Technology Trends That Are Re-Designing The World Of Fashion

Could you have ever imagined to wear a dress that would change its color based on your surrounds, or a handbag printed out of a 3D printer a couple of years ago? Well, now you can!

Today’s fashion industry isn’t quite what one would’ve ever imagined it to be in the past. Be it what we wear, how we wear it, and where we get it from, technology is pretty much reshaping the fashion industry in more than one ways; and that too for the better. Fashion designers and retailers are now experimenting with their creativity and also with ways to sell their creativity. And here’s how they’re doing that!

Wearable technology

The most obvious forms of wearable – and fashionable – tech include the Apple watch along with a host of other smartwatches that are rapidly gaining popularity. And of course there are the Google Glass too. But that’s not all. The very basics too have become smart – yes, fabric! A number of designers have in already incorporated tech-based fabrics into their garments in the past. Not only do these fabrics respond to biofeedback, but also interact with the environment to change textures and colors and display unique visual effects. Not only that, some designers have even gone to the length of equipping cutting edge fashion with solar panels to serve the purpose of charging cellphones on the go. If you thought fabric is still only about warp, weft, weaves, knits, silky, and wrinkly correct yourself; it’s time to embrace a more interactive definition of the word.

Digital fashion weeks

We’ve already come to the point where a mere 2 or 3 fashion shows in a year have quite literally blown up into dozens in each season of the year. And given how the internet and social media are laying to waste newspapers and magazines, digital fashion weeks have already become a reality. Audiences now engage in livestreams of runway shows across oceans, and fashion trends spread faster than wild forest fires. The implications for global brands are quite profound. Understanding the global response to a livestream viewed by thousands of people in separate markets at the same time from both a quantitative and qualitative perspective could either make or break the brand. Moreover if the mode of viewership is digital, then how creative can designers get with ramp design, choreography, and visual effects? Food for thought.

3D printing

While conventional screen and rotary printing have largely been taken over by digital printing, which too has become pretty run of the mill nowadays, 3D printing is another hot piece of technological innovation that is rapidly transforming the world of fashion. From accessories to garments, fashionable gear is now being produced via 3D printing at home. People aren’t just touting about its cost-effectiveness, it’s the liberty of designing and creating merchandise without the presence of a middleman that’s appealing to a number of budding fashion entrepreneurs venturing into the business with limited resources. Not to mention, the freedom to design is indeed limitless. From using manmade materials and textures to fascinating shapes and sizes, designers are now able to print exactly what they think.

E-tailing

Going back to smartwatches and smartphones, the average user is now a lot more tech savvy and prefers to shop via his or her phone. Yes, E-tailing is taking over conventional brick and mortar shops really fast. Be it high end couture or affordable fashion, online boutiques offering the latest seasonal trends with just a few finger taps are the new medium to shop. The e-commerce business model not only offers huge savings on operational and real estate costs, but also favors the just-in-time production model that a number of retailers are opting for to cut back on overburdening inventory costs. In the long run, clothing is looking to become highly customized based on specific customer requirements creating a higher degree of individualism amongst a highly self- and fashion-conscious consumer base.

Social marketing

Well, one would argue and call it digital marketing, but when it comes to promoting fashion through e-tailing and online platforms, conventional SEO seems to take a back seat. It’s social marketing that’s the way to go. Social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram are becoming increasingly popular amongst both fashion designers and retail brands to showcase their work, and consumers to view, review, and assess options. Coupled with a huge population of lifestyle and fashion bloggers, the internet has just become a big fat giant portal to shamelessly publicize creative work both through ethical and unethical means. While the ethics may still be subjective, there’s no denying the fact that a smart-user will be influenced by reviews and opinions dished out on social platforms across the internet. With so much information at their disposal, not only are the users of fashion smart, but the creators of fashion too have to play smart in order to beat the increasing competition on a global platform.

So where do you see technology taking the world of fashion in the years to come?

from Feedster http://www.feedster.com/blog/zyanamorris/technology-trends-that-are-re-designing-the-world-of-fashion/

4 Things that Will Help You Improve Your Local SEO Strategy

If your business relies upon large number of local customers, improving your local SEO strategy should be your primary goal. This remains one of the best methods that results in increased revenue, because it makes it much easier for people in your geographical area to find you on search engines.

The internet became the main tool that both businesses and customers use to acquire information that will help them make smart buying decisions. Bing and Google search engines became inseparable parts of digital marketing and economy. That’s why many businesses build their online marketing strategies relying heavily on search engines these days. The following advice will, hopefully, help you get some insight on how to shape your local SEO strategy and get the results you want.

