Forward Marketing

Enhancing WordPress Websites with Widgets & Plugins

admin — Wed, 02 May 2012 15:37:40 +0000

The Genesis Framework for WordPress is much more than a mere WordPress theme. It’s an underlying framework of immaculate code that’s been built to easily feed Google your content, erase the headache of security concerns and updates, and offer a huge selection of turn-key design options. To get the most out of your WordPress Genesis Framework, there are several helpful widgets and plug-ins that Forward Marketing recommends to install in your framework before you begin designing your website.

You might be asking “what’s the difference between a widget and a plug-in”? A widget is a fancy word for the tools or the content that you can add, arrange, and remove from the sidebars and homepage of your blog. plug-ins are tools you download and plug into your wordpress platform to extend it’s functionality. Below are the following plug-ins and widgets that Forward Marketing recommends you have installed.

To start off, the TinyMCE Advanced editor will enhance your content editing services by including options like In-line css styles, support for making and editing tables, and many more. For Website analytics plug-ins, look at the Google XML Sitemap Generator, Google Analyticator, and All in One Webmaster to give you reports on how your site is doing regularly. For email marketing needs, plug-ins like Contact Form 7, Thank Me Later, and the Reply Me plug-ins to allow instant feedback and marketing to your readers. Increase your Search Engine Optimization, include widgets like SEO by Yoast, Automatic SEO Links, and Meet Your Commenters. Don’t forget to increase your social media marketing with plug-ins like Smart YouTube, the Facebook Like Button, Twitter Feed for WordPress, and Awesome Flickr Gallery. Find more information about the WordPress plug-ins, view the Forward Marketing plug-ins Slideshow or the WordPress Plug-ins page.

Studiopress has also released several plug-ins it has developed for WordPress. Several plug-ins they developed are for the Genesis Framework, including the Genesis Beta Tester, Genesis Simple menus and Sidebars, and the Genesis tabs. They have several non-genesis based plug-ins as well. To view their full list of plug-ins at StudioPress, visit their Plug-ins Page.

Widgets are the tools used to display various information on your site on your homepage, sidebar and footer. Several highly recommended Widgets include “Text”, which allow you to display HTML text where you could add links or lists, and “Recent Post” which will display the most recents posts from your blog. Other useful Widgets include “Constant Contact Signup”, which allows your readers to signup for emails from your site when you post something new, “Youtube Embed” which allows you to embed videos from Youtube, and other simple widgets like “Meta”, “Links” and “search”. We at forward Marketing use and recommend these widgets for a better wordpress experience.

The Genesis Framework has several widgets that are specific to itself. These widgets have “Genesis” in their name, and provide even more support. The recommended Genesis widgets include “Featured Posts/Featured Pages” which will display a small paragraph and a link to specifc pages or blogposts. Other recommened Genesis widgets include “Latest Tweets” which will display the latest tweets from your twitter account, and “User Profile” which will display the user’s profile block with their gravatar. For more information about Widgets, visit the WordPress Widgets Support Page.

To get free Child Themes (templates) for the StudioPress Genesis Framework enhancement to WordPress, visit The StudioPress resources page. For more information on how to set up wordpress, visit our blog post titled “James’ Post”.

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Forward Marketing (FM) specializes in modern marketing strategy and content marketing services for companies and brands with revenue of $10 million annually or greater. We also manage the Houston Internet Marketing Forum and the free Houston Website Designer Seminars. For more information on how to get Return on Investment (ROI) from your marketing, you can Contact Us, Follow Us or call us at 713-449-2000.

Types of Marketing Content for Your Audience

admin — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 21:39:13 +0000

With technology becoming more innovative, modern content marketing techniques have become more advanced as well. There are many different types of content that companies can use to deliver information to their clients and audience. These items can be blog posts, like the one you’re reading right now, physical reports that can be given to people, testimonials given by the audience themselves, and even articles and books.

