Digital Marketing Blog — SEO, Web Design & eCommerce Insights

As Artificial Intelligence advances at a rate faster than ever before, what are the implications for AI web design, and what results can come from using Intelligent User Interfaces (IUI)? What are Intelligent User Interfaces, and what role do they play in the future of web design and modern user interfaces?Let’s look a

Running a Birmingham SEO agency, especially one that specialises in web design and digital marketing, means confronting some important questions about the future of SEO in a world that's now consumed with AI tools like ChatGPT. Without a doubt, the future of SEO with AI is set to change dramatically. We've previously w

Traditional SEO, once focused on ranking websites in search engine results pages (SERPs) through keyword optimisation and link building is slowly being overtaken by newer forms of search. Everything changed following the launch of ChatGPT in November 2022. As a precursor to this report, we wrote about the potential dea

The Online Safety Act. Who could argue against it with a name like that? The explainer published on the UK government’s website goes into detail on how this bill will protect children and adults, keeping us safe from violent and pornographic content online. But, what are the Online Safety Act consequences for small bus

Things are heating up in the world of AI, LLMs and especially image/video generation models. We have seen incredible progress with Google’s Gemini, Google Opal for building AI apps, and video generation tools, such as VEO 3, which produces jaw-dropping results that can even rival industry-leading CGI studios. Anthropic

How to Build a WordPress Plugin & Publish to WordPress: Why I Created this Guide When we talk about how to build a WordPress plugin, it typically falls into one of two categories: Personal requirements and needs – We may want some unique, custom functionality for our own website that isn’t readily available in existing

We have discussed the evolution of websites over the years, with basic HTML sites taking centre stage in the 1990s, and then advancing to sleek and sophisticated content management systems (CMS) in the 2000s with platforms like WordPress leading the charge.This progression was an immense leap forward, but are we at the

It’s no secret that social media platforms such as Facebook and X (Twitter) have become increasingly filled with advertisements, spam, and bots over recent years. The overabundance of spam and advertisements has led many individuals and businesses to distance their efforts and reduce platform spending, but is this just

Since I first tested DALL-E, I've been on something of a rollercoaster with AI image generation and generative AI in general, but has everything just changed with the new GPT-4o image generation capabilities? Let's do a deep dive into GPT-4o vs DALL-E 3, Stable Diffusion, and other models to see how they compare. Like

Editor's Note (14.03.25): Our original ChatGPT SEO guide created on 15th December 2022 explored how successful SEO content could be created using ChatGPT. We carried out two experiments to see which would perform better. Our guide was later revised in March 2023 to provide a fresh view and discuss the impact of using C

Let’s be honest; for most of us, SEO is boring. The process is crucial, but sometimes, the many aspects of improving search engine optimisation are dull, monotonous, and repetitive. However, that's changing with new processes that automate tasks and produce better results by incorporating AI in SEO effectively. Stick a

If you already have a website or are planning to create one, you've most likely heard about Search Engine Optimisation (SEO). For small businesses. SEO is one of the most powerful strategies to increase online visibility, attract more customers, and generate new business. Editor's Note [04.03.25]: Our article titled "S

So, you're looking to understand the topic of long-tail SEO? Read on to discover how leveraging these targeted search strategies can improve your website’s visibility, attract the right audience, and ultimately drive more meaningful engagement. What is long-tail SEO? To first answer this, it's important to have a basic

This guide to keyword analysis and planning is one of a series of guides we are producing to explore the subject of SEO in depth. Editor's Note [17.02.2025]: It's almost unbelievable that our original article titled "SEO Keyword Planning and Analysis" was originally published 15 years ago, back in 2010. Other than mayb

SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) is how you make your website easier to find on Google. It’s about improving your site so that when people search for things related to your business, your pages appear higher in the results.Editor's Note [12.02.25]: This is a major update to our 2011 guide titled "SEO in a Nutshell: A

Online reviews are crucial for website visitors and customers looking to factor first-hand experiences into their buying decisions:"95% of consumers read online reviews before making decisions"– Source ShapoReviews are also important for service providers that can showcase customer satisfaction, or illustrate how negat

There’s a common misconception about getting your online video seen by thousands—it’s often believed you need a massive budget to achieve this. In reality, all it takes is a great idea to capture attention, and you can reach a huge audience without having to spend much money at all. In this blog, we’ll explain what

You are likely reading the title and wondering how sustainability in retail and sustainable eCommerce can boost your bottom line, but stick with me—the world of eco-friendly business is changing fast, and you don’t want to be left behind. The following guide will help you think differently about adopting green practice

In the tech and software industry, product and service iterations happen incredibly quickly, which is inherent in the process of iterative design and fast software cycles. We’ve become accustomed to next-day changes and daily patch notes. However, nothing could have prepared us for the events that took place at OpenAI

With so many ways to create and share video content, it can be difficult to know which format and platforms to use as a business or creator. It can be hard to know whether to create short-form video content or traditional long-form videos to engage and inform your audience. However, it's hard to deny that

As modern consumers, we’re used to getting what we want, when we want it, and gratification must be instant. In the mood to watch a horror movie? You have access to thousands of options immediately via Netflix or Shudder. Need to change a car tyre? The answer is just a tap away. Improved software and

I must admit, reading the title here makes me scratch my head in disbelief as someone who has viewed Logan Paul and KSI's content over the last decade. But credit where it's due: KSI and Logan Paul have shown us the power of a modern marketing strategy, think of playing 5D chess while your competitors are

Open source projects allow individuals and businesses to gain access to powerful software and tools without needing to worry about expensive licensing and software costs, and this is no different for open source websites and eCommerce developments. In addition to the cost savings, open source allows anyone to modify an

The Business Case for a Hybrid Human-AI Live Chat Solution: Does One Exist? When considering whether a hybrid human-AI live chat (chatbot) solution could work for your business, the benefits and potential challenges need to be carefully weighed up. On the one hand, a well-integrated system could offer the best of both

Editor's Note [September 16th 2024]: This article was originally published in March 2023 and has undergone multiple updates since. On March 3rd 2023, we published our original article discussing the AI inflection point introduced by OpenAI's ChatGPT. Only days later, analysts at Morgan Stanley also reported that AI was

Advancements in Artificial Intelligence, including ANI, AGI (Artificial General Intelligence), and ASI, are moving so fast in 2023 and 2024 that it's hard to keep up, even for a technology company. With rumours that AGI had been achieved internally due to OpenAI's Q-star (Q*) project, predictions from figures like Jimm

Welcome to our up-to-date SEO content creation guidelines. One of the most basic SEO challenges many website owners face is the lack of good content, but what do we mean by this? Good content can mean very different things depending on who you speak to – their background, expertise, and personal preferences will all co

Unless you’ve been living under a digital rock, chances are, you have heard of or used Reddit. Admittedly, it's not the first social network that jumps to mind, with the likes of Facebook (Meta) and Twitter (X) probably coming first, but it's still hugely popular with certain audiences. Unlike Facebook and Twitter, Red

Back in April 2022, we were quick to jump on Elon Musk's interest in Twitter and created an article covering the news and implications of Musk’s takeover. We made a lot of predictions about what could happen as a result of such a takeover. It has now been over a year, and a lot has

Over the years, websites have evolved far beyond just being simple static HTML pages created in Dreamweaver. We’ve seen the rise of database-driven websites utilising platforms such as Joomla, Drupal and WordPress, but we’ve also seen shifts in form factor across a multitude of devices. With all of these changes, websi

Introduction: The Modern AI-Led Way to Convert Excel to Word Converting Excel data into Word docs is something a lot of companies need. Maybe you're making reports, invoices, or just sorting out research. Excel is often just the starting point because lots of web scraping tools dump data into CSV or Excel. That leaves

Introduction Web scraping and data analysis are two crucial techniques for undertaking website optimisation and enhancing search engine rankings. This guide will provide a comprehensive overview of using Screaming Frog's SEO Spider tool to scrape website data and ChatGPT AI to analyse and assist with extracting specifi

Tiktok, Twitch and Twitter — they all have them. Memes! Chances are, if you have a social media account, you’ll have likely seen at least one in your time browsing your feed. They are great for a laugh every now and again, but can they provide any value for businesses? Can businesses use meme marketing

Some Background: The Rise of AI & Evolution of Blog Creation in WordPress In the ever-evolving world of WordPress site creation, blog generation, and search engine optimisation (SEO), the rise of AI has completely disrupted what we once knew and reshaped what is now possible. Led by OpenAI and its release of ChatGPT in

How Does ChatGPT Work From a Child's Perspective? Welcome to a magical journey into the world of ChatGPT! This article is a child-friendly story which answers the question "how does ChatGPT work?" in a way we can all understand. We delve into the fascinating world of Artificial intelligence (AI), Large Language Models

In the realm of technological advancements, the rise of AI has undeniably been a game-changer. Tools like ChatGPT are already revolutionising how businesses operate, and marketing is no exception. For WordPress users, one of the most exciting developments has been the creation of ChatGPT WordPress plugins. These ingeni

Editor's Note: This is an update to our original post titled 'Master AI Content Using ChatGPT: 25 Killer Marketing Content Ideas Generation Tool' published in Janurary 2023 providing real-world examples of ChatGPT prompts for marketing content ideas, SEO, social media, eCommerce, PPC, and more. Introduction Did you kno

In a world where SEO and technology keep evolving, the ability to stay ahead of the curve with advanced SEO analysis techniques is vital for success. As explored below, the basics of SEO remain the same, but with the growth of AI, businesses can now tap into a wealth of business data and discover unknown

Have you ever wanted to hire a WordPress developer but didn't know where to begin? You've probably been told that the first thing you need to do is look at their portfolio. But what if I told you that there's a better way, a revolutionary approach that defies all logic and reason? Buckle up, because

