three WordPress plugins to help you build up virtual defenses so you can get back to posting content in peace. Safety The diversity and depth of the WordPress ecosystem is a major reason it has become the top content management system,W3Techs report a 60% market share as of January 2014 but that also means components don’t always play nice with each other. At Tower Agency we’ve experienced plugin updates reducing a client website to are gnarled pile of code. Because we had a reliable backup plugin installed and activated, the panic was only temporary. Here’s our current favorite: BackUpWordpress Manage multiple schedules Super simple to use, no setup required Option to have each backup file emailed to you Works in low memory, “shared host” environments Exclude files and folders from your back ups Backup entire site including database and all files Security A fully functional backup plugin protects your site from compatibility issues, staff, and yourself… but what about external parties who mean to deface your site or steal valuable information? Hackers are nefarious (and let’s face it, kinda cool) and the only way to thwart them off is with site security that keeps pace with rapidly changing technology. This plugin protects against vulnerabilities you never knew existed; the name says it all: BulletProof Security WordPress version is removed 503 – Website Maintenance Mode Brute Force Login Security Protection WP Dashboard Alerts / Dismiss Notices Root file security with .htaccess files and firewall Anti Comment Spambot .htaccess code – Forbid Empty Referrer Spambots Security Log Automation: Automatically zipped, emailed and replaced based on file size Speed Now that you’re feeling prepared against threats from both inside and out it’s time to rest, right? Wrong. All those plugins and php scripts are probably slowing down your site’s load times, leading to a negative user experience.36 sec page load... -_______- You need a way to prepared for traffic spikes (featured on digg?) and reduce bounces while making the most of your server package. This plugin is a go-to for Tower Agency: WP Super Cache Generates static html files from dynamic WordPress blog Delivers files without accessing database Automated mimic of manual page caching Static html files served to majority of users Works well with WordPress MU These are our favorite, must-have plugins for each site we develop. What are your go-to plugins and what experiences have you had with website security, safety, and speed? Please tell us in the comments below. Happy...
read moreMobile Marketing: Search Engines, Proximity, and Immediacy Influence Purchase Decisions
The Mobile Revolution is Upon Us! Just like technology, the modern customers are evolving and have very high expectations coupled with short attention spans. Mobile optimized websites used to be a nice perk, but have become a necessity. Responsive web development means that your site will change it’s layout automatically based on the size of the viewer’s screen. This allows you to have one website that will work on all platforms, with updates being made to a single content management system. Some sites have advanced functionality and do not lend themselves to responsive design, but in those scenarios other mobile development techniques can be used. Use this site as an example of responsive design by making the window smaller. Mobile customers expect your site to be quick, easy to navigate, and most importantly near their current location. This article covers insights discovered by Google where they found that 93% of people who use mobile to research go on to complete a purchase, most happening in physical stores. People are searching and buying locally. Are your pages optimized for local buyers? Search is the most common starting point for mobile research with 48% beginning their quest through a search engine. The report also finds that 69% expect businesses to be within 5 miles of their location. It is important to note that only 17% actually purchased on their mobile device. Customers demand that their searches be local and Google is catering to their needs. Updating Google+ pages is extremely important for local search engine marketing and is growing in importance as new Google software updates are released. These customers are on the go and ready to make a purchase, they are not researching for the future, they are researching for NOW. Google Insights on the Future of Mobile Technology: Consumers spend time researching on mobile – Consumers spend 15+ hours per week researching on their smartphone and on average visit mobile websites 6 times. Mobile research starts with search – More smartphone users start researching about products or services on a search engine vs. a branded mobile site or app. Location proximity matters to mobile consumers – 69% of consumers expect businesses to be within 5 miles or less of their location. Purchase immediacy is key – Over half of consumers want to make a purchase within an hour of conducting research on their smartphone. Mobile influences purchases across channels – 93% of people who use mobile to research go on to complete a purchase of a product or service. Most purchases happen in physical stores. Source: Mobile Path to Purchase: Five Key Findings Nov. 2013 Ready to join the revolution? There are a few things to know while developing your mobile marketing strategy. Consider the Platform – Content must be easy to consume. Bite-sized information served in a concise and relevant way will be consumed more immediately. Understand which platforms speak best to your ideal audience, not just which one may be the newest trend. Use Smart Distribution – Small businesses now have access to the latest tools for monitoring consumer behavior, location, and trends. Break down big data into small and actionable information. Implement your thought leader’s expertise in a quick and timely manner. Embrace Dynamic Content – Dramatically speed up your sales cycle and funnel by tailoring content to an individual user’s...
read moreSnapchat Hacked: Are you one of 4.6 million compromised accounts?