Focus On Customer Experience

Customer experience is a very important thing in the world of business. Providing a customer with reliable and valuable information can tip the scales in your favor and help your potential customer make a purchase. As you have full control of the things that shape the experience of your customers, the design of your business website being one of them,  it should not be hard to work out a strategy that can result in great overall customer experience.

The most important thing is to keep the landing page relevant to the topic that your potential customer was researching online moments before clicking the link to your website. In other words, you want to provide an answer to the kind of problems your target audience is likely to have.

Website Optimization

The first step is to do initial keyword research. This will help you find out relevant keywords for your business. Inserting these local and optimized keywords you have found in your title tag on the index page is a perfect way to get started. But, keep in mind that you should optimize titles for all localized index pages.

This way you can implement a good SEO strategy on both the global and local level.  For instance, if you are a company based in Australia, you can narrow your focus and do SEO for the Sydney area to make sure you reach more potential customers who are based in Sydney, instead of casting a wider net and risking a higher bounce rate. This method allows you to rank higher than other local businesses, which in time results in higher revenue.

Your business name, address and phone number have to be the same on all HTML pages you have them on. Consistency is the key here. Search engines will cross-reference the data you provided for quality assurance. The more consistent you are the higher you will be ranked in search results.

Another major Google ranking factor is the mobile optimization of your website. If you want to facilitate more conversions, having a mobile-friendly website is a must. Especially, now, in the time when mobile device searches outnumber both laptop and desktop searches worldwide.

Provide Detailed Information

Take a look at the top search results by using any search engine. What all of them have in common is that they provide direct data. All the necessary detailed information about your brand or company is right there for potential customers to see. This little pieces of information include details about your business, such as whether a take-out option is available, the location of the nearest shop, prices etc. If you provide such upfront data, you will stand out among competitors and improve your local SEO.

Local Content

If you want to provide content of value to your potential customers it has to be specific for that area. It may sound time-consuming, but time is a small price to pay for the results you will get. The best way for achieving this is to be active on social media and connect your social media profiles with plugins on your website.

Provide the possibility for your customers to ask questions and leave a review of your products and services. Also make an about us page on your website, where you will be telling your customers about the origins, evolution and goals of your business.

Applying these tips alongside with creating locally relevant content will definitely help improve your local SEO strategy. If you want to grow organic, social and direct traffic, you should focus on creating content for the audience and not merely for search engines. Keep in mind that this is not a one-time action. Listening to trends and constantly researching the market, your audience and your business rivals will provide you with data that you can use to build a more effective SEO strategy and reach success.

from Feedster http://www.feedster.com/blog/vladzivanovic/4-things-that-will-help-you-improve-your-local-seo-strategy/

A Survival Guide to Moving in with Your Girlfriend

There comes a point in every functional relationship when moving in together seems like the next logical step. If that is the case with you and your girlfriend, congratulations! You can say goodbye to your man cave and welcome all the girly trinkets that your girlfriend will bring along with her beautiful presence.

Scared yet? If not, you should really know that moving in together can be scary as hell. I should know – been there, done that. On the other hand, it can be a completely blissful and exciting experience. That is, of course, if both of you know what you’re getting into and are prepared for a whole lot of effort.

If moving in together is not a decision either of you has taken lightly, your life under one roof should be pretty fun. Otherwise, you’re in for a rollercoaster ride of unexpected surprises. Nevertheless, this survival guide should help you take that huge step further in your relationship and help you turn the whole situation into something absolutely perfect that will make your relationship stronger.

Respect Each Other’s Personal Space

One of the best parts of moving in together is that you get to see each other whenever you want to. However, you shouldn’t be one of those couples that spend every single minute of every single day glued together, because that will definitely become boring after a while and all of the passion that holds you together now will eventually burn out.

Spending entire days together and going out together can be fun and exciting, but you should give each other some space from time to time. Go out for a beer with your friends and encourage her to do the same. If she wishes to stay at home and enjoy a good book while you’re not there, that’s fine, too. What’s important is for both of you to spend some quality time apart sometimes and respect each other’s wishes on how you’re going to spend that time.

Talk about Everything

Relationships work both ways. If only one of you is trying to make it work, your relationship is already doomed. Both of you need to be patient and tolerant. It can’t be all about you, because there’s one more person on the team now to think about.

If there’s anything that may be bothering you, talk it out. If either one of you two is bottling things up, doom and pestilence will befall your home. I’m not kidding – it can be disastrous. Therefore, take my advice and talk. Compromise is key and you can accomplish anything by openly sharing your thoughts and opinions with each other.

