Are we in the dawn of the Quick Responsive codes as a marketing tool? That’s exactly where we are. No words can explain the 4549% increase of QR scans from Q1 2010 to Q1 2011. That is why 2011 was said to be the “Year of the Quick Responsive codes”. Despite that now we are in the Q3 2012 these black-and-white matrix squares are still highly adopted in many different fields by companies, single advertisers, even by the average user. Taking into account that QR codes have been on the marketing stage for a few years, some would think that the word “dawn” is not very appropriately mentioned. Actually it is! The growth and the popularization of the Quick Responsive codes are tightly connected with the development and wider usage of smartphones – the QR readers.  Cisco has made quite a bold and interesting forecast for the global mobile data traffic which sounded like from the scenario of the next Terminator movie – “By the end of 2012 there could be more internet-connected mobile devices than humans on the planet!” Wait what?!? Do not freak out because first: the statement might have been a little bit exaggerated and second: from this substantial number only about 500 million devices will be smartphones or tablets. So practically do not expect the rise of the machines but do expect wider adoption of mobile devices in the Middle East, Africa and Asia Pacific. This respectfully would reveal new horizons for the QR codes, the QR-based advertising and the interactive way of communication between seller-customer as a whole. But despite these impressive digits and statistics, why there are so many opponents of the QR codes, what makes some people resent them and in what way QR codes would really continue to shine on the marketing horizon even with brighter light? Two are the main factors that have earned the Quick Responsive codes a bad reputation: Inadequate adoption and usage; The low awareness of the general public about the QR codes and their true potential; There are some really effective marketing campaigns, like this of Pepsi, in which QR codes play a crucial role. The success and the interactive way to engage the user were instantly spotted from many small businesses or even sole sellers who decided to put the small scannable squares into use too. That is where the problem came from. Many people adopt Quick Responsive codes without knowing how to use them appropriately. Factors like scanning result, positioning, design and dimensions have to be carefully pre-considered. It is stupid to think that only after encoding the URL to your mobile non-friendly website and labeling it anywhere without any customization or even color...

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After the first part of the 10 FREE SEO tips and tricks here comes and the second one. Below you can find the next bag of useful advices concerning the search engine optimizations of your site. Again I am saying that they are not ranked in any specific order – just randomly. All the 10 SEO tips and tricks are “evergreen” (always giving results) and if you put them into practice, success won’t be late! Of course there are a few things that should be looked for, concerning the latest Google’s updates – the Panda update, but I have done my best to mention them below. 6. Qualitative backlinks and internal linking – that is where the link juice is squeezed from! Qualitative backlinks and the anchor text of those links are really important for the so-called link juice. The more link juice you have, the higher your positions will be in the rankings. Bear in mind that, with the backlinks, quality is more important than quantity. For example a link from a site with Google PR 6 generates more juice from 5 links from 5 different sites with PR 3. Furthermore the targeting niche, the content and the anchor text of the linking sites are also considered. The crawling bot evaluates the relevance between your and the other site. This means that you should not bombard random pages with your links because: The results will be minor and really unsatisfactory; The search engines will spot you and will put you in the “black list”; A few years ago it was a common practice to put URLs in forum signatures or in spam posts but the engines developed and now they just ignore such links. What is more some of the forum systems automatically sign a “nofollow” value to the “rel” attribute of the links which basically says the bot not to evaluate them. Something else that got out of the picture recently was the mutual backlinking. You have a website for second-hand cars and I have a site for car accessories. We are in the same niche so we would both benefit from exchanging a few links with relevant anchor texts. Well not any more. Of course it is not a problem to do it with 1, 2 or 3 partner sites, but when the number grows too much the bot will “punish” you. Talking about links in SEO it is inevitable not to mention the internal linking. It is really beneficial especially if your site has a blog or a forum. Putting connections to another articles or product descriptions practically creates paths for the search engine’s bot. When the crawler lands on a particular page and starts examining...