The latest victim in a growing club of exploited tech giants. Earlier this week, during the happy hubbub of holiday cat snaps and New Years Eve selfies, a huge database of Snapchat phone numbers and usernames was exposed. The hackers didn’t stop at stealing the information, they made it publicly available on the internet through the currently suspended site SnapchatDB.infoCached copy of SnapchatDB.info with the statement: “You are downloading 4.6 million users’ phone number information, along with their usernames. People tend to use the same username around the web so you can use this information to find phone number information associated with Facebook and Twitter accounts, or simply to figure out the phone numbers of people you wish to get in touch with.” — SnapchatDB.info Has my snapchat account been compromised? You can enter your username into this lookup tool to find out if you are one of the 4.6 million unlucky users whose account information has been made public. According to an analysis on Reddit of area codes found in the leaked database; accounts with phone numbers in the following states have not yet been compromised: Alaska Delaware Hawaii Kansas Maryland Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Mexico North Carolina North Dakota Oklahoma Oregon Rhode Island Utah Vermont West Virginia Wyoming My account has been hacked, now what? Snapchat is not the only tech giant to be exploited by hackers, they’re just the latest. Skype, Twitter, Facebook, and official blog pages were hacked earlier this week by the Syrian Electronic Army, while Britain’s public broadcasting network BBC was hacked on Christmas day. The biggest digital looting of the holiday season occurred at Target, where credit and debit card data from 40 million accounts was stolen over several weeks starting Black Friday. Compared to these data breaches, the leaked trove of Snapchat usernames and phone numbers poses a minor threat to the safety of personal data. No credit card information was stolen and no information has been released to show that images and videos were hacked. Now that the information is public, it will spread and find it’s way into the wrong hands. Most effects will be realized weeks, months, and years later. Following these steps will minimize risk: Change usernames that match. If your Snapchat username is the same as the one you use for Instagram, Twitter, or other platforms, it is easy for hackers to connect them to each other and you, especially if you have entered your phone number. Step up password security. Only usernames and phone numbers have been compromised; a strong password helps protect the rest of your data. Use capitalization, punctuation, and a modified password for each account (i.e. Facebook = PassWord3.f VS. Twitter = PassWord3.t). Delete your account and start fresh. It is currently impossible to change usernames, the only way to truly ensure protection of your data is to delete your current account and create a new one. Learn your lesson. Nothing shared through an application or website is truly private or secure. The allure of a self-destructing snap has ignited a massive following, but next time it might not just be account info that is leaked. The leak is made even more painful due to warnings of the potential hack made by Australian group Gibson Security last week. According to their “told you so” tweet on Tuesday, “…the exploit works still...
read moreFinally, a Great Example of What One Facebook Like is Worth
Don’t let the evil man punt Baxter! Give a like, Give $1 to Charity. Maybe you will get off the Naughty List this year. For every person who likes the San Diego Humane Society Page between last Tuesday and Dec. 23rd, $1 will be donated to the organization from the Rachel Ray Nutrish Charity. The goal is to raise $10,000 and you don’t have to spend a single dollar. This social media campaign will succeed for a few major reasons. It is endorsed by mega celebrity, Rachel Ray, and thus can take advantage of her many media channels. Very minimal effort is needed by the user to donate: just a single click. Will Ferrell has been promoting the Anchorman launch for months and the audience is very aware. It is the holiday season and people are in a giving mood, especially when it is free to them. People love dogs. Especially ones that can eat a whole wheel of cheese (we aren’t even mad, we’re impressed). The tough question is how long do these users stay fans of Nutrish and do they ever purchase the product? Often marketers need to clarify to upper management what the ROI will be on the money invested in Facebook. Normally they make assumptions, algorithms or state it is just for brand awareness and link building. In this scenario it is easy to tell the cost of aquisition. It is literally $1 per like. Facebook has recently changed the rules of their promotions and contests within the social media network making it easier to run contests of this nature. As of Aug. 27th, Facebook removed the requirement that promotions be run through an app. Now they can also be administered through a page timeline. Businesses can now: Collect entries by having users post on the Page or comment/like a Page Post Collect entries by having users message the Page Utilizes likes as a voting mechanism By removing these restrictions it is making it far easier for small businesses to run promotions on the site without fear of getting blacklisted or penalized by the social media network. Hiring someone to develop an app or paying for a software as a service can immediately crush any return on investment that was expected by the promotion. Facebook and other social networks are the greatest asset a small business can has in their arsenal to compete against larger chains. For example, our client uses Facebook advertising for three months a year to direct students who are graduating college to their shop for thesis binding. It is a very targeted audience and Facebook is one of the few options to get them the message directly. Have you successfully used a Facebook promotion or advertising campaign to grow your digital presence? Please tell us your story in the comments. Stay classy my...