Don’t Stop Going Out on Dates

Just because you’re together almost all the time doesn’t mean that you should stop going out together – just the two of you. Keep planning romantic dates – dinners at your favourite restaurant, lunches, drinks at a bar, movies – you name it.

It’s important to keep your love flame burning and dates can help you do just that. I know it’s absolutely great staying in the comfort of your home, while binge-watching your favourite Netflix show and eating pizza but, seriously, get off your comfy couch and go out on a real date from time to time. You’ll thank me later.

Don’t Nag Each Other

If you are a rare unicorn of a male specimen who tends to nag all the time, just stop it. No one likes it. Your girlfriend may love you to the moon and back, but even she won’t tolerate constant nagging. You need to respect each other, because that is the most important thing in every healthy relationship.

If you’re always waiting for her for hours to get ready before going out, don’t be irritated by that. That’s just us girls; we need time, and a lot of it, to be ready to leave the house. If you’re cool about it, she’ll love you even more, even if she secretly knows that it’s taking everything you’ve got not to burst into flames.

On the other hand, if your girlfriend is the nagging type, just breathe and let her get it out of her system. We can be tough to handle sometimes but, admit it, you love us more for it (wink, wink). Seriously, if she nags about you not putting down the toilet seat or not using the coasters, you should just listen to her and every problem will be solved. It’s that easy. If you feel she’s being unreasonable about something, again, talk it out. Communication is everything and it can strengthen every bond the two of you have.

Work Out Your Finances

Now, for some real talk. Having an honest talk with your girlfriend about money can be awkward, especially if the two of you are not usually open about finances. However, this is maybe the most important talk you can have, because you have to work out how you are going to pay the bills and not end up struggling to pay the rent.

While living a single life may include spending all of your money on the newest video game, sharing a roof with your girlfriend means that you need to think about some other (more important – sorry, no hard feelings) stuff. But, hey, if your girlfriend is a passionate gamer, too, I’m sure you can work something out. I can definitely relate, so believe me when I tell you, it can be done.

Joking aside, you should really start thinking seriously about your finances and maybe even start saving some money. You can easily put aside a part of each paycheck if you switch to a few cheaper options when buying household items and make a couple of sacrifices when it comes to luxuries. I’m telling you this because it worked out perfectly for my boyfriend and me and helped us not to strangle each other when we first started living together.

So, when you’re ready for the finance talk, do some research, put things on paper and make sure you have a well-thought out financial plan going.

If you and your girlfriend are thinking about moving in together for the first time, think really hard about it. You need to be absolutely sure that is what both of you want and you’re ready to take a huge leap of faith. If it doesn’t work out, at least you’ll know where you stand. If it does, then you’re in for a wonderful world of love and happiness. I wish you all the luck in the world and, remember, love truly does conquer all.

from Feedster http://www.feedster.com/blog/ivandseo/a-survival-guide-to-moving-in-with-your-girlfriend/

Websites That Sell For Good Money Quickly

If you want to buy websites that sell or build them, you have to know what works. There are many websites that are worth nothing, and some that can sell surprisingly well. Use the following guide to help you figure out what works and what to avoid.

The key to getting a website together that someone will buy is to get traffic. It doesn’t matter what the topic is, if you get people to visit in droves you’ll get a lot of money. For sites that even just get a few hundred people a day there are buyers. You need to keep growing your traffic however you can, and you also need to make sure you know how to keep track of it. Google Analytics is a good thing to have in place so you can show off the statistics and people will know they’re legit for the most part.

Doing what you can to have a quality site is a good idea too. When you are able to provide people with a good experience they are going to feel comfortable when buying from you. That, and they usually are going to visit over and over if you’re smart about it. Don’t just sell whatever you can without knowing whether or not it is of great quality. The worst thing for a website is for it to get associated with bad quality because that will follow it around and nobody will want to buy the site for much.

Get SEO into place on your website for even more traffic. You can produce content for your website that attracts visitors by making sure it’s well written and that it contains keywords that people are likely to search for. A lot of the time you will find that it’s hard to come up with content for your website regularly. That’s okay because you can hire people to help you with that. Give them instructions that contain information on the keywords you want to have used and tell them what person to write it in (first, second or third person) if that is important.

Buying a website can be helpful if you need one that you can build up and then sell later to other people. Find something that is in a niche you’d be happy working with for a while, or just one that you can get content for regularly. A niche that is always going to be popular can be a good idea to buy into, and there are also good obscure ones. Once you flip a few sites you’ll find what works in your case and what you can be comfortable dealing with to make it worth more than you paid for it.