SEO is a field of expertise that never stands still, and the adoption of tools like ChatGPT is a prime example of just how fast things can change. While the fundamentals of SEO remain unchanged, advancements in AI mean that we now have advanced tools and techniques that would have been unimaginable five years ago.Some

[Editor's Note: 19.05.23] A lot has changed since our original article dated 18th January 2023, which discussed ChatGPT vs Bing and what an AI search engine might look like. In only four months, we've seen an almost unprecedented amount of change, with new providers coming onto the scene, including Microsoft's Bard and

‍Introduction As the world continues to advance technologically, the future of AI is poised to revolutionise industries and redefine the way we live, work, and interact. With names like ChatGPT and Bard becoming commonplace, open source AI models like LLaMA have been hiding in the shadows for most of us whilst slowly e

Unlock the potential of AI content and SEO with our guide to ChatGPT Prompt Engineering. Powerful ChatGPT SEO prompts that will transform how you work. Background Are you ready to take your game to the next level with ChatGPT SEO prompts? If so, you don't want to miss out on our guide to ChatGPT prompt

Editor's note (10th February 2023): Wow, things change so quickly in the world of AI. Since our article was published less than two weeks ago on 1st February, the latest buzz right now seems to be around how Bing is showcasing amazing new features with its ChatGPT search engine integration and how Google is combatting

OpenAI's ChatGPT: a revolutionary tool for enhancing SEO with AI meta data Our previous guide covered ChatGPT, an Artificial Intelligence (AI) tool developed by OpenAI. We demonstrated in a detailed step-by-step guide how ChatGPT offers an innovative solution for business owners, marketers, content creators, and SEO pr

Firstly, why do I keep hearing about AI and a tool called ChatGPT? If you came here wondering what is GPT-3, what is ChatGPT, or what are the differences between the two, read on. The latest sensation to grip the internet and the imaginations of users around the world is a "chatbot" developed by OpenAI,

Editor's note: within literally days of creating the below guide, the creators of DALL-E, OpenAI, launched ChatGPT. Our 6th January 2023 update to this guide expands on our summary of AI copywriting and written text, by covering the ChatGPT BETA service now being offered by OpenAI and how this changes everything. Read

Editors Note (05.01.23): This article has been updated to include ChatGPT, and reflect on the evolution of AI SEO tools, such as OpenAI GPT–3, since its initial release. We also take a look at other AI SEO tools that have been released over the last few years, and how they have impacted the SEO industry.

OpenAI GPT-3 has revolutionised the world of SEO tools with its ability to generate human-like content at scale. Dubbed the "brain" of OpenAI's chatbot, GPT-3 has been praised for its ability to understand and respond to a wide range of topics. With its impressive language processing capabilities, GPT-3 is poised to be

Editor's note: We posted the below article back in 2016 covering the history of virtual reality and its rise in popularity for both gaming and businesses alike. We thought it would be useful to take a look at how things have changed in the years since 2016. In this edition, we will look at the

Editor’s Note: The world of social media changes quickly and this is our third update to our original 2019 'The Decline of YouTube – An Uncertain Future For This Popular Video Platform' article. In our second update, 'Looking to the Future – 2020 and Beyond for YouTube', we made some predictions about YouTube's future.

As more and more people start to dive into metaverse worlds, you have to wonder which of the big players will become the ‘go to’ place for metaverse experiences. For this reason, we have decided to explore the battle for the metaverse and some of the leading metaverse companies, projects and examples right now. An

Back in 2016 we talked about how marketers can use virtual reality. With all of this talk about the metaverse, is it too soon to be thinking about metaverse marketing for the average business? As a digital marketing agency, we love all things digital. So, let’s take a look into metaverse marketing and whether or not

You may have heard the term ‘metaverse’ mentioned on the news, in articles or in general conversation. This has likely left you asking yourself questions like, ‘what is the metaverse?’, and other questions such as, 'what is an NFT'? Well, this article will attempt to answer these questions in a way that is easy to

As an SEO agency, we're big lovers of all things digital, so the question arises, is metaverse SEO (or should we say meta SEO) the future of search marketing? After witnessing Facebook’s rebrand to Meta, a question that now comes to mind is which company will be next to commit big to the metaverse? Will

If you are new to terms like ‘the metaverse’, don’t worry — a lot of marketers and business owners are in the same boat. In this article, we explore whether metaverse social media marketing is a trend to watch in 2022? Before that, we have written a beginner-friendly article about the metaverse outlining the basics.

With all of these new terms being used more and more, it can be difficult to keep up. This is why we thought it’d be useful to create an article explaining some of the key differences between the metaverse and Virtual Reality (VR). We will also talk about Augmented Reality (AR), Extended Reality (XR) and

Earlier this week, the news that Elon Musk buys Twitter for $44 billion was in the headlines, but what does this mean for the future of Twitter? Twitter has been on seemingly shaky ground since previous owner and CEO Jack Dorsey left the company back in November 2021. Since the acquisition, there have been calls

Let's be honest; SEO doesn't always have the best reputation, but that doesn't need to be the case. The process of carrying out SEO has changed a lot over the years, but the fundamentals remain the same. If your site is fast, user-friendly, and delivers the right content, search engines will reward you. In this

Editor’s Note: Our 2022 edition exploring VR eCommerce provides our latest take on the topic first explored in 2016 and again in 2019. All of our previous insights can be found below and remain un-touched apart from correcting the odd typo. This latest update extends our series of VR articles into the metaverse. Back i

There’s no doubt that the world of business has been something of a rollercoaster since March 2020, with some really significant changes; some of which are proving to be long-term in a bid to stay productive while keeping the COVID-19 virus at bay. While brands are working hard to keep employees distanced, marketing, o

It’s a simple fact that a business needs customers – and most brands put in a considerable amount of time to find, nurture and keep those customers. Sentiment analysis can play a significant role in this. The world of commerce changes at lightning speed but, one thing remains the same – customers have opinions, and

Meta tags such as meta titles (also known as page titles) and descriptions are critical elements of SEO, making up a core element of Google’s search algorithms1. Like so many elements of writing content for the web, creating meta tags for SEO involves walking a delicate tightrope. Before we jump into the specifics of m

What is mobile SEO?Mobile SEO, as the name suggests, involves tailoring your search engine optimisation (SEO) practices for modern users who browse on mobile devices, such as smartphone and tablets.Mobile browsing accounts for half of all internet traffic in 20201. Failure to devise an effective mobile SEO strategy pot

On 7th December 2020 the EU published new ranking guidelines for online platforms, giving advice and guidance on how they can improve the transparency of their search ranking parameters.SEO is what we do day in and day out at Opace and the ultimate goal is to improve search rankings and generate traffic for our clients

Perfecting your SEO and digital marketing strategy can be a lengthy process. It requires a great deal of care and attention. To this end, you should always measure your SEO results and make sure that your effort is paying off. You can measure the success of your SEO and digital marketing by assessing a range

Editor’s Note: Version 1 of our Essential SEO Toolkit was released in November 2018. It's long overdue but we have now developed a new-and-improved v2, which adds some useful new features as well as a fresh facelift. The new version is due to go live on the Google Web Store this month, April 2020. We'll cover

The COVID-19 Coronavirus pandemic is a milestone moment in any of our lives. The virus is wreaking havoc across the world, but with this threat also comes a long-awaited opportunity within organisations to more fully embrace home and remote working.With travel bans and government requests for social distancing and home

Choosing the right domain name (website address, or URL) for your organisation is pivotal for any online venture. The perfect domain may not always be available though, when you search on sites like 123-Reg or Names.co.uk. So the other option for any online business, organisation or start-up is consider purchasing a pr

In previous blogs we’ve talked about the importance of blogging and posting content frequently to social media. The problem is that sometimes if you are a small business, its hard to allocate time to sit on social networks all day posting interesting and informative updates to the network. In this blog I wanted to cove

It's very common to hear from small businesses owners that they ‘want to increase their likes or follower count’ but when asked ‘why’ there is oftentimes no logical answer given. Isn’t it better to have more followers and likes, you might ask – generally of course but let’s look a little deeper. Many Facebook Page

Editor’s Note: The world of SEO changes quickly and in this update to our 2018 SEO predictions and trends article, we will be discussing what we can expect in terms of the evolution of SEO over the months and years to come. Our original post was created in January 2018, so we wanted to take

We’ve talked a lot about business blogging in our previous posts over the years, here are a few: Business blogging – why should I bother? /blog/simple-ways-to-generate-more-blog-traffic Top Tips to getting your business blog post to #1 We continue to receive questions from our clients regarding the

You may have seen some of our recent blog posts advising readers of which plugins are best and how to get the most out of your new website, but how do you know when you need to refresh your website and give it a facelift? Having a new website can be potentially expensive, so what

Editor’s Note: In this update, we take a look at our past blog post and give it a fresh, new take on the importance of VR web design in the coming months and years. Our original post was created in June 2016 and we have revisited the topic to give readers an updated opinion where

Editors Note: Our post on how to build powerful backlinks was originally posted in May 2017 where we discussed link building and touched upon the effectiveness of visual content such as infographics and video when it comes to SEO. This is such an important topic that we wanted to expand on the original post and

Editors Note: Our Essential free WordPress plugins and themes post was originally created in March 2016. From Gutenberg to new plugins, the world of WordPress has changed quite a lot since then, but many of plugins and themes on our original list have lasted the test of time. In this 2019 update, we've decided to build

We first wrote about this topic (which you can find at the bottom of the post in its entirety) in November 2015. In our latest update, we focus on the key elements of WordPress that make it a viable and scalable solution for those looking for a CMS for their business website in 2019. We thought

It has been nearly 5 years since we wrote our first article titled 'Why choose WordPress for your web design'. Back then, it was a fantastic blog and easy-to-use CMS (content management system) but how do things look for WordPress in late 2018/ 2019? Let's take a look at the same question and consider the

