The Impact of Voice Search on Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
In recent years, voice search technology has taken the tech world by storm. It’s a game-changer that allows users to interact with computers, smartphones, and other devices using spoken language instead of traditional typing or touch interfaces. This innovative technology leverages speech recognition and natural language processing (NLP) to understand and interpret spoken queries, making it possible for users to perform a wide range of tasks, simply by speaking to their devices.
read moreMobile-First Design | Mobile Web Optimization
Mobile-First Design is about optimizing the mobile web and creating apps that perform exceptionally on small screens yet remain impressive on larger. With responsive design, your content effortlessly adapts to various devices, ensuring a seamless experience for users, whether they’re on a smartphone or a desktop computer. Speed is the key – mobile-first development optimizes performance to keep users engaged, preventing frustrating loading times.
read moreImportance of Content Marketing, Building a Strong Brand, and Establishing your Presence.
It provides valuable, relevant, and consistent content to attract and retain an audience. Instead of bombarding you with sales pitches, it offers engaging blog posts, videos, social media content, and more to solve your problems. This strategy builds trust and loyalty over time, leading to increased brand awareness, website traffic, and profitable customer action.
read more5 Essential Plugins for Every WordPress Site
Every designer has their starting-line rituals when building a new WordPress site. After reviewing our portfolio of recent projects, it became clear that these 5 plugins were an essential part of that ritual for the designers at Tower Agency.
read moreVIDEO: How To Troubleshoot WordPress
Understanding how to solve problems with WordPress and where to find the solutions is half the battle. We have compiled the resources you should use when troubleshooting, some of the errors that will lead to these resources and where to find them on the internet.
read moreCSS Tips and Tricks for WordPress
In this article you will learn basic css tips for an intro in WordPress development and design. These are common our team uses on new designs, please contact Tower Agency for more assistance.
read moreDigital Marketing Portfolio Update
We’ve been busy and that means portfolio updates! The past few months have been a very exciting period of growth for our small digital agency as we have been incorporating new agents into the mix while bringing on some very exciting projects. I would like to introduce you to our wonderful new clients and am happy to announce that they also love us back. We pride ourselves on customer service and a happy client means we did two things right: The project was completed to both party’s expectations. Successfully learned about client needs, found viable solutions, and executed properly. Brenda Heckert Her quirky personality is shown through jokes, pictures, and videos to help casting directors see the fun nature she brings to the set. Exemplified by her saying “It costs an Arm, a Leg, and a Thigh.” By adding a blogging component to the site she is able to increase community engagement across facebook, twitter and other social sharing sites. Read more Nualgi America Nualgi is a new brand that uses microscopic technology to produce Diatom growth in aquariums, thus removing nuisance algae. Tower Agency was brought in to expand this brand to the new products Nualgi Ponds and Nualgi Bloom, as well as maintain the brand of Nualgi Aquarium. Read more Utah Coffee Expressions An entrepreneurial couple in Utah contacted us to fix their e-commerce site that had been in development for over 6 months in the Phillipines… Quickly the Tower agents got to work to diagnose the issues that were being caused with the site and a lot was miss-communication between the developers and the client. The simple tasks had become overly complex pieces of development that were unfortunately not using the WordPress content management system properly. Read more Shoreline Construction The original Shoreline site had an image gallery and a basic description of the company. We added a personality with high resolution images to better represent the high quality work produced by this home construction company. A beautiful new website was created to showcase the work performed by this construction company and further position them as a top developer of Nantucket Style beach homes. Read more Sheets at the Beach Vera Bailey built a dominant regional reputation with her top quality rental products and amazing service. Tower Agency stepped in when an outdated website began to make operations difficult for both her and customers. Read more Jeff West When Jeff West decided to transition his focus from retail to interior design, the Tower team created a powerful way to stay connected with fans and customers. For years Jeff West Home was a regionally acclaimed source for traditionally hip furniture, unique home goods, and products from local artisans. Read more As we grow we will add to our client portfolio. Thanks for reading and we look forward to sharing more digital marketing success...
read moreDitch your Secretary, Google Now is here!