A good amount of people give up on websites before they take off because they think nothing is going to happen. You have to dedicate yourself to coming up with content for at least half a year, because if you don’t have traffic by that time you probably will be better off making what you can from it by selling it off. You just don’t want to do so prematurely because someone may see its potential and will make tons off of what you sold them in a very short amount of time instead of you.

This information on websites that sell will get you the money you need. You can make a living this way or you can just get some pocket change. It’s always nice to do work and get it recognized by someone, putting the money you worked for towards buying it.

from Feedster http://www.feedster.com/blog/jasonroelke/websites-that-sell-for-good-money-quickly/

Fresh Content Is A Good Sign Of Life To Google

We, at SEO Brisbane have done it, created intelligent life that is — well, sort of. There is a peculiar intelligence with which Google monitors and classifies websites, their interactions with other websites, visitors and customers as well as the amount of “life” or activities being generated by them.
With this in mind it is a good idea to keep your website supplied with fresh information and content for the search engines to use (or “index”) as a source of information for future searches.
1. More Quality Content Means More Indexing
This does not mean higher indexing, although that is a likely possibility in the long run. The more often you produce fresh content, the more the search engines “crawlers”, like the “Googlebot”, will stop by to check out what’s new.
Based on the caliber of the content you produce this can be very beneficial. This is because every time the site is updated, the search engines will take notice and take a moment to re-examine the sites position in the rankings. If they find poor content stuffed with keywords, they are sure to be disappointed — don’t disappoint the Googlebot.
If they are consistently met with content that is very popular across other platforms, and therefore high quality, they will be moving this site ahead of sites that fail to produce high quality relevant content.
A word of caution: quality first, consistency next, then finally quantity. This keeps your content effective and gaining ground in the global market.

2. More Regular Content Means More Keywords
When you publish frequent quality content you are given a chance to add some more keywords to your website. Keywords are still very important to the search engine algorithms for search results and ranking.
The more you add content, even just an image, a blog post, or any kind of content, you can optimize the website and keywords and increase traffic to the site.
Now… before we all go keyword crazy, it is important to remember that quality of content, not keyword use, is how the Googlebot decides what is worthy of higher rankings and which is just keyword-rich content with no value to a human user.
So how does one use their keywords in their content? The keywords should just be there naturally. If you are writing a piece that gives your customers an explanation, answers a question or gives them important content on your business, it is only natural that your keywords will show up in the content eventually, right?

Just don’t make the mistake of wrapping the articles around the keywords, make sure that the meta tags, descriptions and titles for your keywords are all wrapped around the content you know your readers will love.
3. Higher Quality Content Means Higher Authority
There is nothing more valuable to your efforts than becoming an authority in your own industry. The best way to arrive at this point is by following the important path to Google Favor by creating quality content.
Quality content is the kind that is referenced, reviewed shared and commented on often. A simple investigation into the competition will reveal who are the authorities in your niche, those that Google deems worthy due to their levels of site traffic and engagement. The better your content, the more likely that you will be accepted into this car on the gravy train.
In Closing — Fresh high quality is the way to go up in the Google Rankings. Not only is a frequently updated website a good sign of life to the Googlebot, but there is really no other way to keep the attention of your customers and clients online if you are not constantly providing them with valuable content — and lots of human traffic is the best sign of a quality site for the search engines.

from Feedster http://www.feedster.com/blog/jordanrobins/fresh-content-is-a-good-sign-of-life-to-google/

3 Efficient Ways of Optimizing Your Ecommerce Sales Strategy

You’ve already invested a lot of your time and creativity into a dazzling new ecommerce website, but against all odds, your visitors are staying a bit skittish and your efforts aren’t exactly paying off as you expected. Social media strategies that digital marketing experts suggest can be insanely effective, but there are still powerful ways of turning your leads into paying customers on the site. Here are our top tips on how to do so.

Make Your Customers’ Efforts Cost-Effective

 

The scale on which ecommerce now operates has opened up a whole world of selling possibilities for you to explore. Wherever your business is physically located at, your customers are still approaching you from all over the globe via your website, which is why you should consider making your offer available to all of them at reasonable shipping prices. A study by Compete claims that 93% of online buyers would be encouraged to buy more products if you offer them free shipping.

Much like shipping, occasional discounts, as well as referral discounts and special offers that you, as a cleverly calculated salesmen will be compelled to propose to your leads, don’t only work as a smart sales strategy, but as a marketing tool as well. Make them clearly presented and obvious on your website, and promote them through social media.