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Nowadays internet business and online trade have become one of the most profitable sectors.  Daily millions of dollars are being virtually transacted for purchasing goods and products all over the world. The question is if I want to move my business up in the global web, how can I get more clients? Through the Search Engines and with good SEO! In the internet business there is one main principle: higher ranking in the search engines’ results = more traffic = more sales = more profit In order to make its place among the results on the top page of Google, your site has to be SEO optimized. That’s where all the magic happens. So if you are not one of those guys who are secretly praying to Google for higher ranking before going to bed, then below you can find a bag of free SEO tips and tricks that might prove useful. The advices are divided into two articles and are only briefly described because if I have to fall into all the details and specifics, not two but twenty articles will be needed. What is more all the 10 SEO factors are equally important and their order was randomly chosen. 1. Profound Keyword Research. First think about the niche that your site is going to target and then start the keyword exploration. Using tools like the Google Keyword AdWords Tool is really credential. It shows all the keyword combinations that gravitate around yours and provide a set of useful metrics like rank of the keyword, global monthly searches and local monthly searches. You better concentrate on the so called long-tail keywords (combinations of 4-5-6 words) because they will bring to your site more qualitative traffic. Long-tails are less looked for and therefore are easy to compete for. Furthermore if someone finds your site through them he/she will be more probable to stay longer and even make a purchase. A good SEO trick is to include the Keyword Sugegstions from the search engines. 70% of the users are more likeable to click one of the suggestions that pops up after starting to write their query so if you are betting on long-tail optimization definitely help yourself with tools like the SEOggestor. 2. Regular site vs the WordPress platform. SEO tip number two is the dispute – regular or WP site? Seriously barely anyone decides to create a site for internet business from the scratch. What is gaining more popularity is the WordPress platform that has many benefits and offers beautiful themes. Simply buy a domain, install WordPress on it and it is all ready. Search engines and their bots “like” WP sites more because they are better organized and are...

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After the Mac OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion, maybe the next most anticipated thing by the Apple fans as a piece of software (iPhone 5 is also expected) is iOS 6. It was represented on the WWDC 2012 and is available for developers and beta testers but the wide audience will have the chance to “taste” it only in the late Fall this year. It is said to be compatible with all the iPhone models, the iPod 4G Touch Screen, iPad 2 and the new iPad. Currently the statistics are not saying anything good for Apple. On the contrary they are losing market share all over the world, most sensibly in the US and Europe. While Android holds 51% of the market, according to the Nielsen Analytics, Apple has only 34%. Of course this is only in the smartphone sector. If we take the matter to the tablets Apple are total dominators with 2/3 of the market. However Google have just released their new Nexus 7 tablet and the new version of Android – Jelly Bean 4.1. Microsoft have also announced their new Surface tablet which will be powered by Windows 8 RT and Pro. All these factors make Apple to stay behind in the background but what is expected to be a complete turnover is the prospective announcement of the iPhone 5 and the release of iOS 6. Below you can see what will be the Top 6 features in iOS 6.   1) The Apple’s Maps – Google is out of the picture. That’s right – Google’s API will no longer be adopted in iOS 6. The new Apple Maps will be a decent competition for Google Maps. There will be vector graphics which means that the user can zoom/tilt/pan the map as much as he wants and the image will still be sharp and crystal-clear. Stunning 3D flyover views will provide unique and compelling experience. With the responsive interface you will be able to “visit” any landmark in the world with the high-resolution retina display in your hand. Turn-by-turn navigation and real-time traffic support is the next well-though move from Apple. When going for somewhere or being in a hurry for work it is irreplaceable widget. The application will show the shortest path, will notify you if there are big traffic congestions or accidents that might delay you and will offer an alternative route. What is more Siri gets deeply integrated with the Maps so places and venues can be found and located with voice commands. There is a project called Eyes Free thanks to which navigating, playing music and even contacting people will be done without taking your eyes off the road. If you decide...

