While SEO, advertising, social networks and other methods and activities can improve traffic on a website, none of these don’t insure the conversion of visitors into clients. Obtaining a higher traffic is just the first step in boosting a business’ sales or popularity.

Optimizing the conversion rate is very important for any business, and many parameters that have a direct influence over it are part of the web design. The design of a website plays a major role in converting the visitors.

It’s mandatory to identify to whom the site is dedicated, more exactly the business in question, so that the creation of the site is meeting their expectations. At the same time, the buttons that stimulate the visitors to act have a significant role. Keep in mind that imperatives mustn’t annoy them, but just persuade them to act. Intuitively, the colors and CTA buttons make a good team. The use of attractive, contrasting colors determines people to push the buttons.

A memorable identity will start with the brand creation. Before setting up a website, it’s necessary a strong brand, a vibrant name and an unique logo that makes an impact in the consumer’s mind. Moreover, the domain address has to be chosen wisely, in order to be relevant, easy to remember, write and find.

Visual communication has at its core perception. First of all, the visitor will observe the layout, the images and other visual elements that distract them. Keep in mind the amount of patience and time the visitors might have, for reading a long text. The impact has to be realized through images, video clips, graphics, info graphics and other visual elements that makes the focus and be entertained. Titles and subtitles can have a significant effect if they are highlighted and if the entire content is divided in smaller sections.

A clear and precise hierarchy. It’s best to start with the most important content. Being aware of the visitors’ patience, but also of the business’ objectives, the site’s information has to be classified in a way that says since the first page: Who we are? What do we do? What information can you find here? How are we different from the other? and What is the next step?

Responsive design is already a must-have nowadays. There is no doubt that most web pages are accessed using mobile devices. At the same time, if the business’ field allows and needs a web application, this has to be created in order to increase the conversion rate of a web page.

The design of each web page should be as clear and aired as possible. Loading the page with too much design elements can’t lead anywhere, but to confusion, repulsion and finally, leaving. The pages of a site are to be created similar to landing pages, and the CTA buttons will be made separately to ease users’ browsing.

None the last, remember to integrate in the site social media buttons and plugins (Like Box, Facebook Recommendations, Comment Box, Tweet), which allows the visitors to share your content. In the same aspect, liking some pages can be done through reviews, testimonials by clients that will boost the visitors’ confidence in the online business.

A convincing design can be a tough challenge and needs skill and knowledge for efficient implementing. This is why our team is here to help you to improve your site’s interactions with your visitors, so they soon become your clients! Check out our amazing Web design service.

Use your most valuable capital

In many business activities lies valuable capital under guise of knowledge about clients and experience with them. This is the basis of CRM: this knowledge becomes transparent and is actively used in the benefit of the business.

Loyal clients buy consecutively and recommend you to others. Taking care of present clients is cheaper than gaining new ones. Use this potential and increase the satisfaction of your customers through:

• Clear and individual communication
• High class services
• Relevant information
• Fulfilling individual wills

CRM projects consist of two parts (simplified view). The big part refers to “rethinking” the business’ strategy that may be obsolete and has to be revived. The smaller part is represented by technology, basically the CRM software which aids you professionally in implementing management for clients.

What does CRM really brings you?

CRM backs you up in the process of establishing a professional clients’ management and guides you to fulfilling your customer’s wishes. The software brings transparency, efficiency and a business level memory for structured work projects.

Besides happy customers and employees, CRM establishes long-term relationships with clients, a fact that generates the highest success rate of the business. With this simple formula, the real competition advantage emerges and new opportunities for unexplored markets appear.

These are the advantages CRM brings to your business:

Optimum connection thanks to centralized data:

• All departments and employees are connected in a unique system
• In this system, there can be uploaded various solutions: Office, archives, economy of resources
• Communicating without losing time is possible thanks to direct access to information
• This creates structured and automated work processes for improved efficiency
• You can adapt the CRM solution flexibly, depending on workplaces, locations or national borders

Turn to profit your knowledge about clients:

• Chronological clients files foster professional clients loyalty
• 360⁰ view of clients: all orders, phone calls, contracts and mails are available at a click
• Discover the hidden potential through evaluating clients’ profiles
• Having a clear view over your customers, you can develop your products and services in a seamless way

Simple control of sales:

• Check your marketing and sales strategies based on target groups
• You have all information regarding interested clients, so you can send recommendations at the right time
• Orders are multiplied through targeting processes of Cross and Up Selling
• Grasp potential sales chances and use this knowledge

Motivated employees and better services:

• Employees are assisted and have simplified routine tasks
• They take fundamental decisions and take competent actions thanks to relevant information
• Happy employees deliver better services

Proactive Management:

• You’ll never lose again the perspective view over on-going projects using the centralized database
• CRM eases proactive management of resources and expenses, as well as the estimation of development time and costs
• Now it’s more simple to make accurate overviews and have effective control for best business development

101itconsult knows that professional clients’ management is profitable. We can help also you to clear up obsolete strategies, save valuable time and show you how you can boost business processes. Take a look at our service CRM!