Encourage Your Customers’ Trust

 

As much as browsing through the online store from the comfort of our homes can be way more enjoyable than the in vivo shopping experience, it certainly doesn’t come without a couple of drawbacks. A potential customer, for starters, can never have as much trust in your products’ quality as they would have if the product was presented to them physically. Furthermore, some buyers actually prefer having an intermediate contact with a retailer who can help solve their potential problems on the spot.

For all of these reasons, your ecommerce sales can hugely benefit if you adjust your website to answer to your customers’ doubts and needs with only one click. Product reviews and ratings are paramount for building trust with potential buyers, especially because some of them won’t even consider purchasing your product without authentic proof given by a former customer.

One of the newest tricks in the niche that has been proven to effectively converse rates is live chat. By connecting with a buyer face to face, at least in the final phase of a purchase, you’re making them feel valued and you’re letting them know that you – personally – stand behind your products.

Revisit Your Marketing Strategies

 

If you’re still having problems converting your potential buyers, the time could be right to revisit your marketing strategies, as well as your lead generation methods. Along with social media advertising, email campaigns are making a big comeback, and recent findings on their effectiveness are more than convincing. If all else fails, intuitive lead management teams are always at your disposal for a consult, and you should definitely consider including them in your agendas for generating and conversing more leads.

As much as these tactics are numerous and can seem perplexing to you as a non-specialist, knowing that their potential for interconnectivity has never been greater is just enough for you to understand. For instance, one marketing strategy doesn’t have to exclude others, but rather tie together multiple possibilities together. To make this perfectly understandable, the aforementioned email campaigns can be greatly reinforced by corresponding Facebook ads. The possibilities for mixing and pairing those strategies are exciting as much as they are prolific.

 

If having troubles managing leads and converting them into a paying customers, these 3 tips are most likely enough for you to start optimizing your ecommerce sales. Similar tactics, like videos and security badges are also there for you to explore. And with such a wide scope of available options, your conversion rates are most certainly not going to stay the same.

from Feedster http://www.feedster.com/blog/ivandseo/3-efficient-ways-of-optimizing-your-ecommerce-sales-strategy/

More Bang For Your Buck in In-Store Advertising

CStoremedia.com wants to know: Is in-store advertising costing you a mint and you’re not sure what you’re getting out of it? In this day of easy come and easy go, all advertising passes by in a blur, and we’re never sure what our customers are seeing and what never gains their attention at all.

John Wannamaker made his mark on department stores and was famously known to have said, “Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted. The trouble is I don’t know which half.”

Is In-Store Advertising a Good Idea or Are We All Just Wasting Our Time?

If you only waste half your advertising money, then you should be getting a lot out of the other half. In-store advertising is useful because you can target better. If someone is browsing in the linen section, it might not mean they want bathrobes, but it’s a pretty good bet they might be tempted into buying a set of bedclothes.

In-Store Advertising – Beyond Promos

Discounts and promotions help make a brand obvious, but it takes more than that to make people coming back. If a brand is confident about the quality of their product, then it’s much better to use displays and subtle codes like lighting to attract customers to a brand and create brand loyalty.

Return on investment with brand loyalty is also important even though it can’t be calculated as an immediate increase in sales.

Calculating Return on Investment

The problem is that on the internet you can calculate exactly how many ads turned into clicks and how many of those turned into sales, and where exactly people turned away.

Calculating ROI on in-store displays can be much hazier. While salespeople have many ways of doing it, include comparisons between after and before campaign sales, but calculating in store advertising return on investment on specific ad campaigns can still be difficult, especially if the impact is meaningful but marginal compared to total sales.

Why Not Internet Advertising Instead?

Internet Advertising can be much cheaper, much more dynamic and will likely reach many more users. But the return on investment is far more doubtful. In-store advertising targets an audience who is almost definitely looking to buy.

Use Internet advertising to attract a different set of customers, who are looking around and might click and might buy. So spend less on that. In-store awareness building will attract premium shoppers.

Just because you are using in-store physical advertising doesn’t mean, of course, that you shouldn’t take every twenty-first-century advantage you can get. Digital displays (including the expensive but fascinating customizable ones) can be a big boost to your advertising.

 

Primary Keyword: in-store advertising

LSI Keywords: internet advertising, in-store physical advertising, in-store advertising return on investment, return on investment with brand loyalty.

from Feedster http://www.feedster.com/blog/kamren-roelke/more-bang-for-your-buck-in-in-store-advertising/