In an increasingly competitive digital economy, companies must not only provide diverse and customised services to clients across a variety of budgets and industries, but they must establish a strong online presence.The best web design agencies prioritise both usability and discoverability. They mix aesthetics and inte

Three years have passed since we first wrote our blog post titled 'Is Magento the best free eCommerce platform?'. In our 2018 update, we explore the current state of eCommerce software exploring the peaks and pitfalls of the most popular platforms, including Magento. We thought it would be beneficial to look at the ori

Two years have passed since we first wrote the blog post ‘From VR Marketing to vCommerce: What Can Virtual Reality Do For Your Business?’ In our 2018 update, we explore the future of VR and the various uses, opportunities and applications in businesses. We thought it would be good to take a look at the

Google Plus (otherwise known as Google+) is shutting down over the next 10 months due to a reported security vulnerability. Although social networks have struggled with the occasional security concern, this was likely the final nail in the coffin for the struggling social network. There have been signs for some time no

As discussed in our previous blog post, there have been a number of changes since we first created our popular popular video tutorial on 'How to Customise a Static HTML: (iframe) tab' as part of our series on social media marketing. We've outlined detailed guidance and step-by-step instructions for installing a custom

It’s been six years since we first created our very popular video tutorial on ‘How to install a Static HTML (iframe) tab’ as part of our series on social media marketing. However, a lot has chance since then and we thought it was time to bring our advice up-to-date based on the features and tools

Social Media for Business (B2B and B2C marketing) The social media industry is growing exponentially, and there are no signs of it slowing down any time soon. For businesses looking to expand, having an active social media presence is the way forward. In this article, we have summarised how different social media chann

Is YouTube an effective marketing tool for business in 2018? What are some of the drawbacks of YouTube, and how can this be detrimental for business? How can your company optimise SEO and what are some of the ROIs of the social media channel in 2018? These are just some of the many questions business executives

Is LinkedIn an effective marketing tool for business in 2018? How can social marketers use LinkedIn to benefit their business? What are some of the ROIs of LinkedIn for businesses using the social media channel in 2018? If you’ve considered investing both time and money into a marketing campaign involving LinkedIn, the

Is Instagram really the ‘rising star’ of social media marketing for business in 2018? What are some of the benefits and drawbacks for businesses wishing to incorporate this social media channel into their marketing strategy? How and why should it be integrated with other social media platforms such as Facebook and Twit

What are the benefits of Twitter for business? How will its growth and usage in the near future determine the effectiveness of a marketing campaign for business? How can a company optimise Twitter for SEO? These are just examples of some of the questions businesses may ask before they proceed with a campaign involving

What are the benefits of Facebook and is there a business case for Facebook in 2018? How should B2B and B2C businesses optimise Facebook as a marketing tool, how does it compare to other social media platforms and does Facebook generate a positive ROI for businesses? If you’re thinking about investing in a marketing ca

If you have a WordPress, Magento, Joomla website or eCommerce store, or in fact any website, GDPR comes into force from 25th May 2018 across the EU and will forever change the way that organisations need to manage data and privacy. One aspect of GDPR compliance is managing the website, which as an important external

Successful link building strategies are multi-pronged attacks and need careful consideration in order to deliver the returns you are targeting; quality backlinks from domains with high authorities. With constant changes occurring in the world of SEO, we take a look at the most effective link building strategies for 201

Since Google’s Penguin Update in April 2012 avowed that links within press releases should not improve your search engine rankings the jury has been out on whether this useful marketing tool can help your SEO. First of all, it’s important to remember that great content is just as important as backlinks for generating g

Over the years, Google has produced many guidelines and documents to aid webmasters in understanding SEO and their views on link building. If you're here, you most likely want to understand what Google SEO rules and guidelines for link building exist. The issue of course is that Google's advice does alter slightly with

Introduction: Getting Backlinks Without Paying For Them If you're here, you will be searching for how to get backlinks for free. However, growing your SEO organically can be a slow process. There are many methods and techniques involved, which you can learn about in our simple SEO guide below. SEO Basics: The Simple SE

If you're here, it means you are asking the question, Is buying backlinks safe? Before answering that, let's answer a more fundamental question, Are backlinks important for SEO and do they improve rankings? The short answer is yes, but there are many different types of backlinks and not all are good. For a deeper under

What benefit is there in knowing how to check backlinks from your competitors? As the great Chinese military strategist, Sun Tzu, said; “Know yourself, know your enemy, and you shall win a hundred battles without loss”. In this instance, we are talking about the war of SEO over your competitors but the proverb rings tr

Since Google introduced the Penguin update to its algorithm in 2012, practices such as black hat SEO link building have, thankfully, been in decline. Widespread manipulation of a website’s ranking involving the practice of buying links, spam comments, link farming and spinning or duplicating content are now all subject

Before we jump into our link building guide, let's start at the beginning and cover what SEO means. The Role of Link Building in SEO Our simple SEO guide below covers all of the fundamentals, including common myths about backlinks and the role they play in modern SEO. SEO Basics: The Simple SEO Guide for

Before we get into the nitty-gritty, it's important to understand that Nofollow is a directive for search engines, not a penalty or something to be scared about. What is Nofollow in SEO? In a nutshell, Nofollow in SEO simply means that a backlink or hyperlink shouldn't influence SEO or search engine rankings. While Goo

Majestic is a link intelligence supplier based in the UK. Capable of delivering powerful link analysis data for any URL, Majestic SEO is a tool designed to provide ‘flow metrics’ and enable website owners to check backlink quality for their own website and competitors. What are Flow Metrics? ‘Flow metrics’ are a unique

The SaaS marketing company, Moz, has been operating since 2005 on the core principle of ‘making the web a better place’. They offer software services based around SEO, all of which are designed to help webmasters improve their SEO and check backlinks using their domain authority tool, keyword research with SERP analysi

What is Social Bookmarking? In the same way that individuals use bookmarks in a web browser to curate content, social bookmarking is an online service that allows registered users to do the same. In addition, users can also annotate, edit and share web pages; in short, social bookmarking is an interactive, online libra

If you are looking for an answer to, "What are backlinks and do they still help SEO?", you're in the right place. When it comes to how well you rank in search engines, there are many factors which determine your position. Historically, two of the main ones were keywords and backlinks. For a general overview

High quality links from top ranking and authoritative sites are a good way to build great links without breaching any Webmaster Guidelines. One of the best ways to do this is via content marking and an effectively designed blogger outreach programme. What is a Blogger Outreach Programme? In the last twenty years, blogg

The terms White Hat, Black Hat and Grey Hat are often used to explain certain SEO tactics, but what do they actually mean? White Hat SEO Tactics White Hat SEO tacticians maintain a code of ethics that strictly adheres to the guidelines set by the leading search engine authorities, generally Google or Bing. Their sites

Let’s be clear about this, building links is not as simple as firing a silver bullet. There is no one, single link builder tool on the market that will be a cure-all to help you reach the holy grail of the number one in Google's search results. What exists are plenty of tools that can

Backlinks have been, and remain, one of the most important ways to rank highly in search results. However, not all links are created equal, so we take a look at the best link building strategies for modern SEO: SEO Basics: The Simple SEO Guide for Website Owners [UPDATED] Along with great content, links are the

On Friday 23rd September, 2016 Google confirmed that Penguin 4.0 was being rolled out across the world in multiple languages. This update is expected to be speedy but gradual in nature, with a rollout expected to be delivered over a 2 to 3 week period. What is Penguin 4.0? Penguin was historically the name given

With Microsoft's recent acquisition of LinkedIn (discussed here), we felt it was about time to talk about this incredibly important, and in some ways underrated, social tool. LinkedIn has grown to become a platform where much business is won and conducted, as well as a place where talent is scoped out, doing away with

In our previous article we discussed the benefits and uses of LinkedIn. In this article we're discussed Microsoft recent acquisition of LinkedIn, the professional, business-networking platform for $26 billion, which represents one of the largest technology-industry deals ever. It is also Microsoft’s biggest acquisition

In our previous article, we explored the history rise and fall of VR. It was Oculus who essentially brought about the rebirth of virtual reality in recent years. We’ve already seen in our previous articles that as a concept, virtual reality could technically be dated back to the nineteenth century, and there were numer

In our previous article we explored how businesses and marketers can use VR. In this article we are looking specifically at open source. Those who know us here at Opace well know that we were established from a firm belief that open source technology and platforms are the future. Open source provides a means to allow

Two of Opace’s finest, Rob Bryan and Adam Bullas, have a huge interest in the virtual reality space and have experimented with the Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, Samsung Gear VR, PlayStation VR and the Google Cardboard. Rob, as the Technical Director, and Adam as the Marketing Manager, are both interested in web development as

While it can’t be denied that the primary use for virtual reality currently is for gamers, businesses are quickly coming to realise that the use of virtual reality could play a big role in the way in which they market to their customers. This article is part of our series of articles below on "VR for business": The

In our previous article we examined what open source VR could mean for business. Alongside the rise of virtual reality, the tech world is also witnessing the rise of augmented reality. It is not meant to act as a competitor to virtual reality, but instead offers something different; essentially it is a middle-ground be

It's been a while since we last mentioned some of our recent projects, so here are four projects that we’ve been working on during the past few months:Redesign & rebuild for Justice Upheld in WordPressFollowing on from our successful project with Acorns Children's Hospice in September last year it’s a delight to be wor

As many of our eCommerce customers will know we're big advocates of Magento here at Opace. In this article we're exploring Magento 2 and whether it's still relevant in 2016 and beyond. Magento 2, the eagerly awaited update to the highly popular eCommerce platform Magento, has been available for several months now. It h

Opace would like to wish all of our customers a Happy New Year and many thanks for your business in 2015! Our last post provided 25 essential SEO and online marketing tools to consider for your business in 2016. In this article the focus is on our top four web design and SEO improvements that you can

New Year = New Tools, that’s our motto!Here at Opace we’ve been investigating the world of SEO and online marketing tools and have provided an analysis of each of them in this article. We realised that over the years we've built up a great portfolio of tools that we use for our own business, most