40% of the time we spend on Facebook is on News Feed and we should learn how it works. There’s an algorithm that decides what posts come up on our Timeline. It’s like maths, but cooler. First of all, let’s make things clear: News Feed is the center column that appears after you click Home – a constantly updated list of posts of people and pages that you follow on Facebook. EdgeRank is the Facebook algorithm to determine where and what articles are appearing on a user’s own News Feed.

There are 3 components for the algorithm:

• Affinity
• Weight
• Time Decay

Affinity

Affinity calculates the relation between the user that sees the post in News Feed and the person that made the post. The closer the relationship, the higher the affinity is. Therefore, it’s very likely that you see in your News Feed posts of your close friends, than of relatively unknown people which whom you haven’t interacted. You may have observed that once you communicate with a certain user on Facebook, his/her posts start to appear more frequently on your News Feed.

Weight

Weight is a value system created by Facebook to increase/lower the value of a certain type of actions on Facebook. Comments require a higher degree of engagement and, therefore, are considered more valuable than, for example, a like. Consider the following: you will see more posts of a page where you usually comment, than posts of another one where you commonly just click like. The most “valuable” posts are photos and videos, followed by links and simple text.

Time Decay

Time Decay is the simplest notion to explain. The older a post is, the more it loses its value and visibility. News Feed needs to be always fresh. The good thing is your posts have increased chances to reach to people actually interested in the subject you share – engagement rises. Moreover, “high quality” posts are visible to more people, whereas the ones that receive negative feedback are “sanctioned”. And, not the last, you see personalized posts, just for you.

The other side of the coin is that Facebook forgets about passive users, which stop receiving in News Feed posts appealing to them. A page’s posts are less seen in fans’ News Feed without promotion, resulting in a post visibility of some 15%. This leads to more money spent by pages on advertising to reach its fans.

If some time ago, things were simpler, this new EdgeRank feature makes companies fight for a little space in everyone’s News Feed, to strive for engagement and spend money on Promoted Posts. Understanding how EdgeRank works is a must for every page manager that wants to reach fans more effectively.

A high percentage of blog traffic can come from Facebook from shared articles. Here are some tips on how to get things done:

Post periodically

To promote a site or a blog on Facebook you’ll have to build a community around your personal or business Facebook page. To achieve this, it’s needed to constantly post articles, images, videos, reviews or other interesting and useful content for your audience.

If you are doing it too rarely, people forget about you from one post to another and getting their attention back becomes difficult. There’s another aspect: Edge Rank. Facebook gives and Edge Rank (a mark similar to Google Page Rank for sites) to your posts, profile and page. The better their engagement (receiving likes, shares, comments), the higher are the chances they appear in users Newsfeed.

Basically, if people appreciate your posts, they are more likely to be seen by others on Facebook. This achievement requires frequent posting of interesting content.

All posts have a “life expectancy”: they are visible for a time, and then they disappear because other people post. So your articles are competing with others. You either come up with a viral or post something new.

Set up an editorial plan

Besides the frequency of your Facebook posts, you’ll need to establish the type of content you share. Too much blog promotion risks looking like advertising, especially if there isn’t a significant number of articles on the blog.

It’s more natural to post another type of content that includes your own articles. A good mix of posts can be 5-10 to 1. That means at 5-10 Facebook posts you can include 1 blog promotion post. Or any other ratio in which blog promoting is in minority compared to the rest of your share.

The posts that don’t promote you can have a useful subject, insights that you commented on the blog, funny or emotional stories. You’ll just have to test several types of content to see which fits best with your audience.

Consider publishing hour for optimal feedback

Depending on hours of the day or days of the week, you’ll receive different reactions to your posts. For example, in the morning, after arriving to job, many people have the habit of opening their Facebook profile. It can be a good moment to post because there’s the high probability that your post reaches an increased number of people. There’s also the downside of losing itself in the “morning post rush”, if the content is not interesting enough.