In 2010, Joe Pulizzi (photo on the right) of Junta42 and the Content Marketing Institute and Jonathan Kranz of Kranz Communications created “The Content Marketing Playbook: 42 Ways to Connect to Customers” and received considerable fanfare and now, One year later, they’ve rewritten and reformated their Playbook. The Content Marketing Playbook is a collection of 42 content marketing tactics that marketers can use to increase their options and increase their marketing abilities. The playbook includes options backed with definitions, samples, and practical suggestions.

The items in the newly redone Playbook are ranked by their relative popularity, determined by a survey given to marketers. The top ranked item was Blogs, due to their easy to use techniques, comments, and ability to spread information. Also toping the list included enewsletters, “white paper” content including topical reports, articles, eBooks, case studies, testimonials, micro blogging, webcasts, and videos. These high ranking items are popular because they are simple, easy, and have been around for many years to prove their ability to spread content. In the interview below, Joe Pulizzi talks about how to publish a successful e-Book.

More top ranked examples include Facebook story pages, customer focused community, online news release, custom social network, custom print magazine, digital magazine, video blog, e-learning series, mobile applications, online media sites, content platforms, and teleseminars. These items aren’t as popular as they have only started gaining speed the past few years with the increase of web based content.

Other items that are listed include Podcasts, executive roundtables, industry ranking system, books, printed newsletter, virtual trade show, company-focused community, comic book, facebook application, road show, audio book, screen cast, widget, branded content tool, online games, infographic, online survey research projects, discussion forums, iPad application, and finally content platform. These Items aren’t as popular, but going the extra mile will always gain more benefits down the road. For more content marketing secrets and ideas, visit Joe Pulizzi ’s site or watch his videos on Youtube.

Not all of these items will work for everyone, but challenge yourself and your company to try as many of these content types as possible to see what will for your audience. For more information or to download the Content Marketing Playbook for yourself, visit the Content Marketing Institute site to learn more.

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Marketing and Keyword Research

admin — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 07:00:23 +0000

“Marketing Research” is the science and study of buyer behavior to help a business efficiently offer products and services for customer audit and gain. Forward Marketing has many marketing services such as buyer persona development, competitor research, industry research, keyword research, poll and survey development for websites, search trend analysis, and website audits. We also have marketing research training and access to the same tools we use in our marketing research tasks. For more information, visit our Marketing Research Overview page.

Forward Marketing has many marketing services such as buyer persona development, competitor research, industry research, keyword research, poll and survey development for websites, search trend analysis, and website audits. For more information about our services, visit our Marketing Research Services page.

The Marketing Research tools that are available include strategy tools like PaloAlto, Persona tools like Insighting Ideas, competitor research tools like SpyFu, and many more. For more information, visit our Marketing Research Toolbox page.

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Brand Management & Protection Services

admin — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 06:59:16 +0000

A “brand” is a term, name, symbol, design, sign or both meant to identify the goods and services of one seller or group of sellers and differentiate them from other sellers. “Branding” is the marketing activities to make, manage and better a brand. Branding lets you protect your venture’s intellectual property. Our branding services include branding strategy development, brand audits, brand creative services for logo design, brand protection, brand management, and brand communications – public relations. For More information about Branding, visit our Branding Overview page.

Our Branding services include brand registration and protection, brand management, public relations and event marketing. For more information about our services, visit our Branding Services page.

The tools and services we use and recommend include brand audits tools like NameCHK, brand strategy development tools like PaloAlto, and brand creative services like Vistaprint. For more information about branding service tools, visit our Branding Toolbox page.

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Website and Graphic Design

admin — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 06:49:31 +0000

Website & graphic design services are tools that enhance the end user’s experience by making inviting images for visitors & potential clients. Such images include drawn, painted, computer generated for web graphics or website creation. These services are now vital as technology & user interaction are evolve quickly. In order to compete effectively, a standout design plan should be your focus. Forward Marketing has a full array of web design & related Internet creative services. These include website & blog design, logo creation, custom-designed landing and splash pages, presentation template design, E-commerce (web store) design, creative staffing & outsourcing solutions, and training solutions for your web design employees. For more information about our graphic and website design overview, visit our Creative design Overview page.