There are some websites out there that offer great products and others which are for an extremely worthwhile cause, but no matter how outstanding the organisation is, without an equally outstanding website and marketing, you’re never going to be a success online. We believe our ongoing relationship and recent work with

Here at Opace, we make it our mission to keep you up to date with the latest Google changes. Over the last month or so the search engine has been very busy making alterations to local search and AdWords, in addition to rolling out various algorithm updates. See below for a rundown of the changes

2015 is the year of visual social media content. Visuals help to break through the clutter of online content and help businesses stand out from the crowd. Did you know that 90% of the information transmitted to the brain is visual? Visual content is also processed 60,000 times faster than just plain text, giving you

Today, social media is considered to be one of the best ways businesses can engage with their target market but it takes much more than simply setting up a profile and sending out a message each day. In order to build your engagement and get the most out of social media, you need to establish a clear

Not every WordPress user is a web designer or developer. With this in mind, WordPress theme development company Elegant Themes decided to create a theme that would allow web designers and even end-users to design their own site layouts inside WordPress, without needing any knowledge of HTML or CSS code.Divi, using its

We thought we would take the opportunity to write-up about the value of the Recommended Agencies Register (RAR).This is not something you can simply buy your way onto. You have to actually earn your place on the Recommended Agencies Register through obtaining positive recommendations from your clients. Not familiar wit

The problemIf like many businesses our there you've hunted around for a reliable web design and SEO company and had endless issues with reliability, quality, etc. – then you’re not alone!With so many people claiming to be web designers and SEO experts, it can be difficult knowing who is best to go with. Here we’ll exam

We previously posted about our place on the Recommended Agencies Register. Many of our customers may not be aware that we also belong to the UKITA network and what this means, so we're taking this opportunity to discuss our approval as UKITA Quality Mark holders. Opace have been proud to be recognised as one of the top

In our previous article we explain how not understanding open source could be your most expensive mistake for businesses. As many of our clients will know, we only specialise in open source web design and development here at Opace. Back when we started in 2008, we believed we could offer something different to organisa

Here at Opace, open source is right at the heart of everything we do. Our ethos from the beginning has been to use open source to deliver measurable results for our clients. Many business owners aren’t actually aware of open source or its considerable benefits – so not understanding open source could be a very costly

Noticed something different about Google Ads?Last week, Google explained that starred ratings and reviews from Google+ (My Business) will be shown on Google AdWords listings:Last year we made it easier to manage location extensions by automatically linking your Google My Business location information to your AdWords ac

Infographics are the hottest new marketing trend so sit up and take note! Many websites are using them to share insightful information with customers and power up their marketing mix. If you’re on the hunt for a way to improve the effectiveness of your digital marketing campaign, make infographics an essential part of

Are you happy with your website’s performance and/or SEO? Do you think it is meeting the needs of your visitors? If the answer is no, then it may be time to get to work on making some tweaks and improvements, or maybe even if you answered “yes”. To give you a helping hand, we’ve shared

Google has recently announced that it plans to release a new mobile-friendly ranking algorithm designed to elevate the rankings of mobile friendly websites. It will make it much easier for users to identify sites offering a great mobile experience in mobile searches and will be released on 21st April this year.The warn

Your social media strategy can be compared to cooking a great meal – if you want the best results, it takes time and some great ingredients and things can’t be rushed. The below are part of your recipe for social media success in 2015 with some quality ingredients: 1) Preparation – a good meal always

Microsoft recently released more information at their Windows 10 event at it has gotten a lot of users excited for a number of reasons. This version of Windows hopes to appeal to a wide demographic from business user to connecting gamers in new ways. It’s Free! Well, kind of.. Microsoft has announced that Windows 10 wi

What is a Google Penguin Penalty? The Google Penguin algorithm targets specific types of "black hat" SEO tactics, when these tactics are found a site is punished, demoted and sometimes blacklisted. This is often called by people in the SEO industry 'a Penguin Slap'! Penguin is one of a series of Google updates; others

What is Responsive Web Design (RWD)?Wikipedia Definition:Responsive Web Design (RWD) is an approach to web design aimed at crafting sites to provide an optimal viewing experience—easy reading and navigation with a minimum of resizing, panning, and scrolling—across a wide range of devices (from desktop computer monitors

2014 has been an interesting year for the internet and social media. We have seen things such as the ALS ice bucket challenge take off, continued attempts to filter the internet as well as e-sports taking off in such a big way. An interesting end to the year came with the release of ‘The Interview’ movie

Changing the routine We are all used to being in a routine when it comes to our company’s social media accounts – we post regular updates (some on specific days) and run our blogs the same way. With this being the case, it’s easy to slip into auto pilot and miss opportunities when it comes

A nation obsessed with technology and social media After publishing my previous blogs about Facebook and social networks for business, it’s easy to forget that Facebook is also a social network that we enjoy in our free time, to keep in touch with friends and family. The problem is though as you are likely aware, most

Whilst marketers and SEO experts around the world were left panicking approaching Google’s Penguin 3.0 announcement a few months back, here at Opace we were pretty excited about the update and waiting in anticipation!Read on to find out about Penguin 3.0 and some of the results we've observed.The Penguin 3.0 update, or

Setting up a business can be an expensive proposition, especially if you go the traditional brick and mortar route. Many new entrepreneurs are simply not able to raise the capital to establish a business in this way and so they have had to look at alternatives. This has led to the current surge in interest

What are Facebook's ‘Rooms’? Facebook recently released their latest app ‘Rooms’ which looks to connect users of similar interests together and allow anonymous discussion similar to the chat rooms of the early days of the internet. Rooms support photos, videos and discussion and the app works on an invite basis which c

Recently we’ve seen a surge in popularity for new social networks such as ‘Ello’. Not just new social networks, but networks that actually try new things and aren’t as invasive when it comes to privacy. It makes me wonder, is it time for something new that could be reminiscent of the MySpace days when Facebook

Last month Apple announced their latest product, the Apple watch which is said to be ideal for tracking your movement, pulse rate and a host of unique features allowing users to track data about health as well as interact with friends in new and unique ways. A lot of users have stated that they consider

Recent rumours almost became reality when Google were supposedly confirmed to be acquiring Twitch’s streaming service. This has led users and content creators to become concerned with the implications of this acquisition due to Google implementing unwelcome changes to YouTube not long after purchasing it a number of ye

Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the last month, you’ll already know about the ‘ice bucket challenge’ that has been sweeping social media lately. The last few weeks, however, videos have started being uploaded by celebrities taking part to raise awareness of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and the ALS associati

When small businesses decide to take on social media, not all have a strategy or clearly defined objectives, so it becomes difficult to measure whether the social media is genuinely effective. Many run giveaways and competitions with the intention of growing likes and followers on their page. Without a doubt, that's a

Microsoft once enjoyed dominance with the popularity of PCs and its Windows operating system which gained a huge install base. Microsoft are also known for their extremely popular Xbox gaming consoles. Lately though, does it seem like Microsoft have somewhat lost their way lately with the recent acquisition of Nokia an

Some quick blogging tips…If you are a small business that is starting to consider blogging, hopefully these quick tips will help point you in the right direction how to get started.Assuming you already know what blogging is, a good place to start is to start regularly talking about events or news within your indu

Changing times Over 40 years ago when text was sent between two computers for the first time, the thought of being able to access an online library of information within an instant, being able to stream movies in HD or even just being able to chat online with someone else anywhere in the world in

Virtual Reality back in the day… I remember, when I was about 12 years old in 1997 walking into the arcade on Portsmouth Pier. Right near the entrance were 2 massive machines. The aim of these machines was for you and a friend to step into each one, put a gigantic headset over your face,

How to write compelling PPC ad copy If you are thinking of starting a Pay-Per-Click or PPC campaign there are lots of aspects to consider, from your on-page copy to who is responsible for delivering the Pay-Per-Click management. One very important aspect is writing effective copy and here are some really useful, really

Magento – #1 ecommerce platform!Opace, one of the West Midland's leading Magento web development agencies welcome the ongoing growth in the ecommerce platform’s popularity and figures which confirm Magento as the #1 ecommerce platform.Last year survey of e-commerce sites in the Alexa top million has found that Magento

So, what are rich snippets? Have you ever noticed that some listings in Google search results look so much better than others? You know, those ones that are equipped with little extras like images, prices and ratings? Well they have been created using rich snippets (also referred to structured data) and can significant

Facebook Ads in 2014 Long before Facebook started offering “suggested posts”, “sponsored ads” and the variety of different options they have today, Opace were offering more traditional B2B internet marketing services, including SEO, social media and of course Pay Per Click using Google AdWords. These all worked (and st

Small business advertising and brand promotion using Facebook Ads In the previous blog I looked at the benefits of using Facebook Ads for B2B marketing and recruitment: /blog/facebook-ads-the-hidden-gem-of-b2b-marketing-and-recruitment I explained how Facebbook Ads worked on me (a self proclaimed s

PPC, a marketer's perspectivePay-Per-Click (PPC) marketing has been around for a long time, and, while the marketers talk is now all about natural SEO, organic listing and social media, PPC remains big business for many brands, but for smaller or medium-sized businesses will a PPC campaign really work?In one sense, siz

Why consider Joomla? Joomla CMS is an open source piece of online software. This means that it is free to use its base core system, which makes it powerful and therefore widely used. Developers around the world contribute to building extensions and modules that seamlessly fit into the website; this means there are some

Push and Pulls for TwitterEvery social media or online marketing agency will encourage businesses to look at social media marketing as part of their overall marketing strategy. There are ‘pushes and pulls’ for this belief. The push is greater engagement with clients – this is not new to the digital age, it has been a

What are the top 5 best WordPress plugins in 2014? Here are some of our favourites If you use WordPress for your CMS then you will be aware of the vast number of plugins available for download. With so many great plugins, how do you best choose which ones are worthwhile for you or your