In a similar way, there are certain days when better answer rates exist, meaning people are more prone to click your link and visit your blog. The only way of identifying these patters is monitoring and testing your blog’s statistics.

Engagement

The purpose of these strategies is to have your content read by a large audience, not only by yourself. And this is still not enough. The objective is to get people to comment, like and share your posts. This is how your blog is really promoted (improving Edge Rank).

To get things done, a constant dialogue with followers is mandatory, in other words, you’ll have to engage them. Working daily and taking interest in what you do, you can be able to use Facebook as a promotion tool. Keep in mind that the best strategy for improving your blog traffic can be set up only by constant testing and monitoring.

Poti citi Partea I a articolului aici.

Greutatea

Fiecare categorie de Edge are o greutate standard diferita. Cu alte cuvinte, comentariile valoreaza mai mult decat like-urile.

Fiecare actiune pe care o face un utilizator creeaza un Edge, iar fiecare Edge (cu exceptia click-urilor) poate deveni un story. Asadar, in mod prestabilit, un utilizator cel mai probabil vede postarea unde un prieten a comentat, si nu faptul ca acel prieten s-a alaturat paginii cuiva.

Facebook schimba greutatea Edges-urilor pentru a reflecta probabilitatea tipurilor de articole interesante pentru fiecare in parte. De exemplu, imaginile si video-urile au o greutate mai mare decat link-urile. Nu este cunoscut daca aceste valori se schimba in cazul manifestarii unui interes mai mare pentru linkuri, in detrimentul pozelor.

Noile optiuni Facebook au in general o greutate mai mare, pentru a fi promovate utilizatorilor. De exemplu, cand au aparut Facebook Places, check-in-urile au avut o greutate standard foarte mare pentru cateva luni, iar News Feed-urile au fost inundate cu story-uri de tipul: “Maria just checked in at Universitate”. In general, dupa o perioada de cateva luni sau saptamani, Facebook atribuie noilor optiuni greutati mai rezonabile.

Perioada de Timp

Cand o postare devine veche, pierde puncte deoarece este “stire depasita”.

EdgeRank este un scor in continua schimbare, nu un punctaj fix. Atunci cand te loghezi pe Facebook, News Feed-ul e populat cu articole ce au cel mai ridicat scor exact in acel moment. Un status update va aparea in top, doar daca in acel moment are scorul mai mare decat al celorlalte story-uri. Se pare ca Facebook ajusteaza acest factor temporal in functie de doua aspecte:

• Data ultimei logari a utilizatorului
• Frecventa cu care se logheaza utilizatorul

Cum imi pot optimiza pagina pentru EdgeRank?

De retinut: oricine pretinde ca iti poate calcula EdgeRank-ul minte. Este complet imposibil. Facebook pastreaza algoritmul secret si il schimba constant.  Poti masura doar efectele EdgeRank prin studierea statisticilor Facebook analytics: cati oameni au interactionat cu pagina ta si cati vorbesc despre ea.

Este dificil sa pacalesti un algoritm sa “creada” ca ai un continut interesant.  Este mult mai simplu sa iti revizuiesti postarile pentru a-ti determina fanii sa comenteze mai mult si sa dea like-uri.

Poti incepe cu statusurile si titlurile de tip afirmatie – le poti schimba in intrebari irezistibile ce determina cititorii sa interactioneze. De exemplu:

• Da “like” daca esti nerabdator sa incerci noua noastra aplicatie
• Completeaza spatiul: De Craciun imi doresc _____. Promotia noastra de Craciun este produsul X.
• Da/Nu. Am facut dus dimineata. Incearca noul nostru produs cu extract de X
• Ce crezi despre Presedinte? Mai jos ai un video cu CEO-ul nostru impreuna cu Presedintele.

Toate like-urile si comentariile generate de intrebari si situatii inedite si indraznete vor creste scorul afinitatii dintre fan si pagina ta, ridicandu-ti sansele ca viitoarele tale postari sa apara in News Feed-ul lor.

Primul lucru pe care il vede cineva atunci cand se logheaza pe Facebook este News Feed-ul. Acesta este un rezumat a ce s-a intamplat recent printre prietenii din retea. Fiecare actiune a acestora este o potentiala aparitie pe News Feed. Facebook numeste aceste actiuni Edges (muchii). Asta inseamna ca oricand un prieten posteaza un status, comenteaza un altul, pune tag intr-o poza, se alatura unei pagini sau confirma participarea la un eveniment, genereaza un Edge, iar un “story” despre acest lucru poate aparea in News Feed-ul tau personal.