read moreThe True Value of Young Eyeballs
It’s good to be young. The youth are cool, they create trends, they find innovative uses of technology, and most importantly they influence decisions of their parents expendable income. Marketers are constantly chasing the next big thing and often rely on teenagers/young adults to point them in the right direction. Watch most television ads and you are bound to view a product influenced by a younger generation. As you probably know, the disappearing photo-sharing app SnapchatSnapchat lets people send photos and videos that self-delete between one and 10 seconds after being viewed. is BOOMING. The company currently reports that 18.6% of all iPhone owners in the US used the app in June 2013. This is up 10.5% month-to-month and therefore the ninth most popular iPhone app in terms of usage. If 1-in-5 people in the U.S. with iPhones used the app 6 months ago, how does the app perform now? Snapchat officials say that users are now sending more snapsSnapchat's term for photos and videos shared over the network. than Facebook users are uploading photos. Business insider intelligence reports that Instagram users upload 55 million photos daily, Facebook users upload 350 million, and snapchat users send 400 million snaps daily. This number is not exactly a direct comparison because it includes photo and video messages. Snapchat does have a much smaller user base so it would be expected that photo volume will be way ahead of Facebook within the next few months. This is incredible growth for a small company and is much the reason why they have received large funding from venture capitalists. Facebook attempted to emulate the already successful app with their own app Poke, but have had little traction. It was reported they offered Snapchat $4 billion but the buyout was rejected. History Repeats Itself. We saw this same level of speculation during the original internet bubble and we all know how that burst. Facebook went down a similar road and were valued incredibly high based on the huge user base. This led to a need for revenue generation and therefore user dissatisfaction with product innovations. It was such great speculation that the Facebook stock dropped many percentage points immediately after they went public. Facebook is no longer cool and the teenagers have gone somewhere else. According to a survey of over 5,000 teenagers conducted by investment bank and asset management firm, Piper Jaffray, only 33% of teenagers consider Facebook to be the most important social network — 10% fewer than last year. (Source) Nirandfar.com believes the app is succeeding because it encourages frequent use by: Making it easy and quick to create photos or videos Reducing inhibitions with temporary communications Creating a social obligation for users to reply to explicit, one-to-one communications Increasing response rates and timeliness of replies using read-receipts Motivating consumption through novel, highly variable interactions Snapchat is preparing to overtake Twitter for usage with teens and Instagram is in it’s sights. But how will it make money? How will it manage to pay back the hundreds of millions of already invested dollars? Where are the profits? For inbound marketers it is important to create long-tail busines practices, for example this blog post will live on until I take it down. But a snapchat, that is gone forever and there is little ability to “click-through” a snap. It...
read more4 Steps to Business Success with Inbound Marketing
Inbound Strategies Level the Playing Field for Small Businesses. Let’s say you decide to place an ad in the local newspaper or local cable provider. Besides outputting a hefty sum to place the ad, you receive only a rough estimate of how many viewers may have glanced at your advertisement. And in no way can you tell if any of them visited your website or are a potential lead? How can you tell if they are getting ready to make a purchase? With the old marketing model, to assess the success of your campaign it would take months to analyze your sales numbers and that may be too late. In the modern digital world, traditional marketing doesn’t cut it. Using a well-executed and cohesive inbound marketing strategy you will achieve a more targeted reach with a far lower initial investment! Follow these 4 steps to get your inbound marketing strategy underway: Attract people interested in your products and industry to your website. Use targeted keywords throughout a regular stream of blog articles and content updates, promoted through social media channels. Convert visitors to your website into sales leads. An email sign-up form placed strategically around your website will engage visitors, while membership to a club or newsletter increases the incentive. Close the deal with your growing list of leads. Through email outreach or a newsletter, offer exclusive pricing and promotions to these engaged, interested targets. Delight new customers with a continuous steam of content relevant to their purchase. These satisfied customers will become evangelists for your business, bringing new leads to your website through word-of-mouth and social media sharing. Billboards and magazine ads get information in front of people, but more often than not, it’s the wrong people. Media is increasingly consumed online, therefore advertisements should be where your audience is spending time; on the internet. With so much data available to be collected about consumers and their interests marketing can now be tailored to your target demographic much more easily. This makes the marketing process more effective, efficient, and affordable for small businesses. Inbound marketing is not about advertising, it is about providing valuable information to your target audience which therefore establishes you as a thought leader and an industry leader. A television ad just can not portray this kind of information. Through the use of website and social media analytics, you can evaluate the strategies and promotions that work best to move people through each phase of this process. The best part of inbound marketing? It is based on a more strategic use of the existing aspects of your business. Inbound marketing is particularly effective targeting niche markets; to learn more read about our success creating and engaging an audience for Independence Science. Portfolio Showcase: Independence Science For over two years Tower Agency has provided Independence Science with a stream of relevant, engaging content for their audience through their blog, newsletter, and social media channels. This effort has established Independence Science as a thought leader in classroom accessibility and raised their following to over 1100 Facebook fans and another 1100 newsletter readers. Learn More Contact us to launch inbound marketing strategies for your...