Best SEO plugin for WordPress in 2014? All in One SEO Pack or YOAST? If you are using WordPress for your CMS or blog, you are probably wondering where to start when it comes to finding the best SEO plugin available for WordPress. Before I got into which I find to be the best and

What are Favicons and does your website need one? A favicon can is a website URL icon that displays from whichever website you are currently visiting, usually located in the top left hand corner of the browser title bar or tab. In the address bar when you type the URL you will also sometimes see

The future of the web – should government control what we can and can’t access or should we have a choice? Recently David Cameron announced that he wished to introduce a ‘default web filter’ with the help from internet service providers to stop pornography being accessed and “corroding childhood”. Before we get on to t

2013 has seen a lot of changes from Google in terms of their search algorithm and their place in the smartphone market, so what can we expect from Google in 2014? Googles KitKat and App Indexing Google's latest version of mobile operating system Android will be named KitKat and boasts many new features, one of

What’s a #TWIP?What’s a #twip? Well it as Twitter Tip – and we have lots of them designed to make your Twitter marketing really deliver. Twitter is increasingly being used by organisations to maintain contact with their customer base on a regular basis. It’s a great way to deliver news and views, offers and new

Pay-per-click (PPC) marketing remains a popular way for businesses to achieve a quick ROI on their internet marketing. Here are five great reasons why we believe every business should consider PPC as part of their internet marketing strategy: 1. Instant results While the aim for all business should be to achieve high o

1. Professional and User Generated produced video can be effective High regarded internet research organisation Comscore released a study that looked at the sales effectiveness of professionally produced online video production: the lift in preference for both featured products and the Brands total line was 25% higher

What is a Content Management System (CMS)?A content management system (or CMS) can be thought of as a package that provides functionality allowing website owners to post website content in an easy to use and convenient way.The most popular free / open source CMS are Joomla, WordPress and Drupal but there are many more

Why consider Twitter? When I talk to friends that aren’t yet on Twitter, they tend to respond with ‘Why would I want to know what some celebrity has had for breakfast’. Although this may be the case with some accounts on Twitter, there is a vast ocean of potential within Twitter waiting to be dived

Things to consider with Monetisation and affiliate programs In the last few blogs you should have got a basic understanding on affiliate schemes and how they work as well as enabling Ads on your website through Google AdSense and YouTube partnership. Monetising your blog There are some general rules to stick by though

Monetisation using affiliate programs such as Amazon Now that we have covered how to sign up for AdSense and how to embed the Ads on your website, we can talk about affiliate partnerships/programs. You might look at affiliate partnerships and immediately think 'spam' – but if used in the correct way, you should be able

Last week saw reports of two major changes introduced by Google, removal of keyword search data from Google Analytics and their biggest algorithm change for 12 years, codenamed Hummingbird. If it was a bad week for marketers, the ultimate sufferers may be hard pressed businesses desperately trying to do the right thing

Integrating Ads into your website Now that we have signed up for Google AdSense, we can start to put some of these into actionto your website. For this example, we will be using WordPress widgets. If you don't use WordPress, don't panic! If you use Joomla, you can use some good Ad modules that do the

Why consider monetisation? If you are like me, you like to blog about your experiences and help people with any knowledge that you have gained as a result of your own interests. Wouldn't it be nice if you could make a bit of money from this as well as writing about it? The fact is,

Googletax?In its Autumn Statement the government moved to reduce taxes and red tape on businesses in an effort to encourage growth and entrepreneurship. But is there a new trans-national tax that all businesses must now pay, one which we might term Googletax?There have been several changes made to the Google algorithm

Magento features and benefits Magento is one of the most popular e-commerce open-source platforms and it powers millions of online shops e-commerce sites throughout the world. Many businesses are able to download, configure and maintain their Magento CMS independently but others often look to Magento web designers to h

Why Micro Web? The growth of Twitter as a social and marketing tool has encouraged businesses and marketers to think small – concentrating key messages within 140 characters. With a few years of honing this technique, is it now the time to do the same for video? Many factors are pointing towards a positive answer.

Is it time to fling open the windows, let the fresh air blow away some cobwebs and start all those essential household chores you have put off in time for the long cold winter. For businesses, now would be a good time to do something similar for their social media activity. Fling open the social

Why social media for business In our experience most organisations know they should be using social media as part of their overall marketing strategy, but for smaller organisations this is not followed up with any actual activity. It may be that they lack time or experience, or that they don't fully believe that social

Location based services and Foursquare More and more people are signing up to location based services such as Foursquare, picking up discounts for regular visits to certain locations, badges for stopping by participating businesses and being able to track your past locations with clever online tools. With this being th

Key factors when considering a web host When you have a new website in mind, it's easy to overlook the importance of using a good web host to actually load your website onto. There are many hosts available to choose from, some offer hosting only, while offers offer much more, including domain name registration. Here

Do we really trust written words? We all like testimonials, but do we really trust them when just presented to us as text? For me hearing first-hand experiences from customers and clients happy with a certain product or service is far more reliable. This combined with seeing a regular presence on Twitter and Facebook h

Difference between SEO and PPC You may have heard at some point in the past SEOs or digital marketing companies talking about Google AdWords and/or (organic) Google listings. There are many things you may wish to consider when deciding on an SEO (search engine optimisation) campaign to improve your organic listings or

If you are developing a website for your new business or looking to upgrade an existing design, choosing a Joomla web design offers many advantages. There are of course other platforms you can use for developing your website, including expensive commercial systems and others similar to Joomla such as WordPress and Drup

A leading Birmingham web design company this week offered some timely advice to help Birmingham businesses make the most of their social media activity. Opace are a web design and social media marketing company who have helped many local businesses maximise their internet marketing.David Bryan, founder of Opace, this w

In the latest survey from Econsulting and software giants Adobe one message is clear – that content marketing is the main concern for in-house marketers (and we would suggest social media agency) as they look forward to 2013. The report 'Digital Trends 2013' is based on a survey of more than 700 digital professionals c

Twitter insights from a social media marketing agency Twitter's list of its top 10 campaigns of last year should be of interest to more than a social media marketing agency because it contains some useful insights for any business to maximise their Twitter activity and their social media marketing in general. The list

If you are an existing Birmingham based business – or are looking to set up a business – then upgrading or creating an effective website will be a major contributor to the success of the company. It will never mask poor customer service or low quality goods or services, but it will help your potential

A leading Birmingham web design company this week welcomed a plan backed by Michael Heseltine to help generate economic growth in the Birmingham area. David Bryan, founder and MD of Birmingham web design company Opace, said this week that any plans to generate jobs and income in the region must be welcomed.Mr Bryan's s

2012 saw a decline in the fall of PCs but this was more that matched by a phenomenal growth in both tablets and smartphones. This is not just of interest to providers, but should be of interest to any company with a website or interest in internet marketing. The simple conclusion to draw is that

How texting changed internet marketing and social media Last December saw the lots of articles and interviews to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the text. This blog reflects on the impact the popularity of texting has had on internet marketing and the work of the social media marketing agency. Oddly, its least impact

Social media marketing needs to be thought of as an attitude or a business wide approach, rather than just a set of tools. Setting up Twitter, Facebook and the like is easy, and the bonus is they are free. This fact has made many smaller companies pay attention to social media marketing, and a large

Why social media? Social media marketing has increased in importance for all organisations. Not only are clients, customers and potential clients expecting it, Google will also be monitoring and giving greater prominence to those websites that engage with people alongside their traditional SEO activity. Here are four s

It's good for business and good for SEO so why don't more businesses carry out social media marketing? Perhaps they don't know where to start – so here is a back-to-basics on how to get your social media marketing off to a flying start. 1. FACEBOOK No surprises that Facebook is the #1 for social

Yet another social media platform was launched in October in the continual search for the next Facebook or YouTube. Is it a good idea for business to add a new platform to their social media marketing strategy or to adopt a wait and see policy? Opinsy.com has a good pedigree, as it was set up

October saw the launch of super-fast 4G products and services made available to millions of consumers in 10 cities across the UK, including our very own Birmingham. EE, formerly known as Everything Everywhere, launched its range of 4G products and services in London, Bristol, Birmingham, Cardiff, Leeds, Sheffield, Edin

25 Tips to be become an expert in emails! Email layouts in HTML are very alike and similar to the design of a standard web page. Article design is very important with the email going out to so many people, so you really need to know how to focus your content on your specific audience.