The creative design services that we offer include logo design, website design, blog design, landing page design, web store design, and powerpoint template design. For more information about these services, visit our Creative Design Services page.

You can visit our Creative Design Portfolio to see examples of the design work done by Forward Marketing as well as visiting the Creative Design Toolbox to see the tools and services we recommend.

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Content Marketing & Production

admin — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 06:47:13 +0000

Content Marketing includes all content types made and shared on the web. It’s used to inform viewers with relevant information that directs customers actions and keeps readers hooked. Content Marketing services include Content strategy development, production services, distribution, and training. For more information about Content Marketing, visit our Content Marketing Overview page.

Our Content Marketing services include Content Marketing strategy development, writing services, photography, video production, and distribution through social media. For more information about our services, visit our Content Marketing Services page.

Our recommended content marketing tools include strategy tools like PaloAlto, production tools like Adobe Photoshop, and distribution tools like Facebook and youtube. For more information about our recommended tools, visit our Content Marketing Toolbox page.

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Search Engine Marketing

admin — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 06:46:25 +0000

Search Engine Marketing (SEM) uses website promotion and visibility via paid advertising and search engine optimization techniques. SEM is good for any web-based business due to the high ROI level brought in by effective practice usage while using small resource amounts. Our Search Engine Marketing Services include strategy development, competitor audits, search engine optimization, pay per click advertising, keyword research and ranking analysis. Our link building services including directory submissions, local search marketing, and phone call conversion services. We also offer SEM-related info, tools and training. For more information, visit our Search Engine Marketing Overview page.

Our Search Engine Marketing services include marketing strategy development, search engine optimization, link building, local search engine marketing, and phone call and analytics services. For more information, visit our Search Engine Marketing Services page.

Our Search Engine Marketing Toolbox includes strategy tools, computer audit tools, keyword ranking tools, and others. For more information, visit our Search Engine Marketing Toolbox page.

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Website Analytics Services

admin — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 06:45:02 +0000

Website Analytics is the measurement, collection, analysis and Internet data reporting for better web optimization and understanding. Web Analytics is synonymous with measuring website traffic. It can also be used as a marketing tool and business research. Web Analytics applications helps your company see your advertising campaigns result. It incorporates popularity trends, key word search data, and Internet traffic research to give you information like the number of website visitors, viewed pages, and precisely what brought them there. At Forward Marketing, we’ll optimize your advertising dollars by giving you the information needed to sculpt your marketing and ad campaigns. We’ll tailor your website specific to your targeted clientele base. For more information, visit our Website Analytics Overview page.

Our Website Analytics services include setup and configuration, audit services, and consultation. For more information, visit our Website Analytics Services page.

Some good Analytics tools include Vizmetrics, GoogleAnalytics, and Pingdom. For more information, visit our Website Analytics Toolbox.

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Commercial Photography & Video Production

admin — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 06:44:44 +0000

Search engines and website visitors agree that a photo’s worth a thousand words and videos are worth a million words! That’s why YouTube is the No. 2 search engine in the world behind Google. Forward Marketing has a on-site commercial photography, industrial photography, corporate photography, aerial photography for building and campus pictures, and complete video production services. We also include content distribution to the Internet of photos and videos to services like Flickr, YouTube, Picaso, Vimeo, blogs and other social media services. For more info, see our Photography and Video Production pages.

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Mobile App Development Services

admin — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 06:43:23 +0000

Mobile app usage has overtaken daily web consumption. Mobile viewing of websites with smartphones and tablets is rising. Your marketing efforts must be ready for your customer’s transition from web-based to mobile device-based searching of information regarding your brand, employees, products and services. Let Forward Marketing help with your mobile marketing strategy, mobile app and website development, and mobile marketing training. For more information, visit our Mobile Marketing Overview page.

Our Mobile Marketing services include App strategy, planning, development, and mobile website design. For more information regarding these, visit our Mobile Marketing Services page. Our recommended Mobile Marketing tools include strategy tools like PaloAlto, app development tools like AppMakr, and website design tools like MobilePress. For more tools and information, visit our Mobile Marketing Toolbox.