Ar fi coplesitor daca in News Feed ar aparea toate story-urile posibile ale prietenilor tai. Asa ca Facebook a creat un algoritm ce face predictii asupra gradului de atractivitate al unei postari pentru fiecare utilizator in parte. Facebook a numit acest algoritm EdgeRank, pentru ca ierarhizeaza muchiile. Apoi filtreaza News Feed-ul fiecarui utilizator pentru a arata doar postarile cele mai interesante pentru persoana in discutie.

De ce ar trebui sa ma intereseze EdgeRank-ul?

Pentru ca cei mai multi fani de pe Facebook nu iti vor vedea vreodata statusurile.

Facebook analizeaza toate postarile si apoi decide: “Care dintre ele are cel mai mare scor EdgeRank? Aceea va fi pusa in topul News Feed-ului. Care e scorul urmator pentru a doua pozitie?” si asa mai departe. Daca EdgeRank prezice ca un anumit utilizator va crede despre postarea ta ca este plictisitoare, atunci update-ul tau nu ii va fi afisat vreodata.

Observatie: Se pare ca sunt de fapt doua algoritme, desi nu a fost niciodata dovedit cu adevarat. Algoritmul EdgeRank ierarhizeaza story-uri, iar un al doilea algoritm sorteaa News Feed-ul. Acest algoritm al News Feed-ului include un element cu specific aleator si unul pentru centralizare in jurul unor cuvinte cheie. Zuckerberg a mentionat intr-un interviu pentru TechCrunch ca utilizatorilor Facebook li s-a parut straniu faptul ca Facebook stia prea bine lucrurile de care era interesati, asa ca s-a decis randomizarea subtila a News Feed-ului.

Statisticile sunt ingrijoratoare. In 2007, un inginer Facebook a declarat intr-un interviu faptul ca doar aproximativ 0.2% din story-urile eligibile ajung in News Feed-ul unui utilizator. Asta inseamna ca postarea ta concureaza cu cel putin alte 500 pentru un singur loc in News Feed-ul unui prieten.

Cum functioneaza EdgeRank?

EdgeRank e ca un rating de credit: e invizibil, important, unic pentru fiecare si nimeni in afara de Facebook nu stie cum functioneaza precis.

La conferinta Facebook F8 din 2010, s-au facut publice cele trei elemente ale algoritmului:

• Affinity (Afinitatea)
• Weight (Greutatea)ù
• Time Decay (Perioada de timp)

Afinitatea

Scorul Afinitatii se refera la cat este de “conectat” un anumit utilizator la Edge. Sa consideram urmatoarea situatie ipotetica: esti prieten cu fratele tau pe Facebook. De asemenea, ii scrii des pe Wall si aveti 50 de prieteni mutuali. Scorul afinitatii este mare in legatura cu fratele tau, asa ca Facebook stie ca probabil vei dori sa-i vezi postarile.

Facebook calculeaza scorul afinitatii observand actiunile explicite ale utilizatorilor si le ierarhizeaza dupa cum urmeaza:

• Puterea actiunii
• Cat de apropiata de tine este persoana care a facut actiunea
• Acum cat timp a avut loc actiunea

Actiuni explicite includ click-urile, like-urile, comentariile, tag-urile, share-ul si actiunea de a deveni prieten. Fiecare dintre aceste interactiuni are o greutate diferita, ce reflecta efortul presupus ca actiunea sa aiba loc: cu cat efortul utilizatorului e mai mare, cu atat este demonstrat mai mult interes pentru acel continut. A comenta un post este mai valoros decat un like, ce la randul lui e mai important decat un simplu click pe el. Citirea pasiva a unui update in News Feed nu are valoare, decat daca interactionezi cu el.

Afinitatea masoara nu doar actiunile proprii, ci si actiunile prietenilor si ale prietenilor lor. De exemplu, comentariul tau pe o pagina al carei fan esti valoreaza mai mult decat comentariul unui prieten de-ai tai. Mai mult, daca obisnuiai sa interactionezi cu cineva foarte mult, dar mai putin in prezent, influenta aceluia descreste treptat.

Scorul afinitatii functioneaza intr-o singura directie. Revenind la primul exemplu: vei avea un scor de afinitate diferit fata de al fratelui tau. Daca ii scrii des pe Wall, Facebook stie ca iti pasa de el, dar nu stie daca situatia e reciproca si pentru fratele tau. Poate suna confuz, dar de fapt scorul utilizeaza o logica simpla.

Continuarea o poti citi in Partea a II-a articolului, ce va fi publicata saptamana viitoare.