Top tips for increasing website conversions Here's some helpful improvements for website conversions! The way to succeed in business is to stay ahead, continuously grow and develop. Areas of your business you want to grow include lead growth and new enquiries through your website if not sell products. There is a lot to

Encouraging web users to share the content of your website should be an increasingly important part of your website SEO. Of course, encouraging sharing is good business practice as it will help promote your business, brand, goods and services. However, social sharing plays an important role in SEO and it looks as if th

Opace annual customer survey 2012The results of our annual customer survey have just been announced – and we think they are pretty impressive.As far as our clients are concerned we offer exceptional value, a clear understanding of their needs, and deliver noticeable improvements to their business. The headline figures

Images are important when you are planning your website design for plenty of reasons, but they can also have a negative effect and this article attempts to help you maximise the effectiveness of your design. One area that is sometimes overlooked is the actual images used. Today, stock photolibrary images are cheap and

For many smaller businesses who sell their products and services locally, developing localised SEO strategy with their SEO company is a great way to achieve more sales and build their business. There are a number of brilliant tools designed just for local business, and localised search engine optimisation is a cost-eff

What's best for your business? It was the statistic that got the Twitterati excited as AdAge reported that more people owned mobile phones than toothbrushes (4.8 billion v 4.2 billion). Mashable also predicted that "by 2016 there could be 10 billion smartphones." This obviously offers some interesting marketing strateg

Top tips to help the time-strapped business owner's post effective social media contentThe increased importance of social media for businesses has been driven by the two most important players in the world of the internet: Google and web users! For many businesses – either running their own SEO or even working alongsid

Making the most of Google Analytics For a free and relatively easy to use tool, it's surprising how many businesses either don't have Google Analytics or – even worse – fail to regularly look at the very important data they can reveal about your website visitors. Effective data mining will play a major role in

Reading Time: < 1 minute – Joomla backup and migration video tutorial Joomla Backup and Migration – In this video we'll show you how to backup a Joomla website (2.5 or older) and migrate it to a new server using the Free Akeeba software. If you found this tutorial helpful then please click Like or Tweet or leave a c

Panda and Penguin Google's algorithm changes – commonly referred to as Panda and Penguin – have been designed to improve the search experience of Google's customers, which by now is almost the whole of the globe. Businesses are finding that their search engine ranking performance is being affected by these changes. Her

Panda and Penguin Google's recent changes to how it ranks websites have started to have an effect on many businesses and the amount and type of SEO required to achieve high rankings has changed. Our previous blog (/blog/post-panda-SEO-checklist-part-1 focussed on on-page SEO, so here is a brief gui

Twitter Marketing Tips Social media and customer engagement are becoming more important for SEO – and that means they should become more important for every business. Perhaps the foremost social platform for businesses is Twitter1 The appeal of Twitter marketing for a small businesses are obvious – it's free, it has SE

Successful Business Blogging Blogs are a great for businesses. Besides being a way to engage with customers, encourage feedback and build brand, done correctly business blogging is a relatively easy way to achieve high Google rankings with a minimum level of SEO expertise. Google's recent algorithm changes – commonly r

Pinterest marketing Social media marketing is already a complicated subject for some businesses. Finding time and content for the foremost popular social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and Linkedin is time consuming already – not forgetting other forms of social media marketing such as email marketing and bl

Is now the time to start? As Napoleonce declared, the British are 'a nation of shopkeepers' and it is as true in 2012 as it was in 1815. Local stores always find trading conditions difficult – they have had to survive the onslaught of supermarkets and now are facing an almost ongoing recession where people

On 24th April, Google made the following announcement: "In the next few days, we're launching an important algorithm change targeted at web spam. The change will decrease rankings for sites that we believe are violating Google's existing quality guidelines." The announcement follows last year's Panda algorithm changes

Reading Time: < 1 minute – LinkedIn Company Pages LinkedIn company pages offer a powerful way to connect with like-minded professionals, whether it's to attract your target demographic or take part in engaging discussions online, using LinkedIn company pages will help to boost your chances with one of the fastest gr

Reading Time: < 1 minute – LinkedIn Company Pages How to create a LinkedIn Business Page (Company Page) Part 2

Mayday – will your website be legal after the 26th? For every business with a website, May 26th is going to be a significant day as from this date all websites will need to comply with the EU Directive on Privacy and Electronic Communications. Very broadly, the Directive requires websites (any website, not just

Reading Time: < 1 minute – LinkedIn Groups LinkedIn groups offer a powerful way to connect with like-minded professionals, whether it's to attract your target demographic or take part in engaging discussions online, using LinkedIn groups will help to boost your chances with one of the fastest growing social media ma

Speaking at SXSW event in March this year, Matt Cutts, the head of Google's WebSpam team, spoke of further major changes to the Google Algorithm – and we want to look at how this may require further SEO training for those who carry out their own SEO.Google Panda changesLast year, the "Panda" changes to the

Reading Time: < 1 minute – Customising a CMS page in Magento Magento Masterclass 5 – Google loves new content! Your customers love new content! So make them both happy by adding new pages to your Magento ecommerce website – our video shows you how! In this Magento video tutorial we'll show you how to create and cust

Reading Time: < 1 minute – Processing an order in Magento Magento Masterclass 4 – Process Magento ecommerce orders first time, every time to keep your customers happy. Our latest how to process an order in Magento video tutorial shows you how to process orders quickly and easily.

Reading Time: < 1 minute – Installing extensions in Magento Magento Masterclass 3 – There are thousands of free Magento extensions to make ecommerce activities more effective. Our how to install extensions in Magento video tutorial masterclass shows you how to add these powerful tools in less time than it takes to m

Reading Time: < 1 minute – Adding promo codes & coupons in Magento Magento Masterclass 2 – Coupons and promo codes add sales and brand loyalty. It's so easy with Magento ecommerce – In this Magento video tutorial we'll show you how to add coupons and promotional codes to any Magento website.

What is Kony 2012? It might appear insensitive or even a little gruesome to look at the social media marketing implications of a thirty minute video dealing with a Uganda warlord, but we have to recognise that in much of social media marketing in business stems from lessons learned. We watch how people use Facebook and

Reading Time: < 1 minute – Facebook Timeline Changes – March 2012 This is a brief video introduction about the Facebook timeline changes that took place for Business Pages (Fan Pages) on March 31st 2012. In this video we will outline the changes to 'splash pages' and default landing tabs, along with suggestions on h

Reading Time: < 1 minute – Adding products in Magento Magento Masterclass 1 – it's easy to add new products to your Magento ecommerce website. In this 90 second how to add products in Magento video tutorial we'll show you how to add a product and it's various attributes to a Magento website in the admin panel.

Benefits of ecommerce The benefits of ecommerce should sell themselves to every business. Whether you currently sell on a high street, farm shop or industrial park, ecommerce will add an extra revenue stream, reduce time spent on customer services and help with promotion. Open source ecommerce using Magento With free '

E-marketer reports: Among marketers who include social media as part of their overall strategy, 97% agree that it provides benefits and value to their business. 2012 may be the year that SMEs and sole proprietors begin to understand the benefits that social media marketing will bring in increased customer engagement, b

Creating a LinkedIn profile video blog 100% completed LinkedIn profile takes minutes and boosts your chances of making the most from one of the fastest growing social media marketing applications. The second part of Alexis Belle's step by step video guide shows you how to successfully complete your LinkedIn profile Why

Creating a LinkedIn profile video blog Setting up your LinkedIn account for social media marketing just got easier – and a whole lot more effective – thanks to our step-by-step video guide. Alexis Belle shows you how to complete your profile to maximise opportunities to make more contacts and build engagement. Why we h

So you've decided to learn more about SEO – either to better understand the principles and practices that can help your company achieve #1 in Google or to manage your own SEO. You can look to the internet for support, but an SEO training course can provide a focussed way to learn about SEO and

Magento Development… Since its launch on 2008, Magento has become one of the most popular e-commerce platforms available. It's ease of use, rich features and support community are perhaps three obvious reasons for its success. Many businesses are now able to harness the massive growth in online sales, when only a

Joomla Web Design… If your website is not powered by a Content Management (CMS) System, or you are looking to upgrade your website to maximise your internet marketing, then now may be a good time to make the change. One of the leading CMS web design applications – Joomla – has launched its latest version,

Introduction to LinkedIn… LinkedIn should be an integral part of the social media marketing for every business. In this video, we show how to make the most of your LinkedIn account to help you build brand, develop your client base and win more business. It's the must have social media marketing for B2B and B2C

An introduction to Twitter…Not using Twitter as part of your social media marketing? Our 3 minute guide gives you the basics, and shows why Twitter marketing is the #1 activity for social media marketing. Powerful, and so simple to use that any business can extend their potential customer base through Twitter mar

It's a well know fact that this Christmas (2011) was a good time for tablets and apps. It was estimated that over 4,000,000 apps were downloaded at Christmas and over half a million smart phones and tablets sold. Less well reported but more significant for anyone with a business is the estimate from IBM: Mobiles

Reading Time: < 1 minute – Opace company overview, UK based web design and internet marketing agency.http://issuu.com/opace/docs/opace_company_overview?e=0/30290586In a world of fast changing technology, Opace understands that what doesn't change is the need for IT web solutions that deliver results. That's why our

In this video we will show you how to link your social media accounts (Facebook, Twitter & YouTube), by using apps for your Facebook page/profile, authorising your Twitter account and connecting accounts via YouTube. This video is designed for people who are new or intermediate users of Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. H

Reading Time: < 1 minute – DIY SEO – Part 2 in our SEO Made Simple series Our SEO e-books are part of our wider "do-it-yourself" series of Internet marketing guides and video blogs, all of which can be accessed FOR FREE when you Like our Facebook page. Introduction Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) can seem like a da

Congratulations. Your SEO strategy has worked and you find yourself #1 on Google – time to sit back and let the £s roll in. However for most businesses the truth is somewhat less rosy.All the SEO strategy is wasted if customers cannot find what they were searching for or worse – they find just the

This is part 2 of our overview on how to use Facebook Ads or Facebook PPC, designed for people who are new/intermediate users of Facebook. In this easy to follow Facebook Ads guide we will show you how to successfully optimise a Facebook Ad campaign and target your audience very specifically using the data that

The New Year is behind us but January is a still a good time for business of all types and sizes to review, plan and implement their business website and Internet marketing activities. So here is our guide to getting the best out of your Internet marketing: 1. Review, review, review You are doing your

Why friends are never enough For big brands, using social media strategy for brand development only is a luxury they can afford, but for smaller companies and SMEs their social media strategy needs to both build brand AND lead to sales. Recent research that suggests that what consumers want from their social media acti

How do Facebook Ads work? This is an overview on how to use Facebook Ads or Facebook PPC, designed for people who are new/intermediate users of Facebook. In this easy to follow Facebook Ads guide we will show you how to successfully create a Facebook Ad campaign for your business page or to promote a

This is one of our series of social media marketing video tutorials that we're planning to roll out over the next few months covering Facebook, YouTube and LinkedIn. Last month we released some great video tutorials on Twitter Marketing, so if you found these useful we hope you like our latest videos. How

This is one of our series of social media marketing video tutorials that we're planning to roll out over the next few months covering Facebook, YouTube and LinkedIn. Last month we released some great video tutorials on Twitter Marketing, so if you found these useful we hope you like our latest videos.