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This article can be added to the section “Tips and Tricks” of our site and is kind of a sequel of “How to make my QR nicer for 5 min?” For those who are in the Publishing and Media business the difference between the RGB color mode and the CMYK one might be obvious, but for the average user it is not. When taking the matter to Quick Responsive codes, to their usage and especially to the process of printing, there are some tips and tricks below that are worth knowing. If you are interested in the difference between RGB and CMYK, more specific information can be found here. Basically the Red-Green-Blue model is used for digital media represented on monitors and displays while the Cyan-Magenta-Yellow-Black model is adopted in the printed media – newspapers and magazines. QR codes can be used practically anywhere and this can be both advantage and disadvantage. Of course the pluses are more but there is one tricky part when printing a QR that can cost you a lot of nerves and money.   When generating a QR code you are seeing its RGB representation. If you need to print it on a piece of paper then conversion from RGB to CMYK is strongly advisable especially if you are planning to produce many codes with marketing or commercial purpose. The problem finds its root in the way the two models function. RGB colors are called additive – the foundation is black and the more light is added (the monitor transmits) the brighter the picture becomes. With CMYK it is the opposite – you start with white foundation – a sheet of paper – and the more ink you add, the more light is being absorbed and the darker the picture becomes. That is why CMYK colors are called subtractive. The generic QR is using black-and-white pattern. If the conversion between the models is not done in advance, the printer will do it on its own and that is where the problem might appear. The device will mix 100% of Cyan, Magenta and Yellow inks in order to reproduce the dark tint. Two are the reasons why this is not a good option: even though there are 100% of all the three tints the result is not pure black but something more like dull brown which is not very pleasant to the eye. Furthermore, three colors multiplied by 100% means 300% ink usage which won’t only end up in longer period for drying but will also increase your ink expenses triple. That is why a fourth color – Black – was led in (in the beginning the model was only CMY). Thus if you make...

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It is clear for everybody that the epic battle for the smartphone market has and still is being held between Android and Apple. If you browse the web there are plenty of funny pictures and images but if you want some solid numbers, during the last few months from Google have jumped a few percents higher to 51% market share and Apple have kept their positions – 34% market share. Before all the fan boys have started hating I am clarifying that this article concerns the phone/smartphone market, not the tablet market where Apple are absolutely dominating with their iPad and 2/3 of the market. What is more I am talking about market share my operating system. If the matter is brought to manufacturer’s share these impressive 51% have to be split between Samsung – 17%, HTC – 14%, Motorola – 11% and others while Apple don’t have to share their 34% with anyone. That is why the guys from Cupertino,Californiaare so successful and are growing more and more – because not only the software and the hardware but everything is done by them. It is an industry, a whole ecosystem. Obviously with the consequent releases of the Surface Tablet and the Nexus 7, from Microsoft and Google have understood that the winning business model is the one in which you control and manufacture everything but let’s not fall in unnecessary details and get too far from the main subject of the article.   In every competition, even in the context of the forthcoming Olympic Games, at the end there are 3 top places – Gold, Silver and Bronze. As you have already read in the previous paragraph (if you are still reading) the first two places are known by the general public and claiming that someone would interfere there in the near future will be a complete nonsense. However the rivalry for the third place is still about to be observed. The main candidates are two. In the blue angle, with rectangular outlook, partner of Nokia, the titan in the PC sector that is still an infant in the mobile one stands Microsoft with its Windows Mobile OS and the future Windows 8 RT. In the other angle, with black-and-silver design, mainly preferred by businessmen and businesswomen, stands RIM with its Blackberry devices and BlackBerry OS. Some would argue that it is not right to compare them as long as Microsoft are still providers only of the mobile OS, if we put aside the Surface tablet, while RIM are sticking up to the Apple’s model. Again I will put the accent on the fact that the article is commenting the mobile market from an OS point of view....

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