read moreHow to Spread the Holiday Cheer and Increase Sales this Season
Spreading Good Cheer Goes a Long Way in the Cluttered Holiday Shopping Market With thanksgiving falling later in the year, there will be a shorter holiday shopping season and businesses need to react to a quickly changing market. Mobile technology and greater product research is making the customer smarter, better able to find the deal, and more willing to return merchandise. People are expecting holiday deals and but are unsure when they will come in the season, most will wait for the infamous black friday to trample others at the local Walmart. One technique Toys R Us is using to combat early shopping sprees is to move it up even earlier, with a Holiday Preview occurring in September. Their messaging is directed towards shopping early for members to earn rewards they can redeem later in the season around December. “Kmart aired its first holiday ad in early September, more than 100 days before Christmas. Walmart started promoting holiday layaway even earlier, in mid-August.” Forbes.com According to the Accenture Annual Shopping Survey “even those planning to spend more this year than last, will be hunting for deals. In fact, 62% of respondents said it will take a discount of 30% or more to persuade them to make a purchase, up 10% from 2012. The survey shows that bargain-conscious U.S. shoppers are tracking prices very carefully and 39% said that if they discover that an item they have already purchased is subsequently offered at a lower price, they would likely return it and repurchase it. Additionally, 45% said they plan to use competitor price-matching tools to track prices, and 24% said they will take advantage of extended return policies.” Deals, deals, and more deals. How is it possible to make any profit while slashing prices? We’ve pulled some information from Rick Segel to help you maximize sales during the holiday season: Focus on customer’s ‘pain points’ during the holiday season Organize holiday shopping season clearance sale Build customer relationships through email marketing Keep your best customers happy this holiday season Blast your email opt-in list during the holidays Every year, as dependably as diets follow the overindulgence of holiday merrymaking, inventory season arrives for retailers still hung over from the seasonal selling binge. But why wait until after the holidays to clear merchandise? Hold a holiday sale to blow out the inventory before the buying spree ends. Clearance sales and discounts are heavily expected by shoppers and they will be barraged with advertising over this period. Maintaining strong relationships with your best customers will help to cut through the clutter of holiday discounts. As usual they will act as champions for your brand and spread word of mouth advertising throughout their network. Providing them a small gift to get them into your store will help them to shop more and possibly providing them the opportunity to share that gift with a friend spreads the holiday cheer. Remember, this may be a crazy and hectic time for everybody but there is a positive message to be shared and you will find your customers react best to holiday cheer combined with holiday discounts. Contact the Agency for an evaluation of your marketing initiatives and learn strategies to expand your...
read moreDeclassified: Portfolio of Projects Launched
Client Portfolio: Launched Updates to our website include a new portfolio section showcasing some of our recent clients and the services we provided to help them grow. These classified files have been released to the public and are now being used to represent the work of our marketing agents. Tower Agency has worked with over 15 clients and these are some of our favorite and most successful experiences. Please explore the services below, we will be adding more as Tower Agency continues to grow. A few of the services you will find in our client portfolio: E-commerce Website Design WordPress Website Design Custom Website Design Market Research Keyword Research Trade show Marketing Pay Per Click Digital Advertising “Tower Marketing Agency is a Full Service Agency, meaning that we work on all sides of the marketing 8 ball. Acting as an in-house marketing team we get to know the key members of your organization and work together to find cost-effective solutions. No client is the same, nor has the same needs and thus we adapt each new project based on the objectives of the client. Just producing a website is not enough for most clients to succeed, they need traffic, they need an image, and we go to whatever lengths necessary to make sure they get the full spectrum.” Roger Tower The site also includes agent profiles for Roger Tower and Ian Miller. New agents will be added in the future to represent the full and growing organization. Cheers...