This is one of our series of social media marketing video tutorials that we're planning to roll out over the next few months covering Facebook, YouTube and LinkedIn. Last month we released some great video tutorials on Twitter Marketing, so if you found these useful we hope you like our latest videos.

This is one of our series of social media marketing video tutorials that we're planning to roll out over the next few months covering Facebook, YouTube and LinkedIn. Last month we released some great video tutorials on Twitter Marketing, so if you found these useful we hope you like our latest videos.

This is one of our series of social media marketing video tutorials that we're planning to roll out over the next few months covering Facebook, YouTube and LinkedIn. Last month we released some great video tutorials on Twitter Marketing, so if you found these useful we hope you like our latest videos.

A marketer I know and respect said to me:"with all of the open source content management systems and free templates seemingly by the million, it must be great for businesses today because they don't have to pay £1000s for their websites".He's right of course – but that is only half the story. In the complex

In a recent edition of design journal The Drum, CEO of Brightfire John Hornell advised businesses who were thinking of redesigning their website to think again and offers some very cogent reasons why. Really this argument is another strand in the debate between the importance of web design and SEO. Perhaps too many com

This is one of our series of social media marketing video tutorials that we're planning to roll out over the next few months covering Facebook, YouTube and LinkedIn. Last month we released some great video tutorials on Twitter Marketing, so if you found these useful we hope you like our latest videos.

This is one of our series of social media marketing video tutorials that we're planning to roll out over the next few months covering Facebook, YouTube and LinkedIn. Last month we released some great video tutorials on Twitter Marketing, so if you found these useful we hope you like our latest videos.

This is one of our series of social media marketing video tutorials that we're planning to roll out over the next few months covering Facebook, YouTube and LinkedIn. Last month we released some great video tutorials on Twitter Marketing, so if you found these useful we hope you like our latest videos.

This is one of our series of social media marketing video tutorials that we're planning to roll out over the next few months covering Facebook, YouTube and LinkedIn. Last month we released some great video tutorials on Twitter Marketing, so if you found these useful we hope you like our latest videos.

Please note this video tutorial was made for people who wanted very early access to the Facebook Timeline. This is now out-of-date and you can update your profile by simply going to http://www.facebook.com/about/timeline and clicking the green "get timeline" button at the bottom of the screen. How To Set up The Faceboo

Facebook Timeline Features An overview of the Facebook Timeline features including: Cover Views Activity Logs Stories News Ticker Star or Hide This is one of a number of Facebook video tutorials and Facebook How To guides that we will be creating in order to help social media users and business professionals to make th

In theory, recent changes in web design and related-areas should mean that small businesses can design, build and manage their own website without any expert help or outside guidance. The reality, however, is a different story.For small businesses and small businesses looking to revamp or launch a website, times appare

For many businesses, Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is perhaps a little like a motor car – easy to understand in theory but almost impossible in practice. The idea that connecting the 'keywords' that your customer searches for to your website is obvious; but implementing that is another matter and one perhaps left to

Direct Messaging (DM's) and Retweets on Twitter This is the seventh in a series of social media marketing video tutorials that we're planning to roll out over the next few months covering Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. We'll be looking at the basics then moving on to more advanced uses for business marketing. For

Twitter Trending Topics and Advanced Twitter SearchThis is the sixth in a series of social media marketing video tutorials that we're planning to roll out over the next few months covering Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.We'll be looking at the basics then moving on to more advanced uses for business marketing. For Twitt

SEO and Link Baiting The term linkbait is often used in SEO circles but not many people are actually aware of what it means. If we were to define 'linkbait' we would say: 'Linkbait is when you place content such as an article, blog, picture, post, or any other content on a web page with

Twitter @Mentions and #Hashtags Twitter Mentions and Hashtags is the fifth of our Twitter Basics series offering one of several video tutorials that we'll be releasing on Twitter. @Mentions and #Hashtags are used on Twitter as a way of referencing people (@Mentions) and also as a way off linking and tagging particular

How To Follow People on Twitter This is the third in a series of social media marketing video tutorials that we're planning to roll out over the next few months covering Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. We'll be looking at the basics then moving on to more advanced uses for business marketing. For

Birmingham City Council's Digital Plan Birmingham City Council's Digital Plan is over a half a decade old now and its Digital Districts programme is almost a year old. In the light of continued economic depression it may be worth looking a whether any such scheme will make a real difference. The overall strategy covers

How to add a custom Twitter background image This is the third in a series of social media marketing video tutorials that we're planning to roll out over the next few months covering Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. We'll be looking at the basics then moving on to more advanced uses for business marketing. For

How to set up a basic Twitter accountThis is the first in a series of social media marketing video tutorials that we're planning to roll out over the next few months covering Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.We'll be looking at the basics then moving on to more advanced uses for business marketing. How to set up

How to set up a basic Twitter profileThis is the second in a series of social media marketing video tutorials that we're planning to roll out over the next few months covering Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.We'll be looking at the basics then moving on to more advanced uses for business marketing. For Twitter

Why Magento has emerged no. 1 for ecommerce The e-commerce software Magento has emerged as the no. 1 e-commerce platform choice for start-ups, according to a survey by BestVendor. The company surveyed largely marketing and admin staff in over 500 new businesses. All of the businesses employ less than 100 people so the

Far from being a fad whose appeal will soon fade away, blogging is the social media marketing for SMEs and start-ups. Here are some of the best reasons why: 1. Google loves them You need to get your website seen so you need to make sure Google not only sees but also 'likes' your site.

With all the new algorithm changes happening at Google, they have been busy updating their Google Analytics and Webmaster Tools to incorporate new features into the reports. These new features include : Google+1 metrics Mobile reporting Improvements to map overlay reports Webmaster tools update This article explains ea

Sometimes it's hard not to feel sorry for small businesses who simply want their website to bring them more business. Recently they have had to deal with the impact of the growth in social media, Google's shifting algorithm that emphasises more on relevant regularly updated content and the growth in web video. To add t

While lots of small businesses think ecommerce is a matter of good web design and SEO, today there is an increasing focus on social media.It might be a good time to look again at the value of perhaps ecommerce's original social media – the enewsletter and email marketing. To some, even its very name seems

If carried out properly, the single biggest advantage of viral Internet marketing is this – your website will get lots of publicity and exposure very quickly. By being smart, creative, imaginative and using simple ingenuity as well as offering some incentives such as prizes and promotions you have the opportunity to pr

Email marketing overcomes many of the challenges facing traditional marketing, with the big advantages being that you can target segmented audiences effectively and results can be easily tracked. This article aims to explain some of the best email marketing practices and new strategies that are used for improving email

When it comes to Search Engine Optimsiation (SEO) and Pay Per Click (PPC), each technique offers different benefits. The main benefit of PPC is that in a short period of time the advertiser can gain huge traffic to his or her site whereas with SEO it takes longer to get traffic and become recognised in

?? Have you ever wondered why your business Facebook page is sitting stale with not as many likes and comments you had wished for? Well, it could be your fans have not even seen the post you have made due to Facebook's EdgeRank system. Facebook EdgeRank What is EdgeRank you may ask? Well this is

One of the most popular ways of spreading the word about your business is through a blog. Marketing using your business blog Blogs keep your customers updated on all your business activities as well as keeping them informed on a variety of relevant subjects. There are many blogging apps available, with WordPress and Go

Despite an overall fall in adjusted retail sales figures this month, statistics to show that online sales continue to buck the trend by showing continual growth. Retail specialists KamCity reported (April 2011) the strongest online sales growth for 3 years: "As the high street reports the worst drop in sales for 15 yea

A website revolution is occurring The impact of social media, major changes to Google's algorithm and the importance of local search etc. are all having a major change of how websites are built, maintained and marketed. A website revolution is occurring – whether we are at the beginning, middle or end of that revolutio

Google's so-called Panda update will have an impact on all online marketing and SEO. It's clear that good old fashioned content will play an increasingly important role in making sure websites are visible. This presents both opportunities for small businesses to punch above their weight by updating their websites and s

YouTube has turned into an internet phenomenon with over 50 million viewers watching more than 100 million videos each month, and it just keeps on growing. YouTube isn't just for home made videos or videos of animals doing funny things. YouTube is also a high impact and affordable marketing platform for any business lo

Everyday more and more companies are registering a Facebook page for their business in the hope of driving more traffic to their website and increasing their online presence. Is Facebook really worth it and why should I bother? For most businesses, Facebook can have a lot of value. Often, Facebook gets looked at as a

Today, just about everyone will have heard of Twitter unless they have been hiding away somewhere. It is probably the fastest growing social network on the internet, taking the internet by storm with an average of 10,000 new sign ups on a daily basis. Twitter is a micro-blog site where you answer the question "What

Using social media marketing to become a social brand The social brands Top 100 survey was released recently and at first glance it would be easy to think that the list means nothing to the average SME or sole trader. They don't have the 'name' or resources to make them a Dell (#1) or Nike

Essential WordPress plug-ins for your business Increasingly small businesses are using WordPress, not as a blogging platform but as a CMS. It's easy to use, offers great free or low cost themes and excellent support so it's no surprise that it continues to grow in popularity. There is also a dedicated community of deve

Joomla vs. WordPress comparison It really is a golden age for any business who wants to build their own website or revamp an existing website that is failing to deliver. Any entrepreneur with some experience of a PC or Mac, time to spare and an ability to write interesting copy could probably build their own

The single most critical factor for website success is attracting visitors and retaining those visitors. By building a web community around your site and using the correct keywords, you can quickly grow your gain online presence and rise up in the search engine rankings. Once you have achieved that, the next step is to

Top 3 internet marketing strategies for quick results The internet is part of everyday life and is constantly changing all the time which is why businesses need to take hold of these changes and use them to their advantage by adopting the internet marketing strategies that deliver results. This article explains some of