Ok, I am sure your secretary has many perks, but on-the-go updates synced with your life is just too much to ask from a single human being. Today, Google Now is available as a chrome extension, thus completing the full circle in my digital life. I’ve been using the Google Now card system on my phone since I upgraded to Android a year ago (iPhone prior). It notifies me at perfect times when I should be leaving the house, what the latest Red Sox score is, who I am scheduled to meet, and much more timely information. “Timely” is the key word in this statement. The purpose of this product is to get the information precisely when you need it. Five minutes early or late would just not be as useful. Getting information at the RIGHT time is everything Google hopes to accomplish. Semantic Web is Upon Us All your information, all your data, all locked up and there for you to access fluently wherever you may be. This is the semantic web. This is Google Now. This is the future. Based on a card system like the screen shot graphic from www.engadget.com, you can decide what information you want displayed in a simple, concise manner. Tailored based on your internet habits, Google chooses your cards initially and will sync up live to what is occurring in each category. The Future is Not Siri “She” may answer a few questions and she may be able to bring up your flight details. But she is not integrated with your google account and most likely will not let you know the exact time you should be leaving your home to catch the flight. This is the future, the ability to integrate perfectly in your life without ever asking. And that, that is freaking scary. What the Heck is Google Now? I like my Secretary! Google explains it as the right information at the right time. “From knowing the weather before you start your day, to planning the best route to avoid traffic, or even checking your favorite team’s score while they’re playing, Google Now brings you the information you want, when you need it. Google Now works in the background so you don’t have to. Your information is automatically organized into simple cards that appear just when they’re needed. Because Google Now is ready whenever you are, you can spend less time digging and more time living.” From Google Now Landing Page Need support? Straight from the Googles, learn how Google Now, Cards, and Location services work in chrome. Google Now Support Get Google Now for Android & iOS Chrome has just released the extension for Google Now to integrate with your web browser. If you are not already using Google Now on mobile you can download it here. Product Integrations It is expected that this list will be forever expanding, but for the time being Google Now works to give you the right information at just the right time for Flights, Hotels, Events, Travel Sites, Restaurant Reservations, Movies, and Real Estate. Notable companies include, Rotten Tomatoes, Zillow, Stubhub, Booking.com, and a few airlines. Learn more about Google Now Integrations Have you ever used Google Now? Did you know that your android device is...
read moreCopy + Paste to Eat for a Day, Learn to Code and You’ll Eat for A Lifetime!
Every student in every school should have the opportunity to learn computer code. I just signed up to support this wonderful organization started by twin brothers in Silicon Valley. They bring up a great point and support a mission that will only become more necessary as we go further into the digital world. Personally I didn’t learn a line of code until after college, but have since become intrigued and now dive into html/css3 for altering WordPress sites. Did you know that 9 out of 10 US K12 schools do not offer computer programming classes? And that Forbes magazine ranked a degree in Computer Science from Carnegie Mellon College as the best paying degree in the USA in 2013? There are six ways you can help spread the word about code.org Code.org | Non-profit foundation dedicated to growing computer science education 1) Help us promote computer science education Find out what you can do locally to turn around these shocking statistics. If you’re in the US, support the Computer Science Education Act. 2) Ask your local school to teach computer science Your local school can teach this self-serve intro course, partner with us to bring computer science to your entire district, and inspire students with these videos. Check our map to see if your school teaches computer science, and if not, ask them to. 3) Teach locally as a volunteer Host an Hour of Code or a longer self-serve intro course at a local school or club. Or sign up as a volunteer to hear about mentoring opportunities from local teachers. 4) Buy a t-shirt or hat to spread the word We have some pretty awesome shirts, and 5% of proceeds go to charity. 5) Donate money to Code.org We’re a very lean and mean organization, and we appreciate your help. 6) In the US? Tell Congress that you support the Computer Science Education Act Ask your representatives to support it, too. The members of Tower Agency, Inc. sincerely hope you will spread this philanthropic message, buy a t-shirt or support this movement in whatever way possible. Maybe you can even take a short course at code.org or play one of their fun games. Either way, thanks for reading and have a great day. Infographic by...
read more3 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 moreAgent Profile: Roger Tower
Reliable, vigilant, and determined.
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