read moreThey’re everywhere! Tablets transition for business deployment
The age of the tablet computer has begun, as I’m sure you iPad and Google Nexus readers can attest. As these devices find their way into the hands of excited people around the globe, their intuitive controls, ease of use, and breath of capabilities are being exalted. While your thin slate has become a dear personal friend, you may not have considered the huge impact that same device can have on customers visiting your business. With more apps, systems and options arriving to the market every day, here are four steps to get your new interactive digital signage up and running: 1. Determine Goals Your personal tablet might be your all-in-one device with myriad applications, but your tablet kiosk should be deployed with a specific use and result in mind. Think about what areas of your business are most important to improve. 2. Explore Solutions and Content Whether you want to increase efficiency, distribute information, connect with customers, or achieve something completely original, examining current solutions will guide you on the path to success. You will need to consider hardware, the tablet of your choice and a secure enclosure, as well as functionality such as system controls, applications, and your business content. 3. Deploy and Draw Attention Put careful thought into the placement of your tablet based on its functionality. A point-of-sale system for employee usage should be discreet, while a restaurant’s interactive menu should be place prominently but not in the way. If your kiosk is designed for public interaction, make sure employees and physical signage direct attention toward it. Consumers are still becoming acquainted with these kiosks and a team effort to draw attention will lead to growth in interactions over time. 4. Monitor Results and Make Improvements Advanced system analysis and remote device management are great tools for evaluating the results of your deployment, but listening to the personal feedback of customers and employees is just as important. Once you’ve had a taste of the benefits your kiosk can have on business marketing and operations, develop a plan for regular updates to content and system improvement. This will keep customers captivated, employees satisfied, and your return-on-investment growing into the future. If you’re interested in learning more about deploying a tablet kiosk, just comment on this post with your thoughts or click the button below. We’d love to help you find the ideal solution. [maxbutton id=”1″] You can also check out this great infographic on tablet kiosks assembled by our friends at...
read moreIs your SEO Strategy Strong or Weak? And would you know the difference?
Small and growing businesses share a major challenge: an unlimited amount of tasks and not enough hours/staff to complete them all. Both must prioritize and ensure that the methods they choose to market their business are efficient and providing a positive Return on Investment (ROI). It is not always easy to calculate the return from search engine optimization (SEO) since it is a long-tail strategy, but utilizing google analytics and other software to determine site traffic is a great place to start. Hiring a consultant or marketing agent allows these businesses to analyze and improve their search engine optimization without taking time away from their day-to-day tasks. Emarketer.com recently produced an article comparing B2B and B2C SEO strategies, and what these businesses found as effective and difficult tasks. These charts will help you decide what is worth doing in-house and what would be important to out-source to a professional based on difficulty. Of course these tactics will vary in effectiveness based on the industry, but this chart should act as a solid overview of how to compare your SEO strategies, difficulties, and future outlook. A Few Helpful Hints to Take Away from these Marketing Charts Updating Website Content Google loves fresh content, and so do your readers. Producing new and interesting content will skyrocket your page in the searches, stimulate reader interest, and provide new opportunities for searches and keywords. Marketing professionals did not list this as a difficult tactic and should be used by all companies interested to increase traffic. A static website just does not cut through the clutter in 2013. Keyword Management Whether using google’s keyword tool or a 3rd party product, keyword research is vital to an effective SEO strategy. There are many options to help with research, but most importantly you should be expanding into new strategies and not focus on one single search engine query. Expand your website’s content with new keywords, find what has attracted in new users and build your strategy off reader comments and website analytics. Creating Original Content Higher in difficulty, creating consistent content can be a challenge and was reported as such by the surveyed marketing professionals. Creativity can go a long way when developing news stories, articles, reports and other content to feature on a blog. Using this creativity to create a foundation for news stories and twitter feeds helps to build links back to the site and show that you are a thought leader within your category. It is generally recommended that a business outsource original content to a professional that will help pull new information from the business and develop a consistent posting strategy. The new information should still be coming from the organization, but hiring a mediator will help to reduce strain on the organization. Social Media Integration Now that your business has content flowing, it will start ranking higher in the search engines. With the rise of social networks, news feeds are vitally important to increased and targeted web traffic. After posting new content always share it within your social media strategy (twitter, facebook, pinterest, tumblr, etc.). With particularly interesting content it helps to spend a few extra dollars a day to buy ads on facebook. They are the most targeted and affordable means of online advertising, acting as a very effective platform...
read moreAgent Profile: Roger Tower
Reliable, vigilant, and determined.
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