Those of us that blog, whether for business or personally, we write them to prompt some sort of discussion. We post blogs in the hope that when it is read, a comment will be left. However, this is not always the case. Here are some tips on getting your blog read and reread Always invite

Lots of us have benefited from the practices that today are called 'open source'. In fact, anyone who drives a car – or is driven in a car – should read a little history on open-source to realise how they are just one of the beneficiaries of individuals and organisations sharing their knowledge and product

Does Panda mean extinction for your website? Last Monday, 11th April, Google confirmed that it's latest algorithm changes, codenamed 'Panda', would be rolled out across English-speaking websites following it's introduction in the USA a month previously. Amendments to algorithm are a regular occurrence but Panda has spa

When I first started working with clients on their websites, whenever one wanted an online shop my heart usually sank. Back then, even a comparatively simple database-driven ecommerce site was labour intensive for the developer, and therefore costly and ineffective for the client. Additionally, updating the 'catalogue'

Ask yourself a question: Should we say goodbye to the company website? More and more companies are jumping on the social media bandwagon and are using this platform to engage with existing customers as well as attracting potential new customers. Social media is seen by many as an important marketing tool and in many ca

Commercial value in blogging… Let's play a game. Consider the following three statements: 'advertising could help me sell more' 'marketing will get my company noticed' 'my website can give me a competitive advantage' If you used those statements when talking to a business owner I'm certain there would be complete

Why internet marketing is more important than ever?In these tough financial times, where the current economic climate is dictating how businesses are performing or not performing, marketing and brand awareness is more important than ever. Valuable revenue is being lost where SMEs fail to recognise the need of gaining a

The Facebook phenomenon Ever since it was created, Facebook has taken the world by storm. No one ever imagined how big this social network would become. Just recently, Facebook exceeded 500 million users and has now become the number one activity on the internet. From children through to students and professionals thro

URL SEO and Canonicalization Search engine optimisation (SEO) is an expression used to cover a wide variety of techniques and strategies that are used to optimise your website so that it can attain a high position in search engine results for a particular keyword or phrase. The higher your site appears in search engine

Using Magento for charity ecommerce It's a competitive world especially, it seems, for charities and not-for-profits. With over 188,000 registered charities in the UK alone and a recession-hit economy, it's getting more difficult to raise the much needed funds. Public sector cut-backs and the demands of 'the big societ

Using Google Analytics to Measure SEOIn any search engine optimisation (SEO) campaign, it is imperative to measure SEO efforts carefully when it comes to your website and how it ranks in the search engines. This is an ongoing task that needs to include a thorough evaluation of the keywords driving traffic to your websi

SEO or social media for online marketing? With social media marketing becoming so intertwined with search engine optimsiation (SEO) and link building, you wouldn't be alone if you're getting a bit confused. You may be wondering which gives the better ROI – SEO or social media? This debate seems to be ongoing. Many beli

SEO and Social Media Your business website may have lots of usable and convincing content but this alone is not enough to gain new customers and revenue. When your website gets to this point, then it is time to create a link building strategy to boost your brand authority and site ranking. This is done

Local SEO and search optimisation As all business owners will realise, internet marketing is important for business growth, especially in today's climate. More and more people are turning to the internet and search engines in particular to locate businesses in their own area. More than 30 percent of all web search engi

Moving your old tired website and static content to a new CMS Web guru and author of 'Google Juice' Scott McIntosh puts the topic of website content very simply when he writes: One thing the Google bots take note of is fresh content. When they revisit a website or blog, they read everything and match

Google Places for your business The answer is simple. Google Places is a business listing page within Google's Maps service. Once a user is in Maps they are able to find products or services offered by local businesses, as well as other related information including directions and other business information. The busine

What is Google Instant Search (also known as predictive search)? Google Instant Search attempts to predict your search queries as you type. Depending on the query, Google Instant Search (also known as Google Predictive Search) will predict your query and place the paid advertisements or sponsored listings at the top, f

Business blogging There is a saying which goes something like this 'Communication is all about understanding'. Although many may not agree, this certainly is the case when it comes to your customers. The prospect of running a business blog makes some business owners nervous. They either think that blogging will be a lo

Ask any teenager what Facebook is, and you will get an immediate response and detailed description, as well as other social media platforms thrown into the discussion, including Twitter and YouTube. All of these and more included are prime examples of the different types of social networks that have become an internet

Off-page optimisation and link-building When creating your search engine optimisation (SEO) strategy, the critical factors you always need to consider are: carefully considering and placing your keywords; and building good quality links back to your website. This article discusses the importance of link building in you

Social media for small businesses – If Facebook is free, why does my company have to pay for social media? When I speak to owners of small and medium sized businesses about social media, they often say something like: "Finally, after years of paying through the nose for my marketing – advertising, printing, design agen

What is keyword density? Keyword density is an indication of the number of times the selected keyword appears on a web page. However, it should be noted that keywords should not be over used, but just sufficient enough to appear at important places. By repeating your keywords with every other word on every line, your

Social media marketing and Twitter Twitter is hardly ever out of the news. This week, press reports of a possible takeover valued the business at $10 billion dollars – not bad for a company that is just 5 years old. The Egyptian revolution also saw the use of Twitter to galvanise and direct action against

SEO and Keywords When conducting research to identify the correct keywords for SEO you need to ask yourself some basic questions. For example, what would a person type into a search engine to get to your site? What keywords would you associate with your business? What would you type to find products you sell? Even

How to write a successful Blog that will get read – and reread Blogging can help you raise your business profile and lead to new customers and sales. However, according to the latest stats, there are over 175,000 new blogs created everyday. So if you are blogging – or thinking about blogging – there is

If you're here, you are probably looking for some quick and practical SEO keyword optimisation tips to help improve your organic rankings and traffic. The good news is that we have produced a series of in-depth guides already. For a simple but comprehensive overview of SEO, check out below: SEO Basics: The Simple SEO G

Does Google PageRank really matter? Around January 20th 2011, internet bloggers and website owners found that Google had updated its PageRank system. For some it was excitement while for others it was anger. The last time Google carried out a full PR update was back in April 2010 with some small quarterly updates repor

How to write a successful Blog See how overcoming your fears can help you to Blog better I've yet to meet anybody who ran their own business who hadn't got lots of opinions – but ask them to write a blog and suddenly they have nothing to say! They may even understand that the blog

What is SEO? Wondering What is SEO? Every business owner who has a website must know that to keep their head in the game, their business must be listed and easily findable on all the major search engines. Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is the most important piece of the jigsaw when it comes to having

Joomla is one of, if not the top web Content Management System (CMS) in our experience and here are our top 10 Joomla extensions.Running your website within a CMS allows you to modify and update any content on the site very easily, including adding new pages, new text, new images all without the need for

Google Places and Local Search Engine Optimisation You may have seen recently that the Google search engine results have changed. There have been two major changes recently, one being Google Places integration with organic search results and the other more publicised change, Predictive Search. Although Predictive Searc

In recent times, more and more businesses have realised the relevance of social media marketing when it comes to online brand promotion and marketing. Businesses are leaving no stone unturned to leverage the power of social media in marketing and promoting their brand. What is social media marketing? Social media marke

Reading Time: < 1 minute – Joomla Tutorials – How to add an Image in Joomla Guide You can easily insert an image into the article by logging into the front end editor and pressing the image button at the bottom of the editor. You can either select an image that exists on the server or upload a new one. In

Joomla Tutorials – How to add a new Content Article in Joomla and Assign a Menu LinkAdding a new Content Article in Joomla guide from Opace:Add "/administrator" to the website address as seen here for this example:To create the article, Log in and then click on the article manager buttonYou will then be given a

Joomla Tutorials – How to Change the Template on my Joomla Website Guide Here's our Changing the Template on a Joomla guide. First you will want to find a good theme online and download it as a .zip file. Once you have done this, log in to the back-end of the Joomla site and go

Reading Time: < 1 minute – Joomla Tutorials – How to Edit an Article from the Back End of Joomla Guide After logging into the back end, go to content, then the article manager. Now click on the title of the article you want to edit and here you can carry out an edit while in the back end of Joomla.

How to Edit an Article from the Front End of Joomla Enter your account details and press the Login button at the top of the site. You will see that this then changes to \"Logout\". Now you will see on your front page a pencil and paper icon as seen below. Click this button to

Joomla Article Content in a Joomla site is divided into articles. These can be long or short units of content and provide the basic elements of information the site. Most of the text and images on your site are within articles. Joomla Category Articles are placed in categories. Categories divide your articles into grou

People who start using Joomla usually struggle with understanding how the content management system works and what things mean. Here is a very quick Joomla explanation to cover terms like: Sections, Categories, Articles and Menu Items. It's easy if you think in terms of a book… Joomla Sections Consider Joomla sec

Reading Time: < 1 minute – Joomla Tutorials – How to Re-order Menu Items Guide In this guide we will look at Reordering Menu Items in Joomla: Login to the administrator area of the site. Go to Menus and then Main menu (where most of the menu-links are situated). When you have found the menu-link you wish to reorder,

Things to think about when having your website designed In this age of the web and digital media, it is essential to have a website for your business to let people know about your company. However how do you know whether your website is a good one? Some business owners are faced with the dilemma

Content Management Systems CMSIf you want a website created for your business but are worried because you don't have the skills to maintain your website then Content Management Systems or a CMS is probably the best option for you.The fact that they require little to no knowledge of web design or coding make these syste

Have you had a website created but you are struggling to get any enquiries? Are you wondering "how can I get my website found?" Here are our Top 10 tips to get your website noticed: Build relevant keywords into your website – Think about the words that people enter into Google when looking for the

Did you know more than 8 out of 10 of us look on search engines to find the information and the products or services we want to buy?Opace Technology Solutions has very successfully managed to get all of our customers onto the first page on Google, Yahoo and Bing for keywords which we have carefully